I don't understand the negative stigma that bike shops have w/ "customizers"

[Shanker]

when going into the LBS looking for parts....I seem to get odd stares when talking about customizing a bike....I'ts almost like the idea is to buy a VERY expensive bike, then pull the expensive parts off and swap every more expensive parts back on!

the bicycling shops are NOTHING like the custom car shops.....in the custom car/truck community...taking a BRAND NEW vehicle and going all out on it is "cool"....not so much with bikes...I guess I don't get it.

 

[Bicycle808]

Many local bike shops are struggling, and while there are many factors contributing to this, it doesn't help that so few bike shops have learned to be flexible. From your post, it seems that your bike-spending preferences do not fit the typical LBS business plan. Instead of seeing this as a sales opportunity (helping you find parts you need and selling them to you) or even as just a learning opportunity (finding out, thru polite conversation, what makes a cu$tomer like you tick), they just give you the stink-eye til you either leave or start buying what they want you to...

During my brief stint as a bike shop drone, I got a lot of hassle from my boss for keeping ppl hyped about their older bikes, and selling them stuff to keep it rolling. In time, he came to realize that even if the sales tended to be lower, the margins were higher, and it was nice to have the repeat customer.... b/c ppl who tinker on older bikes constantly need something, and return many times each year.

 

[rydr1]

+1
I always like when they want to assist me and I tell them what I am looking for and they ask me what bikes its going on and their reply is, " Its not going to work"...yeah right.

This has happened to me with tires, forks and seats. Why cant they just get me what I'm asking for?

 

[5speed]

simple,they dont sell customs!!!!!!!

 

[Bicycle808]

+1
I always like when they want to assist me and I tell them what I am looking for and they ask me what bikes its going on and their reply is, " Its not going to work"...yeah right.

This has happened to me with tires, forks and seats. Why cant they just get me what I'm asking for?

To be fair, even if they're wrong, what they're doing makes sense b/c for the customers who really are just buying the wrong part, they get really mad when they have to come back in for an exchange, and many of them want to know "why didn't you tell me?!"

I think the better approach is the polite "you realize that's not the use this was designed for, right?" and if the customer says "suresuresure; I got this" then that's the end of the discussion-- go get him his parts. But, sometimes asking some questions about the application can save a confused customer a lot of hassle.

The most amazing part of your post, rydr1, is that you can walk into your shop and the part(s) you want is there already? Shops around me tend to have very little componentry in-stock.... most things are special-ordered.

 

[Shanker]

It's funny....I've got thre LBS in the greater Corpus Christi area....I made my most recent purchase at the one who had a rat-rod trike out front...he's a cool guy....and he's the ONLY one around who has fat bikes...and LOTS of them.

The other shops that carry brands that have Fat Bike models....look at me as if I'm one of "them" when I tell them I'm working on a fat bike..

In regards to being an owner of a "Mongoose Beast"....I completely understand the "WTF is he thinking" train of thought...truthfully, the bike is a piece of crap.

But what the Beast did...was get me to buy my wife a fat bike (Sun Crusher) and now I'm shopping for me a new fat bike...More than likely it'll be a Sun Spyder....(Or possibly a Bike-Direct bike, but I want to ride one before I buy one)

 

[Ichoptop]

30 years ago bike shops had walls of parts and glass counter filled. Around here now days bike shops have very few parts....mostly tubes and mountain bike tires and "can order in" anything you need. The problem is I can order in what I need without the 30% markup and extra trip. To be honest, I have built 5 custom bikes in the last year and haven't stepped foot in a LBS.

 

[Shanker]

where are you getting your parts from? Amazon/Ebay?

I've been looking for some handlebars & grips...I like some of the ones that Felt has....but can't seem to find them anywhere except for their website

 

[deven_science]

Thank goodness for Vintage Bicycle Supply. I get some of my parts from eBay or CL, but for a lot of it, and when I need questions answered, I go to Mike at Vintage, and he hooks me up. Every town needs a vintage bike shop.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

We've got two, Vic's Classic Bikes, and Old Bikes Belong. One shop that truely is a jack of all trades, because they sell many types of bikes and the only dedicated bmx place. Which is called Bikes On Your Left. Theres the Bike Courier Shop, a local chain that has had to downsize, also a Jamis dealer. A general bike shop that is still pretty awesome. Bardstown Rd. Bike Co. is another awesome shop, who are also a Specialized dealer. Theres Parkside bikes whi are more road/cx/touring- cannondale ddealer. One shop closed down. BCS downsized to two shops, leaving two important bike areas, frankfort ave. and the UofL campus without a lbs. There is one Schwinn store left. It's been a while, I hope it's atill there. They are also the place for lowrider parts and old(like you guys like) bikes. I was thinking of see

 

[JaxRhapsody]

ing if they had the sting ray frame fir my kid.

 

[mikeeebikey]

at the bike shops I was a part of, working in owning, I had no parts to help you guys with! nothing I was trying to be rude or anything, just all that stuff from the 60's and 70's was gone long before I got there! so stopping work on the 50 dollar sale wasn't going to happen for a no sale.
I don't know if a Salesman wouldn't stop working and you consider that rude, or they were just rude.
what I apologize for local bike shops I used to love them when I was a kid.
nowadays I shop on Amazon and eBay just like everybody else!

 

[ZygoteLittle]

Become a believer in knowing YAHOO

You Always Have Other Options

 

[Rat Rod]

Do you mind if I change the title to "stigma" instead of "stamina?"

Makes it sound like the guys at the LBS are getting winded when they talk to you.

 

[Bicycle808]

Do you mind if I change the title to "stigma" instead of "stamina?"

Makes it sound like the guys at the LBS are getting winded when they talk to you.

Ha. I'm imagining them having to take turns relieving eachother as they tire out, talking to Shanker.

 

[Shanker]

ahaha....dang Auto-Correct....I gets me on my iPhone and Opera (my browser).....argh

 

[menzorro]

Where we used to live there was a great bike shop with a museum area and they were good to rat rodders.
Now, my closest bike shop didn't want to even sell me parts for my 50's Columbia rat bike and actually called it a piece of crap (he sells and rents Chinese bikes..hahaha).
There is another bike shop farther away but the one time I went there, one of their mechanics was laughing about screwing somebody on a craigslist bike sale.
I try to find what I need online now.

 

[deven_science]

There is another bike shop farther away but the one time I went there, one of their mechanics was laughing about screwing somebody on a craigslist bike sale.

Ugh. That's ugly.

 

[Bicycle808]

Murfreesboro... that's along haul from Jersey. I used to live in Hamblen County, TN.... I miss it sometimes.

 

[Missing Link]

I gave up on one of my LBS when the owner, who claimed to have been working with bikes for 40 years, treated me like an ..... because he had never seen a set of pads for butcher brakes. This shop sells used bikes in junk condition and then tells you they can get it up and running for an additional cost. I once bought a parts bike, a newer Huffy, off a lady on craigslist, who bought it for 50 bucks at this shop, and then was told it would take another 70 to get it road worthy. In the end they talked her into dumping $120 into a bike she could have bought new for $80.
I've found that anything new you need can be found on Amazon, at a fraction of most shop's prices. Anything old I go here. I have yet to be disappointed.