OFF TRACK SPOKES
There’s no such thing as a free lunch
Carlton Reid gets his cones adjusted. Two minutes later, and $14 lighter, he’s a happy bunny. Why?
LAST MONTH I was in Utah for PressCamp and needed to get a borrowed Cannondale EVO fettled before a two-day sportive out in the boondocks. The sportive’s tech support likely wouldn’t carry a full line of tools, and I needed a Chris King cone tool. I had been lucky enough to bag the use of some Enve carbon clinchers, but they wobbled and I didn’t fancy riding 175 miles on wheels that would only get wobblier, and certainly didn’t want to damage such premium bits of kit. I was travelling with a
Utah resident and he knew a bike shop which would probably have the right tools for the job. We decided to pay a visit to Contender of Salt Lake City. This is a high-end bike shop, with the best part of a million dollars of classy inventory stocked at any one time (that was my estimate, and it was confirmed by the shop’s owner). Contender is so high-end the shop- branded road jersey is made by Assos. Contender’s mechanics took the EVO from me and adjusted the cones in a matter of minutes. The mechanic charged me 14 bucks. My friend was surprised I was happy to pay this. “But it only took seconds, it would be no skin off their nose to do that sort of job for free,” he said.
I was happy
because the shop was charging for the use of specialist
tools and the time of a specialist member of staff. Now, there’s a lot to be said for doing some jobs as
freebies for the ‘good will’ engendered – a bike purchase may be made next visit by a customer made happy by such largesse - but where do you draw the line? Does a car garage do these simple jobs for free in the hope a car purchase may come from it? Absolutely not! Contender’s till
receipt carried a menu item for cone adjustment. A tightly itemised EPoS system for the workshop clearly pays dividends for Contender. Time is money; expertise is valuable. Many bike shops
give away what ought
to be charged for. And too many customers expect bike shops to do “simple” mechanical tasks for free. Some bike shops – and many customers – need to wake up and smell the coffee.
EDITORIAL: 01992 535646 | ADVERTISING: 01992 535647 | FAX: 01992 535648
Executive Editor: Carlton Reid
Carlton.Reid@
intentmedia.co.uk
Editor: Jonathon Harker
Jonathon.Harker@intentmedia.co.uk
Deputy Editor: Mark Sutton
Mark.Sutton@
intentmedia.co.uk
Sales Manager: Carly Bailey
Carly.Bailey@
intentmedia.co.uk
Design: Dan Bennett
Dan.Bennett@
intentmedia.co.uk
Production Executive: Kelly Jones
Kelly.Jones@
intentmedia.co.uk
Managing Editor: Lisa Carter
Lisa.Carter@
intentmedia.co.uk
Publisher/MD: Stuart Dinsey
Stuart.Dinsey@intentmedia.co.uk
Marketing & Circulation: Lindsay Banham
Lindsay.Banham@
intentmedia.co.uk
Finance Director: Hilary Cole LATEST NEWS STRAIGHT TO YOUR MOBILE | BOOKMARK US:
MOBILE.BIKEBIZ.COM 94 BIKEBIZ AUGUST
Editorial Saxon House, 6A, St. Andrew Street, Hertford, Hertfordshire. SG14 1JA
BikeBiz is mailed FOC to 4,000+ trade addresses every month ISSN 1476-1505
SUBSCRIPTIONS UK: £50 Europe: £60 Rest of World: £90
BikeBiz is published 12 times a year by Intent Media – Saxon House, 6a St. Andrew Street, Hertford, Hertfordshire SG14 1JA
Intent Media Subscriptions Department PO Box 35, Robertsbridge, TN32 5WN Tel: 01580 883848, Fax: 01580 883849
If you or one of your colleagues would like to request a subscription to BikeBiz, please email
bike.subscriptions@
c-cms.com or call 01580 883848. Please note that this is a controlled circulation title and subscription criteria will be strictly adhered to.
Intent Media is a member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation and the Periodical
Publishers Association
© Intent Media 2012 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owners. Printed by The Manson Group, AL3 6PZ.
Wondering what the Twitterati have been up to this month? Look no further...
In team sports a defender doesn’t complain about not
being the scorer, he does his job, gets paid his money, and Froome is cycling’s equivalent.
@LittleSimo
That BP London 2012 commercial makes me want to
shoot myself. Do they think we're that stupid?
@davearthur
This stage (12) was so boring my EuroSport feed switched to
snooker in attempt to liven things up and I didn’t even notice #TdF12
@NeilRoad
If you’ve: A) got a BMX and B) got some beer, then you
can join my gang #alienbmxclub @AlcoholicET
Hmmmm sun is out so I think it's time to go out riding
the streets of Glasgow. @danny_macaskill
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96