why are the local bike shops closing down?

[fossyant]

Wandered into Decathlon on Friday, oh my word, all the cycling kit is gone. A handful of bikes, accessories gone, loads of shoes, but that's it. Spent an age trying to find some gloves in Large, nope all M and L gone. XL was OK, if a tiny bit too long in the fingers (full finger for MTB) - I bought them as I'm down to one pair as one pair has worn out.

 

[Landsurfer]

Decathlon and Aldi seem to have a policy of discouraging cycling at the minute .... Aldi are clearing out old stock ..but ... cancelling sale "due to corona virus" at the last minute in our local stores ??....
Decathlon, as you pointed out .... cycling cleared out ...... getting ready for the move to online sales only i wonder ... look out wiggle ..

 

[Brandane]

Does anyone find that with cycling experience the need for a LBS disappears ...
I've built up all the bikes i've had for the last 30 years, the 2 i bought ready built i dismantled and rebuilt on arrival ... upgrades it's called.
I have 2 one man band LBS in town a Halfords and a James Cycles .... i never use any of them ....
SJS for bits and diy ...

^^^ This. There's nothing very complicated about how a bike works, and if I get stuck there's always YouTube. Over the years I've collected all the tools required to strip and rebuild any of my bikes. I learned partly through need, as my "local" bike shop is about 10 miles away. Far easier to DIY, and I like the feeling of knowing my bike runs like a sewing machine through my own effort.

 

[Brandane]

Decathlon and Aldi seem to have a policy of discouraging cycling at the minute .... Aldi are clearing out old stock ..but ... cancelling sale "due to corona virus" at the last minute in our local stores ??....
Decathlon, as you pointed out .... cycling cleared out ...... getting ready for the move to online sales only i wonder ... look out wiggle ..

My nearest Decathlon has also been stripped bare, but I think the problem is there is no (or reduced) bike manufacturing going on in the far east due to CV19, so no stock to be had.

 

[itboffin]

Yup. Maybe that's what they were doing.
Not good for their reputation when the cyclist wasn't a lockdown newbie, but a regular guy and member of the local club.

Sadly i've seen far too much of that as well, way back I was told i'd need an entire new MTB groupset to fix a simple problem, I also got stung for a completely new drivetrain from another shop, both of which have gone bust since, 100% down to ripping those not in the know off and therefore not building a loyal customer, which is the only way to fend off internet DIY home mechanics, which incidentally is what i've become, spending a small fortune on tools I might use once or twice, that said I'm very confident that any bike i've build, repaired or maintained is safe and done right.

Mind you i have also ridden down a French mountain only to notice that i'd not tightened my stem fully after reassembling, scary stuff

 

[Cavalol]

As another local, agree with you on TBF, good bunch and bought my last Spesh from there. Had a couple of Merida test rides at 69, funny little place really but nice chap, he must have gone 2 or 3 years ago now? I will add Global Bike out at Tattenhall to the list, another one I liked and now sadly gone

Is the one in Mollington still going? Quite a nice little place but a bit of a limited stock. There was another good one in Frodsham (1250 Cycles) which I've had to Google to see if still open, seems they are. Had to almost prise myself out of there to avoid buying a full susser (Giant, iirc) a few years ago.

TBF are brilliant, helped (at the time) by the considerable discount we used to get at work from them. Bought three new Trek mountain bikes from there (still have the last one, love it) over about 3 or 4 years. One of their mechanics (Laurie) used to service our works bikes, absolute diamond of a bloke, ex-racer iirc.

 

[MarkF]

My daughter called into this place a few weeks back, can't remember why, something was broken/loose.....anyway they sorted it and indexed her gears at the same time........for £10.

https://www.margaretcareyfoundation.org.uk/mcf-bikery-shipley

 

[Cavalol]

The one in Mollington is now houses, familiar story, it was run by Keith who owns the Eureka cafe. Bought my best bike from him as he was an agent for the bike I wanted.
The one in Frodsham (if the one on the main road did Bianchi) has gone, not sure about the one by Cheshire Oaks.

Edit. The one I am thinking of was in Helsby not Frodsham.

Christ, I'm going to sound like a right 'Victor Meldrew' here, but Cheshire Oaks Cycles was another dire place. First visit there, wanted a new bike. Told them spec and my limit financially, all they did was try and sell me something 50% over my budget. Next time was tyres they 'definitely had in stock', got there and they didn't have them. 'We've got one of these though' which was the wrong size. Next and last time, had a flat on the way home from work and they didn't have a tube. 'Can get you one in 48 hours' wasn't really much use, had that been my shop I'd have taken one out of the myriad bikes they had on display and sold that.

The Helsby shop got robbed, seem to recall they got in through the back wall and completely emptied the shop, including an Olympic athlete's bike and even the shop order book. Shame, decent shop with nice staff and some bloody nice bikes.

 

[stephec]

Wandered into Decathlon on Friday, oh my word, all the cycling kit is gone. A handful of bikes, accessories gone, loads of shoes, but that's it. Spent an age trying to find some gloves in Large, nope all M and L gone. XL was OK, if a tiny bit too long in the fingers (full finger for MTB) - I bought them as I'm down to one pair as one pair has worn out.

Was that Stockport?

I was in there this afternoon and the fitness section was pretty bare as well, all I wanted was a resistance band but they didn't have anything.

Good stocks of running gear though.

 

[Nigeyy]

I've had similar experiences, and I can't remember the last time I was in my LBS, it may have been in the early 2000s to pickup an inner tube. I now have a fantastic tool set and feel well equipped to take on any job with any of my (10) bikes. Bodged jobs, bad advice and length of time to get things done all culminated in me learning how to do things and buying good tools. It's something I've never regretted and has given me a freedom knowing that no matter what component wears out or I wish to upgrade or change, I can do it all in my time frame with no extra costs. Also add in the fact you can usually -with a little work -find the same advice or wisdom of the crowd from the internet.

While I do like to support local businesses, I've never really understood the "buy from your local bike shop or else they'll go out of business!" mantra. Yes, of course I would like to support my local businesses and I try to. However, business models change -do local bike shop owners buy their groceries from a corner shop? Of course they don't, (at least for a family) grocery shopping is usually done at a supermarket or warehouse. Why? Because it's so much cheaper (and I'm sure since the advent of supermarkets and warehouses loads of corner shops have gone out of business).

I think local bike shops will have to continually innovate or change -as other businesses have done -to survive; whether that be a coffee or pastry adjunct or something else of value that can draw someone like me in. I don't think most can survive just selling bikes or charging 20-50% more for components found on line -and the amount of anecdotes on here concerning worryingly bad service, including mine, doesn't help either.

 

[Levo-Lon]

My lbs Rutland Cycles sold me my Levo for £4630 ,rrp is 6k so internet lost.

 

[Yellow Fang]

The cycle shop next to Reading Central Station has closed down. I can't remember what it was called, but a friend told me it was part of Halfords. It wasn't actually open all that long.

 

[Shropshire65LW]

£5 for a chain? Where from? Was it a like-for-like with the one in the LBS?

yes id like to know too lol 17 online 24 in store ......i may take mine back for a credit as i dont need it now
typical .....its 17 miles to my nearest lbs

 

[vickster]

The cycle shop next to Reading Central Station has closed down. I can't remember what it was called, but a friend told me it was part of Halfords. It wasn't actually open all that long.

Cycle Republic probably

 

[vickster]

yes id like to know too lol 17 online 24 in store ......i may take mine back for a credit as i dont need it now
typical .....its 17 miles to my nearest lbs

You won’t get a 10/11 speed chain for a fiver