I don't understand the negative stigma that bike shops have w/ "customizers"
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I know whit my local bike shop anything that is custom he hates because he has to figure it out and try to find parts that will work rather than just pulling the exact thing off the shelf and knowing it will fit. He also hates anything vintage. He is a cool guy we are just from entirely different sides of the tracks.
Rat Rod
Owner & Founder
I think a lot of it comes down to attitude.
I would wager that many of the employees at bike shops (or any small businesses really) these days don't get a whole lot of in depth customer service training. That old rule of "the customer is always right" still applies today. There's always a tactful way to try to help a customer even if it's not what you specialize in. The smart retailer will be focused on helping people, building great relationships and earning loyalty.
Now with that being said, walking into most modern bike shops today expecting them to have great knowledge and admiration for old bicycles probably isn't realistic. Bike shops exist like most businesses for one reason....to make money. Customizing bikes is a niche market...especially vintage bikes and those that cater to that market will tend to be your small boutique type shops. These are the folks that will be more interested in the customizing market. Of course, there are barely any of them around due to the fact that generally it's hard to make a living off of niche markets.
I would wager that many of the employees at bike shops (or any small businesses really) these days don't get a whole lot of in depth customer service training. That old rule of "the customer is always right" still applies today. There's always a tactful way to try to help a customer even if it's not what you specialize in. The smart retailer will be focused on helping people, building great relationships and earning loyalty.
Now with that being said, walking into most modern bike shops today expecting them to have great knowledge and admiration for old bicycles probably isn't realistic. Bike shops exist like most businesses for one reason....to make money. Customizing bikes is a niche market...especially vintage bikes and those that cater to that market will tend to be your small boutique type shops. These are the folks that will be more interested in the customizing market. Of course, there are barely any of them around due to the fact that generally it's hard to make a living off of niche markets.
No, Denton, methinks we've got a metroplex of unscrupulous bike shop owners on our hands.
I buy almost all my stuff online, but have been in a few bike shops in the couple big cities I go to from time to time. One caters to hybrid and road bike owners but said they could work on a cruiser but didnt carry parts for them and pretty much stuck their nose up at me. The other sales about the same bikes but has alot of stuff for older bikes too and the owner doesn't mind helping you out with a problem or talking old bikes with you, even if you don't buy anything at the time. When I do have to get parts from a shop Im sure you can guess where I will be going. Customer service no matter what the shop sales is the most important, to many stare at the bottom line and forget about that.
There is a bike shop here in sacramento where they have a treasure trove of part in the back but they wont let anyone check em out. You have to either know exactly what you want with the sizing and everything or they will just bring out any old thing. Its like one of those new wrecking yard policies lol. Not to great on the customer service either, a majority of the time when you walk in the door no one is in the front sale room until you actually need something. I guess someone took advantage of that a while back and stole 2 really expensive mountain bikes of the sales floor and they chased em and didnt end up catching them.
When we start wearing Spandex and goofy eyewear when riding our cruisers and Kustoms, maybe they will pay attention.
I've walked into a bike shop in Iowa looking for rim strips for my Suburban Schwinn and got treated like I just landed from outer space. Probably because I don't zactly look like I'm part of the spendy spandex superhero crowd. A yuppie family hopped out of their Prius and got treated like royalty, of course they were looking at actual bikes.
Then again, walked into a store in Manitowoc, WI, a tourist town, and asked about some Schwinns they had on display.. I had a great conversation with the shop owner. He had a couple of Beast style bikes there too, and on a previous trip I got to see the third floor junkyard which was really cool. I spent a fair amount of cash there on some ties and he also tossed a spoke in a wheel for me wheel I waited for almost no money. Wish I could remember the shop name, they had two shops.
Couldn't tell you about shops in TX, my town barely has a hardware store. I hear there is a shop in Brownwood but I haven't been there yet.
I've walked into a bike shop in Iowa looking for rim strips for my Suburban Schwinn and got treated like I just landed from outer space. Probably because I don't zactly look like I'm part of the spendy spandex superhero crowd. A yuppie family hopped out of their Prius and got treated like royalty, of course they were looking at actual bikes.
Then again, walked into a store in Manitowoc, WI, a tourist town, and asked about some Schwinns they had on display.. I had a great conversation with the shop owner. He had a couple of Beast style bikes there too, and on a previous trip I got to see the third floor junkyard which was really cool. I spent a fair amount of cash there on some ties and he also tossed a spoke in a wheel for me wheel I waited for almost no money. Wish I could remember the shop name, they had two shops.
Couldn't tell you about shops in TX, my town barely has a hardware store. I hear there is a shop in Brownwood but I haven't been there yet.
Sweet...you're only about 90 minutes away...
Larz, are you talking about College Cyclery? They're the only ones I know that seem to have a big back room like that.
I went to one of three LBS shops in my area this afternoon......the guy is totally making my life easier with what he's helping me do by getting disc brakes on my wife's Sun Crusher.....
he also is into customizing bikes.....has the kind of shop that orders a brand new bike...then hot rods it before putting it on the floor
he also is into customizing bikes.....has the kind of shop that orders a brand new bike...then hot rods it before putting it on the floor
I guess I should start counting my blessings, cause nearly every LBS near me is friendly. Given, a lot of the atuff I get I find in a barn or the junkyard, and I work with that, but on the other thing I don't have or need new, I'll buy from them to support small businesses.
Plus, for 2 of the 4 shops near me, I raced bmx for them, and the other two, the owners like what I like, junk.
However, there is one shop that refused to work on a set of wheels for me once he saw the tires on them, and the frame they were on. He said "we work on real bikes here, not hack jobs". He also told me don't bring him anything in to work on that's older than me. I'm only twenty. I'll never go back, and wouldn't send my enemy's there.
Given my age, I try not to hack anything, plus, I like my junk!
Sorry for the rant. I understand the negativity towards these shops though. It seems like they believe more money=better bike, and that's what's gonna make these places fail.
Plus, for 2 of the 4 shops near me, I raced bmx for them, and the other two, the owners like what I like, junk.
However, there is one shop that refused to work on a set of wheels for me once he saw the tires on them, and the frame they were on. He said "we work on real bikes here, not hack jobs". He also told me don't bring him anything in to work on that's older than me. I'm only twenty. I'll never go back, and wouldn't send my enemy's there.
Given my age, I try not to hack anything, plus, I like my junk!
Sorry for the rant. I understand the negativity towards these shops though. It seems like they believe more money=better bike, and that's what's gonna make these places fail.
I frequent the same bike shop over and over because they know me. They know the types of things I generally look for and they don't try and sell me something I don't need. Most of the other local bike shops I don't even go in any more. It is getting increasingly more and more difficult to find someone with old school Bicycle knowledge working at a bike shop. That's not to say I don't have an interest in the new stuff. I always look at new bicycle technology. Bicycles have come a long way in the last 150 years. Except I'm usually looking to see if I can incorporate the new stuff onto an old bike. I have had the best luck with the small sole proprietor bicycle shops rather than the large chain store type bicycle shops.
JaxRhapsody
Rhapsodic Laviathan
Most of the lbs employess know me, know what I do to the bikes I have. None of them try to sell me bikes or are mean. Even the snobbish Parkside. One of them did give me a look when they thought I was coming to have a seatless huffy mtb serviced that I rode in on.
Anyone in business knows that, regardless of the details, we're all spending green money & the small business will need that green stuff-- regardless of who it's coming from-- to make ends meet. If I owned a shop, I'd gladly take your money, whether I'm selling you an expensive new machine, or selling you the "wrong" tires for your "hack job".
I truly do believe that the smarter shops already operate that way.
I truly do believe that the smarter shops already operate that way.
Yea, pretty soon we will be able to walk into those shops wearing our RRB Weirdo " Me Likes Cool Bikes" shirts, and not get those odd stares.
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While I personally like selling parts for old Schwinns, etc, to be fair, some old bike customers can be extremely time consuming for the amount they spend.
A typical parts request from one of your much maligned "spandex" crowd: "Do you have a left 105 STI lever?"
A typical parts request from a "customizer": "I have a 1952 Schwinn I just bought on Craigslist you can tell it's a Schwinn because it has an S on the seat I bet you've never seen one of those it's the only year it came in this color you can't get tires for it anymore I'm gonna put an electric motor from a vacuum cleaner on it or maybe a lawn mower engine maybe I'll make it a three wheeler or a lowrider it's gonna need to be rewelded do you guys do welding here but I'm gonna repaint it anyhow jeez 400 dollars for a bicycle you can buy a car for that do you have mag wheels in this size how much do you guys charge to build wheels that's a lot do you have any old bikes in the back I can look through I don't want to spend a lot of money six dollars for a tube that seems like an awful lot I'll just go to Walmart do you have any used ones just laying around is that all the pedals you got do you sell just the patches without the glue?" Oh, and can I have a valve cap?
A typical parts request from one of your much maligned "spandex" crowd: "Do you have a left 105 STI lever?"
A typical parts request from a "customizer": "I have a 1952 Schwinn I just bought on Craigslist you can tell it's a Schwinn because it has an S on the seat I bet you've never seen one of those it's the only year it came in this color you can't get tires for it anymore I'm gonna put an electric motor from a vacuum cleaner on it or maybe a lawn mower engine maybe I'll make it a three wheeler or a lowrider it's gonna need to be rewelded do you guys do welding here but I'm gonna repaint it anyhow jeez 400 dollars for a bicycle you can buy a car for that do you have mag wheels in this size how much do you guys charge to build wheels that's a lot do you have any old bikes in the back I can look through I don't want to spend a lot of money six dollars for a tube that seems like an awful lot I'll just go to Walmart do you have any used ones just laying around is that all the pedals you got do you sell just the patches without the glue?" Oh, and can I have a valve cap?
...A typical parts request from a "customizer": "I have a 1952 Schwinn I just bought on Craigslist you can tell it's a Schwinn because it has an S on the seat I bet you've never seen one of those it's the only year it came in this color you can't get tires for it anymore I'm gonna put an electric motor from a vacuum cleaner on it or maybe a lawn mower engine maybe I'll make it a three wheeler or a lowrider it's gonna need to be rewelded do you guys do welding here but I'm gonna repaint it anyhow jeez 400 dollars for a bicycle you can buy a car for that do you have mag wheels in this size how much do you guys charge to build wheels that's a lot do you have any old bikes in the back I can look through I don't want to spend a lot of money six dollars for a tube that seems like an awful lot I'll just go to Walmart do you have any used ones just laying around is that all the pedals you got do you sell just the patches without the glue?" Oh, and can I have a valve cap?
Funny... hardly resembles me, although I am sure it fits somebody... LOL
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