Another bike shop (sad) story

[Ralph]

And yet.....bike shops aren't overly profitable as a group. Retail is just tough. Not making excuses for that particular shop. But wonder if it's not part of a bigger shift in how most of us shop. As a fairly knowledgeable cycle parts consumer....I would just order it from Amazon or similar. The shops gotta make profits somewhere....which further leads to their demise. I imagine Trek has figured out we are not their target market. They want to look more like a BMW dealership.

[peanutgallery]

The margins on a cable or housing are crazy good, but not that good

Regular Jagwire polished/stainless are like $3.50 each, fair deal all around. For the discerning customer, there's a handful of the pro polished for like maybe 10 to 15 bucks each. $30 plus is a little crazy

Trek has done some interesting things to the retail model from their end. They own/control a growing number of stores and really push their retailers to buy into the model that they've developed. Involves a lot of pricing, training and buy in. No one is complaining from the retailer end, they seem happy

[fa63]

Originally Posted by shinomaster

My friend just paid $40 to have a rear shifter cable replaced on a shimano road bike which I think is really expensive.

I think it depends on the context. At my buddy's shop, a cable costs $7 plus $5 to install. But that is for a straightforward, external installation. For complicated internal routing, I think it costs $15 to install. So we are at $22. Then, there are times when the derailleur needs an adjustment as well. That is another $10 for a minor adjustment, $20 if it is major. So you can get to $40 pretty quickly.

I am not sure what your buddy's circumstances were, but just wanted to provide an example.

[peanutgallery]

Internally routed on a craptastic, internet brand and you get to $40 rather quickly with some fresh housing

Originally Posted by fa63

I think it depends on the context. At my buddy's shop, a cable costs $7 plus $5 to install. But that is for a straightforward, external installation. For complicated internal routing, I think it costs $15 to install. So we are at $22. Then, there are times when the derailleur needs an adjustment as well. That is another $10 for a minor adjustment, $20 if it is major. So you can get to $40 pretty quickly.

I am not sure what your buddy's circumstances were, but just wanted to provide an example.

[robt57]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

If the 'owner' really thinks a brake cable should retail for $29.95, he's also ignorant of things like margins, fixed costs, etc...

I'd add that if he based opening the store on markups like this expected, the store isn't likely to make it to lease end.

Having said that, if that is MSRP, it is not surprise that was the price. LBS usually add above MSRP it seems. Maybe add in additional for UPS overhead etc..

[Pegoready]

Playing devil's advocate here...

We've made it clear TREK actually has a brake cable that retails for $30. Whether that's insane or not is immaterial. The owner of the LBS wasn't trying to pass a $3 brake cable as a $30 brake cable. Imagine what Trek charges the LBS owner for that $30 brake cable, probably $15-$18. He ain't getting rich here... This should be more about Trek than the LBS.

The short sided vision is: dude you've never seen walks into your LBS. All he wants is a brake cable, nothing else, and you don't expect to see him again ever. Do you make $12 off him with the $30 retail cable or $0.50 selling a $3 cable? Rent and lights and staff ain't free even in a small town. Do you really want to spend the 15 minutes explaining the difference between a premium cable and a basic one, or sell him the premium one?

I could see both sides. Obviously, because your friend has a buddy like you to tell him he got ripped off, he won't be going back to that shop which is bad for the shop longterm.

[buddybikes]

Bontranger has 6! levels of cables/housing, guess could of been sold xxx level for 79.99

[charliedid]

Dude that cable is THC coated.

[johnniecakes]

I would like to know the difference between a Pro level cable and the ones I buy from the bulk pack where I shop. The owner pulls one cable from the big box on the shelf and charges me $3.00

[Hellgate]

Originally Posted by Seramount

Nelo's, one of Austin's long-time, high-end shops recently closed.



not sure of the exact reason for its demise, but I stopped going for there for service when I had a FD cable replaced a while back...had to leave the bike there for 4 days (?) and got a bill for $50. say whuuuut...?



for comparison...another shop did the same job for $17 and turned it around while I browsed and had a cup of coffee.



up-scale pricing is one thing, but blatantly gouging customers is a stupid business practice.



on the positive side, being burned on the cable job did push me to learn how to DIY, so there's that...

His rent went through the roof.

[mtechnica]

The problem IMO is that you can’t pay people a living wage and also charge a fair price for basic tasks like changing a cable.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by johnniecakes

I would like to know the difference between a Pro level cable and the ones I buy from the bulk pack where I shop. The owner pulls one cable from the big box on the shelf and charges me $3.00

$3.00 isn't enough.

[Clancy]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

The problem IMO is that you can’t pay people a living wage and also charge a fair price for basic tasks like changing a cable.

And yes, that is THE problem.

[el cheapo]

Hate to hear Nelo's (Austin) closed. When I lived in town used to go to the old location on Anderson Lane. Bought a few things there and Nelo always treated me like I had spent thousands which I hadn't. Would have free beer during watch parties for the TDF. He moved to the new location when Performance Bike opened their store next door. Yeah his prices were kind of steep but he had the BEST bikes in Austin. Nice guy who knew how to satisfy his customers.

[HTupolev]

Originally Posted by johnniecakes

I would like to know the difference between a Pro level cable and the ones I buy from the bulk pack where I shop. The owner pulls one cable from the big box on the shelf and charges me $3.00

The very cheapest ones are plain stranded cable, generally stainless or galvanized steel.

The next level up are similar, but drawn through an extrusion die that reshapes the outer strands so that the cable has a smoother circular outer profile, to reduce friction.

Higher-end cables are also die-drawn, but might also be polished or given coatings (such as PTFE). Sometimes the fancy ones are sold as a system, i.e. coatings specifically intended to be used with housings with certain inner linings.

(To some degree it makes sense to always think of cables and housing as a system, considering the needs of one or the other. Like, it generally doesn't make sense to add lubricant to the housing or cable at the time of install if you're using a housing that uses a pre-lubricated liner.)