Retail bike shops

Just rode past a bike shop that was built in a strip mall 3 years ago and has already went out of business. Granted there is another one that has been around for over 30 years 3 miles away but what a failure. Seems people are just too lazy these days to ride bikes anymore. Or could have been from poor customer service, I went in to buy a rear rack and their front window says free install on parts. I go up to the counter with my rack and say there is free install correct, they look at me and say "yes but you will have to leave it here overnight", ok can I use your tool to install it real quick "sorry no". Can't borrow a allen wrench for two minutes and a two minute rack install takes overnight! Never went there again.

Maybe he had sentimental value attached to his tools? Seems like a bother to have to leave a bike some place over night for something like that. Some rack installs can be trivial, but on occasion they need some imagination.

Personally, I've had too many bad experiences a bicycle shops to be eager to go one. Plenty weren't pleased with the idea of an electric bicycle and treated me like a retard for even mentioning the idea, but the straw that broke the camels back was the deception I got a number of times from various bike shops around me. Not to say all of them are bad, but I can work on bicycles myself just fine, tons of information in books and in neat short little videos that answer most questions.

I guess the thing that surprised me the most is that you didn't have an allen wrench with you. I don't ride electric bicycles or otherwise without tools. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FIE4AE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000FIE4AE&linkCode=as2&tag=xbnijgbr-20&linkId=JU3VUVVEPDEVOX5S I carry one of these around and I have been so glad I did on many occasions, totally worth buying this or something like it. Sometimes I wear it on a belt, sometimes I keep it in a bag or something, but it's got a lot of what I've ever needed except an adjustable wrench, which I also always carry on electric bicycles.

I think the main reason he didn't let me borrow the tool is because I would install it in less then 5 minutes which would make him look stupid for saying overnight. Like he wants his bike shop to be professional or something stupid. This was on my non electric bike, I haven't built one yet just my scooter. The place I bought my bike which opened in the 80's has installed brake cables, a kick stand, tires... I have been there probably 5 times since I bought the bike and they charge me nothing but the cost of the parts and install it on the spot or at most a 15-20 minute wait. I kind of had a smile seeing how the store was closed up seeing as how they were trying to feed off of the older stores probably just because it was in a newer area with stores that were built in the past few years.

Buy a full set of tools if you own an ebike, seriously. There's a lot of shops that are too afraid of an ebike to work on it.

Start with one of these:
http://www.harborfreight.com/10-pc-metric-t-handle-hex-key-set-69370.html


Yes, i am disappointed also with how few people are bicycling these days. You'd think that with being in a prolonged economic slump, more people might be giving up their cars and their gasoline bills.

What are the stats for a business to fail? within 5yrs?
What is the normal rental period for commercial property? 5 yrs?

The business itself could have been a "front", take for example an ethnic restaraunt that changes its name every few years. Same owners at the register and taking orders.
Why is that? I know why, but do you?

I'm very fortunate to have a LBS that is ebike friendly, and usually has a few used ones for sale. Lots of old folks from Leisure World go there and they have decent pricing on parts and repairs also. The owner commutes daily by bike to the shop near to where I live from his neighborhood which is close to my day job so he knows the local area. Sometimes they get busy though, especially on Saturday. They take time to help the people in the order that they arrive, so you just have to wait sometimes. All the other bike shops in the area have issues of some sort, one visit is all it usually takes to find out. Maybe they have a strict policy against loaning tools or letting customers work on their own bikes due to insurance requirements. Some won't even let you have compressed air for tires, others put a free air hose outside. One should reasonably expect a bike shop would be somewhat bike friendly though.