Fifty Plus (50+) - Would your LBS treat someone like this?

Yesterday morning I was on the local Rail Trail and just about at my turn off heading home from a to hot ride. I saw some bikes stopped ahead so slowed down to see if they needed anything. It was two lady riders working on a flat and an older guy who had also stopped. I asked if they needed any help and they said they did. One of them had a flat front tire and they were in the process of putting the tire back on the rim. The lady was having a hard time getting the last bit of tire back on the rim as she only had one tire tool. At this point I loaned her a tire tool and helped her put the tire on. Then I put CO2 in it but my inflator was only half full so I only got it half inflated. She put her inflator on it and let out the CO2 I had put in. I then used her inflator and not knowing the tire had a cut in the side promply blew up her tube. I asked them where they rode from and it was 25 miles away. I then offered to take her wheel to the LBS about 2 miles back. They pooled their money (forgot thier credit card that morning) and had $28.00. I took her wheel, a 650, to the shop and told them the ladiess story and they put a new good quality tire and tube on it. When the mechanic had finished the owner told me to give the lady her $28.00 back and to give her the bill and just have her send him a check when she got home. I took the wheel back to her and she was suprised to see her money too. The shop, Suncoast Bicycle in Inverness Florida, located on the Withlacootchee trail. I think they deserve a plug after that.

Well, that is good to know. I will make my winter vacation in Inverness and I do know of that bike store.
Your post will have a positive effect on at least one new customer, me.:)

That post needs to go on the Mechanics thread. Great story.

Great story and worth the plug.

I've had dealings with other bike shops that were of the same ilk - very nice and considerate.

Wow! Great! Not to brag, but that would be probably par for the course up here in ND where we never lock our houses and rarely take the keys from our cars and where we are usually surprised to read about different kinds of bike locks. But I suppose progress will eventually come here, too. Hope the LBS's stay the same though.
One thing this story drives home to me (again) That bikers are definitely generally a better class of people than average. Whenever I'm around fellow bikers I notice this again and again!

What a great story! I love happy endings and friendly LBSs!

Thanks for sharing!

$28 wasn't enough?

Its nice to hear some good about the LBS for a change. They deserve the plug and you done good too RoMad.

Eight of us rode the Withlacochee Trail last January. We stopped in Suncoast Cycles and found them very friendly and accomodating. A lady friend of mine bought a new helmet and when I tried it on, it was so comfortable that I bought one exactly like it. The funny thing was that my helmet was about ten dollars cheaper that the one she just purchased. The LBS immediately refunded her money and she was so happy that she bought a new saddle from them too.

Wow! Great! Not to brag, but that would be probably par for the course up here in ND where we never lock our houses and rarely take the keys from our cars and where we are usually surprised to read about different kinds of bike locks. But I suppose progress will eventually come here, too. Hope the LBS's stay the same though.


Given the population trends for North Dakota, it may be a bit before "progress" gets there! I wish Colorado had similar population trends, but no such luck.

1870 2,405 –
1880 36,909 1434.7%
1890 190,983 417.4%
1900 319,146 67.1%
1910 577,056 80.8%
1920 646,872 12.1%
1930 680,845 5.3%
1940 641,935 -5.7%
1950 619,636 -3.5%
1960 632,446 2.1%
1970 617,761 -2.3%
1980 652,717 5.7%
1990 638,800 -2.1%
2000 642,200 0.5%

Great LBS story, BTW!

Given the population trends for North Dakota, it may be a bit before "progress" gets there! I wish Colorado had similar population trends, but no such luck.

1870 2,405 –
1880 36,909 1434.7%
1890 190,983 417.4%
1900 319,146 67.1%
1910 577,056 80.8%
1920 646,872 12.1%
1930 680,845 5.3%
1940 641,935 -5.7%
1950 619,636 -3.5%
1960 632,446 2.1%
1970 617,761 -2.3%
1980 652,717 5.7%
1990 638,800 -2.1%
2000 642,200 0.5%

Great LBS story, BTW!

As someone who first remembers going to Denver in 1959 on Hwy U.S. 287, I will second your remarks on Colorado's population. We see and awful lot of them up here on the weekends. With the exception of the two big bike races we have (the Dead Dog Classic and the Laramie Enduro) mostly what we see are motorized types. I did not think that the world could support the production of so many four wheelers as I see being towed behind CO pick up trucks.

$28 wasn't enough?

Tire + tube +labor. $28 might not cover it. Some bike shops stock almost no 650 stuff so maybe they just had a tri tire or something. If the shop knew the guy who brought in the wheel, I think my LBS would have done the same.

That's a great shop story! :)

... Brad

This is a brighten your day kind of story!

Yes. The shops with whom I do business would behave in the same manner.:)

I think A&B Cycles in Springfield MO would have a similar attitude. They've always been very nice to me, from the very beginning.

Tire + tube +labor. $28 might not cover it. Some bike shops stock almost no 650 stuff so maybe they just had a tri tire or something. If the shop knew the guy who brought in the wheel, I think my LBS would have done the same.

What I'm getting at is - did the bill they sent come to more or less than the cash that Romad handed them? If more, I don't really see what everyone is gushing about.