6 ms·

Shops that do well are shops that earn their place as community hubs, and that's a pretty organic process. It takes time and care to build trust. I am very lu

Shops that do well are shops that earn their place as community hubs, and that's a pretty organic process. It takes time and care to build trust. I am very lucky, my LBS has all of sheldon's old bikes on the wall next to the mechanic's station. They are respected enough and established enough to sell everything from $15k S-Works to $6k rivendells to $250 giants. You'll find everyone from Cat-2 guys to the local daily commuters there and it's a chill scene because everyone feels welcome.

bluejekyll 6y ago
> I am very lucky, my LBS has all of sheldon's old bikes on the wall next to the mechanic's station. Do you mean Sheldon Brown? His website and all the information about bike maintenance is still one of my favorite things. Their shop built my first fixie hub and wheel for me years ago, with lots of advice. Sadly someone stole that wheel from me, but it was great for 16 years. I only ever got to experience Sheldon virtually, but he seemed like a really amazing person.
scarecrowbob 6y ago
That's a strange flex, but I like it. I had forgotten about Sheldon Brown. He was an excellent author and I learned a whole lot from readin his writing. His site is a great example of what the late 90s/early 00s web was good at doing: https://sheldonbrown.com/ https://sheldonbrown.com/
- spanhandler 6y ago
  Clicking the "what's new" was a great lesson in the difference between old-web and only-somewhat-old web: it took forever to load and I was like "huh, I didn't expect that, given how fast the index loaded and how it looks", then when it did finally load it was obviously a Wordpress site (old web is very very fast, somewhat old web is slower and full of "too many SQL connections" errors, new web is all 5MB of Javascript to display 100K of text).
Mediterraneo10 6y ago
Meanwhile, as a touring cyclist, I got a lot of cold, hostile service from the staff at my LBS. When I finally complained to the owner, he said "Look, you're a tourer. You know how to do most of your own maintenance and you buy low-margin gear. A bike shop needs to focus on the racer and clueless commuter crowd to stay in business, and serving you probably is probably a net-negative for us cost-wise". This really opened my eyes to the importance of margin on bikes and bike parts; it is no wonder that shops like to sell the latest carbon frames, because the margins are huge.
- willcipriano 6y ago
  > serving you probably is probably a net-negative for us cost-wise I never understood why businesses do things like this. In many industries there is often a class of customer that it is proclaimed "we don't make any money on them" and as such they provide a low quality of service. If you actually lose money why don't you raise prices on them? Why are you worried about losing a customer you claim not to want in the first place?
  - princekolt 6y ago
    It's in the article. Because these are the kind of customers who provide no loyalty back. They'll drive an hour to get a part from a different shop because it's cheaper. There's nothing you can do to attract this kind of customer apart from lower margins. So why bother with them if you can run your business well by focusing on everybody else?
    - willcipriano 6y ago
      If you aren't happy with selling items at the price you are selling them at, why sell them? I just don't see the reason to be rude about it.
    - marcosdumay 6y ago
      Then increase your prices to a level you would be happy, and if they want to buy somewhere else, let them. Doing low quality work is a great way to lower both your reputation and job satisfaction. And you better be 100% certain of each customer's lifetime value, otherwise you'll have a problem.
gumby 6y ago
This is also super important for small online businesses (e.g. specialized e-commerce shops). A McMaster-Carr Or ThermoFisher that moves online already has a customer base and channels. But a site that sells, say, lactation aids, needs to be more than just a storefront.
mauvehaus 6y ago
You know, I had jury duty at the nearby courthouse and meant to visit. I’ve moved out of the Boston area now. I a immensely envious that that’s your LBS. If You get a chance, CycleLoft is a Brompton dealer and seems like it might fill a similar role in that community. I made the trip from Somerville when I needed some Brompton parts. They also sell a wide variety of other esoteric brands. Love them. ETA: Bicycle Belle in Cambridge is another lovely shop that knows their customers by name. Shops that cater to commuters seem to be lovelier in general. At least that’s been my experience, and it seems to be echoed by TFA.

bluejekyll 6y ago

> I am very lucky, my LBS has all of sheldon's old bikes on the wall next to the mechanic's station. Do you mean Sheldon Brown? His website and all the information about bike maintenance is still one of my favorite things. Their shop built my first fixie hub and wheel for me years ago, with lots of advice. Sadly someone stole that wheel from me, but it was great for 16 years. I only ever got to experience Sheldon virtually, but he seemed like a really amazing person.

scarecrowbob 6y ago

That's a strange flex, but I like it. I had forgotten about Sheldon Brown. He was an excellent author and I learned a whole lot from readin his writing. His site is a great example of what the late 90s/early 00s web was good at doing: https://sheldonbrown.com/ https://sheldonbrown.com/

spanhandler 6y ago
Clicking the "what's new" was a great lesson in the difference between old-web and only-somewhat-old web: it took forever to load and I was like "huh, I didn't expect that, given how fast the index loaded and how it looks", then when it did finally load it was obviously a Wordpress site (old web is very very fast, somewhat old web is slower and full of "too many SQL connections" errors, new web is all 5MB of Javascript to display 100K of text).

Mediterraneo10 6y ago

Meanwhile, as a touring cyclist, I got a lot of cold, hostile service from the staff at my LBS. When I finally complained to the owner, he said "Look, you're a tourer. You know how to do most of your own maintenance and you buy low-margin gear. A bike shop needs to focus on the racer and clueless commuter crowd to stay in business, and serving you probably is probably a net-negative for us cost-wise". This really opened my eyes to the importance of margin on bikes and bike parts; it is no wonder that shops like to sell the latest carbon frames, because the margins are huge.

willcipriano 6y ago
> serving you probably is probably a net-negative for us cost-wise I never understood why businesses do things like this. In many industries there is often a class of customer that it is proclaimed "we don't make any money on them" and as such they provide a low quality of service. If you actually lose money why don't you raise prices on them? Why are you worried about losing a customer you claim not to want in the first place?
- princekolt 6y ago
  It's in the article. Because these are the kind of customers who provide no loyalty back. They'll drive an hour to get a part from a different shop because it's cheaper. There's nothing you can do to attract this kind of customer apart from lower margins. So why bother with them if you can run your business well by focusing on everybody else?
  - willcipriano 6y ago
    If you aren't happy with selling items at the price you are selling them at, why sell them? I just don't see the reason to be rude about it.
  - marcosdumay 6y ago
    Then increase your prices to a level you would be happy, and if they want to buy somewhere else, let them. Doing low quality work is a great way to lower both your reputation and job satisfaction. And you better be 100% certain of each customer's lifetime value, otherwise you'll have a problem.

gumby 6y ago

This is also super important for small online businesses (e.g. specialized e-commerce shops). A McMaster-Carr Or ThermoFisher that moves online already has a customer base and channels. But a site that sells, say, lactation aids, needs to be more than just a storefront.

mauvehaus 6y ago

You know, I had jury duty at the nearby courthouse and meant to visit. I’ve moved out of the Boston area now. I a immensely envious that that’s your LBS. If You get a chance, CycleLoft is a Brompton dealer and seems like it might fill a similar role in that community. I made the trip from Somerville when I needed some Brompton parts. They also sell a wide variety of other esoteric brands. Love them. ETA: Bicycle Belle in Cambridge is another lovely shop that knows their customers by name. Shops that cater to commuters seem to be lovelier in general. At least that’s been my experience, and it seems to be echoed by TFA.