Woahh. Hold your horse mister. Whether you're from Tassie or not you should be aware of all the trails that are open or opening up. There is loads. I am in contact with the government at the moment thinking of trails. If the ideas are good enough and i can provide proof, money isn't an object. I'm not saying any of this will go ahead but i'm persistent, especially bringing bigger and better opportunities to the sport.
to other people: If you are a know all and don't have the patience 'because it all won't work' i don't ever want to speak to you again. I've worked in a bike shop and have been in the sport for a little while now, longer than most and as much as i want to give up on it all because of the importers of Australia charging as much as CRC making sales pointless, i'm not backing down. I'm improving my ideas and putting them into action and don't give me the 'i will pay for the product if the service is there' crap as i know that people will want to save as much as they can, especially in this economy.
You are in the sport for the passion and the enjoyment, negativity won't ever solve anything nor will it bring opportunities. Little do you all know that all of your ideas are going into consideration to what i'm planning on doing, :bounce: :Banane17:
From this post alone, I am fairly certain you're going to fail on the customer service and attitude related "dream bike shop" qualities mentioned in this thread...
You've basically completely dismissed all of the good suggestions in here (and there were quite a few which are certainly realistic and achievable), and come back with a post that stinks of arrogance. I hope that it is just the typical failure of text to accurately convey emotion and/or attitude that has led to a misunderstanding of my part, and that you are in fact sitting there with a big smile going "this is great! If only I could convey how much I appreciate these ideas instead of sounding like a cock!"
With regard to
don't give me the 'i will pay for the product if the service is there' crap as i know
I think you will find you are VERY mistaken. People will and do pay for service, every day. As an example, there is a small LBS across the road from my office here in the Perth CBD... They aren't big. They aren't flashy. They don't have the biggest range. They don't have the best prices. What they do have is a small crew of staff who have remained consistent, offer good friendly service, don't mind having a bit of a chat while you're there (while still carrying on with whatever else they're doing and politely excusing themselves if they aren't available for a chinwag), are happy to order parts in for you, give good honest advice, are happy to have a quick look at something if you drop in with a problem, don't try to charge an arm and a leg for everything (ie if you drop in needing a small item such as a hose barb, length of gear cable or outer, nut, bolt, etc theres a good chance they will go "here you go, just take this one.. no charge mate" ) ..
What they do is provide quality customer service, which customers like me respect enough to be willing to pay a premium where appropriate. Their service means that almost all of the cyclists in the building I work in (of which there are quite a few) also loyally duck across the road when they need something in a hurry, and the vast majority use them for servicing etc. This store cannot compete with CRC or wiggle etc. They don't, and won't, try. They simply can not offer prices or range that is able to compete across the board - but they recognise that, accept it and work with it - They will quite happily say "we can get it in for you, but it will cost <$X> or take <This long> - just order it online and when you get it, bring it in and we'll fit it up for you"
For what it's worth: Take the staff from my little LBS mentioned above, put them in a store with enough financial backing to hold a big range of parts and accessories, and you pretty much have my dream bike shop.