are all these grassroots teams killing the our sport?

I think bike shops do not need to carry cell phones and work all hours of the day or night. This isn't healthcare, for Christ's sake - we're just riding bikes here! Nobody (the larger sports community) cares about DH racing and I hope it stays that way. Otherwise, we'll all just be a bunch of blood-doping, womanizing, Audi-driving, leg-shaving, one-gonad dudes worried about how good we look in lycra.

Back to the bike shops:
THEY'RE not just selling shit.
THEIR extra cost over the online dealers reflects the service they can offer.
THERE is no replacement for that. (K Shiz, that's for you)

That being said, there are plenty of shops that don't do much in the way of service. We happen to be lucky here in SLC to have one that does.

Just think about the Ventana deal you just mentioned above. You can go into our shop and talk to the guy who helped design that bike about whether that bike will fit your needs. How awesome is that? You can talk to people who have been there, done that about which fancy/custom parts are worth the coin and when to buy Taiwan.

I have to agree with Snipa (Dave, how'd you get such a cool sign-in name?) about feeling dirty but spending overall way more at the LBS. And doing so has helped. I've been able to get things fixed after hours and expediently, learn about the process, get pretty solid advice etc. because (I presume) loyalty to a single shop.

There is no sustainable replacement for the local bike shop.

oldmandave- you are my hero for this day! not only did you make use of the proper homophones but you proved a valuable point in the process. A thunderous high five to you, sir.

oldmandave,

I'm not discounting or disagreeing with anything you've written as like k.Shiz mentioned it gives another important perspective.

However, I think that shops like Go-Ride and The Fix are in a odd conundrum. Sure Go-Ride could be considered an LBS by those of us who live in Salt Lake. But to others living outside the state it's just another online retailer taking away local customers. Sorry, hard one to swallow but it's true. Keep in mind that one of my best friends works at The Wild Rose which has been around decades before most shops in the valley, does business the old fashioned way and are also direct competitiors of Go-Ride when it comes to selling Yeti and Intense brand bicycles. I ride frequently with some of the dirty hippies from that shop and I would venture to guess that not one of them would consider Go-Ride an 'Local Bike Shop' in the truest sense. Just sayin'.

Getting back on track with the theme of the thread, Go-Ride offered an exclusive Turner Grassroots deal that was mentioned earlier. So having said that, do you still lump Go-Ride into the LBS category? Or are they just another online retailer with another scheme to take away business from those brick and morter shops out of state?

I could care less about the grassroots DHR deal and would have jumped all over that if I was in the market. I mean that was a screaming deal to those who took advantage of it. But if I were a small shop owner in Utah or Colorado doing things the core LBS way, I would call BS on Go-Ride, the Fix, etc... throwing down the 'Local Bike Shop' card. If I was a small shop owner in Utah or Colorado doing things the core LBS way and was also miffed at all the grassroots deals, I would be more than miffed at Go-Ride as a double whammy.

I also think you missed my point regarding my own work example as you're coming from a shop perspective. Sure your points are extremely valid, but you're leaving out a potentially large customer base. The examples of racing down the canyon on a Saturday only to arrive at a store that closed 5 minutes earlier and all the nuances ordering through the LBS are real world examples not only from myself, but those I ride with. It's hugely frustrating. And why should I as the paying customer go out of my way to do business with anyone? I'm the one spending money, so why aren't the shops doing something to make it easier for me to spend that money? Yet I constantly read and listen to all the complaining about online retailers and grassroots deals hurting local business. Sorry, I may be a huge bitch, but I'm the paying customer. If you don't want my $$$ keep doing what you're doing and I'll spend it elsewhere.

Ryan, you make some very valid points, and I totally agree with you from a customers standpoint. I don't blame consumers one bit for searching out the best deal. From a shop standpoint it's tough when we are stocking thousands of dollars in product from a certain manufacturer, and then they undercut us and sell direct through a "sponsorship" deal. Why should shops even bother stocking all that product then? But that is an issue to be dealt with between the shop and the manufacturer. No fault of the consumer for working a great deal in my opinion.

As for the DHR deal, Go-Ride stuck it's neck on the line ordering 60 Turner DHR's when we heard word that there was not going to be a 2009 DHR at all. Any Turner dealer in the country could have had that same opportunity if there were willing to take on such a risky venture. I don't feel like we "stole" business from anyone, we were just in the right place at the right time to take advantage of a good business deal. If we could afford to stock drivetrain parts in the numbers that the "big" online dealers do and sell them for that cheap, we would most likely do the same thing. Most of the time they are selling them for less than our shop cost. I guess they have the upper hand in that respect, and we as a smaller online shop/local dealer need to work our ass off to either have a better deal on something else, or earn the respect and the loyalty of our customers just like every other shop should.

I also agree shops do need to evolve. There is no doubt that shops are there to serve the consumer. No question, if your local shop sucks and doesn't earn your business, then there is no reason you should spend your hard earned money there. (I am now feeling self conscious every time I type there/their/they're) The online vs local dealer argument almost shouldn't exist anymore though. At this point in time if you, as a business, can't get a website up and running to sell online, then maybe you don't deserve to be in business. We have seen our online sales drop dramatically and in turn have had to really work hard to grow our local business. Sure we still sell online, but we are in no way a "big" online shop. By the way, if you want to place an order online with us, and you live in SLC, it only takes 1 business day for shipping. (was that just a shameless plug?) We don't have some magic online dealer fairy dust. We order from BTI and QBP just like the rest of the bike shops in the country.

Bitch on!

Well Von, I was rubbing Go-Ride and you guys a bit. But keep in mind that intertwined amongst all my bitching I do think you guys are thinking outside the box and that is what I was trying to drive home.
A. You have an online presence.
B. Your shop is open later than most during the week. That's why when I do buy local I'm heading in your direction. It's somewhat convienent and I don't have to rush out of work to make closing time.
C. Go-Ride puts a lot of effort behind a seemingly frustrating State race series.
D. You guys know what you're doing, more so than most shops in town.

On a related topic that I know Scott is aware of regarding racing: There ARE more people who want to race or race more but are kind of fed up with things-myself included. It was frustrating to rally to troops to an event only to sit around for 3-4 hours after the posted start time waiting to begin the event. This has nothing to do with anything Go-Ride is/was doing and falls squarely on the promoter. But the effect is that people just don't want to put up with that any longer. I only raced 3 events this year locally and things were definitely improved-races started on time with the exception of Wolf Creek which was delayed due to nasty weather-but it was kind of like, why now? No one's left. Last year there was myself and one other guy in my class/age group all year long. The year before that there was 4-8 guys at an event and even more the previous year.

If one is focusing on grassroots programs hurting the sport of racing in Utah, I don't think so. There are other factors at work. Consider this: I raced one I-Cup XC event in 2008. There were 12 guys in my age group which was cut in half of how Salamander Promotions runs the age groups. Had they ran it the way our DH series is run, there would have been about 30 guys. In total there were over 300 people racing. And even given that large turn out, every thing started/ended on time. I raced for 2 hours and left by noon-including award ceremonies. Other than the fact that I was racing a hardtail in a XC event, nothing about it was frustrating, delayed, confused. In the case of our dwindling State DH Series those few Sponsorhouse deals aren't doing anything to hurt racing. It's a lack of organized management IMO. No one pays my way to race and I'm far from being a pro. So there are no expectations other than my own. But the fun sort of disappears when you're spending your weekend sitting around in the sun next to a bike you can't ride down the mountain because you don't want to miss a looming start time sometime in the future that's anyone's guess.

Holy cow I'm long winded and had an opinion, but this is an Oxford style discussion here. Too high brow.

The world is really coming to an end now. After the Transition, Knolly, Fox Racing Shox grassroots offers that popped up last Nov/Dec one would think the sport would be coming to a halt with some of the opinions thrown out here.

I just opened the email account linked to my Sponsorhouse profile and now Corsair and Leatt Brace are jumping on the wagon going toe to toe with the likes of Christopher Bean Coffee, Eco Sports Bottle, Skeletal Metal Surgical Jewelry, That Butt Stuff Chamois Cream, and Tooks: The Hat You Can Hear for those lucrative grassroots sponsorship dollars.

Bid farewell to mountain bike racing .

Old thread, but I found it interesting. I don't know if the industry has changed in a way to invalidate this discussion, but I have a different perspective.
I joined a grassroots team this year, which is my first experience with any sort of sponsorship, but I have found that I am compelled (even required) to spend hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars on equipment which I wouldn't have bought otherwise. The discounts from grassroots sponsorship are not equivalent to the discounts that can be obtained from clearance of old stock, or very large online/mail-order retailers. The coupling of these two observations makes it very unlikely that grassroots have a negative impact on the industry.

Loyalty ? what is that? Aside from a DIE HARD football fan, it is an old school mindset. Today it is all best deal, period. I do think it does breed some product loyalty, it did for me from an old partial sponsorship, you go with what you know and comfortable with. Of course you have people who feel the grass is green'r on the other side. No confusion there.