So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had anything suitable (read "within my price range"😉 in stock - not a big surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.
Now, neither store has its own parking lot, so any bike rack would have to be on the sidewalk out front. But given that other (non-cycling-related) stores on the same street have bike racks on the sidewalk, this does not appear to be an issue.
Anyone else find this odd/silly/just plain dumb? Wouldn't you want to encourage your customers to use the products you sell them?
[No, I didn't ask the managers as both stores were quite busy and I wasn't about to wait 15 or 20 minutes to tell someone how to run his business.]
So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had anything suitable (read "within my price range"😉 in stock - not a big surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.
Now, neither store has its own parking lot, so any bike rack would have to be on the sidewalk out front. But given that other (non-cycling-related) stores on the same street have bike racks on the sidewalk, this does not appear to be an issue.
Anyone else find this odd/silly/just plain dumb? Wouldn't you want to encourage your customers to use the products you sell them?
[No, I didn't ask the managers as both stores were quite busy and I wasn't about to wait 15 or 20 minutes to tell someone how to run his business.]
Jeff
Could they have had one inside the shop that you didn't notice? That's the solution of my LBS without a parking lot.
So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had anything suitable (read "within my price range"😉 in stock - not a big surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.
Now, neither store has its own parking lot, so any bike rack would have to be on the sidewalk out front. But given that other (non-cycling-related) stores on the same street have bike racks on the sidewalk, this does not appear to be an issue.
Anyone else find this odd/silly/just plain dumb? Wouldn't you want to encourage your customers to use the products you sell them?
[No, I didn't ask the managers as both stores were quite busy and I wasn't about to wait 15 or 20 minutes to tell someone how to run his business.]
Jeff
Could they have had one inside the shop that you didn't notice? That's the solution of my LBS without a parking lot.
One store simply wouldn't have space. The other might, although it'd have to be a very small rack. That said, there were several bikes, mine included, locked to various street posts outside both stores.
So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had anything suitable (read "within my price range"😉 in stock - not a big surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.
Now, neither store has its own parking lot, so any bike rack would have to be on the sidewalk out front. But given that other (non-cycling-related) stores on the same street have bike racks on the sidewalk, this does not appear to be an issue.
Anyone else find this odd/silly/just plain dumb? Wouldn't you want to encourage your customers to use the products you sell them?
[No, I didn't ask the managers as both stores were quite busy and I wasn't about to wait 15 or 20 minutes to tell someone how to run his business.]
Jeff
I think bike racks play to different reviews among the cycling community. I never use them. I also never use a lock. I either bring my bike in with me or feel confident that is safe- such as on a group ride being watched by friends. I have seen too many bikes trashed while locked outside so I just avoid the situation. I understand that many folks lock their bikes outside lots of times.
Most of the LBS bike racks that I have seen are used for displaying promotional bikes in the public view as a way of marketing rather than for the "parking" of customer bikes. I have never known of a LBS to be hostile to bringing your bike into the store and that is what I regularly do.
So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had anything suitable (read "within my price range"😉 in stock - not a big surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.
Now, neither store has its own parking lot, so any bike rack would have to be on the sidewalk out front. But given that other (non-cycling-related) stores on the same street have bike racks on the sidewalk, this does not appear to be an issue.
Anyone else find this odd/silly/just plain dumb? Wouldn't you want to encourage your customers to use the products you sell them?
[No, I didn't ask the managers as both stores were quite busy and I wasn't about to wait 15 or 20 minutes to tell someone how to run his business.]
Jeff
I think bike racks play to different reviews among the cycling community. I never use them. I also never use a lock. I either bring my bike in with me or feel confident that is safe- such as on a group ride being watched by friends. I have seen too many bikes trashed while locked outside so I just avoid the situation. I understand that many folks lock their bikes outside lots of times.
Most of the LBS bike racks that I have seen are used for displaying promotional bikes in the public view as a way of marketing rather than for the "parking" of customer bikes. I have never known of a LBS to be hostile to bringing your bike into the store and that is what I regularly do.
The LBS I went to when I lived in TX would have been fine for taking the bike with me into the store. The LBSs here in Winnipeg simply haven't got the room to make doing so practical. I have a hard time navigating the stores myself without trying to drag a bike around.
I use my bike for commuting when at all practical (bottom line is I prefer to ride my bike than to drive my car). I rarely have anyone who can watch my bike for me, so I am very attuned to finding a good parking spot for my bike. There are surprisingly many stores that provide bike racks in town (and correspondingly many strip malls with signs banning bikes - I generally boycott those strip malls). I'm just agog that the nearest two LBSs don't provide bike racks. It seems, to me, to be a missed opportunity.
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Quoted message said:
So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had anything suitable (read "within my price range"😉 in stock - not a big surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.
I don't use 'em if there's an alternative, and at the shops I frequent bringing the bike inside is the alternative I prefer.
So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had anything suitable (read "within my price range"😉 in stock - not a big surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.
Now, neither store has its own parking lot, so any bike rack would have to be on the sidewalk out front. But given that other (non-cycling-related) stores on the same street have bike racks on the sidewalk, this does not appear to be an issue.
Anyone else find this odd/silly/just plain dumb? Wouldn't you want to encourage your customers to use the products you sell them?
[No, I didn't ask the managers as both stores were quite busy and I wasn't about to wait 15 or 20 minutes to tell someone how to run his business.]
Some landlords can be obnoxious about fixtures installed outside of the walls of the leased space, and some municipalities are even more idiotic with similar restrictions. Of course, in the case of an uncooperative landlord, one may wonder why a bike shop would take such a space, but sometimes the other considerations involved might make it worth the hassle. -- Typoes are a feature, not a bug. Some gardening required to reply via email. Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.
Some landlords can be obnoxious about fixtures installed outside of the walls of the leased space, and some municipalities are even more idiotic with similar restrictions.
After posting that, I remembered being told of a situation where a bike shop owner wanted to put a bike rack on the sidewalk in front of his store at his own expense. The city told him it was against the law for him to put anything on the public sidewalk, even if it was for general public use; no park benches, no bike racks, no litter barrels, nothing. OTOH, if he wanted to request that the city install one, he just needed a petition with the signatures of 50 city residents. It took him all of one day to get those 50 signatures; it might have taken longer except that the people at the restaurant next door heard about his petition, and they started coming over to sign it.
-- Typoes are a feature, not a bug. Some gardening required to reply via email. Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.
In Corvallis, Oregon we have a city requirement that a permit for any significant modification of a store has a requirement that bicycle parking is provided/convenient. Your bicycle advocacy group might argue for this. A compromise is that the permit to build a new store not only covers issues of car parking and congestion, but also bicycle parking and safe access for bicycles. It is my undrstanding that most places int he U.S. won't allow a new commerical construction project without provision for parking and car access and that needs to include bicycles explicitly, if it doesn't already.
Alan Acock
Quoted message said:
So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had anything suitable (read "within my price range"😉 in stock - not a big surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.
Now, neither store has its own parking lot, so any bike rack would have to be on the sidewalk out front. But given that other (non-cycling-related) stores on the same street have bike racks on the sidewalk, this does not appear to be an issue.
Anyone else find this odd/silly/just plain dumb? Wouldn't you want to encourage your customers to use the products you sell them?
[No, I didn't ask the managers as both stores were quite busy and I wasn't about to wait 15 or 20 minutes to tell someone how to run his business.]
In Corvallis, Oregon we have a city requirement that a permit for any significant modification of a store has a requirement that bicycle parking is provided/convenient. Your bicycle advocacy group might argue for this. A compromise is that the permit to build a new store not only covers issues of car parking and congestion, but also bicycle parking and safe access for bicycles. It is my undrstanding that most places int he U.S. won't allow a new commerical construction project without provision for parking and car access and that needs to include bicycles explicitly, if it doesn't already.
Alan Acock
Quoted message said:
So Saturday I went by two LBSs to look at handlebar bags. Neither had anything suitable (read "within my price range"😉 in stock - not a big surprise as I'm rather tight with the wallet. What did shock me is that neither LBS had a bike rack for customers to use.
Now, neither store has its own parking lot, so any bike rack would have to be on the sidewalk out front. But given that other (non-cycling-related) stores on the same street have bike racks on the sidewalk, this does not appear to be an issue.
Anyone else find this odd/silly/just plain dumb? Wouldn't you want to encourage your customers to use the products you sell them?
[No, I didn't ask the managers as both stores were quite busy and I wasn't about to wait 15 or 20 minutes to tell someone how to run his business.]
Jeff
Keep in mind, Alan, that Corvallis is probably one of the most bike-friendly towns in the Pacific Northwest. I live twelve miles away in Albany and it's not nearly as bike-friendly here, or in Salem, Portland, or the Seattle area (I've lived in all of them). I love the four bike shops all gathered within a few blocks in downtown Corvallis. I can spend an entire afternoon just browsing!
