Hi Arleigh! I'm a bit late to this game, but I just discovered your Substack, because I wrote a post on mine on a related topic, and someone linked to you. I've been in the industry even longer than you have, and I share many of your feelings about what's not working and why. As a retailer, currently running with extremely lean staff, one of the things I constantly run up against is time shortage. Organizing events seems to be *the* way to build community, and we've done as much as we can on our end. However, at the end of the day (and I mean, the literal end of the day), we may simply be exhausted from all that is required to run the shop. We've scaled it down to what I call "events lite" built around key categories in our shop.
I also share some of your thoughts about the "generalist" bike shop, and I wonder if that is even a feasible (or financially viable) thing to be in the current climate.
More thoughts on this are in my recent post, and I hope you jump over. I'm not here to self-market, but I do think we should have more conversations about this within our industry, and I hope I am opening the door for that to happen. Cheers!
As I just commented on the video, maintenance is my big uncertainty. I know how to change a tire/tube but not how to adjust a derailleur. I know hydraulic brake systems are complicated but do not like the idea of having to pay hundreds of dollars to get them checked and maintained. Regular maintenance is supposed to be part of being a habitual cyclist, butI do not see anything in the gulf between having this skills and gear to do it yourself and paying what feels like too much money to a shop.
Hi Arleigh! I'm a bit late to this game, but I just discovered your Substack, because I wrote a post on mine on a related topic, and someone linked to you. I've been in the industry even longer than you have, and I share many of your feelings about what's not working and why. As a retailer, currently running with extremely lean staff, one of the things I constantly run up against is time shortage. Organizing events seems to be *the* way to build community, and we've done as much as we can on our end. However, at the end of the day (and I mean, the literal end of the day), we may simply be exhausted from all that is required to run the shop. We've scaled it down to what I call "events lite" built around key categories in our shop.
I also share some of your thoughts about the "generalist" bike shop, and I wonder if that is even a feasible (or financially viable) thing to be in the current climate.
More thoughts on this are in my recent post, and I hope you jump over. I'm not here to self-market, but I do think we should have more conversations about this within our industry, and I hope I am opening the door for that to happen. Cheers!
I loved this video, thank you so much for making it, and it's great to see you here!
As I just commented on the video, maintenance is my big uncertainty. I know how to change a tire/tube but not how to adjust a derailleur. I know hydraulic brake systems are complicated but do not like the idea of having to pay hundreds of dollars to get them checked and maintained. Regular maintenance is supposed to be part of being a habitual cyclist, butI do not see anything in the gulf between having this skills and gear to do it yourself and paying what feels like too much money to a shop.
Hydraulic brakes aren’t too bad! What type do you have?
Gen 1 Tern GSD and prior gen Aventon Pace 500 with, I believe, Shimano hydraulic discs