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Posted: 5/6/2021 3:56:22 PM EDT
Curious how many folks around here work in or own a bike shop.
Is it as bad as a gun shop, do operators come in and tell you about the Huffy they rode as an operator in Afghanistan?  Something I have considered as my next career. Granted, I think the next 24 months are going to be interesting. When I was a kid I used to stop in to Lee's Bike shop in Hollywood Florida and drool over all the bikes I could never afford. People there were always cool. |
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Posted: 5/6/2021 4:07:21 PM EDT
[#1]
OST
Interesting idea for a thread if anyone chimes in |
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Posted: 5/6/2021 4:10:57 PM EDT
[#2]
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Posted: 5/6/2021 8:48:26 PM EDT
[#3]
I do all my work. I don’t trust bike shops.
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Posted: 5/6/2021 9:10:53 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I do all my work. I don’t trust bike shops. I have always done my own work because I was broke-ass. I did have e cog side spoke replaced once. A while back and I was in a LBS and an older lady in there getting a front tube replaced. She kept going on and on about being a professor at the local university. I wanted to ask her why she didn't replace her own tube, since she was so smart.
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Posted: 5/6/2021 9:16:21 PM EDT
[#5]
Its a hard to beat online for bike prices ...you may have to make your living on parts and service
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Posted: 5/6/2021 11:05:07 PM EDT
[#6]
Markup on new bikes is like 15 percent
the money is in service, parts, clothing and accessories |
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Posted: 5/7/2021 9:48:05 AM EDT
[#7]
I’ll buy parts, clothing, and accessories from a local shop but more often than not, they don’t have what I want in stock and have to order it. I can do order it myself to my house and not have to make special trip back to the shop. It amazes me when shops don’t have common things like brake pad, cassettes, or chains in stock. The only thing I consistently get from bike shops are shifter cables. The most reliable “bike shop” near me for parts is REI.
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Posted: 5/7/2021 12:29:09 PM EDT
[#8]
It used to be you could run a bike shop with a card of brakepads, 3 sizes of bearings, a compressor and 3 sizes of tubes.
Bikes used to have 47 parts now there are 47 parts in the front fork (which used to be 1 part)  |
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Posted: 5/7/2021 12:33:14 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted: It used to be you could run a bike shop with a card of brakepads, 3 sizes of bearings, a compressor and 3 sizes of tubes. Bikes used to have 47 parts now there are 47 parts in the front fork (which used to be 1 part) There always the "What the hell was Campagnolo thinking!?!?!" I think the only Campy thing I own now is a peanut butter wrench. |
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Posted: 5/7/2021 12:45:41 PM EDT
[#10]
Worked at 2 while in college.
Only good story: We had a chime on the door so we would know when people entered. We stayed open an hour later on Wednesdays, and my buddy Joe was working the last hour by himself. Three kids from the neighborhood came in. Joe came from the back and watched them while they shopped. They didn't buy anything and headed for the door. Joe went back to the repair area and continued finishing up. As he went to lock up 30 min later, he noticed 2 bikes by the door were missing. The business next door caught what happened. The kids knew of the door chime, so when they exited they didn't let the door shut completely. They waited till Joe went in the back and then stole the two bikes. We caught them that weekend riding the bikes in the neighborhood. When the court date came, Joe went to testify. Only 2 of the 3 had been caught. While on the stand, Joe said "those two came in the shop around 6:30pm". Before he could finish, one of the hoodrats stood up and said "nah man! There were three of us!"  We got the bikes back and they went to juvie...wasn't their first offense. |
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Posted: 5/8/2021 3:46:17 PM EDT
[#11]
Last place I lived had 2 bike shops. One guy just sold bikes, he did some repairs but only on bikes he sold. When you spoke to people he spoke down to them. He only liked what he sold and always talked shit about the brands he didnt sell. Just an all around asshole. I never saw more that a few people ever in his shop.
The other guy sold bikes, and did repairs on anything. He was very quiet and listened to his customers intently and then interjected his thoughts. He loved bikes, the older the better. Roll in a vintage Schwinn and he would swoon. Roll in a custom hand made racer dripping with vintage Campy and he would drop everything and drool. Walls adorned with his old racing jerseys and event T shirts. If he didnt have what you wanted he would order it. If it wasn't something he sold, order it yourself ship to him and he would set it up. He had a very large inventory of parts, accessories, clothing, tires, ect. He even had a museum of vintage bikes of all kinds. Saturday you couldn't get in the door. |
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