OT rant about bike shops' mis-placed sense of entitlement
Don't be surprised if after you're visibly 'un-excited' about my latest internet purchase, I choose another LBS next time I'm buying local...moaning is _really_ bad for business.
And complaining about somebody bringing in a wheel for you to service requiring "d***ing around" because of some unAustralian, seriously? Xenophobia aside, while I would fully expect to be charged a profitable rate for your materials and labour, and would listen with interest and be thankful for said "d***cing around", if you don't appreciate the work, why do it at all? If "I had to charge a premium" doesn't equate to "I billed enough to cover all my costs plus the usual profit margin, plus covered my wages for time which otherwise would have been spent tidying shelves", that's hardly the customer's fault!
I'm sure your statement about OEM product is true some of the time, but online kit certainly isn't OEM "most of the time". Besides, it's not just OEM stock that doesn't always match the catalogue - you need to look just as carefully at the stock on the shelf in your LBS, as often the part for sale may not match the spec on the manufacturer's website.
I've spent literally several thousands of $$ on both road and MTB kit online (separate sub $1000 orders, not taxed), and the only things that haven't come in retail packaging were _advertised_ as OEM (a Manitou Black IT fork, and some XT cassettes). Just today I unpacked a set of SRAM Red compact cranks, Speedplay pedals, Ultegra cassette and GXP BB to go on my wife's bike. In the last couple of years I've also bought XT cranks and chains, SRAM X9 shifters, Truvativ Stylo crankset, Dura Ace and Easton EA90 wheelsets, Look Keo pedals, Nokon cable sets, stems, clothing etc etc: all came in pretty retail boxes, and match the expected specs. Stores like chainreaction (who do also have a fantastic full service retail outlet btw) and Wiggle are massive, operate under strict EU trading regulations, have well-honed warranty and returns departments, and are very good at customer service (though in the worst case this may take an international phone call) - they simply wouldn't get away with dodgy substitution of sub-spec parts.
So long as you RTFM, and ask questions if unsure, there's no particular reason you should be surprised by what turns up in the post.
I'm well enough off that if there's something I need (want), and the LBS have it in stock, I'm likely to buy it from them. I'm personally principled enough not to rip them off by trying on clothing or asking opinions on kit then buying on line, but retail is a tough gig, and plenty of people do take advantage. I'm more than happy to pay them to do messy suspension services for me, and pay for assistance with fit/positioning. But I don't feel any particular need to spend twice the online price for a part they have to order in, when I've made up my own mind what part I want, and when in my experience I'm much more likely to have it in my hands sooner shipped from Wiggle than from the distributor in Australia. Least of all when I know the shop is making a lousy margin on the product anyway.
In this day and age, most local agencies/distributorships/wholesalers do nothing for the end customer except double the price, and very little for retailers (and yes, I have managed a retail store in a similar industry in Sydney). God forbid anyone tries to re-introduce restrictive local "agencies" again - an excuse for poor service and price gouging, with little additional profit going to retailers. All my bike porn spending is discretionary - I'm happy to buy myself a bling new DA wheelset at $830, but at twice that I'll just stick with the Aksiums that came on the bike, thanks all the same. And is the guy who was looking at a Focus Cayo Lightweight Milram replica on Wiggle before they stopped selling Focus to Australia going to go and drop an extra $4000 to buy the bike locally, because he had to have that bike? No, he'll buy some other brand online for a good price instead. The guy who buys the Focus bike at the LBS was always going to bike a bike from the LBS, he's just buying the Focus instead of a Cannondale.
I fully expect to pay more for labour on a repair than if the item had been bought locally at full RRP, and wouldn't be surprised if getting a part took a while. All the same, I'm not sure I fully buy that local distributors are reliably carrying spares for low-volume items 5 years discontinued. In practice, in the last 10 years I've often found esoteric parts (whether bike, electronics, photographic or outdoor-sports related) easier to come by on line than from the nominal australian distributor, who: doesn't know if they have one lying around somewhere; might have a look for it some time in the next week, if you remind them every day; will make up a price for it on the spot that is 10 times it's cost; and charge you $15.50 for "handling and express courier" charges to stick it in a $5.50 express post bag, and post it 3 days after charging your card.
The doom and gloom scenarios of "the internet will kill your LBS" aren't happening. In the small town where I live we are blessed with 4 good bike shops within 3 blocks of each other, more than there were 5 years ago. There is just as much bling on the shelves, and I don't see any starving employees or owners.
I've spent plenty of money at all of them over the years. One of these shops now *****es and moans if they see any part on your bike that they didn't sell or don't stock. Two of them don't outwardly care one way or another, they'll do business with you either way. The fourth shop are open and friendly, everyone is their mate, or treated with the respect you would show a new friend on a bunch ride - "don't see those very often, how do you find them? really hard to get here" etc... Where would you rather shop?
badboyberty said:
Another thing to remember about warrantee and service for parts bought online is that the spares may not be available in Australia. And one of the reasons as a shop I would never buy online is most of what is for sale is OEM product and may not have the same specs as what's in the retail catalogue.
I recently had to source a replacement spoke for a wheel bought online by one of our customers. The wheel was "OEM" spec'ed and needed a non-standard spoke not carried by the Australian distributor of that brand of wheel (as that model wasn't normally brought into Australia) nor by the distributor of the company that made the spoke. After a lot of d***ing around I managed to find another spoke that I could modify so I could lace into the wheel. I had to charge a premium because none of the d***ing around was anyone in Australia's fault. If the wheel had been bought in Australia, I would expect the wholesaler to carry necessary spares for up to five years after the product is discontinued.
Similarly, look carefully at the tyres you buy online, many of the OEM tyres sold online have half the thread count of the very similarly label retail version of the same thing. Forks, saddles and some other components are often in the same boat, sometimes it's just cosmetic (lacking fancy stitching) sometimes it's fundamental (Fe rails instead of Ti).
Buyer beware, and don't be surprised if your LBS isn't as excited about your latest online purchase as you are. It'll be part of the reason why it's increasing pointless for us to carry high-end and interesting parts and accessories.