You must be a joy for bike shops employees. "Yea I dunno, this toob says $5 on it. No way I'd pay that much".
I've got a good relationship with my shop. I bought yet another bike from them this year and referred in a friend who bought a bike from them on my recommendation. I do all my own mech work (suspension excluded) and build my own wheels, so I buy my parts where it makes sense. I'm low maintenance, loyal and not dicking around about shitty little parts. Either they are price competitive and I buy it, or they aren't and I don't.
I also think Bro pricing is bullshit and that shops would be better served by instituting 'frequent buyer' cards to actually give discounts to the people that spend money.
Anyway. we're debating two points here: support of the Sierra Club and pricing. I think the big picture, or the one of importance, is the fact they give donations to a group who is bent on taking land away from users. If you feel more comfortable that in saving $2 per tube is more important than the fact MEC supports eco-nazis then you're in the wrong sport.
But you're right, price competition is somewhat of a seperate issue. I took a look at MEC donations in BC for 2008. They did give some money to Sierra club. 15 thousand dollars. That was on a donation page that listed out about 442 thousand dollars. I'm not going to research what each and every project is, but some of the project titles are fairly indicative of the nature of their work. The amount they funded is the number at the start of each line item.
They seem like real dicks :rolleyes:
6512 Allan Brookes Nature Centre - Okanagan Collaborative Conservation Program: Strategic Planning
7000 Cetus Research and Conservation Society - Straitwatch Outreach to Kayakers in Johnstone Strait
5000 Canoe Kayak BC - Mamquam River Access Fundraiser
8000 Living Oceans Society - How Climate Change Affects the Ocean and BC Coastal Communities
5000 Society for a GE Free BC - Public education and outreach on genetically engineered crops
5000 World Wildlife Fund Canada - Pacific Region/Vancouver Office - WWF-Canada Young Leaders Program
5338 Denman Island Conservancy Association - Central Park Trail Development
3000 DreamRider Theatre Society - Keep Cool! A play about climate change
5000 Squamish Access Society - Squamish Climbing Stewardship Strategy
4000 LifeCycles Project Society - Home is Where We Live - Spring Ridge Commons Permaculture Food Garden
4000 Wolverine Nordic and Mountain Society - Monkman Pass Memorial Trail
3000 Alberni Valley Outdoor Club - Alberni Inlet Trail
15000 Sierra Club of Canada - BC Chapter - Mobilizing British Columbians to Save the Flathead Valley
10000 Galiano Conservancy Association - What a Marine Life
10000 SeaChange Marine Conservation Society - EcoRowing Environmental Education Program
10000 Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition - Sacred Headwaters Education/Outreach 2008
10000 Dogwood Initiative - Coastal Oil Tanker Campaign
14420 Klabona Keepers Society - Klabona Fisheries Research
10000 BC Spaces for Nature - WildED Program - The Outdoor Classroom
10000 Peace Valley Environment Association - Keeping the Peace
14000 Watershed Watch Salmon Society - Farmed salmon-wild salmon disease interactions
10000 British Columbia Creek Protection Society - BCCPS Run-of-River Awareness Program
10000 Professional Environmental Activists Association - Professional Environmental Activists Association
2322 Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team Society - Capacity building for species recovery and restoration in Garry oak ecosystems
9676 Cetus Research and Conservation Society - Straitwatch Outreach to Kayakers in Johnstone Strait 2009
50000 Nanaimo [HTML_REMOVED] Area Land Trust - Mount Benson Acquisition Project
22500 Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition - Get the Shell Out!: SWCC Capacity 08-09
25000 Sage Centre - on behalf of Green Legacies - Green Legacies Online Training Project
6500 TLC The Land Conservancy of BC - Vancouver Island/Coast - Conservation Holidays
6950 Perry Ridge Water Users Association - Perry Ridge Ecological Reserve - Valhalla Park Extension
25000 Dogwood Initiative - Dogwood Capacity Building: Database Upgrade and System Integration
10000 YMCA YWCA of Greater Victoria - Camp Thunderbird - Camp Thunderbird Youth Sea Kayaking Equipment Upgrade
12000 Association of Mayne Island Boaters - Pumpty Dumpty II Project
500 Raincoast Education Society - Raincoast Explorers - Children and Youth Environmental Education
10200 The Land Trust Alliance of British Columbia - Protecting Land, Carbon and Communities
3000 Kimberley Nature Park Society - Kimberley Nature Park Trail Guide
15000 Smart Growth BC - The Sea-to-Sky Greenbelt Initiative: A Smart Growth Legacy
35000 Carrier Sekani Tribal Council - First Nations Conservation Strategy
15000 Educo Adventure School - Educo Experiential Wilderness Programs
9280 BC Nature - formerly Federation of BC Naturalists - Expanding Awareness and Protection of IBAs in BC