Performance Bikes

catzz66 wrote:
There is a new Performance store moving in right across the freeway from
my office. Should I be happy?

It's a good place for accessories, tires, tubes, and clothing. In
general the prices are much lower than the LBS for these items. The big
plus is that they have long hours, and are open 7 days a week, so you
can get things after work when the LBS is usually closed. My
sister-in-law bought two bikes there and was happy with them. I tried to
get her to go to the nearby LBS, and she would have gone there, but it
was Sunday, the LBS was closed, and she wanted the bikes that day.

They do have some good deals on bikes from time to time, i.e. the recent
$400 commute bike.

Ron Hardin wrote:
catzz66 wrote:

There is a new Performance store moving in right across the freeway from
my office. Should I be happy?

I throw out their catalogs without looking at them. Everything overpriced.

It's not so much overpriced as they just don't carry anything I want
usually. They're very oriented to the weekend cyclist. A lot of the
gear and bits and bobs I want, they just don't carry.

--
Dane Buson -
It seemed the world was divided into good and bad people. The good ones slept
better... while the bad ones seemed to enjoy the waking hours much more.
-- Woody Allen, "Side Effects"

SMS wrote:
My sister-in-law bought two bikes there and was happy with them. I
tried to get her to go to the nearby LBS, and she would have gone
there, but it was Sunday, the LBS was closed, and she wanted the bikes
that day.

I've always wondered about bike shops that are closed on Sundays. I
knew of one with those hours. Of course they closed a couple years
ago...

--
Dane Buson -
USENET would be a better laboratory is there were more labor and less oratory.
-- Elizabeth Haley

On Jun 27, 1:43 pm, Dane Buson wrote:

I've always wondered about bike shops that are closed on Sundays. I
knew of one with those hours. Of course they closed a couple years
ago...


Most LBS's I know are closed on Sunday. It is a simple problem that
is common to all small business. the total volume doesn not allow them
to have enough staff to work 7 days a week.

Most shops here are open 10-6 on M-F and 10-5 on Saturdays. That is 47
hours. Usually the owner is around for all of that time. Many of the
owners are also avid cyclists. That starts to be a very long week.

Larger shops, like Performance have enough staffing to have shifts so
that a store could be open 60 hours per week but not have any staff
working more than 40 hours.

You really see how this hits the smaller retailers when you look at
shopping center leases. They often specify hours of operation and it
is a real struggle for a mom & pop shop to be open 10-9 M-F, 10-6 on
Sat and Sun which is what is often required. That is over 70 hours a
week and it is a real problme for smaller retailers.

Dane Buson wrote:


I've always wondered about bike shops that are closed on Sundays. I
knew of one with those hours. Of course they closed a couple years
ago...


It does not bother me. Unless it was a real emergency, I would be out
on my bike instead of going to a store on Sunday, anyway. I always
assumed that was what the bike shop employees did, too.

On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 13:43:33 -0700, Dane Buson wrote:

SMS wrote:
My sister-in-law bought two bikes there and was happy with them. I
tried to get her to go to the nearby LBS, and she would have gone
there, but it was Sunday, the LBS was closed, and she wanted the bikes
that day.

I've always wondered about bike shops that are closed on Sundays. I
knew of one with those hours. Of course they closed a couple years
ago...


My LBS is closed Mondays; the rest of the week, they open around 2 in
the afternoon and close around 8. Not as bad as you might think: they
get the after-work/after-class crowd, which is pretty much right in this
town.

The owner wants to open earlier, but his main problem is that he's
short-handed. Seems to be a shortage of good bike mechanics in our area.

-Luigi

--
Luigi de Guzman
http://ouij.livejournal.com

"catzz66" wrote in message
...
There is a new Performance store moving in right across the freeway from
my office. Should I be happy?

I have been buying stuff from them online, and have been satisfied. They
have a retail store on Halsted St in Chicago, which I have visited a couple
times. It is well out of my way. I don't know about their repairs.

They are opening a new store one mile from my house in Schaumburg. It is
nice to touch and feel some things before purchase. And things like jerseys
need to be tried on for size before purchase.

Performance Bike must be doing something right, because they are opening
quite a few new stores. They do have a great website.

The best bike shop in Chicago, by far, for repairs and mechanical advice, is
in Wicker Park http://www.rapidtransitcycles.com/ . I have been delighted
with their wheel builds and troubleshooting.

Bike Commuter Jay

gds wrote:
On Jun 27, 1:43 pm, Dane Buson wrote:

I've always wondered about bike shops that are closed on Sundays. I
knew of one with those hours. Of course they closed a couple years
ago...

Most LBS's I know are closed on Sunday. It is a simple problem that
is common to all small business. the total volume doesn not allow them
to have enough staff to work 7 days a week.

My favorite LBS has short hours (12-7 x 5 days a week) I believe. But
they're not closed on Sunday. They're closed on Monday and Tuesday.
Since I work a 9-5 M-F job, this is actually more convienent.

My point was that Sunday is often the busiest day of the week for bike
shops. Mainly because a lot of people are weekend riders, or take their
bike to the shop on the weekend. Sunday just seemed like the worst day
to be closed.

--
Dane Buson -
A bore is a man who talks so much about himself that you can't talk about
yourself.

gds wrote:
On Jun 27, 1:43 pm, Dane Buson wrote:
I've always wondered about bike shops that are closed on Sundays. I
knew of one with those hours. Of course they closed a couple years
ago...


Most LBS's I know are closed on Sunday. It is a simple problem that
is common to all small business. the total volume doesn not allow them
to have enough staff to work 7 days a week.


All the bike shops in my area are open on Sundays.

What I like about Performance is they have everything right there to
look at; chains for example - you can see the selection and the prices
and compare all ten versions and pick the one that makes the most sense
and take it to the cashier,,, instead of describing what you want to
somebody who then goes and picks one for you from a box in the back room.

I've heard them giving really stupid advice to customers though so I
won't trust them with anything important.

Ron Hardin wrote:
catzz66 wrote:

There is a new Performance store moving in right across the freeway
from my office. Should I be happy?

I throw out their catalogs without looking at them. Everything
overpriced.

Ridiculous on two counts: A) They have true "mail order" prices, with many
sale items; and B) OP asked about their brick and mortar stores, which price
match any item from any valid source.

I'm no huge PBS fan (just canceled my Team membership after 4-5 years), but
they do have lots of good deals on lots of products.