Originally Posted by Cosmoline

Is anyone else sick of the "xtreme" youth-centered bike shops? I went into one yesterday to get a bell and was accosted by a clerk with disks in his ear lobes who asked me what I wanted. I mentioned I was after a bell and a spare seat post. This did not please him, and he could not help me. The music was some sort of hip hop idiocy, and the clerks were overflowing with attitude. I wouldn't care, but since I've started biking again I've noticed these shops are the rule not the exception. What's going on here? Do people actually like this sort of punk attitude?

As for the bikes, they were either ultra light over priced mountain and road bikes with no fenders or racks or cheaply made cruisers. Ask for a steel frame heavy bike and they look at you like you're insane.