General Cycling Discussion - LBS Satisfaction

Curious about this topic.
I have seen a fair number of opinions on the subject negative and positive.
Searched for this topic as a poll and found none.
SO here goes.
Be honest.

You can choose more than one answer. IE if you answer #4 you can also choose another, as well.

mines all right. the owner is kind of a shocker. he says things just to play with ya and disturb ya and offend ya. but he also keeps me from buying crap i don't need. and he gave me a free schwinn varsity that was way too small once while i didn't have a bike. over all i'm pleased.

LBS mech's are soooo smart

Well, I own and work in one. If I am ever completely satisfied with how I am doing, I will close my doors. There is always room for improvement and I know it.

I've worked in one before. It was a great experience and I hope to do it again next summer. Bike shops are a necessary part of the cycling culture. They have way more info than the mail order places, their prices really aren't that much higher (especially after you factor in shipping), and they have a wonderful and magical thing called a "parts bin" that's full of odd ball parts. I love my LBS(s).

Baltimore Maryland is blessed with some great Bicycle Shops.

Broadway Bicycle Inc - Roger or Mike
(410) 276-0266 415 S Broadway

PEDAL PUSHERS INC. Rod Redding 546 BALTIMORE & ANNAPOLIS BLVD SEVERNA PARK MD 21146 (410) 544-2323

MT WASHINGTON BIKE SHOP 5813 FALLS ROAD BALTIMORE MD 21209 (410) 323-2788

BIKE DOCTOR, INC 953 RITCHIE HIGHWAY ARNOLD MD 21012 (410) 544-3532

Fleet Street Cycles 2029 Fleet Street Baltimore, MD 410-276-2029
Open Monday Though Friday 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
Saturday 11 a.m.- 5 p.m.

I really like my LBS. The owner is a former cat 1 racer and they always do very low cost repairs and free tune ups on the bikes that I have bought from them. When I had my crash a complete tear down and repair was free - parts... awsome. Always willing to get me the parts I need with a 15% DISCOUNT... nice.

Hey, I was thinking of starting a poll too! Great minds think alike?

My LBS (Ernie's Cycle Shop, Westbrook, Maine, USA) is a very small operation, owned and operated by one guy and sometimes his wife. He was an employee of the former owner and bought it from him when he (former owner) retired. He is a bike commuter, as am I, and he seems to be an extremely nice guy, no attitude at all. As a relative newbie cyclist, and just on a customer service score, thumbs up!

Great minds, well thank you.
Wildjim how about light street cycles you left them out how so?

Baltimore Maryland is blessed with some great Bicycle Shops.

Broadway Bicycle Inc - Roger or Mike
(410) 276-0266 415 S Broadway

PEDAL PUSHERS INC. Rod Redding 546 BALTIMORE & ANNAPOLIS BLVD SEVERNA PARK MD 21146 (410) 544-2323

MT WASHINGTON BIKE SHOP 5813 FALLS ROAD BALTIMORE MD 21209 (410) 323-2788

BIKE DOCTOR, INC 953 RITCHIE HIGHWAY ARNOLD MD 21012 (410) 544-3532

Fleet Street Cycles 2029 Fleet Street Baltimore, MD 410-276-2029
Open Monday Though Friday 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
Saturday 11 a.m.- 5 p.m.

I used to hang out at Mt Washington bikes back in the early 70's. It's good to hear they are still around.

I wish my LBS had a parts bin. It is part of the Jax Bicycles chain and don't tend to carry older or used parts- mostly all new bikes and parts.
Half the staff seems to ride MTBs, so they don't tend to know a lot about road stuff.

I try to support them, but they don't carry the older parts I'd like.

I've had both good and bad service from my local bike shops- at one a 'technician' told me I needed a new chain when my chain was still at .50 enlongation on the chain checker. I try to avoid that shop now.

Very satisfied with the shop I deal with now. The previous shop did not satisfy - and guess what - they are now previous.

I do my own work and am very satisfied.

The only 'bent LBS (in my town) went "under" 11/2004; now we have none ..... guess that means that I'm not very satisfied.

msm
Norhern, IL

I took my bike in for a tune up.
I paid over $100 for the job.
When I got the bike back I noticed the following:
Mechanic opened the brake release to remove wheels then re-adjusted the brake cables with the release in the open position (they were fine before).
RD was adjusted so I could no longer use tallest gear (I was fine before).
BB & axle bearings were not lubed.

I contacted the shop and received no response.
I now do all my own maintenance and tell every cyclist I contact to avoid 'Eddies Bike Shop' in Clevelnad.

Enjoy

So far very good service and advice from RD Bikeshop in Barberton Ohio. Can't comment about any shops closer to me though.

'bent Brian

the best I can do is find an LBS that is not directly insulting and offensive. Their service is still pretty sucky however. Hence, I do ALL my work on my bikes myself. I would never let any LBS near my bike with any sort of tool.

Neutral about service. Really I am more pissed at the distributors in canada. The prices are high because of them. Its just the lbs that gets screwed when I order my parts direct and do all my own repairs. Its unfortunate, but my need to ride outweighs my need to supply someone else with my cash.

Our small town bike shop in Ocean City NJ is just awful. I bought a sport crusier after not having bicycled for 10 years and they could not even tell me the shifting pattern. "Just shift all the cogs with the small chain ring and then go back and shift all the gears with the big chain ring" Doh.

Needless to say when I get my new touring bike to replace my old CD ST400 it won't be from them.

CrimsonEclipse;.......

I bought my TREK from a place that shall remain nameless, in EFTL
Had a great summer on it O'Seas, Fine,Fine,piece of machinery
Had, to me a minor prob with chain getting bound in the the rear, took it to the LBS and the OWNER looked at it, told me it happens ocassionally, I asked why? oh it just does was the reply.
I said , Thank you very much for nothing', other customers looked at me, I took bike out and will NEVER go back
Called TREK later and was sent some helpful info

Curious about this topic.
I have seen a fair number of opinions on the subject negative and positive.
Searched for this topic as a poll and found none.
SO here goes.
Be honest.

You can choose more than one answer. IE if you answer #4 you can also choose another, as well.

I like the guys who work at both the two bike shops closest to where I live. I like them a lot, but they're just not as useful as I would like for them to be.

I went looking for standard stem road bike tubes. Guess what? They had plenty of 48mm and 60mm tubes, but they had to root around in the back room to find some unpackaged bulk 34mm road bike tubes. My last purchase was for a medium priced 9-speed chain. All they had was a Dura Ace/XTR chain. I know they won't have the kind of odd-ball stuff that I'm usually looking for in stock, so it's both faster and cheaper for me to go the mail order route.

Right now I'm waiting to hear from them on a warranty issue from Specialized. They were supposed to call me two days ago, but I haven't heard anything yet. That's less than sterling service.

They usually can't compete very well for price or selection, I trust my own mechanical skills over theirs, and they don't even have a good record on convenience items like inner tubes and chains. I like almost all of the guys. I feel ilke they're honest and they always give me their best prices, but I usually leave the shop feeling disappointed.