I would happily source a bike online if the pricing was substantially more attractive. If it was only a few quid difference and I had a convenient LBS then I would buy in person. Some people get far too carried away with this notion that a LBS-supplied bike will have been lovingly put together and adjusted to perfection before the customer gets it. In most cases the LBS is not going to do much more than fit the front wheel if the bike was shipped with it removed, and turn the handlebars round straight. Any brake and gear adjustments are going to be very minimal. Not really much more than an online customer is going to do anyway when they take delivery.
The only real advantage of the LBS route I see is if the bike arrives damaged or with a significant fault, it's the LBS problem to get it sorted before they can hand it over, rather than the online customer having to argue the toss with the supplier who might not be very diligent about dealing with after sales issues.
I had a conversation with a bike shop manager in Bath, I forget the name of the shop and he basically stated that the higher end bikes come in pretty much ready to go with minor assembly and are typically well setup from the factory. I think he was talking about bikes around £1,500 or more but that entry level bikes typically needed more work and would come in with poor assembly, lack grease etc. Basically they would spend a lot more time setting up the cheaper bikes but they were their bread and butter earnings and best selling bikes so had to do it. However such bikes were less likely to be returned during warranty for repairs etc as were simpler bikes, less complex gears and often more durable, heavier parts etc. Maybe the people buying them would typically use the bikes less not sure.
I haven't bought many new bikes from a local shop but did buy a Carrera Subway 8 from
Halfords and got a free upgrade from a rubbish Chin Haur bottom bracket and they fitted a very decent Shimano unit instead. The Chin Haur unit was clicking. I also had a Kona Lanai and that had a Chin Haur bottom bracket that had a huge recall on and I bought a £30 Saracen Pylon s/hand a few years ago from a bike shop that couldn't be bothered to sort it out so sold it cheap and that again had a failed Chin Haur unit although can't criticise that one as it was likely the original bottom bracket and the bike was about 12 years old when I bought it.
I'd always buy locally if the price is the same or there is a only a small price difference but sadly often there is a huge price difference. I buy by spec rather than brand and my local bike shops are typically fairly poor value. I remember going into my local bike shop a year or so back and their entry level mountain bike had awful basic Suntour forks, mechanical disc brakes and a freewheel based drivetrain so was really mountain bike style rather than an actual mountain bike and they wanted over £500 for it. For the same money in Halfords you could have got air forks, mid range Shimano groupset with freehub, hydraulic disc brakes and similar geometry on a Voodoo bike. I felt sorry for anyone that actually bought that bike from the local bike shop.
A bit like this Trek except this Trek actually has a worse fork with only 28mm stanchions but shares the same basic 7 speed freewheel you find on sub £100 bikes (well sub £100 bikes before the pandemic). I'd have to bite my lip if I came across anyone who bought that bike and wanted my opinion of the bike.
https://www.trekbikes.com/gb/en_GB/...ikes/marlin/marlin-4/p/29759/?colorCode=black
