Evans Cycles

how you think someone's gonna go and spend money on a hobby/sport without doing the same!

Because, staff who work there, supposedly know and passionate about cycling.

Like, isn’t that the main driving factor? I sold a £1800 on retail just cause I suggest them to a customer and feel it’s best suited for him.

How many LBS sell Wahoo?

Surely the instances of customers who are 'uneducated' must be lower than those that know what they want, and know that, for example, all gear cables are not created equal?

It seems like cycling is something which people do get invested in and as well as enjoying the actual riding they also buy magazines, join forums, watch youtube videos etc etc.

Or am I just a bit of a weirdo that looks at kettle reviews?

The argument around online vs bricks and mortar is entirely different, and not one a consumer can be blamed for.

Business rates need reviewing, but it probably won't happen as the Government collect so much VAT from the likes of Amazon they won't address it.

I meet a lot of ordinary people who cycle and have bought a bike (usually on the bike-to-work-scheme) from Evans or other chain stores and they generally know nothing at all about bikes. Most could hardly point to the gear cables on their bikes. Many would not know what size of bike to buy or where to set their saddle height. Buying in a shop is really helpful for these people - but it doesn't have to be an LBS.

Try America where people call Campagnolo 'Campy' because they can't pronounce it!

Surely the instances of customers who are 'uneducated' must be lower than those that know what they want.

Depend on what you mean by uneducated, I believe the majority of customers just want their bicycles to work/get the right parts and a minority* do know what they want (as in exact gear ratio, specific cables, brake pads etc.)

Uneducated a bit of a harsh word IMHO.

*I said minority because the majority of customer’s bicycles I have serviced isn’t really fussed on having like for like components (as long they’re given the full details), like going for a different 11 speed cassettes; they just wanna enjoy their bicycles.

Yes, uneducated was a poor choice of word as I realise it has other connotations.

What I meant was that I am ‘educating’ myself about kettles by looking at online reviews etc. If I’m doing that for something so mundane then I’d have thought that when it comes to spending money on a repair to their bicycle, people would also have done a bit of research and investigation.

Try America where people call Campagnolo 'Campy' because they can't pronounce it!

What’s so difficult about ‘Campagnola’?

imo bike shops like this need to look what happened to hmv et al, shaming the customer for "not supporting their business and it will go away!!!" didn't work there either.

there are structural issues with wages/ contracts/ jobs depending on these places, but they're not for the consumer to solve, and while the business owner is "going to extract all they can from their workforce like a small business tyrant, the decisions/ models these shops are perusing, as you explain and their refusal to adapt, will see them with the shutters up as the highstreets continues to shift/ disappear over the next decade.

Campagnola

Sounds delicious.

There are things I want to research and things where I want to pay someone who knows more than me to do the work.

I recently plumbed in a sink for my wife’s office - I did the research, bought the parts and tools and did the job. There is a water heater, I have plumbed it in, however I don’t want to install an RCD into the fuse box and connect it up. For this I will employ an electrician so my research stops at the point I have found someone to do the job.

I totally understand some people just want a bike or for their bike to work and want someone to advise them on this. Then there are bike nerds like ourselves who have a network of people they can call upon for free advice and then source components and install themselves, sort of like Toffler’s prosumers.

Yeah totally. I think just assumed (we know what happens you ass u me) that cycling was something that was inherently more ‘involving’(?) than say, plumbing so that level where you stop doing the research and pay someone for their expertise would be very different. I guess for a lot of people though it isn’t.

There’s maybe geographical differences too. I would expect that in London the ratio of ‘people using a bike as a functional means of transport and uninterested in the minutae of componentry’ to ‘people who spend as much time reading, watching, absorbing content and discussing cycling as they do actually cycling’ is quite different to what is up here in Glasgow. And I know its much more of a spectrum than that but hopefully you get my drift.

I wonder what price point makes most consumers want to make a more cautious and informed bike purchase. 200? 500? My experience is that around £800 most people either know what they want or they take time to inform themselves and to shop around.

Certainly in London this probably nails it. A huge number of people use it as cheap transport and think of it as a one off cost, they don't realise there is wear and tear on components shops paying massive rates, and hopefully LLW etc.

I've bought from Evans online and in-store and I've bought from Sigma online and in-store and I've bought from Cycle Surgery online and in-store and I have my bikes worked on by my remaining LBS if it's something I don't have tools for or an insurance claim where it needs to be official, etc.

If shops are going under, it's not my fault.

"my" being the customers in this equation.

I doubt it. This will depend on their personal finances (amongst other things) and that varies widely.

Exactly. There is a correlation between the dominance of predominantly online stores over others today, and the dominance of nationwide stores of yesteryear over other independent/smaller chain stores.

I imagine we will all bemoan the loss of Sigma/Wiggle/CRC when we are buying components on the app store and 3D printing them at home.

I think just assumed (we know what happens you ass u me) that cycling was something that was inherently more ‘involving’(?) than say, plumbing.

It would be the case if we don’t get customers coming in for puncture repairs, which in itself is not a bad thing at all (and should not be shamed for not knowing how).

It seems like cycling is something which people do get invested in and as well as enjoying the actual riding they also buy magazines, join forums, watch youtube videos etc etc.

Where I work we have a customer who’s an absolute hitter, goes through chains and cassettes like nothing. They have absolutely no interest in what we do when they bring their bike in for service, as long as it works again they will pay any bill we put in front of them (mainly because there’s also the trust that it will only ever be genuine cost)

Cycling is different for everyone

Cycling is different for everyone

Very true.

Yeah, always, need those 9s cassettes quite badly!

This is many items right now, don't give up hope on them just yet, in 6 - 12 months supply should be a fair bit better (not perfect that will take maybe up to 2 years to fix).
Big online only has some of these items because they keep more in a warehouse than the actual distributor does.

Yeah also agree just because its an LBS doesn't mean auto = give them all your money no question asked. If they are good value, not necessarily just on price, but actually do what they say they are going to, in a timely fashion, give good advice and aren't dicks, then thats good value IMO. There are plenty small shops out there that really should just do one, come across so many in my time so totally get the sentiment.

Yeah you get these, but you get way more 'you put a new chain on my bike 4 months ago, and said it was good quality, how is it worn out again already'...... looks at the nearly bald marathon plus's that were fitted a year ago, erm I think you do more miles than you think you do.

"Cycling is different for everyone". Totally!

My most frustrating correlation is... those that need to ride for work (uber/deliveroo/big long distance commuters) rarely want to spend anything on their bike, or don't actually realise that doing 30-50 miles a day of stop start riding in a city is going to mince a set of cheap v brake pads out in a few weeks. Vs. those who only ride for leisure + pleasure, are quite happy to put that £350 Sram XO cassette and £140 Ti KMC chain on their carbon MTB that might do 80 miles this year.
We just try and slowly inform them/help them make useful (to them) decisions, most shops do this, online can't*
*Without hours of trawling youtube for that German engineering guy who tested every chain he could find in a typically German engineering guy type of a way

...or don't actually realise that doing 30-50 miles a day of stop start riding in a city is going to mince a set of cheap v brake pads out in a few weeks.

One of my biggest pet peeves is customers going

“Oh I’m just riding it a couple miles a days”.

Yes, you’re using the bicycle for the exact purpose, a couple miles a day is actually as much as drivers drive in London daily.

“A couple miles” with no rest day will wear parts out and it does need servicing.