Talk:Local bike shop

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[edit] Article Worthy?

Is this really worthy of being an article? I am a big supporter of the local bike shop, but Wikipedia dosn't have articles on local pizza place, local bank, local pet store, etc. DCwom 16:24, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Competitors

"Second to the mass merchant online stores, road shops face local online retailers like We Keep You Cycling, LickBike, Bike Tires Direct and others. Finally, adding more to the mix are the overseas retailers. All of this makes the industry, highly competitive in nature."

1. The first paragraph lists mass merchants and on-line vendors, so this would be the third type of competitor.

2. What is a "road shop"?

3. What is a "local online retailer"? Local to what? The three given are in three different states?

4. "www.biketiredirect.com" is the URL of a search page.

5. Is there an example of an "overseas retailer"?

I could have just fixed 1 and 4, but I don't know how to handle 2, 3, and 5, so I brought it all here for discussion. -AndrewDressel 17:57, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Andrew, I think your changes are a definite improvement. Not only is it more concise (avoiding a laundry list of bike-related vendors) but you clearly categorize the kinds of businesses that sell bike stuff better. I wouldn't worry about the other categories, which don't make any sense to me. I don't know of too many people who buy bike parts from overseas, at least in the U.S., and I have no idea what a "road shop" is. The one thing I would add is a mention of the fact that many prominent brands (e.g. Trek) only allow their bicycles to be sold by brick-and-mortar dealers. MOXFYRE (contrib) 18:13, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. The exclusive dealer-manufacturer relationship is already mentioned in the last paragraph of the lead section. It uses Serotta as the example and references their web site which states "Serotta bicycles are sold only at professional dealerships." Trek would be murkier because of their new Trek retails stores, mentioned in the last paragraph of the Competitors section. -AndrewDressel 20:22, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Ah, yes, I'd missed that. I'd be tempted to mention Trek in that sentence too, since they're a much more well-known brand for most people, but I guess those new retail stores complicate things. Hmmm. MOXFYRE (contrib) 20:50, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Removed Photo

I removed the photo, it was not a bike shop, it was a local antique/junk/collectibles/thrift store that just happened to have a few old bikes for sale out front. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.243.147.149 (talk) 04:31, 23 April 2008 (UTC)