How can we support our local bike shop ?

I am writing this to guage oppinion on bike shops, as I have two near me that I have found worth their salt apparently, but they are lacking in certain areas, namely the supplying of basic parts. It annoys me to go into a shop for a basic part and they don't have it, nor are they keen to order it.

Yesterday I received light brackets for my old Cateyes, they only took seven weeks to get and I was going to cancel the order yesterday as I had not been told they had arrived. Brackets, I knew were available, I had located three seperate suppliers online where I could get them, but I wanted to support my local bike shop, very foolish of me in hindsight.

The LB said the brackets were retro and there hard to find, oblox, cateye still supply them, you do business with cateye, or their marketing, therefore you can get them, I am certainly not buying new lights for want of a bracket, and if I am forced to, I will get them on fleabay at a fraction of the price they sell at.

The other bike shop I gave up with, after they asked me if I had rod pull brakes, their attitude to older bikes clearly sucked, but then they sell shiny new 2k Treks.

I was wondering if bike shops have moved more towards the car sales attitude, sell new complete machines, not supply parts to keep old machines running.

What do others think, satisfied with your local bike shop, or are they lacking in areas ?

I don't have a local any more :cry: Now I'm a tart and go to any shop. The web is cheaper. But can't be bothered to wait for the postman :roll:

i found out yesterday that my preferred local shop ( cyclesport ) had been sold from its mailorder/internet side of the business .

cyclesport is a very well respected bmx shop , i went in wanting to get some new bmx cranks . i had been in a few weeks earlier to get a freewheel and the mechanic whos a decent bloke told me they had split but i assumed there would still be deals between the two . however when i was in yesterday talking to the lad the shop is selling off all the bmx stuff :?

so off i wandered to the warehouse

while having a chat and nosey at the racks and racks of parts dan told me the guy who bought the shop isnt interested in bmx and reckons there isnt any money in it :roll: way to go , buy an established bmx shop and alienate the customer base

ill carry on going to the warehouse from now on ( might even end up working there if i can write a decent enough letter asking to work there properly ) might go into the other shop in town and see what thats like but most of the stuff i get is 2nd hand ebay stuff anyway

i miss being able to hang around a shop all day talking shit

Fellow retrobikers are well catered for here in Penzance.

the cycle centre has great staff that cover retro cycling in all its incarnations.

John, is 'OLD SKOOL' Audax rider/single speed tart and team Raleigh member. Good with fixing stuff that should really be put out of its misery.


Ian, Roadie of some class back in his day, still recovering from motorbike/Saab interface a few years ago. Not harmed is his encyclopedic memory of old 'tat' and their catalogue numbers!!
Great wheel builder, infact the only bloke to build my wheels for the last 15 years. ( thats a lot of wheels)

Mike, celebrating his first year in Cornwall, Ex Neil Walton employee. Knows his onions on kit past and present. Loves coffee and cake.
http://velocake.blogspot.com/

Simon, BMX Rider/Racer knows lickle wheels inside out.

Mark, Owner and the man that puts up with me hanging around like a bad smell, telling bad jokes and providing cakes for the 'lads'

www.cornwallcyclecentre.co.uk

Big respect to them all, i'd be stuffed without them! al.

thank god for the internet, it means i dont have to wast my time dealing with my lbs. they are eather not intrested or only intrested if i fit into the right category.
i have all types of lbs nearby. the boutique full of lovley ti kit but staffed by stuck up w****** and overpriced. the grumpy old fart who been there since the 70's nomaly complaining about the bloddy boutique shop and tinternet, the high st store closely resembiling halfords, the small hire and fix shop and halfords.
i somtimes use them all depending on where i am but most of the time find that halfords for small parts becouse its quick and easy, or my fix it shop if i dont have the right tools for the job, who is friendly and not trying to sell me anything.
there is one other that fits somwhere in the middle of all that but i very realy go there becouse theres a long wait to have work done and i can find parts cheper on the net.

the shop i managed was called cycle center

I have a new local bike shop in Dundee and they are very helpful but can't always get what I'm after.

They know I'm weird and into retro and fettling, and more importantly they know I am into quality parts but aren't will to pay for them And they do chat/listen to me for ages

They have Hope, Brodie, Santa Cruz, Orbea and KTM, I tried to order a KTM for the lad but the supplier had sold out so he gave me a second hand hotrock 24 frame for nothing.

I don't think they are cheap: a wheel build is £25 + Spokes (DT £1 each) if I supply the hub and rim. where as my other shop is £30 including Sapim DB spokes.

He has 2 discounted Brodies from last year if anyone is interested: a 19 inch climbmax and something else - looks great but is way too big for me.

being in the retail business myself i know just how annoying it is to lose out to the internet but my local shops are terrible. the one in my town is aimed at the £99 market. the mechanic is a decent guy and does a good job but the wait is long.

the nearest bike shop which stocks better stuff is 10 miles away in scunthorpe and is resident to one of the most unhelpful creatures i have ever come across. as a result i use neither!

to answer your title question, i would say support the shop you like.

lets face it, some shops are good and some are bad, i try to avoid mailorder, but sometimes there are deals that are undeniably good. also ebay is good for 2nd hand obviousley.

as far as stocking parts to suit retro bikers, most shops local to me stock the odd 7 or 8 speed cassette, but most only the cheap ones the rest is 9speed etc. the shop i used to run in southampton is owned by gary who himself up until last year still raced a 92 kona explosif, he understands the benefits of quality spares so basically never stocked the cheap 7/8speed cassettes but does stock the nicer hg70 items etc, and parts perverts could get lost in his boxes of spares! gary loves finding the right part rather than finding one that will do.

Plus points:
My local guys understand the retro thing, and built up a nice rear wheel with reverse dish onto a Hope Ti screw-on hub for my singlespeed. They didn't bat an eyelid.

Minus point:
Mavic X317 32H rim took 10 days to order. I could have got it from CRC and carried it in. Grrr.

I had a similar experience with the Cateye brackets, except they brought out a cardboard box of brackets and sorted it out on the spot...one happy customer who came in for one bracket and bought three!