Screw the LBS - Praise Traders with Quality Components

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Comments

  • Spitchips - BANNED
    Spitchips - BANNED Posts: 142
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    Spitchips wrote:
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    Yeah, I am like totally the dogs at retail. ;)

    SC you owe me a tenner.

    But seriously... what do you get that is both english-made and top quality in the world of cycling, with the obvious exception of Team GB... and even they are scottish in all their best bits...

    Like I said before Orange bikes and Hope components (made near Lancashire).

    They are one of the very few left companies who actually make stuff over here like Dyson. Everything else is imported. All this import malakee is not helping with English/British businesses go from strength to strength. With our support for home-grown goods we acan help to boost our economy, get people working for those businesses and help get out production line back on the map.

    I belive that 'counter' retail advice is worth £20. So I can wipe the £10 debt clean and now you owe me £10!

    Get back to the MTB forum... jeez. We're talking about bikes for grown-ups over here. ;)

    Now you owe me £20.[/quote

    £20 - what for - thats 25p per character. you did not offer your usual in depth expert opinion.

    Anyhow have you got any ID to prove you old enough to join the ' bikes for grown ups' discussions? if not there is a £100 forfeit to pay. You owe me £110!!

    Please make cheques payable too Spitchips, Account number 01234566789,sort code 1234.
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    sorry for the bad news but Dyson moved production to Malaysia.
  • Spitchips - BANNED
    Spitchips - BANNED Posts: 142
    alfablue wrote:
    sorry for the bad news but Dyson moved production to Malaysia.

    I propose we all boycott Dyson for being profit hungry and not giving a **** about the british/english workforce - who the **** does he think he is. How can anyone get a job thse days if nothing is made over here?

    In fact everyone goes on about supporting youtr LBS but if they are stocking sodding american and chinese goods then we should be insisitngt they stock our english goods first.
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    Spitchips wrote:
    we should be insisitngt they stock our english goods first.

    I thought your business plan was to have a retail store selling top quality components. Now you're saying your stock would be limited to British goods only. So no German, Italian, French, US or Japanese kit. Charitably, that is an ill thought out plan.

    As I said before, get on with it, and let us know how you get on.
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • drewp2008
    drewp2008 Posts: 55
    mate, you have obviously never been in the trade and appear to be ignorant of any business practices in general.

    the reason LBS's are here is because they provide a service to people like you, who buy crap off the internet only to find that doesnt fit of they dont know how to fit it.

    And you must realise that all online retailers bar wiggle and crc dont stock the items they say. Its just ordered from suppliers as the order comes in, hence no overheads or tied up money in stock and a lower price.

    And other than ridiculous 70% off things that occasionally crop up the lbs usually can compete. All the ones ive worked at can (except in france, their trade prices are ridiculous).

    And good luck setting up a mail order bike shop. Not only do you have no experience but only the likes of sunrace and the bottom feeders of the cycle industry would ever supply you , due to being mail order, not bricks and mortar.

    Rant over
    yep, my letter 0 key is bust
  • akcc05
    akcc05 Posts: 336
    this is getting ridiculous, i think the poster is only arguing for the sake of arguing, his argument was lost a long time ago. and i'd love to see how far anyone can get with just using british made goods (not just british brands, but british made!).
  • blackworx
    blackworx Posts: 123
    Naming no names, my old CC back home counts an LBS owner in its membership. He is very friendly with the big spenders. He actually even treats some of them as complete suckers which is basically what a few of them are. He gets the total hump whenever one of them turns up with gear that didn't come from his shoppe, and has little time for those of us who are willing and able to make our own repairs without having to run crying to him to be talked into buying the latest part (and paying him to fit it with his hammer) every time something goes spang.

    I'm not saying every LBS is like that, but the bottom line is money. They have a business to run and it's very hard to do so and compete with the Wiggle behemoth. The better LBS will be successful in fostering good relations with its customers, but be careful you don't get suckered into feeling guilty just because you took your money elsewhere. If you find yourself thinking that way, it then becomes very easy for your loyalty to be exploited. That doesn't make the LBS owner a bad person per se ("exploited" is probably too harsh a word) but they're just trying to earn a crust as we all are, and that is very different from building a friendship, especially when said crust comes from your wallet.

    As for rebuilding English (British?) manufacturing, SC, I really think you'd be swimming against the tsunami of the last 60 years of economic history, but good luck to you.
    Trek XO1
    FCN4
  • Spitchips - BANNED
    Spitchips - BANNED Posts: 142
    blackworx wrote:
    As for rebuilding English (British?) manufacturing, SC, I really think you'd be swimming against the tsunami of the last 60 years of economic history, but good luck to you.

    I just think we should all pull together and help the state of the economy and workforce and with English produced goods like Orange and Hope bike stuff instead of lining the pockets and making foreign countries become powerhouses. I would love too see Orange bikes and other English bikes ruling the shops from Halfords to your LBS and the world over. If Orange started taking on massive of ordrs inland and overseas then they could maybe double the workforce. In return lower the unemployment here in UK.

    We are not helping the unemployed if we buy foreign bikes which in turn employ foreign people in foreign countries.

    By the way I think your mind set and pessimistic views of UK manufacturing dont help. We should be like Eddy the Eagle and at least have a go.
  • Spitchips - BANNED
    Spitchips - BANNED Posts: 142
    Greg66 wrote:
    Spitchips wrote:
    we should be insisitngt they stock our english goods first.

    I thought your business plan was to have a retail store selling top quality components. Now you're saying your stock would be limited to British goods only. So no German, Italian, French, US or Japanese kit. Charitably, that is an ill thought out plan.

    As I said before, get on with it, and let us know how you get on.

    I am not going to open a bike shop. That is not my career aim, it was more of a dream or fantasty. I have enough to do without thinking or talking about opening bike shops. The ention of opening a bike shop was more of an hypothetical situation and afterthought to when I started this thread. ALso the main thrust of the thread was not about me opening a shop. I was just saying it would be cool to have a shop which did not stock cheap and nasty (el cheapo) foreign import goods. :shock:
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    What's this with "English" parts - what about British? And what groupsets would your hypothetical shop stock (obviously not those cheap and nasty SRAM, Shim and Camp bits, yeuk!).

    I do sympathise with your sentiments but I think UK labour costs preclude any mass produced high quality components being made here. There is a possibility that niche and specialist manufacturers may survive, or even flourish in the right conditions, but the UK consumer will not like the prices, and therein lies the problem!
  • Roubaix Rider
    Roubaix Rider Posts: 29
    One factor that Chips has forgotten is; will the supplier / importer want to let him stock their gear?

    For example, I've a good LBS that I use. They can get most components (Shimano, Mavic etc.). However, since they are not the 'dealer' for Specialized, I can't buy a new Specialized bike there; I need to go to my nearest Specialized approved dealer to get one.

    The same will apply to other brands as well. Rather like solus car dealers; for example you can't buy a Mercedes car or even part in a Subaru garage (generally anway).

    As for Orange, they do a great tarif and I've been a loyal customer of their mobile network for years. :wink:
  • Spitchips - BANNED
    Spitchips - BANNED Posts: 142
    I am not opening a bike shop. It was abit like dreaming of being the England football manager.

    Anyhow, further to my point about everyone supporting the best of British goods first so that we could help to lower the unemployment figures in UK; I think that if we all started buying home grown goods first then in long run prices would lower because they could produce mor and with more production lowers the costs, a bit like when 42" flat screwen TVS and DVD players came out, you can now get them in Tesco for £20 (DVD player - not 42" tv before anyone says).

    On top of that with a lower unemployment rate, crime will go down (its all interlinked - butterfly effect) and then the benefits bill will reduce; and our taxes will go down. so the cost of bike would lower further. also then there would be more people working and then more people buying the goods so to help keep costs lower and in end public will pay lower retail prices.
  • jamespiggot
    jamespiggot Posts: 69
    @SpitChips - I think you'll find that Dyson moved their manufacturing overseas to Taiwan about a year ago.
    http://oxfordsportive.com
  • Spitchips - BANNED
    Spitchips - BANNED Posts: 142
    leas excuse my lack of vacuum cleaner knowledge :oops: - I prefer to have ear to ground on bikes. :D
  • Roubaix Rider
    Roubaix Rider Posts: 29
    edited January 2009
    :D
  • Spitchips - BANNED
    Spitchips - BANNED Posts: 142
    Roubaix Rider wrote:
    Spitchips wrote:
    I am not opening a bike shop. It was abit like dreaming of being the England football manager..

    He's crap at English grammar as well!! :lol::wink:

    Roubaix, I think you are in the wrong forum when you are flashing pics of motorbikes at us.I believe the right forum is that way :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow:
  • drewp2008
    drewp2008 Posts: 55
    Ha. I note I didn't get a reply.

    And whats that signature? a Boardman? Was that ordered from an online store?
    No, excuse me it was from the lbs (and a crap lbs at that). Probably put together by an untrained monkey.
    Ah, Halfords the purveyor of only the finest quality cycling equipment.

    Welcome aboard the hypocrite train!
    yep, my letter 0 key is bust
  • The emu
    The emu Posts: 347
    Spitchips, forgetting all the hullabaloo that has gone on over recent posts, you are sort of on the right track and I think a few people have been too quick to tar your idea with the same brush as halfords and wiggle.

    Not sure about video conferencing and british bikes, but that aside if you (or others) are keen on seeing how reputable bike shops on the internet can work you can't look past these two businesses to mould yours on:

    - http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/
    - http://www.comobike.com/ct/shop/pages/i ... anguage=en

    Internet borne from traditional bike stores based on quality, value for money, service, and built on reputation.

    I for one bought my Wilier from Epic, and after delivery I ended up with was a beautiful machine that cost 500 quid less than I could get it anywhere else.

    But it wasn't just about the money, I engaged with Chris at Epic both over the phone and via email for at least a couple of weeks so I got exactly what I wanted right down to the type of bar tape and the number of spacers on my steerer.

    I've also dealt with Como, and the experience was likewise.

    Personally, (I'm speaking as as someone who lives in London now), I actually think there is a distinct market for a specialist bike workshops which does nothing but service bikes and maybe sell components (as part of the service).

    Unlike my LBS who:
    - Are on the high streets with a large retail space
    - Rely on "walk ins" to buy bikes
    - Focus is on sales, not sevice
    - Pay extortionate High Street Rent which is passed on to consumer
    - Have an unhealthy distain for internet customers

    It would:
    - Be small outfit, away from the the high street
    - Rely on internet savvy cyclists
    - Focus on customer service and value for money
    - Charge a competitive price
    - Compliment the internet sales market by welcoming bikers who have bought bikes and components on the net

    Just thought about this off the cuff, and financially it might not work, but IMHO is definitely needed.
    The long grazed legged one
  • girv73
    girv73 Posts: 842
    Yes, screw your LBS - if they suck. But that goes for any shop and isn't restricted to cycling.

    IMHO a good LBS is essential as there are some things that are best done or can only be done in person, not over t'internets. Where do you leave bikes for servicing? Where to get a new chain fitted at lunchtime so you can get home again? Where to try on new shoes or jackets or even new bikes? And there's something to be said for just going down to the shop, looking at and touching the stuff and maybe talking bikes with the guys for a while.

    I'm lucky as there are two decent LBS that I can walk to from work at lunchtime and, at home, CRC's showroom / warehouse is in the next village over (only open 9-5.30 Mon-Fri *grumble*). Generally I'll check out prices at Wiggle and if a LBS has the thing at the same ballpark price, I'll get it there ... but not always.
    Today is a good day to ride
  • marchant
    marchant Posts: 362
    Savour your LBS while you can, I walked to mine for some spares for my rebuild project & to enquire about a price for some work and found it was shut down. Permanently. That just leaves me a Halfords which won't even sell me loose bearings...

    I also saw some of the dumbest shared-use cycle path I've ever seen, but that's another rant.

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