Somehow got a trial period for a part time job at a bike shop for sales and repair, it just kind of happened.
I have minor experience working on my bikes and a book on repair, I think it's easy to pick up.
Can you guys help me figure out the sales side of it? I just need to learn more about current brands on the market, both parts and bikes. I'm not too savvy on that aspect and I want to be product knowledgeable.
>>954146
Role play with your other sales staff:
Pretend you are every single customer archetype and ask questions as that person.
>What would a pro-racer want? What about a entry level racer?
>What about some guy who just wants to commute to work? The woman who wants to travel from city-to-city?
>What would you get someone with a hard budget of $500? $750?
>Why would I want a fatter tire instead of instead of skinny road tires? Kevler vs non-kevler? Knobby vs non-knobby?
>What items in the shop would someone buy on impulse? If you can only push one of your 7 impulse buys, how would you decide which one to mention to whom?
Here's all you have to know.
>Are you in reasonably good physical shape? Do you like going fast? Will you be riding 100% on pavement? Will you be riding off-road?
>If you answered yes to the first three, get an OTS.
>If you answered yes to the last one, get a rigid 90s MTB.
>If neither of the above applies, get a rigid 90s MTB and swap the knobbies for semislicks.
>>954146
For the sales side, it is less about knowing the other brands on the market and more about becoming very familiar with what your shop carries. Most customers will not be "into" bikes at all and are not concerned about the component spec: they just want the right bike for how and where they ride. This is why the first interactions with a customer that is bike shopping is asking enough of the right questions to make sure you get as good of an idea of what type of riding they will be doing and which models of bike may fit that role.
Make sure you choose models for the customer based on the level of rider the customer may be in 1 to 2 years. This is more important when choosing road or mountain bikes than hybrids because thoae activities are more performace-oriented and will likely develop more dedicated riders.
Don't let a customer's price control you. Your first priority is getting them a bike that will meet and exceed their immediate needs. You should NOT sell a customer looking to try your local knarly mountain bike trails a $350 "mountain-styled" hybrid bike just because that is what they said they think they wanted to spend. That bike will be hindering them for that type of riding in less than a year, if not immediately. Unless they are already an active bike enthusiast, they probably don't know how much they may need to invest in a bike that will last and grow with them more than 1 or 2 years.
Thanks for the advice, it's very different from gun sales.
Still, is there anywhere I can learn the specs of different products without tediously looking up every item.
>>954181
I would just go to the website of the company(s) your store carries (mostly just the bikes; don't worry so much about clothing, helmets, etc), read their product descriptions. It won't be that tedious if it's just one or two companies (most shops have one main brand of bikes that they carry, sometimes with one or two smaller brands), read the product descriptions of each of their lines. You don't have to get into the specifics of each little difference between each version of each bike, just read the basic descriptions of each product line. That will be a good start.
One last question. Looks like I need my own tools.
Can someone guide me to an affordable kit that has all of the essentials? I'll pick up any specialty tools as I need them, but right now I just need enough to get by.
>>954348
Give me a price range
>>954351
Preferably under $100, but no more than $150.
>>954354
http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1030354_-1___
this and a park tool torque wrench 3-15nm
get some torx and hex bits for it
a 10mm allen for bb30 cranks as well
>>954357
Thanks man.
>>954348
WTF? The shop doesn't provide tools for a part time employee who is on a trial period? How fucking poor are they? Sounds very sketchy.
>>954370
For the most part bike tools are kind of cheap. You spend 300 to 400 and you will be very well set up. I'm an electrician and I have about 4k in tools and something it's always needing to be replaced or bought.
>>954146
Steel is real. That's all you need to know. Every customer you convince to get a steel bike instead of a meme plastic eggshell will be a happy and grateful customer.
>>954348
What the actual fuck? You mean you need tools at home to practice with, or you need your own tools to use at the shop? If the latter... what the ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK?
>>954449
Both. I'm pretty sure he's providing tools, but it'd be a smart idea to start bringing my own.
Plus, I want to build bikes from yard sale and Craigslist parts in my spare time. I like Frankenstein bikes.
>>954410
I know this, I always ride steel. I currently ride an old Nashbar road bike. Well, not right now, I'm waiting to get new wheels. The old ones were fragile.
>>954456
If you want your own tools, some can be generic (not bike specific), just get them from a hardware store or online
>allen wrenches
>metric wrenches
>adjustable wrench (big one and small one)
>potentially torx wrenches
>screw drivers (flat and philips)
Then you'll need some bike specific tools
>cone wrenches (sizes 13, 14, 15, 16; good to have 2 of each; park tool makes double-sided 13/14 and 15/16)
>chain breaker
>cable cutter
>cassette and freewheel tools including chain whip
>bottom bracket tools and crank pullers
>truing stand and spoke wrenches
>tire levers and pump, but I assume you already have those
There are many variants of bottom bracket and freewheel/cassette tools because there's many styles of bottom brackets, freewheels, and cassettes. Up to you if you want to be fully equipped with every version, but I would recommend just getting the ones you need for your own bikes.
>>954458
>Shit-Mart or REI
Or he lives in a 3rd world shithole.
>>954456
..listen, buddy, I don't know who you are or what kind of cycling you do. Me, I'm a road cyclist on a local team. I train 6 days a week, and in a normal week the 7th day is in the gym doing core strengthening. Yesterday I did 30 minutes continuous at Threshold, a new PR for me. Looking at doing a TT this year, for the first time since I got hurt a few years back, and I think I can win one, or at least place in the top 5. Not bragging, just establishing who I am and what I'm about. Long rides at Threshold are no picnic.
There are two kinds of cyclists: Competitors, and everyone else. I don't care what kind of bike we're talking about, or what terrain you ride on, or how many days or how many miles a week, everyone falls into one of those two categories. The riders who are not competitors? They'll back off if it's starting to get uncomfortable. Why? Because they have *no reason* to push themselves that hard. In terms of training zones, if they push past Endurance and into Tempo or beyond, they won't stay there for more than a very short amount of time before backing off, because it's *uncomfortable* for them, and they don't feel the need to go that fast.
Competitors? They aren't pushing themselves to the point of it being abject suffering for no good reason, they know that on the other side of that suffering, there are *gains*. They know that as the mesocycles go by, they'll be able to go a little faster and a little longer because of that suffering, and they know that from those gains, comes getting that much closer to winning races, or that town-line sprint, or being first to the top of that big climb on the weekly fast group ride, or whatever it is that, for them, translates into 'competition'. Usually it's about some race or another, but it can even mean being the first to the top of that one big climb on the weekly group ride, or just beating your own PR on a set course you ride alone every week. There's a challenge, and they feel the need to meet it.
>>954458
Nope, local bike shop. I stumbled into the job just wandering in there and trading cycling stories while I was waiting for my scooter to be repaired down the road.
>>954460
I have a bunch of generic tools, I just need bike specific tools.
In the past, I've just gotten by by repurposing or nigger-rigging things to work.
>>954461
This. I live in Florida.
