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Misplaced Loyalty To The Local Bike Shop?

05.10.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 13 Comments

Guest poster Jeff Hemmel liked his local bike shop — until he realized he didn’t.

 We hear a lot about doing business with the LBS, or local bike shop. For the most part, I agree. These are businesses in our community, supporting our sport. Sure, I’ll get something online if it’s truly a fantastic deal. But for the most part, I try to keep things close to home.

Lately, however, I’ve been having second thoughts about which of those community shops deserves my support.

This isn’t about calling anyone out. Suffice it to say one bike shop is where I have bought two bikes, some semi-expensive wheels, numerous parts and accessories, and a decent amount of service over the years. They’re close and convenient. The other is where I have bought a few things at best, and gotten the occasional service. They’re neither close nor convenient, especially if I have to leave my bike or get there by car.

Seemingly it would be a no-brainer to keep going to Shop #1, except for one significant detail. With a couple notable exceptions, the staff is just not that friendly. And it’s not just me who thinks so. I’ve had both neighbors and friends share similar experiences. I don’t expect them to roll out the red carpet. But as a polite, friendly customer who has spent a lot of money in that shop, I do expect to feel valued when I go in there. Heck, at one time I figured I’d probably end up friends with some of these guys. Instead, I sometimes feel like I’ve annoyed them just by coming in the door. As I said, there are a couple exceptions, including one mechanic who always has a great attitude. The overall vibe, however, is just downright weird. Friendly conversation, beyond the basics, is rare. The quickest tweak usually results in a charge. The “friendly” wrench went out of his way and taught me how to do something several months back; the next time I came in one of the others made a snide comment about how much time I had wasted.

It would be easy to dismiss these negative encounters as the occasional misunderstanding or bad day. But sadly, I’ve come to expect it as the norm.

Contrast that experience with Shop #2. On the whole, I haven’t spent much money at all there. I’ve bought no bikes, and few parts. Most of my visits have been when I’m riding by and stop in for something simple. But when I walk in their door, I’m always greeted with a friendly, sincere hello. They ask how I’m doing, how’s my riding going, etc. On the occasion that I’ve mentioned a problem, they’ve immediately thrown my bike on a stand and given it a tweak. Simple, quick adjustments are never followed with a charge (I typically respond with a tip for their generosity). The one time they did do a more extensive repair — a bottom bracket replacement — they compensated for a delayed part by temporarily putting a completely different crank and bottom bracket on my bike, just so that I could keep riding rather than be left on the sidelines for a week. They’ve never asked for my long-term business. But their actions, and their friendly nature, show they deserve it.

For some reason I’ve felt some kind of strange loyalty to Shop #1. I’ve even gone so far as to defend them when others have criticized. But finally, I’ve stopped to ask myself why. Why do I support a shop that I almost dread going into? Why do I ignore a shop that always makes me feel welcome?

I urge you to support your local bike shop. But just because a shop is local doesn’t mean it deserves your business. You’ve got to feel good about where you spend your money…and they’ve got to earn it.

—————-

By the way, here’s a special offer for Bike Noob readers. The concoction called Secret Drink Mix, which Jeff profiled awhile ago, now has a new name. It’s called Skratch Labs. And they’re offering a 15% discount. Visit their website, go to Products, and place your order. Enter Bike Noob in the discount spot.

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Categories // Equipment, guest post Tags // guest post, Hemmel, LBS

Ever Had an LBS Damage Your Bike?

08.04.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 13 Comments

I don’t mean to knock the local bike shop. I rely on them for many things, from routine replenishments of energy food like Shot Blocks to purchases of gloves, computers, other accessories, and even complete bikes.

I’m lucky enough to know a guy who is a skilled bike mechanic, and I can bring my bike over to his house for a quick turnaround at very reasonable prices. So I’m less likely now to run into trouble than I was one evening a few years ago when I took my old bike into a shop for repairs.

My old Raleigh’s alloy wheels weren’t clinchers. I could mount clincher tires on them, but I had to inflate the tires to only about 70 pounds, rather than the 100 pounds they would have been able to handle on clincher wheels. Higher pressures meant the tube would bulge out from between the wheel and tire and burst. One afternoon, I had a flat during a ride. I fixed it, but was concerned about the fix. So that evening, I took it to a bike shop to get a new tire and some tubes. While I was there, I figured to save time, I’d have them mount the tire.

As a browsed through the store, I heard a sharp BANG! like a gun shot. I trotted back to the service area, where the scruffy-looking mechanic stared embarrassedly at the blown tire.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” I said, “those tires shouldn’t be inflated more than 70 pounds.”

He looked at the wheel and nodded agreement. He took out a new tube, put it in the tire, and started to pump it up.

BANG!

By now, the other store employees were gathered around to watch the show. He took out another tube and repeated the process. This time, it looked okay, so he put the wheel on the bike.

BANG!

“Hey man, this just isn’t gonna work,” he said to me.

“It’s worked in the past,” I said. “I’ve done a metric century on these wheels.”

“Yeah, well you won’t any more,” he retorted. “Not only won’t this wheel take this tire, now it’s out of true.”

“So true it,” I said.

“I’ll have to charge you,” he answered.

“No. You knocked it out of true, you make it good.”

“No can do,” he said.

He gave me another tube. I paid for the new tire, and left the shop with my bike. A few days later, I bought my current bike (at a different shop), and I haven’t messed with the Raleigh ever since. I suspect the tire I bought, which was a different brand than the one it replaced, might have been the culprit. It probably didn’t seat on the wheel the same way as the other one did. But the failure of the mechanic to pinpoint the problem and recommend a workable solution bugged me. I vowed never to go to that store for service again. (I continue to buy routine items there, like socks and recently, a new pump.)

Most bike store service departments I’ve dealt with are wonderful, with competent mechanics who do good work in little time. But have you ever dealt with one like this guy? Or worse?

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Categories // Maintenance Tags // LBS

Bike shop advice

10.04.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 7 Comments

Just coming off a depressing weekend, bike-wise. I’ve had a nagging virus of some kind for several days, which has left me very congested. So, to give my meds a chance to work, I decided to take the weekend off from riding.

However, that meant I could give the bike some attention. I did some adjustments to the brakes and the new wheel, but I’ll have to run it into the bike shop for some repairs that I’m not confident to do myself. Which gives rise to a question at the back of my mind — one that is shared by at least one other reader of this blog:

How much can we lean on our shop for good advice?

It seems that in the shop where I bought my bike they are often quick to want to sell me something instead of helping me work through the problem. I’m just not sure if what they’re telling me is a necessity, or if it’s a way for them to pad their sales receipts.

I like the shop. It’s large, well-stocked, and the service done on my bike is generally done well. But they’d rather have me bring the bike to them so they can work on it — and sell me some parts — rather than discuss possible solutions that I might be able to handle on my own. I understand their motivation for this, but they could enhance their customer loyalty — mine — if they’d answer some questions first.

How’s your relationship with your bike shop? Have you ever been oversold, or can you depend on their advice?

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Categories // Maintenance Tags // bike shop, LBS

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