Shimano - sending LBS' broke

[Ross]

Went to a LBS with a friend today and she enquired about some snazzy new Shimano shoes that she'd seen online somewhere and asked the shop if they carried them or could get them. Answer from the LBS guy was Shimano have a minimum order of 25 pairs in assorted colours for those shoes and the store is (understandably) not keen on ordering them because of this.

[mikgit]

pretty sure its not just shimano, that seems to be a pretty common occurrence with many things

[trailgumby]

Not sending LBS' broke.

Sending *themselves* broke. Bike shops will just purchase other brands. It's called cutting off your nose to spite your face.

[rodneycc]

I'm actually surprised that Shimano are in the Shoe market at all....

[Comedian]

I'm actually surprised that Shimano are in the Shoe market at all....

Really? Shimano want to own it all. Groupsets, wheels, pedals and shoes as Shimano, frame components and tools (Pro), clothing (pearl Izumi).

Plus, they have a very close relationship with Giant.

[rodneycc]

I'm actually surprised that Shimano are in the Shoe market at all....

Really? Shimano want to own it all. Groupsets, wheels, pedals and shoes as Shimano, frame components and tools (Pro), clothing (pearl Izumi).

Plus, they have a very close relationship with Giant.

Yeah I know what you mean and coming from . i.e fishing gear as well. But do they make much money out of shoes compared to the other products? Shoes are a specialist line I would of thought and rebadging another brand might be more cost effective if they want to appear like they are active in that market (unless thats what they actually do? But I don't think so). I'm also very surprised bigger shoe players like Adidas and New Balance haven't got a bigger foot hold in the Market. I know Nike did for a little while with Lance Armstrong (I had a pair of those for a little while). New Balance are doing football boots now so its not a great leap into cycling shoes I would of thought.

[Duck!]

Went to a LBS with a friend today and she enquired about some snazzy new Shimano shoes that she'd seen online somewhere and asked the shop if they carried them or could get them. Answer from the LBS guy was Shimano have a minimum order of 25 pairs in assorted colours for those shoes and the store is (understandably) not keen on ordering them because of this.

It'll be a limited run special thing for that model/range, because that's certainly not Shimano's standard policy.

Plus, they have a very close relationship with Giant.

That's just common sense for both of them - it's pointless for Shimano to make bits that don't fit on any frames, it's equally pointless for any frame manufacturer, not just Giant, to make frames that there are no bits to fit on. You could bet your boots that it's not only Giant that Shimano work closely with, equally that it's not only Shimano the frame manufacturers work with.

[Tim]

But I don't think so). I'm also very surprised bigger shoe players like Adidas and New Balance haven't got a bigger foot hold in the Market.

Memories.
Way back somewhere in the mid-eighties my first real cycling shoes were Adidas, Eddie Merckx, lace up numbers.
A few years before Look (or was it Time?) brought out the clipless pedal and cleat system. Everyone I knew thought clipless was dumb.


I think they were German made and remember they cost close to a week's pay.

[dalai47]

Memories.
Way back somewhere in the mid-eighties my first real cycling shoes were Adidas, Eddie Merckx, lace up numbers.

Mine too!

[Bentnose]

Memories.
Way back somewhere in the mid-eighties my first real cycling shoes were Adidas, Eddie Merckx, lace up numbers.

Mine too!

I still have an Adidas pair of MTB shoes, they're my 2nd back up shoes, they have a really fiddly strap system so I never liked them. I personally prfer Shimano shoes over all others I have tried.

[eeksll]

New Balance are doing football boots now so its not a great leap into cycling shoes I would of thought.

Every brand do football boots, the most popular sport in the world isn't it. Throw in afl/touch footy/rugby/soccer

I never thought about it that way, but my football shoes are fantastically supple and I think they would make for very comfortable cycling shoes.

[jules21]

Went to a LBS with a friend today and she enquired about some snazzy new Shimano shoes that she'd seen online somewhere and asked the shop if they carried them or could get them. Answer from the LBS guy was Shimano have a minimum order of 25 pairs in assorted colours for those shoes and the store is (understandably) not keen on ordering them because of this.

this is why buyers' collectives exist. the supply chain starts out at the high volume level (where Shimano are as a manufacturer) and gradually narrows down to the local shop at the extreme other end. if a supplier doesn't want to deal with such low volumes, then you need to add an intermediary - such as a distributor or buyers' collective.

the problem is that the intermediary wants a slice of the pie, so there's less profit to be had. you can argue that's not Shimano's fault.

[Noviss]

I went to two LBS's looking for new shoes this week. This thread explains why neither of them had a reasonable range of Shimano shoes. I wanted to support the LBS but it looks like I will be forced to buy on line.

[ironhanglider]

But I don't think so). I'm also very surprised bigger shoe players like Adidas and New Balance haven't got a bigger foot hold in the Market.

Memories.
Way back somewhere in the mid-eighties my first real cycling shoes were Adidas, Eddie Merckx, lace up numbers.
A few years before Look (or was it Time?) brought out the clipless pedal and cleat system. Everyone I knew thought clipless was dumb.


I think they were German made and remember they cost close to a week's pay.

Another with Adidas shoes. Mine proudly bore the words "Made in Romania" on them, and had wooden soles. They were great shoes until the wood split along the centreline and the movement between the two halves pinched me.

Cheers,

Cameron

[silentbutdeadly]

Went to a LBS with a friend today and she enquired about some snazzy new Shimano shoes that she'd seen online somewhere and asked the shop if they carried them or could get them. Answer from the LBS guy was Shimano have a minimum order of 25 pairs in assorted colours for those shoes and the store is (understandably) not keen on ordering them because of this.

Local shop (that has since gone broke) advised me of much the same thing - but it was only in relation to shoes. Hence this bloke only ordered a couple of models of Shimano road shoes and one model of mtb shoes once or twice a year...

The one remaining shop charges you to try their limited range of shoes on...you get it back if you buy.

[jules21]

The one remaining shop charges you to try their limited range of shoes on...you get it back if you buy.

this is reasonable. why should they have to stock shoes for people to come in and try them for size, before buying online? at least you don't to feel guilty for doing that if there's a fee attached.

[mikgit]

I'm actually surprised that Shimano are in the Shoe market at all....

Really? Shimano want to own it all. Groupsets, wheels, pedals and shoes as Shimano, frame components and tools (Pro), clothing (pearl Izumi).

Plus, they have a very close relationship with Giant.

Yeah I know what you mean and coming from . i.e fishing gear as well. But do they make much money out of shoes compared to the other products? Shoes are a specialist line I would of thought and rebadging another brand might be more cost effective if they want to appear like they are active in that market (unless thats what they actually do? But I don't think so). I'm also very surprised bigger shoe players like Adidas and New Balance haven't got a bigger foot hold in the Market. I know Nike did for a little while with Lance Armstrong (I had a pair of those for a little while). New Balance are doing football boots now so its not a great leap into cycling shoes I would of thought.

Shimano have been making shoes for a while and are pretty big in the shoe market. Adidas did make stuff until recently, then all that became the Mavic shoe line,then Mavic got sold off.

I am surprised that Shimano didn't buy Marzocchi last year, then they'd have had suspension stuff wrapped up as well.

[Lurkin]

the advice at a LBS is really the product for sale. The parts, clothing.. it can all be purchased online these days.

It's laughable how many seem to focus on price to the sacrifice of service with a clear lack of understanding of the value of being someones 'go to'. payment arrangements to pay to try things on.. how is that better than just paying to send it back if it does fit when buying online?

there was a time when I was too time poor to learn how to do things myself, but I kept noticing things that just werent right when the bikes were being given back or parts being bought that were misfitting. Overpriced saddles, untension released 'trued' wheels, 'trued wheels' with tension all over the shop, wheels returned missing parts... after the missus bike was given back to her at a shop situated at the top of a steep inner city area, without the brakes being bled (when it desperately and definitely required it, the lever would reach the bar without much grip!) I decided thats the end of local bike shops for me and her. It was not only costing me more time and money, LBS work was just plain unsafe.

I'll probably break a few more things whilst learning and I've spent a shitload more on bike tools but overall it hasn't cost that much more than going to a bike shop. On the positive side, I've learnt so much more, can fix things on the go, the bikes get serviced more because its cheaper and more convenient... and I don't have to deal with pretentious bike shop snobs who have a lot of attitude but seem to know very little.

Meanwhile, theres bike co ops out there who usually have volunteers who are willing to help out, forums full of information and how to videos galore... LBS are just a thing of the past for me. This isn't through being a cheap arse or really wanting to do this work myself, I just don't trust them to do it anymore.

[open roader]

Local bicycle shops are pretty good at sending themselves broke which has been documented and discussed here numerous times. However, there is no doubt cycle industry distributors and multi-national cycle industry companies have policies that fall foul of small local independant stores.

My former LBS was a Giant Bicycle vendor back in the day....... Throughout the late 90's and early 2000's my district was littered with Giant brand bikes of all sorts, they were in backyards and being ridden by children all over town and on the back roads by cyclists everywhere Giant stickered bikes all over - something one picks up on when interested in cycling and something that my LBS had a lot to do with. Sometime around 2008/9 Giant began to insist all it's re-sellers ordered a certain number of models and insisted that every bike purchased was built up and displayed as floor stock.

I'm unsure of exactly how many bikes this policy constituted but it did put my LBS under pressure having to purchase a much larger order of bikes than previously on the back of the GFC, not having either the floor space to display them all properly nor really having the market to sell these bikes before the next year's models became available. This policy was one of the reasons my LBS closed down.

Now my part of country Victoria is dominated by other bicycle brands. Now I see by and large only older model Giant bikes in my area and not many of those comared to other brands - this is very much to Giant's loss and to my way of thinking is a result of them treating all their re-sellers as if they were large suburban chain stores. I happen to have the opinion that Giant bicycles represent some of the best value for money bicycles avail. and are also at the cutting edge of mass carbon manufacture (I have owned 3 Giant bikes and still have one Giant MTB) but their policy to insist upon a percentage of the entire Giant catalogue be displayed at each Giant re-seller was a bad policy for thier brand. Bicycle distribution in this country is another reason why LBS is losing it's relevence in the retail scene.

[Duck!]

I am surprised that Shimano didn't buy Marzocchi last year, then they'd have had suspension stuff wrapped up as well.

I'm not sure of the extent of the arrangement, but Shimano have had close ties with Fox for some years. That arrangement would have fairly probably put the brakes on any deal with Marzocchi.

[warthog1]

Memories.
Way back somewhere in the mid-eighties my first real cycling shoes were Adidas, Eddie Merckx, lace up numbers.



I think they were German made and remember they cost close to a week's pay.

I like those shoes. Pity they don't make something similar in a cleated version, I don't want to spend a weeks pay on them though

[Tim]

...I don't want to spend a weeks pay on them though

I wasn't making much in those days...nor many days since.
I was a timber floor sander and finisher. About the most unhealthy job on the planet.
Asbestos? I know what it tastes like.

[silentC]

My first shoes were a pair of Dueoi Italian leather lace up with plastic soles and cleats. I still have them and was still wearing them until about 13 years ago, long after everyone else had gone clip-less. No reason other than that I am a tight####.

I'm due a new pair soon, although my 13-year old Shimano SPD-SLs are still holding together fine, they just look very battered.

My LBS stocks one or two pairs in each of the three main price-break Shimano shoes. He makes sure to cover a good range of sizes across the range, figuring that you should be able to gauge the size by trying on any of the shoes and then just order the price model you want. Not sure how well that works but he can't afford to carry too many and the bloody things go out of style apparently. It was all half black-half white last year, going by the new shoe owners in the bunch.

[warthog1]

I wasn't making much in those days...nor many days since.
I was a timber floor sander and finisher. About the most unhealthy job on the planet.
Asbestos? I know what it tastes like.

Well mate, I hope your cycling has helped flush that sh 1t out.
My Danish bosses in a previous job used to cut it with a 9 inch grinder sans mask years ago and describe coming home with dusted hair and face.
They are still kicking years later to my knowledge.
I was a bulk fuel tanker driver years ago too, similarly I got to suck down petrol fumes daily. Glad I left that.

[Tim]

I'm sometimes surprised I've topped the half-century mark thinking of past chemical and substance ingestion, voluntary and involuntary.
Still, I'm fitter than 98% of men my age but not silly enough to think I won't pay in some way sooner or later.