Today was supposed to be a great day. I was going to take the kids downtown, oh, and my wife as well, and start picking up pieces for my two projects.
The first one is a cross bike, I've got the frame, a couple bits and bobs promised and a desire to get out there and ride on some grass, mud and whatever objects they throw on cross courses.
Here's the frame. Bare.
Now keep in mind that I've never really been to a bike shop looking for parts, other than maybe a chain or two, for several years. Oh, and I've never ridden off road seriously ever...
Anyway, I am also looking to scrounge up a few components for my old Bianci. It'll become a fixed gear, just for fun.
So today I headed downtown, on public transit, taking it easy. And I had my experiences with the modern bike shop.
The first place I went to was Urbane Cyclist. It's a co-op. It seems to have a hip, screw the man, ride what you want, kinda vibe to it. They sell a lot of fixed gear bikes so I thought that they might have a pair of wheels for the Bianchi.
So I wandered on in, scanned the bikes, some of which retail for about $700. Fixed gear. Which, incidentally was about what I paid for my road bike a couple of years ago.
So I wandered to the back, looking at the cranks and pedals that I was also interested in, and looking for the $10 brakes a friend had recommended I pick up. I noticed that the prices, where I could see them, seemed to be a bit more than I had expected. Perhaps I was looking at the good stuff, not the low end I wanted.
I cast my gaze upwards at the wheels. The roof was full of colorful velocity rims in various shades and patterns. Not for me.
Some dude, which, surely he sees as a title of respect, asked me if I needed help. I proceeded to tell him I was looking for a set of CHEAP, fixed wheels. "Sure" and he waved to a set at then end. "Those are $240 a pair, and they go up from there."
I mumbled something about that being more than I wanted to pay, and hung my head. I don't doubt that those were cheap, to him. But I am not some hip single guy looking to score while parading around on my screw-the-man-ironic fixie with too much discretionary income.
Really I didn't know what to say. "I don't want to buy your store, just a cheap pair of Chinese made rims with crappy hubs" came to mind.
So I left, passing the pedals which now I thought seemed too pricey as I could only think of the total price tag of what was supposed to be a cheap ride.
Next we walked up to Kensington Market, for a bit of ice cream. Dad was now cranky, and hot, and kind of tired. Kids and Mom wanted to be free of Dad and enjoy a treat.
And so I walked into some random bike shop in Kensington Market. Bikes on Wheels I think it was called.
My heart leapt as I walked inside. "Retirement Sale" it said. And I imagined an old shop keeper, getting ready to shut down, years of experience under his belt, running his business "The old way". Surely I'd be able to find some old parts, marked down, gathering dust in wooden bins.
The first thing I saw was a set of hubs so shiny you'd swear they'd been polished by elves.
I wandered around. The place had quite a few color matched bikes, waiting for new "hipster" owners to parade them up and down Queen Street.
Now the weird thing about this place was that the vast majority of the parts were behind the counter, or under glass, that's fine. But quite a lot of the stuff didn't have any prices whatsoever. I'd guess it's the old saying, "If you have to ask..."
I wandered to the back, with two guys wrenching away on a bike, and, not seeing anything that passed for cheap, quit.
After arriving back home, I was somewhat depressed, having nothing to show for my journey, and, seeing as my bank account seems like more like a piggy bank in terms of contents, not much hope for the future.
But third times a charm? Right? So I headed off to Gears, in Mississauga. Which I guess technically is my LBS.
Gears has a lot of nice bikes. And I think the folks in there know quite a bit, hearing them, from time to time, sell to customers. They do seem to care although they come off sounding like snobs. Except for their floor sales person, who is rather nice.
Having picked up a couple things from there, like chains, my kids used bike, etc. I knew they had some handlebars, and a few components. I told myself that I'd just go pick up some handlebars that seemed reasonable, to satisfy my shopping urge.
"Hi can I help you?"
"Sure, I'm just browsing, looking to put together a bike and need some parts"
"Great, just let me know if you need anything"
"How much are these?"
"Those handlebars? Let me check..."
"Those are $400" "Those ones above are $800, but since they are last years model they are also $400"
--Stunned Silence--
I, again, didn't have much to say.
How the hell are handle bars $800? I feel like I'm in that movie where the Neanderthal ends up reanimated in the present day and doesn't know what the hell is going on.
No wonder people steal bike parts off of bikes on the street.
So kids, what have we learned? Me? I've learned that I am poor, or will be once these projects are done. I also learned that it's going to be hard to support my LBS when I can find cheaper parts online, even after shipping.
Here are my top X comments to bike store owners that I'd like to express after my trip today.
Display Prices
Stupid consumers like myself appreciate seeing prices displayed. Ok, maybe they are expensive but don't put me through the embarrassment of asking.
Pricing
Explain to me how you sell bikes that are quite obviously cheaper than the sum of the individual component prices, by a long shot.
Webstore
Why would you have components that aren't in your store, on your webstore? Why would you also have parts in your store, in quantity, that aren't on your webstore?
Websites
Why do so many of you have crap websites. I'm looking at you Gears.
Anyway, I'm probably just an out of touch oldster who remembers when $1000 bought you a great bike that made your friends jealous.
Oh, and I'll be putting my wish list up on Craigslist. Maybe I'll find some parts in someones garage.
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