Re: Dear LBS

 Miles wrote
 Over the last several years the number of otherwise good people that kindly 
request
a shop to order a few hundred dollars  worth of hardware for inspection that 
after
arrival spin around and  ordered the same item by mail order/internet to 
save sales
tax of a  few dollars is common. Stores go out of business if they get 
caught
 up in this to often and it raises the cost of everything they sell.
 Chicken or Egg again?

Thanks for explaining your position. I live in Montreal where we have a lot 
of bike shops and
 I would say that the pressure they are feeling these days comes mostly from 
MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op) and concept stores being built by the major 
brands.

I have dealt with the same LBS on the purchase of 4 bikes, wheelsets and 
accessories and maintenance and I have an understanding that I pay the 
internet price + exchange + shipping and handling and + credit card charges. 
He like doing business this way b/c I approach him knowing exactly what I 
want.

If he does not have what I want, I understand that he will often have to 
wait to process my order until he has a "sufficient" order in the basket to 
avoid shipping and handling costs.

We have one very large shop, ABC Cycles who sell around 4500 bikes of 
various types per year and if I want something in a hurry, they will bring 
it in and they will absorb the shipping and handling costs as a penalty for 
not stocking the item. However, they only process order 2 days per week.

The key for me is to establish a business relationship with the LBS and then 
it expands socially as I am now involved in wrenching charity rides with 
them and running the wheel pit at the local crit races.

Jim Blair