Now Gang,
Wait a minute. Before the gang at Bicycle Classics get all the credit for going in and out of the vintage bike biz a dozen times this year, We/ I'm a lot worse than that! No applause or awards please! But remember; and Dale will vouch as we are the champions! We went from 6 or 7 guys/gals and 7 days x 10 hour days to 2 to 4 guys and gals and 3 days x 27 total open walk in hours per week. Not so different from the Mass. based Bicycle Classics as I remember from their literature.
We ( Wife, kids, cats and a talkative bird that greets all cute female strangers with chit chat and clever small talk) still take call ins almost anytime but we were so clobbered with walk-in traffic we couldn't cope with simple tasks because of the interruptions.
With less staff and less worry the vintage (and other bicycle business) business runs smoother every month and we are able to ride more and fulfill requests with lots less conflicts to our time. This wouldn't work for everyone (every shop) but I feel that dealing with hard to locate items it works because we spend a disproportionate time searching and preparing products for resale that ordinary bicycle operations never deal with.
The classic business model (long retail hours and bunches of festering staff) does not work for us and I doubt it could work for Mr. Kone at bicycle Classics who has many outside interests and pursuits to occupy his time.
"See "AND LETS" below:
In a message dated 3/1/01 2:11:07 PM, OROBOYZ@aol.com writes:
<< In a message dated 3/1/01 8:56:26 AM Eastern Standard Time, rebour@hotmail.com writes:
<< And let's not leave out the fact that Ray sold many things to you wholesale, in large quantities, only so that you could mark them up and resell them to many of us in the US.>>
The above remark sounds a bit oily, sleazy, and under the table; how I'd love to get in on the action!!!! Really now, I don't know what the above inference is intended but it seems to suggest that "mr ray" figured out a way to provide at a substantial profit (perhaps taking advantage of the naive Mr. -Bicycle Classics-Kone) by loading him up with massive amounts of unwanted and valueless merchandise ( sounds like he may be an ex Trek rep or something- Dale were not you a person of this background?-) and then the crafty Mr. Kone cleverly made lemonade out of lemons by marking up the passed along junk to unwitting overly trusting and good natured collector types with too much money and few too many brain cells. You know if Mr Kone was able to do this consistently over time and was able to pay all his bills he was ------lucky! If it was even the least bit consistently lucrative I'll bet these things would happen tomorrow morning.
1) Every bike shop in America would devote 50 percent of their time, resources, capital and shop space to vintage bikes and equipment. 2) Campagnolo would reintroduce NRecord and Super Record component parts (possible but not likely yet)
They surely will not!!!!!!
If it were really worth it to anybody more than a handful of enthusiasts then everybody would be in this end of the business.
<< I guess for a guy who has been in and out of the business at least a dozen times in the past year, you probably know the salient characteristics of a fickle customer base more than I, and vicariously share Ray's attitude.
By the way, you often use the phrase "'We' at Bicycle Classics." Please be honest here - unless you're counting your wife and kids, is BC really more than one person - you ? >> KD >>
I have had dealings a number of times with Mr Kone at Bicycle Classics and found his prices fair (often low by what I normally compare him too) and I'm amazed he can locate items and offer them so regularly so cheaply.
Gilbert "Sorry to hear Ray sold out but now he can rest a little"Anderson
The North Road Bicycle Company
your bicycle outfitter
519 W. North St.
Raleigh, NC 27603
USA
ph toll free in USA :800/321-5511
Local ph: 919/828-8999
E-Mail: cyclestore@aol.com