An Open Letter To Chain Reaction Cycles

MARKL

MARKL

Eats Squid
floody said:
So you tried to buy largely bike/application specific consumable small parts and were surprised your local shop didn't have springs in 25lb/in increments from 150lb/in to 850lb/in and beyond in every stroke length from 6.5x1.25" to 9.5x3.0" in 2 different diameters, steel and ti? Reducers which come in quite a wide variety of sizes, are costly and rarely sold?Tubeless valves for every rim/rimtape/sealant combo? A BB which could come in two different tapers, about four different splines, E-type, Standard, and a wide range of axle and shell widths for each combo? You cannot expect every LBS to have THAT kind of stock holding. You're in mainland Australia, anything in stock at a distributor should be available in your shop ~24-36 hours from the point they order.
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I agree with you up to a point. In some ways it is unrealistic but it is also a situation created almost entirely by the bike manufacturers - who needs 50+ effing headset standards and I have given up trying to understand bottom brackets but as I said this is a situation created by the bike manufacturers. If I go to a specialist dealer for a particular brand, knowing that I will pay a premium, is it unreasonable to expect they can get me going? If they can't most peoples experience is that it is quicker to order over the net than to stuff about with the LBS deciding when they feel like ordering from the local distro (which is generally the longer part of the waiting period). I do think there are practical ways around this - LBS orders part and has it delivered to your house instead of the LBS if you want to fit it yourself(it is just an address on an express post envelope at the end of the day). Having the most common spring sizes/weights is not unreasonable (most shocks under 8.5 long are now air anyhow) so realistically you are looking at 8.5/8.75/9.5/10.5 in and 350 -500 pound weight range - so 4 lengths by say 7 weights at the most. Again I agree that consumable items have been made such a huge pain in the arse by the proliferation of standards.
 
StanTheMan

StanTheMan

Likes Dirt
In Retail, when you order from the local distributor there is a cost involved. As petty as it may seem, its the courier cost. which is sweet FA in my indutstry. (optical)

Recently I tried to order some spokes from the most reutable LBS locally. They were going to take a week. FFS arethey still inventing shimano spokes?

I don't know much about the cycling industry. But it seems to me they oder once a week from Shimano. This is either to reduce courier costs or there is a minimum doillar value requitred for each order they do with Shimano. I don't know. I serached the net , made 1 phone call & had the spoke in my my hand no less that 24 hrs later. OK it cost me $45 for 1 spoke . I had an important race the following weekend.

OK I admit I work in a very conservative industry....but margins are massive. perehaps we can afford to order things on demand more than a LBS can, but really.....they seriously are not helping themselves.
no retail business can afford to keep everything. but getting something in for someone who is willing to buy qiuckly is a no brainer.
 
Nerf Herder

Nerf Herder

Wheel size expert
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step ... sadly for many Australians that first step seems to be to whinge and blame somebody else for the problem.

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F

frensham

Likes Dirt
landy_man said:
LBS's will never be able to compete and will eventually close down due to US/UK "online" stores...
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Sorry, but the evidence just does not support this. CRC have been around now for at least ten years. Before CRC there was the big US online stores like Bike Nashbar etc. As I have mentioned in a previous post, there has been GROWTH of local bike shops in my area over the last five years AND we continue to buy over a million bikes each year LOCALLY.
 
C

cjaty

Likes Dirt
StanTheMan said:
In Retail, when you order from the local distributor there is a cost involved. As petty as it may seem, its the courier cost. which is sweet FA in my indutstry. (optical)

Recently I tried to order some spokes from the most reutable LBS locally. They were going to take a week. FFS arethey still inventing shimano spokes?

I don't know much about the cycling industry. But it seems to me they oder once a week from Shimano. This is either to reduce courier costs or there is a minimum doillar value requitred for each order they do with Shimano. I don't know. I serached the net , made 1 phone call & had the spoke in my my hand no less that 24 hrs later. OK it cost me $45 for 1 spoke . I had an important race the following weekend.

OK I admit I work in a very conservative industry....but margins are massive. perehaps we can afford to order things on demand more than a LBS can, but really.....they seriously are not helping themselves.
no retail business can afford to keep everything. but getting something in for someone who is willing to buy qiuckly is a no brainer.
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Well said.
 
thecat

thecat

NSWMTB, Central Tableland MBC
johnny said:
CRC also advertises on this website providing revenue that allows this place to exist.

It's not an act of altruism but it's certainly behaviour that benefits the 'MTB scene' in Australia.
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I seem to remember a little bit of discussion at the time whether or not to accept their advertising. At least Holmes (mis directed or not) has stuck to his guns.


Personally I haven't got a problem with them or their advertising.
 
landy_man

landy_man

Likes Dirt
frensham said:
Sorry, but the evidence just does not support this. CRC have been around now for at least ten years. Before CRC there was the big US online stores like Bike Nashbar etc. As I have mentioned in a previous post, there has been GROWTH of local bike shops in my area over the last five years AND we continue to buy over a million bikes each year LOCALLY.
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that is only because Joe Public has felt comfortable buying from overseas and online for a few years.. also.. if CRC/Wiggle etc stocked all brands of bikes and people here weren't "scared" of the duty/GST payable, things may be a little different..
 
Slowman

Slowman

Likes Dirt
Why stop at CRC? What about all those bastards that refuse to sell their 2nd hand bikes at top dollar? Line them up and shoot them I say, for the sake of the industry mandatory crushing of any bike or component over 5 years old. That will help put more money on the counter.

Like anyone who is successful anywhere there will be detractors who are less successful and won't like it. The bike industry in Aus is a bit of a boys club built on personal relationships that are not what I'd call all that professional where loyalties are based on personal rather than business criteria. It's the kind of thing that keeps things in the dark ages and when the light finally arrives they have no answers - never saw it coming.

In a modern internet aware LBS they will happily fit the parts to your bike you just bought on the internet. Hell they will even build the whole bike for you from parts you sourced. There are LBSs out there that are adapting rather than trotting out the same old tired thinking in this letter to CRC. Besides, refusing to sell advertising is anti-competitive and therefore breaches the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth). If CRC have the money and want to make a point, someone might get a bloody nose in court.

The one area that is quite correct is the question of taxes (GST), import duties and customs fees. If the mail is used you have up to AUS $1000 in value before AusPost will collect GST, customs fees and any duty whereas any courier company will collect what is owed starting at $0 and you have to pay it before they will deliver the item. It would be fairer to the LBS if AusPost did the same. I wouldn't mind that much. I still use my LBS for plenty of purchases anyway, prices do seem to have become more competitive and in some cases it is nice to have local warranty backed product. LBSs that adapt have more to gain. The internet is not going away the old ways have to go.
 
F

frensham

Likes Dirt
Slowman said:
The one area that is quite correct is the question of taxes (GST), import duties and customs fees. If the mail is used you have up to AUS $1000 in value before AusPost will collect GST, customs fees and any duty whereas any courier company will collect what is owed starting at $0 and you have to pay it before they will deliver the item. It would be fairer to the LBS if AusPost did the same. I wouldn't mind that much. I still use my LBS for plenty of purchases anyway, prices do seem to have become more competitive and in some cases it is nice to have local warranty backed product. LBSs that adapt have more to gain. The internet is not going away the old ways have to go.
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Sure??
Hmmmm. I have had countless bike parts parcels of all sorts of value delivered by Fedex and other couriers and never been charged GST or duty. My $1800 bike frame from the UK came straight to the door courtesy of a courier....
 
P

Philip Bartlett

Squid
Hugor said:
Having just spent the last 2 years in the UK its quite clear how online stores like CRC, Evans, Wiggle and alike have basically killed the LBS.
Numbers are very diminished for such a bike fanatic population. Its very hard to get your bike repaired in less than 3 weeks. Most have a booking system.
Customer-LBS relationships are non existent - you're the same as the next bloke.
If you prefer to do all your bike maintenance yourself then sure save yourself a bit and buy this stuff online, but don't expect any shop to grant you any favours when your bike shits itself just before a long weekend, event or holiday that evolves around riding.
For me I look after my shop and they look after me.
Its very rare for them to take any more than a day to get me going again - they will usually fix things on the spot for me whilst I browse the shop.

Long live the LBS and I certainly hope the CRC model does not take off here.
I also wish the government would open their eyes and charge duty on all these online purchases.
Whilst I was in the UK my folks sent me a pair of ugg boots for Xmas and I got charged the equivalent of $80 in duty to pick them up.
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WTF? how on earth is being charged duty taxes like that a good thing? $80 just to take delivery of a parcel? that would seem like a backwards step to me!
 
Hugor

Hugor

Likes Dirt
Philip Bartlett said:
WTF? how on earth is being charged duty taxes like that a good thing? $80 just to take delivery of a parcel? that would seem like a backwards step to me!
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Just like other industries like cars charging import duty evens up the playing field, allows our local market to be competitive, and brings money into the country.

Effectively we have a tax loophole here which I think should be closed. Flying all these non refugees back to their homes has got to be paid for by somebody!
 
ntj

ntj

Likes Dirt
The thing I found the most concerning about that letter was the so-called editor's lack of ability to punctuate and form concise sentences.

A good way to announce to the world that you're bad at the core principle of your job -- an ill-concieved, poorly written open letter.
 
Yippee_Ki_YayMF

Yippee_Ki_YayMF

Likes Dirt
Hugor said:
Just like other industries like cars charging import duty evens up the playing field, allows our local market to be competitive, and brings money into the country.

Effectively we have a tax loophole here which I think should be closed. Flying all these non refugees back to their homes has got to be paid for by somebody!
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You clearly have an agenda to push here. What LBS are you running? No normal person would ask to pay more tax.
 
pharmaboy

pharmaboy

Eats Squid
Hugor said:
Just like other industries like cars charging import duty evens up the playing field, allows our local market to be competitive, and brings money into the country.

Effectively we have a tax loophole here which I think should be closed. Flying all these non refugees back to their homes has got to be paid for by somebody!
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car industry is now 5% import duty I think, but you will notice that a BMW that competes directly with an R36 VW in europe is 70% more expensive in australia, as is mercedes and audi. Regrettably, the business model of raping Aussies because we are dumb enough to think that we get what we pay for is across many industries.

At heart, I think there is a whole lot of xenophobia here
 
S

SlowManiac

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I've bought two bikes from 2 different LBS. At both had shocking service. Why should I support them?

This morning I wanted to buy some bits - looked at Wiggle, CRC but in the end Cell Bikes ended up being way cheaper.
 
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