Can anyone tell me why bike shops only open for half a day on Sunday?

[R-Soul]

Do you buy bike gear "every other weekend, or just look?

I buy coffee and breakdast every other weekend, but love looking at bike gear a lot. And every now and then I buy.

I have the full set of gear, from a wide variety of places. Two piece leathers, a cordura jacket, gloves x2 ,boots, helmets x3. but myself,. like most have built this up over time. I do not drive a Porsche and can just walk into a shop and kit myself out from head to toe, no. Very few people here could. The question is WILL I IN THE FUTURE?

Your tone of an "exasperated salesman waiting for people with real money to come in" is not appreciated by me nor probably your customers. Do you know of ANYBODY (short of pro riders) that buys gear "every other weekend"? Because lets face it, once you have the assortment of kit required for your chosen ride, (maybe twenty pieces of gear- maybe forty- whatever?) it does tend to last a while (unless you crash a lot).

But you are not JUST trying to get people like this through your doors, you are trying to get as many fans of the shop through your doors as possible, and keep them fans. So that WHEN they want to buy gear, they go to you. And when they are looking and comparing, it is not a neccessary EVIL (as you seem to think of it) because you can sell them coffee and toasted sandwiches until they are ready. You should think of the time in between when customers are looking as the chance to forge relationships with them -not 'screen' them.

Most of us are quite brand loyal, and I love my Hondas, but I'll be fucked if I will buy a Honda from a tosser of dealer that frankly treats me with disrespect because I dont have $30k to throw at him right NOW, while I am checking out my options. I would rather ride to Hamilton and buy one there. Loyalty goes a long way, disrespect even further.

[R-Soul]

And at the moment I have my eye on a number of different accessories that I am keen on-and that are affordable to me, but that I am still looking around for. Things like:

- Back protector (cheapest $60 so far)
- additional armor for hips/shins (about $100)
- LED running lights for my bike (seen for $80)
- indicator warning buzzer ($60)
- racing gloves ($140 - 300)'
- bike intercom system (150)
- gps (?)


The range of prices for small things like this is probably about $20 up or down. No big deal. I am sure that there are a lot of riders with small requirements like this. These are small things, but when you add up these over a number of riders, there are a lot of sales to be made.

Will I go to the shop that is dull and dreary where you cannot get service, or the shop with the most excitement about it? You figure it out.

Yes some of these requirements will be internet sales based on price alone, but a lot arent because I LIKE going into bike shops and shopping around.

[Brian d marge]

Ive been flat out until today Tuesday , couldn't fit in the Tokyo motor show ( but I met the people I wanted to )

but all that was lost today when the missus went to ikea ,,( Swedish furniture shop) ,,,,,one sofa , desk comfy chair , and stuff only women buy ............

I tell ya its cheaper if I work for myself , hire a whore by the hour , and drink top shelf every night

anyway enough of my complaints , The sales method of Ikea was interesting ..........

lots of other stuff including racing the boys on electric bikes ,,,but off topic so ,,,,,,

Stephen

[Robert Taylor]

Ive been flat out until today Tuesday , couldn't fit in the Tokyo motor show ( but I met the people I wanted to )

but all that was lost today when the missus went to ikea ,,( Swedish furniture shop) ,,,,,one sofa , desk comfy chair , and stuff only women buy ............

I tell ya its cheaper if I work for myself , hire a whore by the hour , and drink top shelf every night

anyway enough of my complaints , The sales method of Ikea was interesting ..........

lots of other stuff including racing the boys on electric bikes ,,,but off topic so ,,,,,,

Stephen

So what you are saying is ''Dont buy the book, join the library? !!!!"

[Brian d marge]

not a bad idea ,,,
Actually was quite an nice experience , ate me lunch and a few beers , relaxed ( as relaxed as you could be when the missus is spending money )

looked through the catalog , decided what we ( she ) wanted , looked at the display model or one very similar

filled out a bit of paper , the whole kit and kaboodle arrives in a few day time delivered to door ( can do over night but )

apart from the crowd it was a pleasant enough experience
now I know it wont apply to our business model , some parts may , but for me it wasn't too bad , and I do not like shopping
so thats saying something


Stephen

[jonbuoy]

not a bad idea ,,,
Actually was quite an nice experience , ate me lunch and a few beers , relaxed ( as relaxed as you could be when the missus is spending money )

looked through the catalog , decided what we ( she ) wanted , looked at the display model or one very similar

filled out a bit of paper , the whole kit and kaboodle arrives in a few day time delivered to door ( can do over night but )

apart from the crowd it was a pleasant enough experience
now I know it wont apply to our business model , some parts may , but for me it wasn't too bad , and I do not like shopping
so thats saying something


Stephen

Its worth being dragged around IKEA for the hotdogs at the end.