Coates Cyclery closing after 83 years

Demolition of the building (and even the sign) will require historical evaluation.

 

That's a bummer and it is indeed a sign of the times.

 

there goes another

 

I don't live in the area so, I've never been there but it doesn't bode well for our own lbs'. I've run into some of the staff on rides and they've been super cool.

 

Sad to see, but retail is changing rapidly.
The bike shop model of today will go extinct. Most people don't want to shop at a physical location anymore. I think customers will order their bikes online, and they will be delivered, assembled/tuned by mobile mechanics like Beeline.
The same model works for repairs, though I think local repair shops with limited inventory will become the norm.
High-end bikes can be sold on-site at demo days, from inventory hauled in semi-trailers or special containers.
Test it. Like it? Buy it now!

 

Coates is/was a couple blocks from where I grew up. Been there many times, sorry to see it go, but unfortunately retail is slowly fading. Bought a few bikes at coates in the 70s.
I think I'm in the minority as I buy virtually all my MTB stuff from physical stores, it's just fun to go in chat, check it out and leave with it.

Now going to a mall and walking around just sucks, so I'll buy my jalapeno pepper corer online.

 

I have been using Beeline.
At times I don't understand their business model, but I like the fact I don't need to leave to service my bike.

 

Canyon will be here at the end of summer. They're a big player. Curious to see how the rest of the bike industry handles it.

 

Other manufacturers will sell direct (some already do).

 

"The internet can't fix your bike!" Best line ever... And fitting for me! I break stuff frequently, and the LBS keeps me running, usually with a minimum of downtime. I'll pay $5 more for a tire if it helps keep them around.

 

Coates was THE place to go for Schwinn parts back in the late 70'/80's. I grew up in Chino and we'd drive up there just because of their excellent service. Then we'd go down the street to La Paloma for some bomb mex food.

 

This closure was actually on the news last night (Channel 9 I think). Sucks to see another one go down.

 

Seems unfair that places like CRC can sell parts retail cheaper than lbs' can buy them wholesale.

 

I was able to get Shimano shoes from CRC in Belfast, Ireland cheaper than I could get them from Shimano here in the US. And that was with my discount from working at the shop!
Definitely a problem

 

I had a Coates Cyclery bookbag (it's what they were called before backpacks) in elementary school. Probably '72-'75ish? Sad to see them go.

I buy all my stuff from basically one shop. I like getting what I need, I like the helpful service, just like goin in there to talk and hang out.

 

Since they have their own bike line...CRC probably get their Shimano stuff on OEM pricing. Some of the Shimano stuff they send you has no retail packaging. I've gotten parts in a generic box and/or in a plastic bag.

You know its bad when a local shop buys from CRC for a customer's build.

I've seen OEM pricing on parts from 3T, Ritchey, and FSA...it's crazy on how cheap the parts are.

Westlake Cyclery just recently closed their doors too.

 

You're correct. Hell, people are ordering groceries online for delivery nowadays and we've had food delivered for eons already. This computer age is making everything too easy to obtain. It's making humans lazy (as a species). "Brains in a fish bowl" we will all be sooner than later at this pace...

I hate to say it but my LBS has seemed slow for a while now. Used to be that I had to wait days or longer to have some work done. Now, they just right on it.

 

My LBS seems slow too; there used to be a date when they were scheduling for, sometimes a week away; now it says "tomorrow" (guess they don't need to change it daily that way).

 

Check out this blog entry for The Hub Cyclery in Idyllwild, it is another example of the current retail model failing. But in this situation, it looks like they are actually gonna try adapting and seeing if they can survive into the future.

http://blogs.hubcyclery.com/announcing-hub-3-0/

 

EBay is the same way, I would have customers come in and ask if I could match their pricing. We told customers that we would not match any online pricing through EBay or CRC.

 

I have a friend that worked for Shimano in Irvine. I was looking for some Zee parts and he gave me a code that let my buy for a pretty decent discount off retail. First they had no stock...and second...CRC was cheaper! I just bought a few more things like brake rotors and chains to get free shipping. All were cheaper.

I remember eBay had XX1 cassettes for close to 200 bucks. Shops were buying off eBay and reselling. Lol...there is a shop that bought a bunch of tubes from Pricepoint when they were liquidating all their stuff for dirt cheap.

 

You wonder why Shimano sales were down. If CRC and others are buying groups and selling them for less than wholesale, it hurts the whole supply chain. The distributor loses money and then the LBS.

 

I'm sad to see this, next you are going to see the likes of Bicycle Central and others falling. I'm all for the larger chain stores but their is something to be said about the smaller outfits.

 

I'm fine with this. QBP's US monopoly isn't good for the consumer. It's an indictment of the industry that we have to gray market parts from Europe to achieve something like a market price.

 

When I decided to refresh my Cannondale Synapse, I tried to spend money at the somewhat local LBS, only to be told that he couldn't get the parts cheap enough to justify stocking them; people wouldn't buy them from him.

I tried. He appreciated that I tried. But he actually told me to check Colorado Cyclist.