Quality of bikes in bike shops

[Rich_R]

This weekend I dropped into a couple of bike shops to have a look at some machines, to get a feel for what money will get you. I was honestly surprised at the poor quality of some bikes they had in stock (in various shops) and how much they charge for them Even one shop (which I wont mention) had a brand new bike parked up, with a sold sign on it, yet it had another bike leaning against it! The bar end and indicator touching the paint work, I felt sorry for the guy who has paid over $20k of his hard earned dollars to this shop.

 

Course, Minerva (Ducati) was a nice place be in, but that's where the money is!

[CSV]

well it all depends on the shop's mentality.

 

some shop take in bikes and aimed to restore them to good working condition.

 

others will take an extra effort to restore to pristine condition.

 

some just take in and leave it in shop in "as is" condition.

 

if you wanna buy a bike, 2nd hand one, i suggest you bring someone who owns that bike or knows bike well enough with you. 2 pairs of eyes are always better than 1.

[rocklobster]

hard to say, i feel a lot of shops only tell you the good things about the bike and never the bad thing.... this is not good for us as buyers because the bad things (screwed up piston, block, radiator etc etc) are the things that will cost us the most...

 

always go with an experienced friend because they are the people who are going to be looking at the small details and listening to the engine while you are being dazzled by the shiny new paintwork...

 

i personally feel that whenever you buy from a shop you will always get chopped... in order to turn a profit they have to embed their cost into the price they offer you, this is fine because this is business and ppl have to earn a living.... make sure they at least give you a warranty of 2 months minimum so you have somewhere to go to when things go bad...

[xavier_0909]

I just feel bike shops in SG are mainly owe by family biz be it they are big workshops or small independent workshops, thus servicing by them sometimes really depend on luck by their individual technicians whether they are responsible or skilled. End of the day, when things damaged, mostly you need to come for repeat jobs and of cos paying with the complain case ignored if they are serious damages done. Just thinking if there are bigger organisation going into bike servicing rather then family base biz structure workshops. Recently jus bought a bike, do anyone know any workshop, more organized and is not family owe biz? Although they might be less skilled in modifications, but when it comes to a complain, the management will take appropriate actions againist it or give us a fair explanation.

[keiff]

I just feel bike shops in SG are mainly owe by family biz be it they are big workshops or small independent workshops, thus servicing by them sometimes really depend on luck by their individual technicians whether they are responsible or skilled. End of the day, when things damaged, mostly you need to come for repeat jobs and of cos paying with the complain case ignored if they are serious damages done. Just thinking if there are bigger organisation going into bike servicing rather then family base biz structure workshops. Recently jus bought a bike, do anyone know any workshop, more organized and is not family owe biz? Although they might be less skilled in modifications, but when it comes to a complain, the management will take appropriate actions againist it or give us a fair explanation.

 

Not necessarily true. Looi's is family-owned but all my friends and I have no complaints regarding the standard of their mechanic. And I am sure if you complain to Mr Lee, he will give you a satisfactory answer.