Bike shop advice

Meets Melbourne
41

Customer service is a huge factor as to which bike store I tend. Obviously if I’m midway through a build and need a new tool or cheap rubbers I’ll head 2k’s up the road to my friendly LBS but when pay day rolls around I head the 25k’s to town to scope out my favourite stores and pick up what’s needed, normally with their recommendation.

I spend over $100 each week at them shops and still haven’t spent a cent at the high-end store because of the “nose in the air” attitude they give me. It might not be SRM calibre cash but I’m sure it goes a long way considering my stores all run with one or two people everyday.

I’m confused as to why Tokyo Drifter is even on these forums, it sounds like he hates on anyone who eats while riding, skid stops or turns left on a red and then rants on about it on Adelaide Cyclists. I’d love to know which bike shop he’s from so I can steer clear of there, my best guess would be Bicycle Express.

If you were to open up a place like that in Adelaide, it would definitely be on my weekly parts route.

I hope to see your place up and running when I move to the east coast, good luck.

42

I actually replaced a Mavic SLR spoke recently and it was quite cheap considering what it is and what I thought it would cost.

I apprciate a lot of the constructive comments here quite a bit, it’s refreshing to know that many of the forum users are reasonable people with good advice/ideas.

I am sure we all have our own opinions and ideas based on our experiences over the years and that is why I decided to put my plan on the forum in the first place.

It seems that some of the wholesale prices quoted on this post are unusually high and I think that this point alone gives me the motivation to open a shop with prices that are a bit more realistic.

I will be getting my presta tubes (60mm threaded valve) direct from Asia and will retail them for $5.00 each, according to some of the posts this will be my first step towards the end of my business.

God forbid I may even give some away for free…

I would be happy to discount that price (the $5.00) if any of the forum users went into the shop and said hello.

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Can’t believe you deleted my michaeljacksonpopcorn.
This thread is a recipe for a car crash, it’s amazing.

My 2c: I agree with the sentiment of a shop set up to work with stuff ppl buy online. A la bike brain in Sydney. Get a reputation for awesome mechanic skills and work from there.

44

I like that titanium’s last response wasn’t so narky.
As far as bike shops that I like and would go to for parts and stuff goes, my list is fucked cos my LBS is goldcross, and a bit further in the opposite direction is Casey Cycles where I would totally go if they had any stock of anything applicable to me, but considering the nice Dale owns the place I’d go there anyway for a set of grips or whatever while I’m near my gf’s work.
But where do I end up going?
Cycling deal.
It’s close to home, and the guy who runs the place smokes the same cigarettes I do. They don’t ever bargain though, which is something I find strange about the (huge generalization here) Chinese shopkeeps. They’re not like Indian guys, who always quote 50% more (or less, depending on circumstances).
Fuck this Indian character said $300 on the phone, when he came along he said he’d only give me $100, then I got him up to $200!?! Hilarious, I fucking love Indian guys.

Anyway, bike shops I ACTUALLY like, and wish I lived closer to.
Pony bikes. Probs the coolest place I’ve stepped into, if I lived anywhere in melbourne I would, no matter how meaningless, find my way there for parts. I don’t give 2 cat’s nipples if I have to wait for a part to come in from a distributor, fuck dude I saw a kid Jordan wait 3 months for spokes for his 24" street dirt jump bike while my mate who ran the joint struggled to find the length, and then eventually another mate of mine called his dad who worked at some big arse bicycle shop in dandenong for what he needed and he sent some out.
The shop tells the story that they didn’t know who sold that particular length, another guy I know told me they didn’t pay their bills so they couldn’t send through the perfect (and well priced) spokes.
And also
I like shifter bikes, I would go there if ever I had a bike I didn’t know how to set up. I dint think that’ll ever happen, cos if ever I haven’t known I just google that shit. But shifter seems to know what time it is, and appears to have all the right tools and Fyxo as a bestie pro-mo-ing where he can, sprucing up a reputation nobody else could even hope to create over night.

Other place I like is saint cloud, cos I’ve always been welcomed with a big smile or a hug from whomever’s working there. Soon I should be dropping a load of cash in there, should be sweet! Hahaha

See a pattern though? These are 3 places I’ve been and I have loved them. I have also got sweet vibes for human powered, or commuter cycles (I don’t remember, I’m surprised I even remember my
Gf’s name my memory is so bad), which I called into once when I won a voucher at dirty deeds and had to travel sooooo fuckin far to go and spend, but it was nice.

Anyway thats what I want in a bike shop.
Are you gonna give it to me? Or are you gonna do one of these pro shops where you have $100,000 stock and no character, and sponsorships of major races but no time to throw in a few stickers and a hat with your logo on it for the local courier/hipster race?
Best shit is a community, not a scene. People who walk in off the street and you have a convince with, so they come back looking for your smile and your decent price again.
You want to see some guy wearing a T-shirt with your logo!
Small shit that’s kept nice is the best!
That’s why you’ll see me riding a Kumo before you see me riding a cinelli.
Fuck I’d have a Kumo before I’d have a Brooklyn Machine Works Gangsta Track. Fuck I wanted one of those since I saw Kanye’s yellow one, or pharell’s raw one with the two aerospokes.
But I wanna keep shit small
Keep it local
Go for quality and love, not big ass competition high turnover huge stock stuff. Leave that to the very expensive companies that there’s already heaps of.

Good luck dude hey
Love the haters, haha

45

How about buying one of those old Merc Sprinters which are the size of your average Melb apartment and have a mobile servicing unit. You would be able to work standing up, could also do the mechanic for hire thing at events, do wheel building in it etc. At the very least come and pick up the bikes for servicing / repairs which you could charge extra for.

Might have already been done but I’m thinking it would be cheaper than setting up a physical address and being tied into a lease. Might have already been done, I just like the idea. Better get a small coffee machine in there as well. Captive audience at a winter event!

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This is for you HM.

47

Hydraulic fluid and coffee = yummy