Sportsmans Warehouse

[wheeler1]

petatodd

There you've said it yourself. The LBS does not have this problem as the owner works in the shop.

 

When I spend money I like to know the guy I'm dealing with is going to be around come problem time or upgrade time. In your store the guy I deal with might not even be there by the time I go back to buy chain lube.

 

Most successful bike shops are run by cyclists for cyclists, guys who have ridden what I ride, understand what will work for the type of riding I want to do, know the trails I want to ride, know what works with what. I think it's highly optimistic to expect a shop assistant on the retail floor to know this stuff without actually getting out there with the customers on the trails. And not just riding with the boss once a week.

 

My personal experience of SWH is that they do not offer anything that can't be found elsewhere and their prices are normally more expensive.

 

By all means, fleece the unsuspecting public wanting to get into cycling but please leave us hubbers alone with an internet offering without internet pricing. The worst of both worlds. There is nothing that differentiates your offering for the above average cyclist. And no one on the hub is here because they no nothing about cycling.

There you've said it yourself. The LBS does not have this problem as the owner works in the shop.

 

When I spend money I like to know the guy I'm dealing with is going to be around come problem time or upgrade time. In your store the guy I deal with might not even be there by the time I go back to buy chain lube.

 

Most successful bike shops are run by cyclists for cyclists, guys who have ridden what I ride, understand what will work for the type of riding I want to do, know the trails I want to ride, know what works with what. I think it's highly optimistic to expect a shop assistant on the retail floor to know this stuff without actually getting out there with the customers on the trails. And not just riding with the boss once a week.

 

My personal experience of SWH is that they do not offer anything that can't be found elsewhere and their prices are normally more expensive.

 

By all means, fleece the unsuspecting public wanting to get into cycling but please leave us hubbers alone with an internet offering without internet pricing. The worst of both worlds. There is nothing that differentiates your offering for the above average cyclist. And no one on the hub is here because they no nothing about cycling.

NAIL ON THE HEAD

[wheeler1]

So, um, the more money you are going to spend, the more you rely on someone else's input?

 

That's f**ked up.

YEP BOB A it called experience.when going to a bike shop it is the experience you pay for . i can buy everything else cheaper on the net ,the advantage the net doesnt have is hands on experience. perhaps if you knew that ..you would have thought before you typed.

[scotty]

petatoddNAIL ON THE HEAD

Shouldn't that be 2 nails.

[DylanFH]

For all those interested, we have now opened the cycling shop to public and tomorrow i will be in store till about 11:00 am. i will look like horse poo cos im here the whole night but come past and have a look at our new amazing shop. trust me its something quite fantastic. looking forward to seeing you all there and please come introduce yourself to me and let me know what you think. i will be wearing a black livestrong T-shirt. cheers guys

[ThePubSA]

For all those interested, we have now opened the cycling shop to public and tomorrow i will be in store till about 11:00 am. i will look like horse poo cos im here the whole night but come past and have a look at our new amazing shop. trust me its something quite fantastic. looking forward to seeing you all there and please come introduce yourself to me and let me know what you think. i will be wearing a black livestrong T-shirt. cheers guys

 

Rant on;

 

Tell u what brother, after the complete lack of service i recieved from my 2 usual lbs where ive dropped enough cash to expect some service, ive learnt all these bike shops just want $ couldnt give a **** .

Needed a quick job done as didnt have correct tool-neither would do it without booking it in, on a max 15 min job(they just lost 10-15k per year from my wallet).They could have made R300+ off me in 15 mins & see no need to take my cash(staff standing around , workshop empty-this was before 2pm),think there is a big gap in this country for walk-ins.

Point is ill go tomorrow to solomons without phoning , walk in tell agthar what i need done & even if they jam packed he wont say no ,why because hes a business man who knows that all the small emergency walk-ins a week add up.(actually have helped me on more then 1 occasion,will consider them from now before i import)

Pitty you in 4ways cause i would give you guys the benefit of the doubt.People on here saying they wouldnt buy more then a tube from you,well as far as im concerned i wont buy anything more then that from any JHB LBS now.

CWC/CRC for the big stuff.Smaller stuff you guys or even cajees.Ima buy every dam tool i need now & the LBS can ki$$ my A55.All they doing is scaring away the passionate bikers into diy home maintenance.

Rather pay JohanB like 5-6k on courses to learn everything like rear shocks and hubs.

Dont even regard the benefit of cyclist owned shops anymore.

So Good luck bru , you got a chance to wipe the smirk off all these muppets faces

Rant off;

 

O & the so called boutique shop in jhb,bunch of sideburn steakchop muppets.

Edited May 25, 2012 by GrubScrew

[DylanFH]

yeah for sure, look we going to do everything we possibly can to get where we need to be as a respected cycling shop. we dont have the recognition or status yet but we will.

 

things like what you said about not getting helped as a walk in customer, thats BS, customers should alwasy be helped or served no matter how full or busy, even if its to say sorry sir give me two minutes, im just busy with so and so. If this happens in my store i would like to hear about it, I am only as good as my weakest link, so i need to train my guys properly and if there are any bad apples well then they need to go. simple as that. you guys want the best, i will give you the best, but like i said it only comes with your feedback and comments.

 

leave it on this site, i read every message, tell me in store or email me at dylan.hardouin@gmail.com that why i know whats going on behind the scenes. i think im even going to run some mystery shoppers to ask some detaile questions and see how it goes.

 

remember guys our new store is open tomorrow and i will be in till around 11am. it really is looking supurb and its not even 100 percent complete.

 

see you there

[RockCoach]

Thanks for being brave enough to ask for criticism. I have asked a couple of LBS owners before why they are not represented on these forums and they say they don't want to open themselves up to bad publicity. By being here you seem to be dedicated to really improving your level of service to cyclists. I will certainly pop in and check it out when I'm in the area.

[Porra 1]

Good luck for the opening all the best. Please let us know how the opennig went.

[Peter L]

At DylanFH Hats off to you for coming on this site and asking what you have. I feel that shows intent to do a great job and wish you all the best in this undertaking .Biggest problem is to listen to people and HEAR what they are looking for. May your branch go from strength to strength

[Scooterza]

I will definitely give you guys a shot. My impression (and experience) has always been that SW bike section is for the guy/gal that does the odd ride of maybe 5 to 10km every few weeks/months and just needs a basic ride, basic gear etc.

 

But sounds like you are changing this so like I said, I will pop in. Love checking gear out anyways....

[DylanFH]

Thanks to all who popped in on Saturday and introduced yourselves to me. Had really good feedback and by the sounds of things you guys were happy with what we now have in store. Also thanks for all the comments left on here, i definitely will do my best to take into a count everything mentioned.

[TheV]

Thanks to all who popped in on Saturday and introduced yourselves to me. Had really good feedback and by the sounds of things you guys were happy with what we now have in store. Also thanks for all the comments left on here, i definitely will do my best to take into a count everything mentioned.

 

Pictures, show us picha's of the shop!!!!!

 

Also, you should get models wearing cycling kit to man the shop.....

[DylanFH]

Good idea with the promo girls. pics to follow

[DylanFH]

[DylanFH]

[DylanFH]