Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.scottfl
09-12-08, 05:34 PM
Beer + annoyed at LBS = really annoyed. The problem is that I don’t have a LBS (at least for touring gear). Touring in South Florida seems non-existent. It’s not hard to see why though. Anyone that lives down here knows that hardly a week goes by without someone getting barreled over by some raging old/blind/distracted person in an SUV.
So my “local” bike shop was up in Chicago. After calling around (for weeks) I found someone who had the bike I wanted in stock, the KWT. What a sweet bike. So that brings me to the point of all this. Those of us relegated to ordering over the internets depend on outstanding Customer Service. Well, these guys don’t have it. I didn’t ask for much. I gave them my hard-earned dollars and they were supposed to send the things I asked for. There should be no substituting right? So when half the things I order don’t show up and the other half is the wrong color I get annoyed. The biggest issue for me are the panniers. They are red. The ones I ordered were black. Tonight I find out I can’t exchange them through the place in Chicago because they can’t return the red ones to Ortlieb. So they’d have to eat the cost of them. My heart goes out to them.
I’m sure I’ll end up just dropping it. I’m a little worried about two things though. Stealth camping and not looking like a tourist. The camping I’m not as worried about-- I have a bike cover for that. Will red panniers act like big bull’s-eyes in developing countries? Or will the big Koga letters on my bike take care of that? Or is it not even an issue?
Can anyone recommend a really good bike shop that understands touring needs, has great service techs and can accommodate internet-based ordering?
Hopefully in the near future I’ll have everything in order so I can embark on a planned ride up to Alaska and then down through South America. It’s just frustrating to have to deal with problems from the last place I’d expect it.
So my “local” bike shop was up in Chicago. After calling around (for weeks) I found someone who had the bike I wanted in stock, the KWT. What a sweet bike. So that brings me to the point of all this. Those of us relegated to ordering over the internets depend on outstanding Customer Service. Well, these guys don’t have it. I didn’t ask for much. I gave them my hard-earned dollars and they were supposed to send the things I asked for. There should be no substituting right? So when half the things I order don’t show up and the other half is the wrong color I get annoyed. The biggest issue for me are the panniers. They are red. The ones I ordered were black. Tonight I find out I can’t exchange them through the place in Chicago because they can’t return the red ones to Ortlieb. So they’d have to eat the cost of them. My heart goes out to them.
I’m sure I’ll end up just dropping it. I’m a little worried about two things though. Stealth camping and not looking like a tourist. The camping I’m not as worried about-- I have a bike cover for that. Will red panniers act like big bull’s-eyes in developing countries? Or will the big Koga letters on my bike take care of that? Or is it not even an issue?
Can anyone recommend a really good bike shop that understands touring needs, has great service techs and can accommodate internet-based ordering?
Hopefully in the near future I’ll have everything in order so I can embark on a planned ride up to Alaska and then down through South America. It’s just frustrating to have to deal with problems from the last place I’d expect it.