I sort of had this conversation on Thursday. I’d spoken to the LBS about my rear mech failure and he’d said as 10sp 105 was now so rare, and the hanger so specific, he was happy for me to get them myself (if I could). Luckily the nearby Halfords had a mech in store, clearly as part of some legacy stock.
I’d already bought a new chain and cassette that I was planning to swap over the weekend after the mech went bang (from Wiggle in fact). They arrived the day I had the failure. I took them along but said I’d happily pay his rrp for those consumables, but he said he’d fit. He pointed out the front chain ring was a bit shark toothy, which it was, so I happily bought one of them off him.
I think so long as you’re clearly sympathetic to their business model, LBS are generally OK. It’s taking the piss like the stories above that understandably riles them.
He was a bit pissed in general though. His shop was full of bikes he said hadn’t been collected on time (I took mine in Thursday lunchtime, picked it up Friday lunchtime - he said some had been there a week+).
Selling goods out of a shop when you are trying to sell skilled services is just stupid: bike mechanics, opticians need to learn from barbers and dentists.
I don’t agree at all. That’s like saying a restaurant employing chefs who cook food shouldn’t actually make a lot of their margin on the marked up wine.
Bike mechanics don’t make tyres.
Opticians don’t make glasses.
Chefs do make food.
Bike mechanics service bikes.
Opticians device eyeballs.
Chefs do not poke around in your guts.
It would be similar if restaurants were run by those poo doctors, I suppose. Trying to make money selling spaghetti with a medical degree in bottom bacteria, and would also be daft.
But most restaurants don’t make much money on the food. The margins are low. I don’t get your anger…you’ll have surely bought drinks based on a price you saw on a drinks list/wine list?
Do you refuse to go to pubs for the same reason, when you can buy a case of lager at Costco for the same price as a pint in a pub?
I entirely disagree. It’s about selling a complimentary product to your main offering.
If you’re going to get stupidly pedantic, chefs don’t make food, they cook it with a skill and expertise to know how to blend ingredients. The farmer “makes the food”.
When I go to a bike shop, I expect them to have the necessary components to fix an issue if one manifests unexpectedly. Having those items in stock and on hand to solve a problem there and then has space requirements, up front cash flow investment, etc etc. Making a margin on that is absolutely fine, and to be expected.
Because the ingredients used for fine dining are of a very different expense level to Tony’s Carvery. As are the costs for a Michelin star set of chefs, versus someone who’s done a H&S food certificate to be able to cook at a pub.
You go to fine dining for the experience. And lots of people choose to add wine, cocktails, whatever, into that experience.
A quick search indicates the types of different margins obtained on food versus drink.
In the single digits % margin on the food. The potential to upsell drinks and earn huge margin.
Restaurants are not a secure business model. The stat is something like 1 in 5 restaurants shut within the first twelve months
The point is people think they’re hot shit with their skills but in reality NOONE GIVES A FUCK that’s why they won’t pay for them directly. So they end up retailing trinkets and pretending they are something other than a trinket salesperson.
Sadly, they are overpriced for what they are.
When you’re a parent having to fork out £400 for a bike that will last 2 years max, cost has to be a significant factor, the longevity just means you get better sell-on value but you’re still losing 50% of the purchase price.
That’s why the savvy parent buys a second or third hand bike, because we know that the depreciation has already been factored in (of course it’s not always that easy with availability and timing).
There are very few islabikes around our primary school, lots of Frog, Wiggins and Hoy. They’re all built to last.
We’ve had two Frog bikes and I’d say they’re better (and a bit cheaper) than islabikes.
Presumably, Islabikes know all this but for whatever reason couldn’t improve on their business model.
An interesting thought - £10 / month for 2 years is £240 which is a bit more (~£50) than you’d pay second hand but a lot less than from new. If a service was built in then there might be enough margin in it …
As I said, they did it, for years, no-one was really interested, it only appealed to those without the cash to finance the buy and re-sell, and those people weren’t spending a few hundred quid on any bike for their kid.
bikeclub.com still do it too, more than 10quid/mo for a Frog though, and I’ve never heard of anyone actually doing it. Mind you I don’t think you were ever getting an islabike for 50quid second hand.
