Rant: why I have trouble supporting the LBS

BOXKARS
Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum

Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
bunnyman666

bunnyman666

Joined
Oct 23, 2020
Messages
434
Reaction score
601
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Maybe it’s because I am middle-aged, but I really want to support the LBS. However- there are a few wrinkles.

1) cool shop, been around forever, open 3 or 4 days per week, weird hours.

2) bigger shop, better hours, lots of employees, likes selling bikes more than parts.

The absolute worst part, is that it seems neither can never get parts in most of the time. The only special order item I have received was a new star nut with hollow bolt. I’ll end up depending on Amazon or bicycle websites, which just is not what I want to do.

It’s really a good thing that I know how to work on my own bike.
 
Last edited:
pebblewurm said:
If there is a bike co-op near you try them. The only reason I've gone to a bicycle shop for decades is to raid their dumpsters.
Click to expand...
I have to check that out.

I wasn’t feeling all that warm and fuzzy the last few times I was there as I was charged MSRP on stuff and the guy I normally see hasn’t been there in a VERY long time. He usually gets me the good deals. I don’t mind paying full freight on some items, but bulk stuff like cable housing was kind of excessive!
 
There was this one time when I was out for a rip on RockRat, and the shocks were feeling a bit low. Stopped by one of the local shops for a shot of air to pump it up. Explained to the tech (who was younger than the shocks) how to do the task required. He told me I was wrong, that I didn't have an air shock, that the operation was impossible. I explained that I had done it before, had the tools at home, etc. He insisted I was wrong. I left with sagging suspension, and sagging hopes for the future of bike maintenance
 
Last edited:
People dispose of stuff nowadays too easily rather than fixing it. I get that some stuff is not worth repairing. a young lady i know was quoted $13000 to replace the screen on her 5 year old volks golf.
 
MattiThundrrr said:
There was this one time when I was out for a rip on RockRat, and the shocks were feeling a bit low. Stopped by one of the local shops for a shot of air to pump it up. Explained to the tech (who was younger than the shocks) how to due the task required. He told me I was wrong, that I didn't have an air shock, that the operation was impossible. I explained that I had done it before, had the tools at home, etc. He insisted I was wrong. I left with sagging suspension, and sagging hopes for the future of bike maintenance
Click to expand...

That’s what I find that is thoroughly disturbing are people so ignorant that they tell you that you’re wrong about an item you have lived with! I will leave my bike with someone whom I trust, but that is becoming few and far in between. I am thinking I need to get a new truing stand and start building my own wheels. I think this shoppe’s labour charges would straighten my hair.
 
bunnyman666 said:
That’s what I find that is thoroughly disturbing are people so ignorant that they tell you that you’re wrong about an item you have lived with! I will leave my bike with someone whom I trust, but that is becoming few and far in between. I am thinking I need to get a new truing stand and start building my own wheels. I think this shoppe’s labour charges would straighten my hair.
Click to expand...
I had the same thought recently re truing wheels as its one of the only things i get my lbs to do if i have one i can’t do. A mate left the tank from the first model Honda mini bike, the cz100 with a paint shop. Mongrel owner claims he can’t find it.
263F8766-BD5D-48B9-B831-4FDA289B3185.jpeg
 
JA331 said:
I had the same thought recently re truing wheels as its one of the only things i get my lbs to do if i have one i can’t do. A mate left the tank from the first model Honda mini bike, the cz100 with a paint shop. Mongrel owner claims he can’t find it.
View attachment 155570
Click to expand...

How can you misplace that? That is, unless it was unscrupulously sold to someone else...
 
There are good and bad of everything, including local bike shops. The good ones are currently suffering from supply issues, as are many businesses. I normally prefer to research online and buy local, but have been told way too often lately that I should just order something online in more than a couple of retail realms.

As far as "good guy/gal" discounts go, expecting or asking for them is a FAIL IMO. If you get one, great. If not, remember you are supporting a local instead of some soulless multinational.
 
Karate Chicken Industries said:
There are good and bad of everything, including local bike shops. The good ones are currently suffering from supply issues, as are many businesses. I normally prefer to research online and buy local, but have been told way too often lately that I should just order something online in more than a couple of retail realms.

As far as "good guy/gal" discounts go, expecting or asking for them is a FAIL IMO. If you get one, great. If not, remember you are supporting a local instead of some soulless multinational.
Click to expand...

I certainly understand what you’re saying about “expecting” a good guy discount. It’s just I am treated so differently when I don’t see my normal salesman. I never ask for it. It’s just a polar opposite of how I am treated in there. The guy I normally see is nice; the others I see act like I am bothering them. I also understand that I am getting to take the stuff home and work on it today when I leave the shoppe IF they have the item in question. It’s the inconsistency that bothers me.
 
Yes, inconsistency may be inconvenient at times but the Orwellian implications of the opposite are something I find inhuman (ie. corporate uhmerica). We are all different, my friend. Without the differences, there would be no Rat Rod Bikes because we'd all be riding the same dystopian bike.

Heading out to ride some dirt now. I think I'll listen to this on the way out:
2112
 
Karate Chicken Industries said:
Yes, inconsistency may be inconvenient at times but the Orwellian implications of the opposite are something I find inhuman (ie. corporate uhmerica). We are all different, my friend. Without the differences, there would be no Rat Rod Bikes because we'd all be riding the same dystopian bike.

Heading out to ride some dirt now. I think I'll listen to this on the way out:
2112
Click to expand...

I just hope nothing happened to my sales dude. He does have health problems. I don’t care about discounts he gave, though they were nice. He treated me like a king, and he was a genuine good guy.
 
I like their faces when I start talking about custom setups or stretch cruisers.....it’s kinda cute watching their eyes glaze over as the brain melts. Wait...fat tire MTB wheels with street tires?.....[emoji2962]
Some are like car dealerships, they can only talk stock replacements, mostly due to liabilities.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Dr. Tankenstein said:
I like their faces when I start talking about custom setups or stretch cruisers.....it’s kinda cute watching their eyes glaze over as the brain melts. Wait...fat tire MTB wheels with street tires?.....[emoji2962]
Some are like car dealerships, they can only talk stock replacements, mostly due to liabilities.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

“What kind of bike is it?”

My answer: “It started off as a (name brand), but it now has (mod, parts, etc.) and it’s supposed to be a (type)...”
 
Karate Chicken Industries said:
There are good and bad of everything, including local bike shops. The good ones are currently suffering from supply issues, as are many businesses. I normally prefer to research online and buy local, but have been told way too often lately that I should just order something online in more than a couple of retail realms.

As far as "good guy/gal" discounts go, expecting or asking for them is a FAIL IMO. If you get one, great. If not, remember you are supporting a local instead of some soulless multinational.
Click to expand...

I try to buy as much from my lbs as possible and have got to know one of the guys there really well. He’s a pro rider but appreciates the bikes i’m into. I also find
most people in bike stores helpful but not always willing to do certain repairs i think i can’t do. I had a stuck alloy seat post in the shogun mtb i restored a few years back. I ended up taking it to a frame specialist who broke the top off it and said the frame was a write off. Not willing to accept that i found a fix on the web using drain cleaner. Eventually after filling the seat tube a few times with a concoction of the stuff the post dissolved to the thickness of a coke can. I pulled the remnants out with a pair of long nose pliers. The steel frame isn’t affected by the stuff. Being the nice bloke I am, i proudly passed on the fix to the frame guy.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top