Do male bike mechanics really treat females differently than guys?
 

BE honest. Many women feel invisible in bike shops. What's your take on this?

My take: I always get adequate attention in my favorite bike shop, Bikeline in Newark (not my LBS). In my LBS, it's a given. They know me by name, and they know how many bikes I have and their history. So they don't count. I can't relate to what some women complain about. What do you say?

well, i'm a guy and i often don't get very good service at LBS's i haven't been too before. it seems to me the same attitude you find among record store employees can often be found in bike shops. sometimes it's hard to get them off their perch.

Now think about what you just asked? If you substitute any other large group of people for "male bicycle mechanics," would you expect to get a valid answer?

An identical (almost) thread currently in women's forum:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=57801

Depends........is his other job selling cars?

My underlings tend to focus on the women to the detriment of all the other customers. We had one college age guy, that would drop everything for a cute girl with a flat, then tune her bike for free.

I'm a woman in my 40s, ride a hybrid ... don't look the racing part that's for sure. But, my experience has been great with mechanics. At 3 different shops they talk to me regular ... the salesmen, however, seem rather indifferent. So much, when I walk in I drift immediately toward the wrenches and hope that the regular sales staff will be busy enough that the mechanic will help me with whatever I'm looking for!!!

I'm a chinese guy.. most people ignore me... heh.

Did someone say something???

Likely reply. :rolleyes: :D

Seriously, guys. What is it about females you have something against when it comes to customer service? Some ladies in the Women's cycling could swear they are being ignored or treated unfairly by sales and service people because they are "women." Those who are in the service dept. do you find yourselves onsciously or unconsciously doing that?

Not in this town. The contigent of female riders is too big to ignore and too good to make fun of. Most of the girls here rip it up better than a lot of guys.

Now if they have never seen you before, man or woman, they aren't the friendliest of people. They do the job and move onto the next.

For the less enlightened of our gender, it can be hard to offer proper customer service while ogling (and trying not to look like you are ogling). Remember that men are simple creatures.

LMAF! :roflmao:

Indeedy!! :D:D

I know my ex-GF gets a lot of free service at more than one bikeshop that's ignored me completely... Sort of the opposite of what the OP wondered about!

-chris

Mageline, I doubt you're going to get anybody to say "i'm a sexist bastard."

I have nothing against females and I hope you have nothing against males. That said, I'm disappointed but not surprised to hear that there exist some sexist mechanics. I suspect many of them are accustomed to working with men and not so much with women, and in that environment it may be easy to hold on to old sexist habits.

peace,

[quoteI'm a chinese guy.. most people ignore me... heh.[/quote]

Ditto that.

I guess because I spend lots of money in my bike shop I don't get ignored. Because I'm a small rider they have gone out of their way to find and order components that meet my needs in a timely fashion. They are very knowledgable about the various companies and recommend the best. Sometimes, I come up with unusual ideas, like changing my 51 chainring on my double to a 46. They didn't think it was crazy, recommended the size I should go to, ordered it in and I'm as pleased as can be.
If someone new is working there one of the guys who knows me takes over.
I have always had respect from this shop which is why I deal with them.
Kathi

It all depends on the shop. My favorite LBS always treats me royally even though I've only gotten 1 of my 4 bikes from them. They respect my fitting problems, and do good work on all of my bikes when I need their expertise. They special order things for me. They know that I research a lot of stuff on the web, and then come ask them if they can get it for me. They usually can, and usually are competitive with the web + shipping prices. Other shops have also treated me well, so on the whole I would say I have been treated like a customer, and at 57 it can't be because I'm eye-candy. However, there is one shop, part of a local chain, that has always given me poor service both in the shop and on the floor. I don't know if that is because of sexism, but I suspect it just the shop attitude.

My LBS has a woman on the sales floor and a woman in the shop. They both ride. The shop sponsors a women's only weekly ride. They're pretty serious about making sure women get good service.

Ditto that.[/QUOTE]

It's weird cause at golf shops, they pay attention me, something about asian people and golf...

Jean Beetham Smith, I have seen some pretty tasty ladies in their fifties. :)
I treat all customers the same, until I know them, then they get treated in kind. Those that are nice and buy nothing, get treated like old friends. Those that buy a bunch but are tools, get to deal with an employee more tolerant than me, because I do put them on ignore. I don't care if it is a guy, a girl, a hippie, or a punk, they all get a "Hey, can I help you"? Then it goes up or down hill from there.
I admit to be more sympathetic to a womens technical problems because (As A guy that can fix mostanything) I feel a guy shouldn't need the instruction. Example This past weekend a women asked "How do you change a tire?" She is not a big buyer but is a regular. I pulled the wheel off a new bike on the floor and showed her all the steps to change a tire and look for the puncture. I would be much less inclined to do this for a guy over the age of twelve because he should know already. Maybe a little chauvanistic (sic) but I am getting old, so what :)

'cept on this forum :D Dude we love ya!

Sweet! I love attention. :D

Try being the guy with about 75 extra pounds - CLEARLY not a cyclist willing to spend money, and therefore not worth anyone's precious time. I have to flag down help at every bike shop I go to, and even then I can't get any enthusiasm from the sales people - it seems like I'm always keeping them from something more important.

Since starting cycling, I've become the guy with about 50 extra pounds. Not much better, but I'm working on it ;). Maybe when I look the part of a cyclist I'll get more service.