Bicycle Commuting on the Rise

Tom Sherman wrote:

All the recently unemployed and the large numbers of soon to be
unemployed will not be buying new bicycles or riding them to work.

Perhaps Obama will institute a government program to provide
purchase assistance for people too poor or out of work to
afford a bike!

I have a feeling all our problems will disappear once the
evil Bush (tm) leaves office and Obama and Dems take over
next year, so such a program probably won't be needed.


SMH

Oh give it a rest---unless you are willing to defend every single thing that
Bush and Co. have done to us in the last 8 years!

Pat in TX

"Pat" wrote in message ...
|
|
| Turn BSO problem to your advantage so the potential customer doesn't go
| out the door without buying a bike. Explain to the customer that with the
| cost of parts and labor it makes no sense for them to pay you to fix up a
| BSO, but that there are two choices. First, a list of other places that do
| bicycle repairs that you're unable to do because of time constraints.
| Second, you've got a program set up to donate the BSOs to community
| organizations where volunteers fix them up and give them to whoever. If
| they donate the bike, give them $25 off a new bike and a discount on
| accessories purchased within 30 days. The tax deduction for the donation
| would cover part of the $25.
|
| I wish this would work, but I'm skeptical. People today are so distrustful.
| I can just hear a guy saying "They're just trying to sucker me into buying a
| new bike! What a bunch of crooks!"
|
| Pat in TX

Pat: Don't worry, we're used to that. It already happens anytime you quote a repair for a bike that exceeds maybe 20% of the purchase price, which is very often the case for a BSO.

SMS's idea of a $25 credit for turning in a BSO isn't bad, except for the storage problem. Keep in mind that at least half of the BSOs are way too far gone to be of much use, so basically for $25 we're saving them a trip to the dump. Those who recycle the bikes are relatively picky about what they'll take, which is entirely reasonable. I would be, too. You've only got so much time & space, so you want to make the best of it.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com




"Pat" wrote in message ...
|
|
| Turn BSO problem to your advantage so the potential customer doesn't go
| out the door without buying a bike. Explain to the customer that with the
| cost of parts and labor it makes no sense for them to pay you to fix up a
| BSO, but that there are two choices. First, a list of other places that do
| bicycle repairs that you're unable to do because of time constraints.
| Second, you've got a program set up to donate the BSOs to community
| organizations where volunteers fix them up and give them to whoever. If
| they donate the bike, give them $25 off a new bike and a discount on
| accessories purchased within 30 days. The tax deduction for the donation
| would cover part of the $25.
|
| I wish this would work, but I'm skeptical. People today are so distrustful.
| I can just hear a guy saying "They're just trying to sucker me into buying a
| new bike! What a bunch of crooks!"
|
| Pat in TX
|
|

Pat wrote:

I wish this would work, but I'm skeptical. People today are so distrustful.
I can just hear a guy saying "They're just trying to sucker me into buying a
new bike! What a bunch of crooks!"

It's all in the delivery.

If you give them a list of bicycle repair shops that they can take it
to, maybe some printed instructions on how to do simple jobs themselves
(replace a cable, replace a chain, replace a tire), along with a coupon
if they want to donate the old bike and get a small discount on a new
bike, you can avoid alienating them, you can turn it to your advantage.
You need to be low-key and not pressure them. Maybe you can sell them
some parts, maybe they'll be back to buy a bike another day if they're
treated well.

Personally, I find signs on the door of shops telling people to take
their bicycles elsewhere for repair if they didn't buy them at the shop,
to convey a bad impression. It's like If I didn't know from personal
experience that the shop wasn't like that at all, I'd never come back. I
know Chain Reaction is the total opposite of that, but every time I see
that sign I think that there must be a better way to handle the issue.

On Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:19:10 -0700, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:


Pat: Don't worry, we're used to that. It already happens anytime you quote a repair for a bike that exceeds maybe 20% of the purchase price, which is very often the case for a BSO.

SMS's idea of a $25 credit for turning in a BSO isn't bad, except for the storage problem. Keep in mind that at least half of the BSOs are way too far gone to be of much use, so basically for $25 we're saving them a trip to the dump. Those who recycle the bikes are relatively picky about what they'll take, which is entirely reasonable. I would be, too. You've only got so much time & space, so you want to make the best of it.
Mike,

I think that you need to reset your newsreader's line length.

Tom Keats wrote:

Austere folks should have no trouble acquiring bikes.
What's really needed is affordable bike trailers.

You ain't a-kiddin', brother. I was just looking at trailers on eBay
and rei.com. I saw a Burley d'Lite kid hauler (new) priced at $575!
I wish I owned Burley stock.


Bill


__o | When gas hit $3 a gallon,
[ ]___`\(,_ | People stopped asking why,
(_) (_)/ (_) | And asked, "Where can I get one?"

Personally, I find signs on the door of shops telling people to take their
bicycles elsewhere for repair if they didn't buy them at the shop, to
convey a bad impression. It's like If I didn't know from personal
experience that the shop wasn't like that at all, I'd never come back. I
know Chain Reaction is the total opposite of that, but every time I see
that sign I think that there must be a better way to handle the issue.

I agree 100%, but have yet to figure out what the solution is. My #1 concern
is to inconvenience people as little as possible, and that sign can help
when we're closed or when it's standing-room-only in the store and might
take some time to get to people. Still, that's not really the reason it's
there.

The real reason is that when it wasn't, I'd get more than an earful from
people asking why we didn't have a sign saying that.

But you are correct that negative signs in general should be avoided, just
as it's a bad thing to start a conversation by telling someone "no." For
example, we will take in minor emergency repairs on bikes we haven't sold,
such as flat tires and new chains. So when someone asks if we do repairs, we
should start by saying that we can handle flat tires and new chains or
something similarly minor, but for major repairs, we're only able to
schedule bikes we've sold, until we get our backlog down. That comes across
better than telling someone no, we can't work on their bike.

29 years of owning a shop and you'd think I'd have things figured out better
by now. Unquestionably, the shop suffers because I may be fairly creative
and helpful, but I'm terribly disorganized.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA




"SMS" wrote in message
...
Pat wrote:

I wish this would work, but I'm skeptical. People today are so
distrustful. I can just hear a guy saying "They're just trying to sucker
me into buying a new bike! What a bunch of crooks!"

It's all in the delivery.

If you give them a list of bicycle repair shops that they can take it to,
maybe some printed instructions on how to do simple jobs themselves
(replace a cable, replace a chain, replace a tire), along with a coupon if
they want to donate the old bike and get a small discount on a new bike,
you can avoid alienating them, you can turn it to your advantage. You need
to be low-key and not pressure them. Maybe you can sell them some parts,
maybe they'll be back to buy a bike another day if they're treated well.

Personally, I find signs on the door of shops telling people to take their
bicycles elsewhere for repair if they didn't buy them at the shop, to
convey a bad impression. It's like If I didn't know from personal
experience that the shop wasn't like that at all, I'd never come back. I
know Chain Reaction is the total opposite of that, but every time I see
that sign I think that there must be a better way to handle the issue.

wrote:
Tom Keats wrote:

Austere folks should have no trouble acquiring bikes.
What's really needed is affordable bike trailers.

You ain't a-kiddin', brother. I was just looking at trailers on eBay
and rei.com. I saw a Burley d'Lite kid hauler (new) priced at $575!
I wish I owned Burley stock.

I understand that Burley almost went under financially, and the co-op
had to sell out to a new owner:
http://rgweb.registerguard.com/news/2006/09/17/ed.col.burley.0917.p1.php?section=opinion.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"People who had no mercy will find none." - Anon.

SMS aka Steven M. Scharf wrote:
Stephen Harding wrote:
Tom Sherman wrote:

All the recently unemployed and the large numbers of soon to be
unemployed will not be buying new bicycles or riding them to work.

Perhaps Obama will institute a government program to provide
purchase assistance for people too poor or out of work to
afford a bike!

I have a feeling all our problems will disappear once the
evil Bush (tm) leaves office and Obama and Dems take over
next year, so such a program probably won't be needed.

It will take decades to recover from what the Republicans have done in
eight short years, so don't expect the problems to instantly disappear.

Oh my, I agree with SMS!

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"People who had no mercy will find none." - Anon.

SMS aka Steven M. Scharf wrote:
...
Yeah, I finally got the spousal unit to ride to work. It's nearly a one
mile commute for her! She wanted to ride one of the Bromptons, but park
it outside, which I vetoed....

That makes no sense - the best reason to get a very compact folder like
a Brompton or BF Tikit is to avoid the theft problem by taking it inside
with you.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
"People who had no mercy will find none." - Anon.

In article ,
writes:
Tom Keats wrote:

Austere folks should have no trouble acquiring bikes.
What's really needed is affordable bike trailers.

You ain't a-kiddin', brother. I was just looking at trailers on eBay
and rei.com. I saw a Burley d'Lite kid hauler (new) priced at $575!
I wish I owned Burley stock.

There are some online plans & designs for inexpensive
homebrew trailers, but even those often require resources
that not everybody has at their avail.

I'm almost inclined to mfg and market affordable trailers,
made as much as possible from sustainable materials,
myself. That might be a pretty good selling point.

I luvs my Leggero Max, but it has a lot of plastic
on it.

Woven willow can be a strong, light, elegant and
aesthetically pleasing medium. Actually I'd like
to concoct something out of our Pacific NorthWest
vine maple.

Heh. Drawknife Trailers. Almost has a ring to it.
Except it sounds a little too much like "jackknife,"
which is a bad thing where trailers are concerned.

"Organic Trailers" might be more marketable.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca