LBS and Bike Racks

So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had
anything suitable (read "within my price range") in stock - not a big
surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is
that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.

Now, neither store has its own parking lot, so any bike rack would have
to be on the sidewalk out front. But given that other
(non-cycling-related) stores on the same street have bike racks on the
sidewalk, this does not appear to be an issue.

Anyone else find this odd/silly/just plain dumb? Wouldn't you want to
encourage your customers to use the products you sell them?

[No, I didn't ask the managers as both stores were quite busy and I
wasn't about to wait 15 or 20 minutes to tell someone how to run his
business.]

Jeff

On 10 Jul 2006 05:38:05 -0700, wrote:

snip

[No, I didn't ask the managers as both stores were quite busy and I
wasn't about to wait 15 or 20 minutes to tell someone how to run his
business.]



You don't have to. Just take a minute to send and email or write a
letter.

Many good businesses are open to suggestions from their customers.
There might be some code ordinance about bike racks and space for
pedestrians.

later,

tom

In article . com,
wrote:

So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had
anything suitable (read "within my price range") in stock - not a big
surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is
that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.

Now, neither store has its own parking lot, so any bike rack would have
to be on the sidewalk out front. But given that other
(non-cycling-related) stores on the same street have bike racks on the
sidewalk, this does not appear to be an issue.

Anyone else find this odd/silly/just plain dumb? Wouldn't you want to
encourage your customers to use the products you sell them?

[No, I didn't ask the managers as both stores were quite busy and I
wasn't about to wait 15 or 20 minutes to tell someone how to run his
business.]

Jeff

Could they have had one inside the shop that you didn't notice? That's
the solution of my LBS without a parking lot.

Gabe wrote:
In article . com,
wrote:

So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had
anything suitable (read "within my price range") in stock - not a big
surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is
that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.

Now, neither store has its own parking lot, so any bike rack would have
to be on the sidewalk out front. But given that other
(non-cycling-related) stores on the same street have bike racks on the
sidewalk, this does not appear to be an issue.

Anyone else find this odd/silly/just plain dumb? Wouldn't you want to
encourage your customers to use the products you sell them?

[No, I didn't ask the managers as both stores were quite busy and I
wasn't about to wait 15 or 20 minutes to tell someone how to run his
business.]

Jeff

Could they have had one inside the shop that you didn't notice? That's
the solution of my LBS without a parking lot.

One store simply wouldn't have space. The other might, although it'd
have to be a very small rack. That said, there were several bikes,
mine included, locked to various street posts outside both stores.

wrote:
So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had
anything suitable (read "within my price range") in stock - not a big
surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is
that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.

Now, neither store has its own parking lot, so any bike rack would have
to be on the sidewalk out front. But given that other
(non-cycling-related) stores on the same street have bike racks on the
sidewalk, this does not appear to be an issue.

Anyone else find this odd/silly/just plain dumb? Wouldn't you want to
encourage your customers to use the products you sell them?

[No, I didn't ask the managers as both stores were quite busy and I
wasn't about to wait 15 or 20 minutes to tell someone how to run his
business.]

Jeff

I think bike racks play to different reviews among the cycling
community. I never use them. I also never use a lock. I either bring my
bike in with me or feel confident that is safe- such as on a group ride
being watched by friends.
I have seen too many bikes trashed while locked outside so I just avoid
the situation.
I understand that many folks lock their bikes outside lots of times.

Most of the LBS bike racks that I have seen are used for displaying
promotional bikes in the public view as a way of marketing rather than
for the "parking" of customer bikes. I have never known of a LBS to be
hostile to bringing your bike into the store and that is what I
regularly do.

wrote in message
ups.com...
So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had
anything suitable (read "within my price range") in stock - not a big
surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is
that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.

I don't use 'em if there's an alternative, and at the shops I frequent
bringing the bike inside is the alternative I prefer.

RichC

On 10 Jul 2006 05:38:05 -0700, wrote:

So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had
anything suitable (read "within my price range") in stock - not a big
surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is
that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.

Now, neither store has its own parking lot, so any bike rack would have
to be on the sidewalk out front. But given that other
(non-cycling-related) stores on the same street have bike racks on the
sidewalk, this does not appear to be an issue.

Anyone else find this odd/silly/just plain dumb? Wouldn't you want to
encourage your customers to use the products you sell them?

[No, I didn't ask the managers as both stores were quite busy and I
wasn't about to wait 15 or 20 minutes to tell someone how to run his
business.]

Some landlords can be obnoxious about fixtures installed outside of
the walls of the leased space, and some municipalities are even more
idiotic with similar restrictions. Of course, in the case of an
uncooperative landlord, one may wonder why a bike shop would take such
a space, but sometimes the other considerations involved might make it
worth the hassle.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
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On Tue, 11 Jul 2006 01:38:56 GMT, Werehatrack
wrote:

Some landlords can be obnoxious about fixtures installed outside of
the walls of the leased space, and some municipalities are even more
idiotic with similar restrictions.

After posting that, I remembered being told of a situation where a
bike shop owner wanted to put a bike rack on the sidewalk in front of
his store at his own expense. The city told him it was against the
law for him to put anything on the public sidewalk, even if it was for
general public use; no park benches, no bike racks, no litter barrels,
nothing. OTOH, if he wanted to request that the city install one, he
just needed a petition with the signatures of 50 city residents. It
took him all of one day to get those 50 signatures; it might have
taken longer except that the people at the restaurant next door heard
about his petition, and they started coming over to sign it.


--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

In Corvallis, Oregon we have a city requirement that a permit for any
significant modification of a store has a requirement that bicycle
parking is provided/convenient. Your bicycle advocacy group might argue
for this. A compromise is that the permit to build a new store not only
covers issues of car parking and congestion, but also bicycle parking
and safe access for bicycles. It is my undrstanding that most places
int he U.S. won't allow a new commerical construction project without
provision for parking and car access and that needs to include bicycles
explicitly, if it doesn't already.

Alan Acock
wrote:
So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had
anything suitable (read "within my price range") in stock - not a big
surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is
that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.

Now, neither store has its own parking lot, so any bike rack would have
to be on the sidewalk out front. But given that other
(non-cycling-related) stores on the same street have bike racks on the
sidewalk, this does not appear to be an issue.

Anyone else find this odd/silly/just plain dumb? Wouldn't you want to
encourage your customers to use the products you sell them?

[No, I didn't ask the managers as both stores were quite busy and I
wasn't about to wait 15 or 20 minutes to tell someone how to run his
business.]

Jeff

Alan wrote:
In Corvallis, Oregon we have a city requirement that a permit for any
significant modification of a store has a requirement that bicycle
parking is provided/convenient. Your bicycle advocacy group might argue
for this. A compromise is that the permit to build a new store not only
covers issues of car parking and congestion, but also bicycle parking
and safe access for bicycles. It is my undrstanding that most places
int he U.S. won't allow a new commerical construction project without
provision for parking and car access and that needs to include bicycles
explicitly, if it doesn't already.

Alan Acock
wrote:

So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had
anything suitable (read "within my price range") in stock - not a big
surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is
that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.

Now, neither store has its own parking lot, so any bike rack would have
to be on the sidewalk out front. But given that other
(non-cycling-related) stores on the same street have bike racks on the
sidewalk, this does not appear to be an issue.

Anyone else find this odd/silly/just plain dumb? Wouldn't you want to
encourage your customers to use the products you sell them?

[No, I didn't ask the managers as both stores were quite busy and I
wasn't about to wait 15 or 20 minutes to tell someone how to run his
business.]

Jeff


Keep in mind, Alan, that Corvallis is probably one of the most
bike-friendly towns in the Pacific Northwest. I live twelve miles away
in Albany and it's not nearly as bike-friendly here, or in Salem,
Portland, or the Seattle area (I've lived in all of them). I love the
four bike shops all gathered within a few blocks in downtown Corvallis.
I can spend an entire afternoon just browsing!


Arlie