I don't know if this is just in my area but none of the bike shops open before 10am during the week and some don't open till 11 on the weekends. This makes it hard to grab something before a ride or to even call to see if someone has a product I'm looking for. Another issues is some of them are not open later than 6pm which makes it hard for someone like myself who works 8-5/5:30 to stop on my way home from work. Is this sort of the industry standard or am I in a area where they aren't motivated to help people who are awake early? If I could find a local shop that was open from 8 or 9am till 7pm year round they would get all of my bike related spending.
Why do bike shops open so late?
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I suppose it's because it's not all about you (and me). And probably because a lot of them have one employee and/or don't have the funds for the overhead and having too many people on their staff. 
A guy I know owns a teeny lbs. he likes to ride in the am and he has no employees. He's stuck working weekends so he takes Mondays off.
A guy I know owns a teeny lbs. he likes to ride in the am and he has no employees. He's stuck working weekends so he takes Mondays off.
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231 Posts
It's the industry standard around here. All the shops in this area are open 10:00 to 6:00 week days, 10:00 to 4:00 or 5:00 on Saturday. One shop is open 11:00 to 5:00 on Sundays.
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Being open 7 days a week means there is no time to ride other than the morning before open. Retail doesn't get the luxury of a 9-5 job with weekends off.
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Yep. And some owners like to try to get an early morning ride in before they open up.I suppose it's because it's not all about you (and me). And probably because a lot of them have one employee and/or don't have the funds for the overhead and having too many people on their staff.
OP, plan ahead and buy your whatever the evening before or wait until you're done with your ride. That means actually checking your bike out before you get to the trail head or are loading it onto the car.
EDIT: notice an echo in here?
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At least the shop opens on that day!
Be patient, and stop by the shop after your ride.
Be patient, and stop by the shop after your ride.
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Industry standard, even for the boutique shops where the employees don't know jack about their products because they don't ride. No one's out looking for a bike purchase before 10am on a Saturday... people sleep in, get up slow. You can't justify paying an employee and running the lights and air for a few hours on the off-chance that one Joe might show up for a $6 tube.
It also provides a nice buffer for the smaller shops to assemble new bikes. Hard to get things like that done when the mechs must also ring up sales, sweep floors and wipre counter-tops.
It also provides a nice buffer for the smaller shops to assemble new bikes. Hard to get things like that done when the mechs must also ring up sales, sweep floors and wipre counter-tops.
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I use to work PT at a bike shop and we seldom saw anyone before 11:30. People would stop in on lunch and the it was slow till 2:30-3 when kid's got out of school and people got out work. In the summer when the kid's didnt have school they still slept in so there was no need to be there early. We used to go in early to get delivery's and switch up the floor time to time but thats about it.
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12,537 Posts
Beer hangovers.
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870 Posts
Screw the lbs....learn to tru and adjust derailleurs and order your parts online.
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No thread on MTBR shall pass without someone using it to trumpet their home mechanic skills, shopping savvy, and disdain for any part of the bike industry that is not geared solely toward serving that person's cycling subsubsubdemographic. soitwaswrittensoshalliteverbe
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the bigger the shop, the more likely the hours will extend past 5 or 6 in the evening. But I've never seen a shop with early morning hours. Doesn't happen. Sometimes the mechs will come in early to work on a big overhaul project or plow through some builds before customers walk in the door.
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Depends on time of year.
Shop I used to work at was a 9-7 M-F, 9-5 S/S.
I was PT and worked the afternoons during the week. However did my share of opening in the mornings.....usually dead until about 10:30 or 11:00.
Evenings were pretty good during the long days...would stay busy til 6:30-7:00. However during winter when it would get dark at 4:30....usually a ghost town by 5:00.
Shop I used to work at was a 9-7 M-F, 9-5 S/S.
I was PT and worked the afternoons during the week. However did my share of opening in the mornings.....usually dead until about 10:30 or 11:00.
Evenings were pretty good during the long days...would stay busy til 6:30-7:00. However during winter when it would get dark at 4:30....usually a ghost town by 5:00.
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