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We (obviously) think that supporting your local bike shop is the right thing to do! We understand online shopping is the norm now, but as we often like to say – “the internet won’t fix your bike”. Of course, you can ask google, watch a YouTube video or ask random strangers in the deep, dark forum world – but surely it would be better to ask an experienced, qualified professional about the issue/product instead. I don’t know about you, but some of the ‘advice’ that gets given can be downright dangerous and I wouldn’t trust much of it myself (being one of the aforementioned experienced, qualified professionals!)
As an independent bike shop, we choose what we sell, how we offer it, why we like it and a plethora of other reasons that get products on the shelf. Sure, we sell some things just ‘because’. Maybe we ‘have to’. Maybe we ‘need to’. Sometimes we don’t want to but have it anyway, but offer very straightforward advice to our customers that says ‘don’t buy that, it’s not very good.. buy this instead’. We need to have a bad product to show why a good one is better.
As with many bike shops, the workshop is the heart. It sees every type of bike, every component, every worn chain, leaky damper and a lot of flat tyres! Our mechanics have years of experience in every conceivable type of repair. We’re accredited for the likes of Shimano, Rock Shox, Fox, Hope, Bosch m.m…. this is something that takes time, money and effort to do. To keep updated with the latest information, to be aware of changes in procedure, warranties and setup. We spend thousands of crowns each year on new tooling, courses and equipment to make sure we can handle the jobs to the absolute best of our ability. Making sure your pride and joy is well looked after when it’s with us.
It might sound like we’re rambling on (and we are a bit…!) but supporting your LBS in whatever way you can will come back to you in some way with good karma. We employ people from the local area. They spend the money they earn in the local area, it gives them the ability to live and have families and do things they like doing. Unfortunately, buying a tyre or rear mech from amazon or bikeshoponline.com won’t make a vast difference to the shareholders and CEO, but to us in the shop it means we can send our kids to afterschool activities, or do a home improvement (using our skilled tradespeople customers) or fix the car at the local garage.. osv. What goes around, comes around.
We try to give back in whatever way we can. It could be in time and effort to organise rides, mech courses or other types of customer days. We, for example give the profits of our custom fenders to the local MTB group to help build trails and maintain the old ones (we attend whatever dig days we can as well) We run a little team, have a cycle club, provide helmets for schools, accept PRAO for work experience, give discounts to local club members… the list goes on. This isn’t meant to be ‘pat on the back’ for us, this is us supporting our local biking community, like hopefully they support us.
So, yes – we’re giving you some of the reasons we think we’re a better bet than .com, however – we understand that we all need to eat and pay our bills, so a good deal is a good deal, right? Sure! We’re always trying to find ways of bringing the cost of things down, whilst still making it worthwhile for us to do. It’s interesting that we still see/her people complaining about the cost of products here in Sweden, compared to other countries. I won’t go into details here, but have a think about a few things before making a direct comparison or checking the euro/sek exchange rate… size of market (tiny here!) means higher prices from suppliers as they don’t buy as much as the UK or Germany for example. Moms! Yes, everyones favourite! At least 5% more here than other European countries. Shipping… Scandinavia is described as a ‘peripheral’ market for many. It not on the direct routes and shipping often has to take a detour to get here. It costs more.
We could go on, but won’t. What we will say is that before coming to the conclusion that online.com is the cheapest place to buy something, have you asked your LBS? You might be surprised. We can add to this that if you’re a regular customer that comes in for little top up purchases like energy food and oil, as well as bigger purchases, upgrades and accessories and books a bike into the workshop on occasion, then you’ll most likely receive a better price because of it! Think abut it a bit like your ICA points card… you don’t get a discount at the checkout, just because you went in their instead of Coop, but if you spend money there on a regular basis and show your loyalty and support, you get rewarded with better prices, incentives and even freebies! Think about it!
OK, that’s it! (for now) Welcome in for professional advice, vast amounts of experience, a wide range of top quality products, friendly banter and maybe a coffee if you’re lucky!
Shoppen hittar du på Vattholmavägen 16B i Uppsala
