Broken Spoke

[hubgearfreak]

why the snide insults hubearfreak?

they're not snide insults steve. the fact is that you refuse to acknowledge that a shop has overheads over and above the wages. if you really think he's earning £300 000 pa i can sadly think of no other explanation other than you're either plain stupid or bloody stubborn.

or do you really think that rent, rates, electricity, insurance & etc. are free for bicycle businesses?
it's much more likely to run over £100 000 for a shop in london, which to cover would take an awful lot of 5p cable caps.

 

[Steve Austin]

i am not refusing to accept that a bikeshop has overheads. I am refusing to accept a five minute job should cost £15. Its very different.

I think we as consumers are being ripped off by many organisations. I don't walk into any biksshops to be greeted by a warm hearty handshake and cheap parts. i get met by some spotty oik who grunts a greeting then trys to charge the earth for what essentially are very cheap parts

 

[dodgy]

Which is why you buy online Steve. By the way, just to be clear, I only buy online though I did buy a bike from a localish bike shop recently.

I don't expect my LBS to match CRC or Wiggle, the overheads are real and have to be paid for.

Dave.

 

[hubgearfreak]

I think we as consumers are being ripped off by many organisations. I don't walk into any biksshops to be greeted by a warm hearty handshake and cheap parts. i get met by some spotty oik who grunts a greeting then trys to charge the earth for what essentially are very cheap parts

then we'll have to agree to disagree.

my LBS is one of the former, your experience of them is unfortunately more like the latter, sadly. but as to the relevance of their skin condition? it's beyond me

 

[Mr Pig]

its not really Andrew. its the desperate shop owner trying to wring every last penny from his customers.

That's right. The guy in JJB Sports gave me a couple of spacers free of charge and I've never bought anything from him. He's just a very nice young guy.

I have to say though that I'd be happy to pay £15 to get a broken spoke replaced, it seems reasonable enough to me.

 

[fossyant]

Bugger, snapped a spoke on my commuter tonight - guess - rear wheel drive side - at the hub..... cheap fairly new wheels, so popped it off the bike, pulled a spoke off my old wheels, removed cassette, replaced spoke, re-fitted and trued up, gave the wheels a good thump from each side (releases and 'tension' - in you and the spokes) and back in the house in about 20 mins....

£15 is a good price as the wheel will be re-trued and tensioned. It's not just a spoke, it's also a re-true. Don't forget the LBS can have stock sat about for a long time - it all costs.

 

[Willow]

Whilst I would probably hate to spend £15 on a spoke I do feel that £90 gross earnings an hour when there are wages and premises overheads to pay is actually not a bad deal We all want a reasonable standard of living. I guess the interesting thing is whether the prices vary across the country according to overhead costs, I doubt it, but then I suppose the density of the population may be such that where property prices are cheaper customers are fewer blah blah blah

My father was in business and I remember one of his employees resigning and thinking he could run such a business and make himself a fortune he soon returned asking for his old job back realising he didn't have what it needed to run his own company and in fact it didn't make him much of a living - mind you my dad did all right out of it!

 

[fossyant]

You ever seen a rich LBS shop owner ? - I haven't - even the good ones. They may make a reasonable amount, but most of the profits are made from selling the cheap bikes...not the good stuff.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Anyone who has run their own business will have had customers who think that every penny they hand over goes in the owners pocket. They don't see the wheelbarrow loads of cash that have to go out every week, whether it is comming in or not.

 

[barq]

We aren't comparing like with like.

It is possible to fit and tension a spoke quickly. However spoke failures, unless caused by a crash or rear mech contact, are almost always the result of an inadequately and/or unevenly tensioned wheel. £15 is a fair price to pay for that to be fixed. And I don't think that is something that can be addressed without removing the wheel. Besides it is recommended that you don't reuse nipples. However I am critical of LBSs who charge the £15, refit a spoke, but don't address the underlying spoke tension problem.

 

[hubgearfreak]

Anyone who has run their own business will have had customers who think that every penny they hand over goes in the owners pocket.

and they all work in the public sector, with their full pensions, 35 days holiday, as much again on the sick and the annual strike day off at the coast

 

[Baggy]

Oi, don't bring public sector workers into this

 

[Headgardener]

and they all work in the public sector, with their full pensions, 35 days holiday, as much again on the sick and the annual strike day off at the coast

It's 33 days in the NHS for full time employees (it's the only perk we get) and I wish I earned £90 an hour, more like just under £7. Although I belong to Unison I have never been on strike in nearly 22 years of employment.
P.S. Sorry I tell a lie I stopped for an hour one day some years back in support of others who were on strike

 

[yorkshiregoth]

52 days for me