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I wish I had a bike shop....


Mojoman

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Because business must be booming for these guys. I am shopping around for a new fork and very few shops have bothered to call me back with pricing and stock. OK, so I don't have thousands of Rands for a top notch Fox fork but seriously, can you guys afford to loose business this way? No wonder the online stores are doing well.

But a thumbs up to West Rand Cycles who knew straight away what stock they had as well as current prices on their stock.

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Welcome to SA. The culture of bad service is rife.

 

The shop owners can't afford to pay big salaries, so their staff are young guys who have no retail training, no professionalism, no drive to make the business succeed, no initiative.

 

When will bike shop owners wake up and realise that they are killing the goose that lays the golden egg?

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dude I was wanting to spend 40k on a build and had problems with people getting back to me!

 

Bike shops need to be run by two types of people, 1 - somebody with business skills and 2 - somebody with bike knowledge.

 

Unfortunately most bike shops have number 2 but NO number 1

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This is why i love CRC , can see what stock they have and order it with my own control . got some new stuff coming soon :clap: .

 

I have my own bike workshop at home so life for me is gooood , no need to go to shops.

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dude I was wanting to spend 40k on a build and had problems with people getting back to me!

 

Bike shops need to be run by two types of people, 1 - somebody with business skills and 2 - somebody with bike knowledge.

 

Unfortunately most bike shops have number 2 but NO number 1

 

A certain Gauteng based franchise I know, starting with the letter C (and NOT The Lab ) is the exception. They have no #2

Edited by patches
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A certain Gauteng based franchise I know Staring with the letter C (and NOT The Lab ) is the exception. They have no #2

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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I would love to run a bike shop in Cape Town. It is a relatively new market in comparison to Euro and the US, but even then, as posted above, in South Africa you can still mail order from CRC (and others). Mail order 'shops' have massive throughput which allows them to win on absolute pricing. In the US and Europe they are now crushing independent retailers. In CT you need to be able to carry stock (expensive) and have people to work on the bikes (less people want to do this when they can make a business for themselves, also need skilled people) and you need people that are interested in the role. Many keen cyclists currently are highly skilled (and paid) professionals that don’t need to supplement their lifestyles with these sort of roles.

 

But if anyone has a business proposition I would love to come over from the UK to live the dream!

 

Sun, cycling, and a growth business to build

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Ha ha yes they were going to be my example but thought one Caj........s fight is enough for this month :)

 

You guys, I primarily visit 2 shops, Linden Cycles and Trinity Cycles (My LBS) and these are people you can trust.

 

For what it's worth.

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You guys, I primarily visit 2 shops, Linden Cycles and Trinity Cycles (My LBS) and these are people you can trust.

 

For what it's worth.

 

CRC and my Park Tools Big Blue Book are my LBS...

 

but when I want stuff in a hurry... I also go to Linden :thumbup:

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It is the same everywhere. I contacted a jewelery store to order a Nomination link. It's been 4 weeks and still nothing. They keep on telling the supplier is not getting back to them. I eventually contacted another store and they got it for me in 3 days, from the same supplier.

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CRC and my Park Tools Big Blue Book are my LBS...

 

but when I want stuff in a hurry... I also go to Linden :thumbup:

 

But yes, as Mojoman's original post read. These shops must make a penny, with services, new tyres and components. I suppose their margins aren't that big, but there is more and more people in cycles be that road or MTB.

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Slightly off topic, but related to the issue of pricing in our market. I was speaking to a local supplier of cycling parts and apparently our market is smaller than that of Mauritius :blink: :blink: :unsure:

 

And that is why there is very little incentive for suppliers to provide the distributors with competitive pricing.

 

And this is why the consumer goes online. Apparently this is also the case within the PC hardware industry. South Africa's market isalmost insignificant when compared to other markets and that is why there is no focus on improving it.

 

Saddening, isn't it?

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But yes, as Mojoman's original post read. These shops must make a penny, with services, new tyres and components. I suppose their margins aren't that big, but there is more and more people in cycles be that road or MTB.

 

They make enough money. The owners can't drive the cars they do if they did not make money. SO they must not come cry poverty to me. And I'm not just talking about the big franchise store.

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Slightly off topic, but related to the issue of pricing in our market. I was speaking to a local supplier of cycling parts and apparently our market is smaller than that of Mauritius :blink: :blink: :unsure:

 

And that is why there is very little incentive for suppliers to provide the distributors with competitive pricing.

 

And this is why the consumer goes online. Apparently this is also the case within the PC hardware industry. South Africa's market isalmost insignificant when compared to other markets and that is why there is no focus on improving it.

 

Saddening, isn't it?

i highly doubt that.

maybe he was measuring on some weird metric of his own, but we probably have more cyclists than mauritius has people(1.2m population)

 

but otherwise your point is valid, we're a fraction of world market, but globalisation weakens this effect

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