Betrayed and abandoned

 In yet another harsh lesson in corporate business methods -- and ethics -- a small but determined Specialized dealer since at least the 1980s finally heard directly from the Big S that our preseason order will not be delivered. They'll "see what they can do" to deliver three paid-in-full special orders for ebikes. No promises. This is after they jacked the price on those prepaid orders by about a thousand bucks a bike, after the fully paid order had been in their hands for months already.

Our shop is not alone. Contacts at a Trek dealer across the lake report that their somewhat larger shop than ours is getting the same treatment from their Big Bike supplier. The big companies are sending all of their available product to the biggest shops in the most heavily populated areas.

The Specialized rep suggested that we look into several smaller brands that have traditionally worked more cooperatively with small shops. Not surprisingly, these brands are already overwhelmed. We will probably have to figure out how to operate as a bikeless bike shop this summer.

The Covid-19 bike boom continues, but the potential customers have now become picky. They really really want a bike, but it's more likely to be a specific bike, rather than anything they can get their hands on. We're hearing from people who have driven 50 or 100 miles to find a shop that has bikes at all. It's reminiscent of the 1990s mountain bike boom, pre-Internet, when people would shop over a huge geographical area to find what they wanted and to save a token amount of money. They'd already spent more just driving around, but they still congratulated themselves on getting a deal. Now the successful treasure hunters are driving until they find a shop big enough to be favored by the big suppliers or lucky enough to have gotten a shipment from one of the smaller ones.

Our service department is already buried. Apparently, no one wants to become a professional bike mechanic anymore. Can you blame them? All you need to keep your own bike running are YouTube videos and tools and parts that you can buy online. It's just a bicycle. It's not like it has a motor -- oh, wait. But even in the smokeless moped culture, intrepid tinkerers are figuring out how to service their own habit.

I feel safe in saying that most riders do not want to be their own mechanic. They will come to us when things go out of whack or ignore problems until the bike completely fails. But no one is showing up to learn the craft. There's a lot to learn, and more is added every year.

Parts are still hard to get. Things really haven't improved much from last year. We're getting pounded on freight charges because we have to buy stuff as soon as it's available, rather than waiting to build up a larger order. If you see it, buy it. Prices are going up. They have to. Every overhead cost except our paychecks is climbing.