If you opened a bike shop....

[girofan]

If I opened a bike shop i'd go bankrupt within weeks. There'd be loads of posts on this forum complaining about the service.

Perhaps you should talk to Dave Hinde, palinurus, he gets a lot of stick from ACF.

 

[starseven]

A chap I know has just gone out of business after selling bikes and parts for 20 years. He pointed out that he could sell the cheap bikes for £99 or even £129, the supermarkets will sell these for £79 and you take the box and put it together yourself. He would have to put it together and fix it when it came back broken.
Plus a small business cant get the volume of cheap bikes with £20/50 mark up to make any money.

The only option is quality bikes that arrive almost built (spech, bianchi ,gt etc) with good mark up and hopefully a lot of accesories, clothing as well. add to that the more profitable income for service andn repairs.

Oh and run very tight with no waste, minimal wages etc and you may have half a chance.

Doesnt sound like so much fun now

 

[NickM]

Not much point, then, is there?

Who would want to be a purveyor of cheap tat to riff-raff anyway?

 

[Tim Bennet.]

If you wanted to stock Cannondale, Spesh, or Trek, etc, the manufacturers would dictate exactly how your shop would be run. They have minimum stock level requirements and you're obliged to carry both mtb and road, even if you have no mtb customers.

They believe their bikes are better being sold by numpties in a bike supermarket like 'Wheelbase' than in a specialist LBS. People think the high end bike shops are being sniffy by not stocking these sorts of brands, but it's more likely to be they can't meet the requirements of these global brands marketing demands.

 

[ChrisKH]

Depends where I was opening it, and locale of the area. Places like Condor can get away with stocking high end products as they are in a High end area. If I were to open a shop in Watford, it would be more bottom to mid-range.
But, preferably: high end - not city boy bikes (I like Bromptons, but they have, of late, been appropriated by a particular type of person in Central London): definitely a road focus. Perhaps Wilier, Enigma (love them, and if i had 4k would buy one in a flash), Pinarello and something like Colnago. Would stock the key ranges of clothing, including a widish selection of shoes and accessories (Ortlieb panniers for a start: my dad got some recently, and they're unstoppable). Thorn tourers.

Cough - meaning what exactly? (lovingly strokes Brompton).

 

[domtyler]

There's a 7,750 square foot industrial unit round the corner from me for sale. Close to the A38, north Bristol. Anyone fancy going into business building bespoke bikes for the moneyed classes? Something along the line of Vanilla bikes in the US of A.

OK, it's back to work as normal then.

Not many people would go into business with someone without an avatar. Too shifty by half!

 

[barq]

Normally my thoughts about my fantasy bike shop extent only to the terrible puns I could shoehorn into the name: Be-spoke Bikes, Different Spokes, Cycology...

I guess it would sell MTBs from about £200 upwards. There is no point in racing Halfords to the very bottom of the market. I'd want to stock at least a couple of the really well known brands (Trek, Specialized, Kona...), and then something a bit different like custom spec builds on On One / Voodoo frames, or something along those lines.

It would be nice to be known for building really good wheels - given how often people ask for wheelbuilder recommendations I assume there is a premium market (albeit probably a small one) for people who value a quality build. I'd also want the workshop area to be visible from the shop floor - rather like the trend for kitchens to be visible from the restaurant area.

Not sure how practical any of that would be, but it's my fantasy shop so...

 

[SamNichols]

Cough - meaning what exactly? (lovingly strokes Brompton).

Basically, a lot of idiots appear to be riding Bromptons around London these days. As i sai, i like them very much - not a folding bike better - but, they've now become a symbol of power for the elite congestion-charge dodgers in London.

 

[Tetedelacourse]

Well I would buy an old velodrome and in the centre of it erect a large shop area where I would stock every possible sort of bike I can imagine, right from budgies up to that idiotic Storck vision that was in the comic a while back, and of course everything in between.

I'd offer test drives of a lap or two round the track for anyone who wanted it, and lessons from the likes of Bentmikey, Magnatom, Cab and ,er, Bonj on road use.

I'd have a small selection of clothing and tools and accessories, obviously led by the whippet 2 design of Cycle Chat jerseys.

There would be a Cycle Chat Cafe in which there would be things like "Hippo's Corner" where ridiculous puzzles would be set and debated. There would be a library containing books such as "How to get started in Porn" by Pat Stevens, "Knit on yer Nelly" by S. Archer, "A Finger in Many Pies" by Fnaar, "Eating Your Way Through the Animal Kingdom" by Dayvo, "East Anglia sans Ford Anglia" by BTFB etc etc etc actually this might be a new thread all on its own.

Anyway I'd be in the business of enjoyment.

 

[Paulus]

You would have to stock a few lower range mtb's to get the kids in, but, also stock good quality road bikes so that the people who come in could see what they could aspire to given a few more quid. Also I would have a coffee/tea bar with cakes on sale? get the buggers interested and they will come back for more. get the customers in the shop and the majority will buy something.

 

[Dayvo]

Hmmm! Profit or pleasure?

I like Paulus' idea about having a little caf.

I'd also have a large book/DVD section.

I'd run (assuming I was competent, of course) several bike mechanic courses, and offer decent mechs. the chance to earn a little cash and fix bikes (part-time) in the workshop.

Have links and contacts to various clubs, sportives, cycling holidays, trips to events etc.

Oh, and, of course, good quality, but not necessarily top-of-the-range bikes, parts, clothing and accessories.

It's not just about the money.

 

[Tetedelacourse]

I would have Mickle and Hilldodger as in-house gurus.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

Not arrived yet? Huh, the post these days. I sent it first class yesterday...

Does this mean my shark is underway???

 

[ChrisKH]

Basically, a lot of idiots appear to be riding Bromptons around London these days. As i sai, i like them very much - not a folding bike better - but, they've now become a symbol of power for the elite congestion-charge dodgers in London.

Is that such a bad thing? I bought mine about 4-5 years ago, reducing my outlay as I wasn't using the tube anymore and got rid of the commuting car (used to get to the station each day). This was long before the London bombs I might add. Don't we want people to get on bikes?

 

[walker]

A lot of great ideas here that:

1) cost to much to materialise
2) arn't very practical

Oh we do dream