Support Your LBS?
- Mar 11, 2009
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Supporting your local bike shop (LBS) versus internet shopping is a hot topic. Over the past few years there have been some online bikeshops that have taken the bike-world by storm. I don’t think this is as much of an issue in North America because the prices in bikeshops are cheaper due to the economies of scale. Also, the duties and taxes of importing even a small amount of goods doesn’t make internet shopping worthwhile for the consumer. However, I know first-hand that the situation in Australia is very different. I was shocked at the prices of bike goods when I moved here 4 years ago. The prices at some online bikeshops are the same or cheaper than what the retail stores in Australia can get directly from the distributor. How can a local bike shop possibly compete?
There are vastly different views surrounding this issue. Today we’ll hear the point of view from a fanatical internet shopper. Hopefully this will start a good discussion and then next week we’ll hear from a LBS owner to hear his point of view on the challenges and opportunities he faces and what he’s doing to stay competitive.

The Internet Shopper:
I HATE THE LOCAL BIKESHOP. Every time I walk out of one I feel like I got screwed. On several separate occasions I’ve tried repeatedly taking my business to the same bikeshop to build a relationship and some loyalty. However, every time I walk in there’s a different kid working so I never get a discount for my patronage. I get my brakes adjusted and they try charging me $50 for all the extra stuff they did. One time, a simple spoke replacement cost me $45. A friend of mine took in his new bike because the gears were skipping and they changed the chain and cassette and charged him $300! The bike was 3 months old! I’ve been forced by these ridiculous prices to learn bike maintenance myself.
The bikeshops in Australia also charge almost double what most online retailers charge. A good pair of race tires averages $160 while i can get the same pair for $80 online. A tube costs $12 when I can get it online for $8. A set of Campy Zonda wheels will cost $1000 in the shop when I can get them for $500 online. If something goes wrong with a purchase or if there’s a defect, yeah it’s a pain in the ass to get rectified, but if it’s cheap enough then its still worth it. Of course if something like a wheel breaks, under no fault of my own, I’m out of luck with warranty. BUT, I can always buy a whole new one and still be on par with what I would have initially paid locally.
I hear bike shops whinging about the internet screwing their business but from my point of view, the bikeshops need to learn how to adapt to the new world and figure out a way to compete.
- disgruntled shopper
<a href =”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/1446707/” >Where Do You Do Most Of Your Bike Shopping?</a> <br/> <span style=”font-size:9px;” mce_style=”font-size:9px;”> (<a href =”http://www.polldaddy.com”> surveys</a>)</span>



