Bike shops

[91Bear]

When I got started cycling, most bike shops were pretty low-budget Mom and Pop stores with boxes of take-off parts and clearance items that didn't sell. I always liked going to end-of-season sales and digging through boxes of stuff for the hidden treasure or bargain.

It seems like modern bike shops are showrooms like car dealerships and you don't see much in the way of tools and gadgets. There's a shop near me that features Trek and all the stuff is Bontrager branded. I like the shop and the staff but miss the variety.

Does anyone else feel this way?

[ultraman6970]

IMO you are right.

[GOTHBROOKS]

well, bontrager is treks housebrand. would you expect to see a bunch of mopar stuff in a honda dealership?

[ernmony]

Slowly but surely, the good ones are closing up shop here due to outrageous leases. Techies are definitely not helping the cause! The local Trek shop says they are remodeling but I am sure they would be outta there very soon too.

[91Bear]

Originally Posted by GOTHBROOKS

well, bontrager is treks housebrand. would you expect to see a bunch of mopar stuff in a honda dealership?

I know it's their house brand but it used to be different. I don't necessarily want to look at only Bontrager helmets when I go in there. I would like to see Giro, Bell, Limar, Kask, whatever.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by 91Bear

I know it's their house brand but it used to be different. I don't necessarily want to look at only Bontrager helmets when I go in there. I would like to see Giro, Bell, Limar, Kask, whatever.

Welcome to Trek or really any other big brand wanting to cross sell and keep your money under their umbrella.

Tools, tough to say there's anything you could buy at a bike shop that you couldn't find at Home Depot bar some more specialized presses and, what, maybe cone wrenches?

[zambenini]

in my experience you have to go upmarket to find anything that's not like you describe. I am sure there are a handful of quirkier shops left, but it seems like any significant incidence of non "company store" shops is rarer. And those that hang on with an owner with some personality, have probably worked hard to find their niche.

International Pro Bike Shop in Bellbrook, Ohio; Frank's Cyclery in Raleigh, NC, Gran Fondo Nashville (RIP, I'm told). These come to mind and they rule.

[Elefantino]

At least carry Park or Pedro's and give the consumers a choice.

But the branded stores don't have that option.

[gasman]

Yep, and the branded stores have to carry the full range of bikes the company produces. From $400 to $8,000 (just throwing numbers out). They can't carry entry level from brand X and high end from brand Y even if they think that's the right thing to do.

[MaraudingWalrus]

Yeah - lots of shops, especially those tied to a bigger brand get varying degrees of pressure/encouragement to go sort of all in on the brand's stuff. Trek/Specialized seemed to me to be the most aggressive with that, with Giant coming in close, and Cannondale wanting to get that way.

Even other brands may be sort of tied together via distributors, like Fizik/Brooks/Crank Bros/Continental are in the US, and pressure shops to go get more and more of their stuff. Sometimes it's sort of positive reinforcement - like really great price breaks or long terms on orders - sometimes it's negative reinforcement - like saying you can't continue to buy their stuff if you have competitor X's products, too.

Lots of IBDs are losing the I portion of that as a result. And they are sort of becoming homogenized like a car dealership, tied more and more closely to a brand. My father can't get Aston Martin stuff at the Porsche dealership, just like I can't get VW stuff at the Kia dealership.

[unterhausen]

The trek representative that covered this area got replaced and the new rep started threatening my lbs because they didn't have a sterile all-trek product line. They were threatening to move the line to another shop, including visiting a local shop that is for sale with the thought of having a company store. The owner of my lbs got tired of it and dumped the line. Trek finally figured out what had happened about 6 months later. Now they don't have to explain why their low-end hybrids are 10% more than the equivalent bike from a different brand at another store. Trek has some nice mountain bikes, and I'm sure they miss the high-end road bikes. They did sell those occasionally.

The closest trek dealer is now 50 miles away and sells lawnmowers. Somehow I doubt they are selling too many madones/domaines.

The spesh dealer in town is not an all-spesh shop either, which I didn't think was possible. They also carry Cannondale.

There is a shop 60 miles from here that is all Giant. Turns out Giant is the worst, everything in there is Giant branded. Not supposed to order from QPB. It's really sterile, expensive and uninteresting.

[jadedaid]

I found that the shops I've come across fall broadly into 4 categories. Being in NY also makes for a very particular spread of bike shop types.

1. High end independent 'show room' grade shops. There's a couple of shops around which sell high end bikes and custom bikes. They have ludicrous builds on the wall (think custom Parlee, custom Moots, etc.) and DA and AXS are the most represented groupsets. I think of these like candy shops, pop by, see what you like, get inspiration and maybe get a bike once in a blue moon if you want to. Some of these carry quite a good selection of accessories (or are dealers for major brands like Specialized) which comes in handy if you want to try a bunch of seats or need the odd bits and bobs.
   
   
2. Manufacturer branded bike shops. I've noticed esp. Trek has a bunch of own brand stores in NY. I stay away from these, I like Trek frames but I don't feel a need to be bombarded with own-brand advertising.
   
   
3. Hole in the wall shops. These are the shops that look like you'd want to steer well clear unless you know they are good. Specializing in selling 4-700 dollar bicycles, that type of stuff.
   
   
4. Bike fitting specialists. These are shops which specialize in bike fitting and may also have a repair section and sometimes sell bits and bobs. Not really useful in the day to day but great when you need their specific expertise.
   

I've found that the quality of the work by the bike shop does not correlate with their level of presentation. Out of the shops which I use, the one that looks like it would be the worst is the best when it comes to repair work and my favourite. It honestly looks like you wouldn't trust it with a Tiagra groupset, but look closer and in the back they are often working on some very very nice bicycles. Conversely I was quite badly burned buying a custom bike from one of the showroom style shops which didn't have a good mechanic at the time.

[bfd]

Originally Posted by ernmony

Slowly but surely, the good ones are closing up shop here due to outrageous leases. Techies are definitely not helping the cause! The local Trek shop says they are remodeling but I am sure they would be outta there very soon too.

Yes, old school independent bicycle shops are dying. But two that seem to stand out in the SF Bay area are American Cyclery in SF and A Bicycle Odyssey in Sausalito. Both have tons of bikes ranging from old school vintage stuff to the latest e-bikes.

Classic Rendezvous has a list of interesting shops in the US that cater towards vintage:

http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Bik...Bike_shops.htm

This includes American Cyclery:

http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Bik..._bike_shop.htm

and ABO

http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Bik...le_Odyssey.htm

Both have been updated a bit since the pictures were taken, but you get the idea. Good Luck!

[weiwentg]

Originally Posted by jadedaid

...

1. High end independent 'show room' grade shops. There's a couple of shops around which sell high end bikes and custom bikes. They have ludicrous builds on the wall (think custom Parlee, custom Moots, etc.) and DA and AXS are the most represented groupsets. I think of these like candy shops, pop by, see what you like, get inspiration and maybe get a bike once in a blue moon if you want to. Some of these carry quite a good selection of accessories (or are dealers for major brands like Specialized) which comes in handy if you want to try a bunch of seats or need the odd bits and bobs.
   
   
2. Manufacturer branded bike shops. I've noticed esp. Trek has a bunch of own brand stores in NY. I stay away from these, I like Trek frames but I don't feel a need to be bombarded with own-brand advertising.
   
   
3. Hole in the wall shops. These are the shops that look like you'd want to steer well clear unless you know they are good. Specializing in selling 4-700 dollar bicycles, that type of stuff.
   
   
4. Bike fitting specialists. These are shops which specialize in bike fitting and may also have a repair section and sometimes sell bits and bobs. Not really useful in the day to day but great when you need their specific expertise.
   

...

I can clearly see types 1 (e.g. Angry Catfish) and 2 (e.g. Freewheel Bikes, Erik's) in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

For our market, I think you could combine types 3 and 4.

Back to the original question: this year, Erik's seems to be paring down their non-Specialized footwear selection. Freewheel stocks Bontrager and Sidi. Both shops do seem to stock Giro shoes, and their online shops show that Shimano and a few other brands are available. I've yet to see much footwear from other brands in the store.

I think both Trek and Specialized make good bikes for sure. At this point, I'm not willing to go all in on one of those two brands - meaning bike and all accoutrements. I don't like the look of a lot of Bontrager's soft goods, and their shoes don't seem to get great reviews. I'd consider their helmets, but I like Giro.

All my footwear is currently Specialized, but that's likely to change: they make good top-level racing shoes, but their second tier XC MTB shoe seems a bit further behind their S-Works. Specialized helmets don't fit me. Their soft goods are OK.

Right now, I know stores where I can get other goods (e.g. Now Bikes stocks Shimano and Lake shoes, One on One has Lake and Giro). The thing is, Freewheel and Erik's are big chains, so they're starting to dominate the market. Now Bikes is a two-store chain. One on One is a small independent shop. I would miss the variety if the smaller players went away.

[bigbill]

There are two bike shops here, one sells Specialized and Felt and the other is mostly BMX. They stock what sells, $500-1200 mountain bikes. I do my own work and have everything but headset tools in my garage. Unless I want to drive to Vegas, Flagstaff, or PHX, everything is online sales.

My favorites are: Velomine, Universal Cycles, Bike Tires Direct, and Competitive when they put stuff on sale.

When I'm feeling nostalgic, I think back to the day when I went into a LBS with a Mercian KOM 531c frame/fork and the shop ordered the group (which included hubs), rims, tires, and all the other parts needed to build a bike. The mechanic built the wheels and glued the first set of tires. These days it's very much like buying a car, just see what's on the showroom floor.