Bad Bike Shop Manners??

Qui si parla Campagnolo-www.vecchios.com wrote:


No. It does seem that most bike shops are filled with either dolts or
surly putzes that are there to prove something...some sort of a power
trip about the 'knowledgeable vs the not' or something.
Even in Boulder we hear stories about some shops, and why they'll never
go in 'there' again. I think great bike shops or stores, kinda by
definition, don't do well in 'talking', I think sometimes from pressure
to sell, sell, sell.


Thanks for commiserating, all the more important since you're a
businessman yourself. Frankly, I can't figure out what business model
the average LBS employs -- everyone seems to sell the same things! But
if you don't, you're outta business!

I wish you a busily prosperous 2006...bookmarking you for when I
recover from my $4K SMGTe and get serious about componentry....

Matt O'Toole wrote:


Well, the good ones do both well, but people with that combination
of skills can make more money almost anywhere else.

These days the quality of bike shop staff, like coffeehouse staff, may be
explained by the "bad barista index":

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5073210

Matt O.


GREAT LINK! THX!!!

Jeff Starr wrote:


If you really like Kevin, you will think twice about recommending
NYC??? to him.

I think this here is the problem: these shops think it's just me
handing over the money like it was McDonald's. But even there I can
ask for unsalted fries, etc. -- does $3K not mean at least that much?

This guy shows up every few months, causes a commotion, does some
trolling, and gone again.

You mean you honestly read the newspaper for good news?

I think last time it was boats swamping, and
mistreatment.

Of course, you don't pay attention because it's enough that you fill in
the blanks how you choose.

As others have said, when bad things constantly happen
to one person,

You need John Allen Paulos' classic best-seller "Innumeracy" -- or at
least a dictionary to distinguish between correlation and causation.

you have to consider the person.

Considering that you have nothing of substance to say, I'm worried
about you -- pride goeth before a downfall and all that.

Life is Good!

Sure, ignorance is bliss!

Jeff

Johnny Sunset wrote:
: Roger Zoul wrote:
: ...On my road bike I get all nasty when it rains
: (mostly down my back), I just though it would be much worse on a
: 'bent due to long chain (throwing stuff alone your entire backside
: - seemingly, anyway) and the because (seemingly) you're mostly
: leaning back so that rain gets you more in your face than on a road
: bike where your head tends to lean forward.
:
: I have never really noticed much water coming off the chain while
: riding a recumbent in the rain. But then, the rain never has bothered
: me as much as most other Midwestern riders (good thing they do not
: live
: in the Pacific Northwest near the coast).
:
: On a long wheelbase bicycle (LWB) a front fender is a necessity, as
: the spray from the front wheel will otherwise be directed at the
: rider's
: face at normal speed. On a short wheelbase (SWB) a front fender is
: very useful in keeping spray off the rider's feet, legs and crank/BB
: area
: of the bike.
:
: Rear fenders are also necessary for recumbents unless they have
: hard-shell seats, as the water will easily pass through a mesh back
: and/or soak the base padding.
:
: Of course for the ultimate in recumbent weather protection, see
: http://www.leitra.dk/.

Thanks for the info. I'd keep it. The pic in the link reminds me of a duck

In article .com,
"NYC XYZ" writes:

I was talking about his boss, the Big Fella
in the lawn chair winking at me while I was testing out the SMGTe.

Ya but don't recumbents emanate from The Dark Side? ;-)


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Qui si parla Campagnolo-www.vecchios.com wrote:
G.T. wrote:

Qui si parla Campagnolo-www.vecchios.com wrote:


The converstion in a retail place should in ALL cases be ended by the
'customer', not the employee. A bike shop is supposed to be the expert,
the person that listens and then, perhaps, sells. Sometimes it IS a
chat room, and that's how you grow your biz. If a person is comfy just
talking, then he will be comfy later giving you money. Pretty simple.
NOTHING is so important in a toy store, that the employee shuts a
person down, in order to talk to another, even if they have a $20 bill
stuck in their nose, waiting to buy. The surly attitude displayed by
some in this thread is WHY many bike shops go under. They commit
suicide, they don't go outta biz.


I've seen guys stay in a shop literally for hours without ever intending
to purchase a thing. You would entertain these guys for that long?


I think you get the impression that we sit down in our little lounge
and yack about everything including some bike stuff.

Do you excuse yourself for a minute to help another paying customer
who's been standing there waiting 20 minutes just to buy a tube? Or
possibly even a larger purchase?

Greg

--
"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons

NYC XYZ wrote:



THANK YOU!!! That's why I'm keeping track of 'em now! I'm like, WTF,
*all* my three bikes have no valve caps!!!! How did that happen!!!

At another LBS the guy said oh you don't really need them, it's no big
deal. Is that true? I know they're not air-tight like a vaccuum, but
are they really just decorative???


They're just to keep grunge off the valve. If you stick to paved roads
you'll probably never miss them.

Greg

--
"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons

NYC XYZ wrote:
That's Saint Ed the Great. I was talking about his boss, the Big Fella
in the lawn chair winking at me while I was testing out the SMGTe.

For a while Mr. Ed (aka St. Ed the Grate) was posting as "GOD".

--
Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley (For a bit)

place he got the Trek 1000 sounded pretty normal; there really aren't
such
things as "floor models" in bike shops... because you can't properly
build a
bike on the spot, you need to have your inventory built up ahead of time.

But here's the thing: you're gonna build one *anyway* if I take the
floor model (that's what you call it, right; it's there for people to
try out, etc.), so why not give *me* the new one, seeing how I'm paying
the new-price?? I'm not asking for it on the spot, mind you -- though
if I take the display/floor model, you can be sure they'll build a new
one that very night so there isn't an empty spot the next day.

There's really no such thing as a "floor model" in a bike shop. In general,
bikes don't get ridden much and not purchased, certainly not current models
anyway. And the ability to just build another one up? Not so easy (or smart)
to have enough inventory to do that... it's a very easy way for a shop to go
broke. Let's see now, the Trek 1000 comes in 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60 & 63cm
mens sizes, plus 43, 47, 51, 54 & 57cm womens. One color for womens, two for
men. So if a shop have only ONE, just one of each, they'd have 19 of that
one single model in stock. And there are, what, 25 road bike models this
year, maybe more?

Inventory management is the key to differentiating between a shop that goes
broke and one that stays in business. More important even than margins.
That's why it's unlikely he'd have another bike to build up "new" for you.
Having said all that, if there is a boxed bike that's sitting in back,
building it up is no big deal... why not?

THANK YOU!!! That's why I'm keeping track of 'em now! I'm like, WTF,
*all* my three bikes have no valve caps!!!! How did that happen!!!

At another LBS the guy said oh you don't really need them, it's no big
deal. Is that true? I know they're not air-tight like a vaccuum, but
are they really just decorative???

Presta valve caps serve no reasonable purpose that I can see. They certainly
aren't air-tight. The best they might do is keep the area clean so you don't
blow grit into your tube, but I've never seen that cause any trouble.

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


"NYC XYZ" wrote in message
ups.com...

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:


I was thinking that myself. Peter Stull is definitely into recumbents, as
well as the other shop he mentioned (with recumbent in their name).

That's why I was like, it is just me or what??

The
place he got the Trek 1000 sounded pretty normal; there really aren't
such
things as "floor models" in bike shops... because you can't properly
build a
bike on the spot, you need to have your inventory built up ahead of time.

But here's the thing: you're gonna build one *anyway* if I take the
floor model (that's what you call it, right; it's there for people to
try out, etc.), so why not give *me* the new one, seeing how I'm paying
the new-price?? I'm not asking for it on the spot, mind you -- though
if I take the display/floor model, you can be sure they'll build a new
one that very night so there isn't an empty spot the next day.

And the guy "stealing" valve caps? A common inside-joke at shops is the
way
customers believe there's some big black market for valve caps, and the
reason we leave them off (which happens accidentally more often than it
should) is so we can score big bucks selling them.

THANK YOU!!! That's why I'm keeping track of 'em now! I'm like, WTF,
*all* my three bikes have no valve caps!!!! How did that happen!!!

At another LBS the guy said oh you don't really need them, it's no big
deal. Is that true? I know they're not air-tight like a vaccuum, but
are they really just decorative???

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

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

snipped

There's really no such thing as a "floor model" in a bike shop. In general,
bikes don't get ridden much and not purchased, certainly not current models
anyway. And the ability to just build another one up? Not so easy (or smart)
to have enough inventory to do that... it's a very easy way for a shop to go
broke. Let's see now, the Trek 1000 comes in 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60 & 63cm
mens sizes, plus 43, 47, 51, 54 & 57cm womens. One color for womens, two for
men. So if a shop have only ONE, just one of each, they'd have 19 of that
one single model in stock. And there are, what, 25 road bike models this
year, maybe more?

Inventory management is the key to differentiating between a shop that goes
broke and one that stays in business. More important even than margins.

snipped

Aren't you making a case for the large-scale bike makers, who have
extensive "menus", to establish regional distribution centers? This
would help the dealers both with inventory levels and with customer
service. Seems to me that if "brand T" can get a bike to a dealer
faster and more economically than "brand C,G or S", they would have a
real advantage, both with dealers and customers.