If you stock it, they will come

harmonix1234

Eats Squid
I was wondering what is considered to be a fair request of an LBS?

I have a great LBS, but they don't stock the regular items that I like that I am regularly replacing (eg Conti GP4000s tyres, Kool Stop Salmon brake pads, Schwalbe SV15 tubes, Morgan Blue Race Oil, SRAM Power Cork Bar Tape).
These are regularly replaced perishable products that I am always buying.
They are small ticket items, and would cost more from an LBS than online, but I am happy to pay extra for the convenience of just stopping in after work and grabbing what I need rather than going online and waiting a week for them to come from England.

Is it fair play from a customer to say to an LBS "Hey, I don't wanna buy them yet, and I don't wanna put any money down either, but if you stocked these items then this is where I would come to get them when they need replacing cause I'd rather the $ go to you guys than a retailer in the UK"?

I have always been asked to put down some $ and actually do an order in the past, which I understand because the shop has to buy what they get in and if some retard backs out of a sale with no deposit then the shop is left to fork out for it and hope they can sell it. But I would think these items would be low risk for an LBS and even if I didn't buy them (which I would) then surely they would sell quickly anyway being popular and quality products?

I do love my LBS. I just wish they stocked all the stuff I wanted and didn't have to do a special order every time I need them.

Needy much? haha
 
Mate I think it is a very fine balance,

You want the bike shop to be there when you need them.

BUT if you can buy the same product, cheaper and get it delivered to your door quicker then going through your bike shop its hard to argue with that.
 

wombat

Lives in a hole
Obviously its going to vary line to line, but for many products its just not reasonable to stock too many options. Take bar tape for example. We keep lizard skin in 3 different thicknesses and all colors, prologo in 3 different tapes and almost all colours, a few different versions if pro tape, a couple of fizik options and some budget stuff too.
I definitely wouldn't be adding SRAM cork to the range just for the occasional purchase as it would be needless duplication and complication of stock as we have similar tape in two other brands. If course if someone wants it specifically I'd order it, but I wouldn't carry it as an additional line on the basis if one sale every few months.

Tubes are kinda similar, I'd expect to have some choice of premium tube (of which I'd say schwalbe are the most common) but if the shop carries a couple of other comparable lines already I can't see them adding it.

Its definitely a matter of balancing choice and efficiency, but most of the things you listed are the type of product that would be stocked with buy-in programs or quantity orders, and its just not feasible to do that for every brand.
 
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harmonix1234

Eats Squid
Mate I think it is a very fine balance,

You want the bike shop to be there when you need them.

BUT if you can buy the same product, cheaper and get it delivered to your door quicker then going through your bike shop its hard to argue with that.
My argument is that their quality of service is worth it.
 

carpetrunner

Likes Dirt
It depends...

I was wondering what is considered to be a fair request of an LBS?

I have a great LBS, but they don't stock the regular items that I like that I am regularly replacing (eg Conti GP4000s tyres, Kool Stop Salmon brake pads, Schwalbe SV15 tubes, Morgan Blue Race Oil, SRAM Power Cork Bar Tape).
I'll go out on a limb and say that you do not have a great LBS if they don't stock Conti G4000s.
This is by far the biggest selling clincher around Sydney, in the bunch I ride with it outnumbers the others by 3:1.
So in the case of Conti 4000s your LBS is telling you and many others that they don't care about what you want.

Kool Stop Salmon is more of a specialist item - most people buy pads from their groupset manufacturer, so I can understand that one. Same for the other stuff on your shopping list.

I think you will find that stocking items depends more on who is their distributer and if they have any other items from that distributer an account with that distributer and things like minimum order quantities and payment terms. Maybe Conti are not great to deal with?

My LBS does a special on Conti GP4000s :thumb:

- carpetrunner
 

harmonix1234

Eats Squid
It's odd. In hobart we have bike ride, avanti plus, mcbains, ken self cycles, the bike shop moonah, tassie cycles, ride bellerive and the giant shop in Kingston. Not one of them has conti gp4000s' in stock. Maybe it's a tassie thing?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Alo661

Likes Bikes and Dirt
GP4000's in Aus are completely out of stock, if your LBS has them, buy em now. Only got the new GP4000 II's now and shops can't do as good as deals on them as the normal GP4000's. I have no idea what the difference is, but probably some marketing bullshit that says it lasts longer and grips more, which is impossible.

And no, if you stock it, they will not come. Try running a shop up in Broome and stocking high-end road wheels (Zipp, ENVE, Lightweight), ain't going to do so well. Know your target market and sell to that.
 

moorey

call me Mia
I was after some presta tubes the other day. Not super light xc 1.7-2.1, or heavy DH 2.5-2.7".
4 local shops, zero tubes. Might have them in in a few weeks.
Bought online, $34 for 10 delivered.
I tried, I swear :noidea:
 

wombat

Lives in a hole
I was after some presta tubes the other day. Not super light xc 1.7-2.1, or heavy DH 2.5-2.7".
4 local shops, zero tubes. Might have them in in a few weeks.
Seriously? Where the hell do you find these places?

Or were you looking for 100mm valves or something stupid?
 

johnny

I'll tells ya!
Staff member
Actually, Moorey, my LBS, who are freakin awesome to me (I was their first ever customer and bought a bike straight up), didn't have any 2.3 of any kind for a while there. Not sure what the dealio was but it was a bit over a month back.

They gave me some 2.1s for cheap (might have even slipped me one, can't recall).

Bike Culture, great shop, good blokes, couldn't rate them any higher.
 

wombat

Lives in a hole
Good quality tubes are massively flexible size wise, I don't really think 2.2-2.4" specific tubes are warranted.

Anyway, anyone who was seriously into bikes would be on tubeless anyway :p
 

moorey

call me Mia
Good quality tubes are massively flexible size wise, I don't really think 2.2-2.4" specific tubes are warranted.

Anyway, anyone who was seriously into bikes would be on tubeless anyway :p
Fuck your tubeless shite.
I'm Not running a 1.7-2.1 in 2.4 tyres. Nor a DH tube:rant:
When you consider that more people than ever are running bigger bag tyres, and some of us have no interest in tubeless, I maintain it's shite to not stock an appropriate tube.
 

johnny

I'll tells ya!
Staff member
Tubeless feels 1000X better, no doubt about that.

I've had some bad luck though. One XR3 Team had a metal plate on a track tear a 20mm gash in it, the other XR3 had the rim go through it like it was a pinch flat. Been running a tubeless HighRoller on the front now and it's been silk. Have a tube in the read XR3 as I can't bring myself to throw out an otherwise perfectly good expensive tyre. Dying to get it back tubeless though so I'm making sure to do heaps of skids when I ride.
 

wombat

Lives in a hole
Fuck your tubeless shite.
I'm Not running a 1.7-2.1 in 2.4 tyres. Nor a DH tube:rant:
When you consider that more people than ever are running bigger bag tyres, and some of us have no interest in tubeless, I maintain it's shite to not stock an appropriate tube.
My point though is that the 1.7 tube and the 2.4 tube will often be the same damn thing. If you were looking for a tube that was specifically labelled as 2.2 to 2.4 I can see why you had problems, because that's dumb.
 

moorey

call me Mia
My point though is that the 1.7 tube and the 2.4 tube will often be the same damn thing. If you were looking for a tube that was specifically labelled as 2.2 to 2.4 I can see why you had problems, because that's dumb.
No, they're not. A 1.7-2.1 looks like a catheter tube, and is generally already thinner for the weight weenies. By the time it expands out to a 2.4 tyre, it's the thickness of a Johnny hat.
 

njplews

Likes Dirt
No, they're not. A 1.7-2.1 looks like a catheter tube, and is generally already thinner for the weight weenies. By the time it expands out to a 2.4 tyre, it's the thickness of a Johnny hat.



I went thru our lbs also asked for a tube to suit a 2.1 tyre they gave me some tube don't know what it was but defernetly was not what I asked for blew out on first ride!! I agree I would prefer to buy local but the online shopping is really convenient and saves time and generally quicker
 

Jim Junkie

Used to sell drugs, now he just takes them
I was after some presta tubes the other day. Not super light xc 1.7-2.1, or heavy DH 2.5-2.7".
4 local shops, zero tubes. Might have them in in a few weeks.
Bought online, $34 for 10 delivered.
I tried, I swear :noidea:
I have the same problem all the damn time, from places that almost exclusively sell mtb's too, I just don't get it.

My other pet peeve is trying to buy rubber from the LBS and finding out that 90% of their stock is 650B or 29" when I ride 26". Does rubber go off or something? What's stopping the LBS just keeping a range of popular tire brands/makes in ALL sizes? I'm pretty sure there's still a 26" market around to sell consumables to, right?
 
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