kbarch

So, I stopped by the shop yesterday on the way home to test at a "winter bike" I'd discussed previously. I've been thinking it would be nice to have a bike I could just keep downstairs in the bike room, or even locked up outside, which I didn't have to worry so much about keeping clean. Something aluminum (to keep cost down), internal gear hub, fenders, you know, much like a commuter, but not to commute: to do my normal training and weekend rides when the roads are wet or salted, and maybe to ride on gravel trails if I want to take a shortcut now and then.

I was kinda digging this emerald green Scott Sub 10 thing they had, and asked about getting drop bars put on it. That wouldn't work with the shifter and brakes it comes with, so they set it up with a slammed stem and the seat pushed back and that felt good, but then it seemed the gears were too limited - just riding in traffic for a few blocks in midtown, I ran 3/4 of the way through all the gears. I couldn't imagine what it would be like on the open road, so to speak. The belt drive was pretty cool, though, and shifting was slick....

Anyhow, we got to talking about what the best options were, advantages and disadvantages of one thing or another, but one salesman tried to convince me that I did NOT need a different bike. "I have one bike I use for everything, and every kind of weather!"

Well, maybe if my carbon bike could take a front fender, I'd be happy, but not having to clean the chain and gears all the time - that would be so nice.

WhyFi

That is one ****ty salesman.

rubic

Well, once the salesman angers the customer, the sale is lost. Go to another shop.

bt

what's your question?

C Law

Cool story bro.

rpenmanparker 

Beware aluminum with salted roads. Salt will eat Al for lunch.

bt

there's a question mark in the thread title, what is the dang question?

hueyhoolihan

the salesman is one step ahead of you. it's taught in sales 101. it's called reverse psychology.

a car salesman tried it on me once, i almost ended up buying a Ford Pinto...

hueyhoolihan

i don't know either... and sometimes it's best to omit the question mark. for instance, you get pulled over for failing to yield at an intersection. it's better to just let the officer think that when you say, "so you're really going to give me a ticket for such a trivial offense.", that it's just a simple declarative sentence.

JanisXenith

I think the salesman is right about winter road riding - just put on fat tires in winter. Maybe you want a cross bike. I know in Hokkaido in Japan where it snows a lot, the Randonneurs have brevets with spiked tires. For doing chores get a used beater for your chores. You can be watching your bike through the store window and some crook will in an instant try to unscrew and pull off the wheel despite the fact that its obviously securely locked to a steel post and the frame - no lower limit on a crooks stupidity.

kbarch

I was wondering about that. Just figured it would be better than steel, and cheaper than carbon.

I figured others would be as surprised as I was in retrospect - "did he really say that?" But we're all pals, so maybe it's not so surprising after all. But as much as anything, I was wondering if others had similar stories - being told by a salesman to settle down, so to speak.

rpenmanparker 

If I wanted aluminum for that application, I think I would go with a Nashbar type frame and have it heavily over-powder coated.

achoo

Can you imagine the asplosions from a carbon fiber Pinto?

WhyFi

This doesn't apply to bikes, specifically, but sales in general - the only times that I would discourage a customer are: if I think that the sale is going to be more trouble than it's worth (for whatever reason) or if I think that they're talking themselves up, up, up so that they can eventually look at the price tag, say that it's not worth it and call the whole thing off.

The guy that you talked to committed a cardinal sin of sales - thinking with his own wallet.

UnfilteredDregs

OP is simply a *****. Ride yer ride in all weather and wash the *****. STFU.

Bunyanderman

I don't get your thought process.

CliffordK

I rode one bike for years and years.... But I'm considering the dedicated winter bike idea. Perhaps a summer bike, spring bike, and a fall bike too

6061 Aluminum is supposed to be pretty good with salt, but it may depend a bit on the quality of the welds, and whether salt gets stuck under paint.

Swapping between flat bars and drop bars is certainly possible, but generally requires different brakes and shifters, so it can be an expensive conversion, especially with all the modern integrated parts. Of course a good shop should be able to keep "new-pulls", and sell them to future customers at a discount.

bt

winter bike, fall bike, summer bike, mountain bike, cross bike, commuter bike, road bike, tt bike, night bike, cruiser bike, grocery bike, hard-tail bike, full suspension bike, electric shifting bike, retro bike, ti bike, carbon bike, Italian steel bike etc. etc. etc.

can one have too many bikes?!

cc700

the salesman should have upsold you to the Di2 alfine drop bars and hydraulic discs... but he also should have pursuaded you to go with a different frame that has better geometry. that scott is a mountain bike. 71 degree headtube in size M.

have you seen this:
Norco Indie Drop Alfine Di2 - Joe Bike
?

raleigh had something similar in aluminum but they decided not to bring it to market.

what you want exists out there. the scott is NOT the proper frame for it.

RJM

I've been downsold by a few salespersons and it turned out they were right. For instance, I was looking at a bunch of xt and higher end boutique components for my Sam Hillborne and the guy said that LX or Deore works just as well and is so much cheaper that I should just go with that, especially for the riding I was planning on. Turned out he was right. I saved significant money.

I used to do sales and most times it is finding the right product for the customer and not necessarily the most expensive product or what product the commission is highest on. That is really how you get repeat customers.

CNC2204

Sales rep being a jerk ..... never heard of such silliness, cant be.

jerrycan42

You can always have another bike. BTW, belt drives suck in snow. Do you get any in NYC?

grolby

Converting a bike like that to drop bars would be a ridiculous PITA, which may have had a lot to do with that salesman trying to talk you down a bit. Assuming that there even is a good drop bar shifter option for it, they would need to special order it, along with the rest of the aggravation in doing the work. Not to mention that the price premium over the normal price of that bike might have made you balk anyway. LBS salespeople just can't catch a break on BF. They sell you a bike at full MSRP - jerks. They try to talk you out of a colossal waste of your money - jerks.

Besides, cleaning the gears and chain are the least of my concern when it comes to rain and snow-riding maintenance. It's everything else. The cost-effective solution is to get a cross bike that can take fenders and be done with it. Disc brakes optional, but will help with one of my major complaints with rain riding: brake grime everywhere and grit embedded in brake pads.

Well, the REALLY cost-effective solution is to suck it up, put a rear fender on the bike you have and ride that. But if you really want a rain bike, there are better solutions than what you came up with.

BoSoxYacht

The salesman told the OP the truth. Why get upset? Letting you waste your money on that Scott is what a greedy salesperson would do.

A good salesperson would show you the type of bike that can do all those things.

BoSoxYacht

Yep.