Originally Posted by lil brown bat
Or, buy from your LBS if you want your LBS to stay in business so that you can go there in the future. It ain't right to leech off their expertise and their willingness to let you try bikes out, and then not give them business.
Too true -- if you can afford a new bike, or if they have decent used ones. I just bought a used Surly Cross Check with some nice upgrades for considerably less than half what I would have paid for a new one with inferior components. I'll take it to the LBS for service, if I need to, which is where a lot of their money is made... markups on bikes aren't that massive, I imagine, but the upcharge on labor and parts is cash in the bank.