Indie LBS vs. National LBS

[Potatoes]

I've always been keen to support my independent LBS rather than give all my business to my local national LBS:

• rhymes with Heavens

I've had a few bizarre conversations with the owner of my indie LBS but gave them the benefit of doubt as I'm really keen to support his local business.

Recently I had an issue with my rear cassette and mech and assumed it was a stretched chain, damaged rear cassette and/or damaged rear mech. Took my 10 month old BMC roadie into the shop and asked him to take a look and get it booked in to fix whatever we diagnosed the issue(s) to be.

The indie guys, who mainly stock Trek bikes took a look and quickly diagnosed a twisted frame! They then made the following statements:

"The frames bent, you'll probably need a new frame/bike"
"I know it's not what you want to hear but...":

• "BMC make crap bikes, real bad workmanship"
• "I wouldn't have got one of them, I'd have got a Trek"
• "That's not the bike they ride in the TdF"
• "You paid how much for that bike?! That's far too much for the spec"
• "BMC don't care about quality"
• "Really poor bikes, you should never steer away from Trek/Giant as you can't go wrong"

Following this exchnage I declined their offer to try and fix it, took it the national LBS prepared to go through the warranty process. They brought me into the servicing area to show me the frame tools to show there was no issue, bent the rear mech back into place, serviced the bike and sent me on my way. The bike is now like new.

I had planned on getting the local LBS to upgrade my shifters, stick new bar tape on it but following this I've been online:

• rhymes with PlainRefractionBikels

and bought the shifters and bar tape and will be asking the chaps at the national LBS to fit the gear for me.

Anyway... Whoo... Glad I got that one off my chest. Point of the story?

I'm feeling disillusioned following this, I'm always very keen to support local intedependent business, especially my LBS but with this type of behaviour I'll not go back there with any business. I just cannot bring myself to have someone work on my bike who tells me erroneously that my bike is kaput and immediately informs me that the my choice of bike is crap and spends a good 2-3 minutes on the subject... prick.

Edited by Potatoes on Tuesday 7th May 21:05

[Gargamel]

Yet curiously if the roles were reversed you wouldn't be surprised though would you.

LBS I will only make it in the long run if the service and advice is excellent.

[TedMaul]

I had much the same. LBS has two local branches, wont name and shame. Took Marin into one for a service (too busy to do it myself so wanted a proper job....) said rear caliper was sticking over and above heat build up (they were old hopes) and wanted that looked at. Picked bike up and took it home, didnt have time to check it over, has 2yo with me who was tantrumming. Chain wasnt even lubed, gears not adjusted and brakes not even bled, they had done fk all. Got a refund and anotehr service but was waste of time. Learned my lesson, did my own servicing from then on.

Went into other branch of LBS when looking for a new bike, all they wanted to do was sell me Orange, nothing else, just going on about it, no sense whatsoever. They couldnt get a dropper post to work either for some reason

The Heavens opened in Sheffield a couple of months ago (if you get my drift) They had a £10 service deal on opening, dropped the Marin off. Its 8 years old but they did an excellent job but were quite honest about its condition. It rides fine now for a second bike, better than it has for several years frankly.

Then they had 10% of all new bikes as an opening offer so treated myself to a Sight2, 230 quid off.....

Also, once I bought a stem from them that was the wrong size. And I lost the receipt. Customer services found the electronic receipt on their system and emailed me the PDF, I printed it and exchanged the stem, for something else, actually used the money towards some expensive shoes so they won out.

I know not everyone belives in Heavens, but theyve been brilliant to me I have to say and my Norco is fking ace and their staff are for the most part more knowledgable than you may imagine. They have my loyalty, they are my 1st stop everytime

[Mr Gear]

To be honest, I have never had any beef with Heavans. They stock only decent stuff, and when you DO have a problem, they swap stuff without fking you about.

I am lucky that I have several excellent bike shops near me, but Heavans still get at least 50% of my business.

[okgo]

Nobody cares abut anything anymore. It's why I'll fking shaft any shop I can by shopping on the Internet purely be price.

I do sometimes use my local shop for stuff that I need quickly, but servicing I either use a bloke I know/do it myself.

[With these feet]

okgo said:

Nobody cares abut anything anymore. It's why I'll fking shaft any shop I can by shopping on the Internet purely be price.

I do sometimes use my local shop for stuff that I need quickly, but servicing I either use a bloke I know/do it myself.

I like your honesty. I often feel bad that the last 4 bikes Ive bought have been via online shops.
Thing is, LBS tend to try and stick to RRP and give 10% off or free this or that with servicing or whatever.
I'm not interested in 4 free services if its anything to go by the stories or shoddy work (not all, but seems like its rare to find a good one) as if I cant service a bicycle then I need to change my profession!

Went into a not so LBS - 1 hour away - no flex on price though a voucher for 10% of spend value (given out NEXT YEAR!) reasonable advice but I want to feel like Im getting value for money.
My last 3 bikes , Evans price matched and knocked £100 off, Edinburgh co-op knocked £500 off the Enduro I bought and last week I got a Cannondale 29er with £600 off from Pauls.
Feel good because of the bargain element but cant help thinking that LBS are hoping guilt plays a part in customer retention rather than service....

[Rocksteadyeddie]

okgo said:

Nobody cares abut anything anymore. It's why I'll fking shaft any shop I can by shopping on the Internet purely be price.

I do sometimes use my local shop for stuff that I need quickly, but servicing I either use a bloke I know/do it myself.

Blunt and to the point, Rob.

On the wider issue I don't really understand these small independent bike shops offering stty service. It's all they've got if they want to survive against the dual pronged attack from the big boys and the internet.

[whatleytom]

I've given up with my lbs. Been in there multiple times and every time they've been worse than useless. They couldn't even remove the freehub on my fulcrum wheels ffs. Ended up giving me the replacement freehub and sent me on my way. 10 minutes with a youtube how to video and I'd done it myself.

[McFsC]

My LBS is better than the national ones so I'll keep using them. If a small, independant shop can't match a national outfit for service at least, then people shouldn't use them.

[ewenm]

McFsC said:

My LBS is better than the national ones so I'll keep using them. If a small, independant shop can't match a national outfit for service at least, then people shouldn't use them.

Exactly. There's no reason to support rubbish independent shops. They're only worth supporting if they're good (and good doesn't always mean "gives me a big discount", contrary to popular opinion).

[Mr Will]

The sooner the useless local shops go out of business the better. That'll leave more customers for the guys that do provide a good service and reasonable prices, who will then hopefully struggle a little less.

[Rico]

I've always tried to support LBS. Phil Corleys in MK is great.

I remember going into a LBS in my old town and they stocked Foes which I was tempted by so wanted to build up a rapport. Was just chatting away and the guy saying "The internet annoys me, people come here for advice then buy on CRC".

5mins later... me: "Got this in stock?" LBS: "No, but I can order off CRC and have it here tomorrow morning". At full RRP to me too.

Whaaaaa?

Shop closed about 6m later unsurprisingly.

[Rico]

Mr Will said:

The sooner the useless local shops go out of business the better. That'll leave more customers for the guys that do provide a good service and reasonable prices, who will then hopefully struggle a little less.

Spot on.

[Soop Dogg]

So going back to the original post - I don't expect you to name and shame, but can you say what town this LBS is in?

[anonymous-user]

Well my roadie is in with one of the newer independants in Bristol today so we will see what happens...

[scubadude]

I think you run the same risk as with almost any other type of shop/service centre, some know the business and others pretend. If you find a good one support them!

I try hard to support my local shops, even so far as taking them work I could do but can't face the oily fingers :-)

Where it comes unstuck is buying parts and accessories- I don't mind paying MRRP as long as I'm not loosing out wildly.
This week I've been looking at tyres, my local shop could do two tyres for £89! (but didn't have size in stock, 3 day lead time) an online retailer (rhymes with Piggle) had the same tyres, set of two plus 5 innertubes, in stock with next day courier delivery for £70... now I like my local shop but not sure I like them enough to give them £20 more for me having to wait and buy my own innertubes!

I need to learn how to true wheels, only thing I can't do then I'd be free of needing a local shop but that would also be a shame.

Same with the car, I only need the garage for MOT and you can't do that yourself :-(

[pattyg]

I tried desparately to support my LBS but he charged at least full RRP on everything (eg £44 each for ordinary Schwalbe Durano) and when a spoke broke he said sorry, I don't stock them as it would mean I'd have to order a hundred or so and have them lying around the shop for months/years.

That was it....end of my business for good. I now have to take my bike to a not so local indie who is fantastic but it is a lot more hassle to get to. I buy all hardgoods/clothing online.

Edited by pattyg on Wednesday 8th May 13:17

[Mr Will]

Potatoes said:

...rhymes with Heavens...

Potatoes said:

...rhymes with PlainRefractionBikels...

scubadude said:

...(rhymes with Piggle)...

I'd just like to point out that you are allowed to name companies on here. It is only naming and shaming that is banned. So lets drop the "rhymes with..." nonsense, it's just annoying and would be no protection if you were posting something libellous anyway.

[AyBee]

There's 2 types of Indie LBS, those run by amateurs/racers/enthusiasts and those run by people who started the shop years and years ago. I'd place the first above the national chains and the latter below.

[donfisher]

I’ve had varying experiences with independent and chain LBSs They’ve changed a lot since I was a child. Back then, unless you went mail order or were prepared to travel to different tows or cities, what they had there was the choice you had and they would maybe order something in for you but it wasn’t a guarantee.

Of the two I’ve used recently one did a good job fixing something for me and when the fix failed, fixed it again for free, it came back with a couple of new scratches but it’s an old bike with a rich patina already. The timetable was a joke though but I think customer impatience causes more complaints than LBS disorganisation. The next one also did a good job but tried to sell me a load of kit I didn’t want:
“These wheels are on offer”
“Yep, I like those and my old ones are like poppadums, do you have them with black rims?”
“No, the silver ones look better anyway”
“Can you get some in with black rims?”
“No, why do you want black ones anyway, it just rubs off, silver would suit your bike better if you ask me”

Looking at it from their point of view, I’m not really the customer they want. I select my components for a variety of reasons, none of which are based on what they have kicking around cluttering up their storeroom. I’m also not interested in what gives them the best margin.

Most stuff on bikes I can do myself. Chances are if I come in asking for something like a bottom bracket or a headset extracted I’ll have already had a go myself and it’ll be a of a job for them to do for a fixed price. They’re not going to get the daft rates the Welsh place charges for fixing a puncture or replacing some cables and tuning the gears a bit out of me.

I suspect that their bread and butter is two extremes, people who’ll spend money regularly every year on things but not really care what goes on it.

“New front tyre, some brake blocks, yep I’ll come back for it next week, absolutely fine”
“£100, great, well of course if the cassette needed changing, it needed changing”

The others will be people who are in the mood to drop several thousand on a bike and the appropriate kit and the urgency of the situation combined with a fear of buying a bike without having sat on it means they’ll get a nice big mark up, one which they in all honesty probably deserve. Unless they fk it up they can rely on skinning the cat year after year on servicing and upgrades. If they do burn the customer, so what, they’ve already made the cash and the punter probably won’t bother coming back for the couple of free services that they owe him. Happy Days.

Edited by donfisher on Wednesday 8th May 14:25