I busted a spoke in my front wheel last week. I intended to get it fixed over the weekend at my fixie friendly LBS, but I ended up going home to visit my folks instead. Having already ridden it for the better part of a week, I decided to check out my options for getting it fixed during the week after work. A quick search showed that the closest bike shop to my work was the Newton location for International Bicycle - a high end roadie heaven.

I initially expected that getting my spoke fixed there would be a hassle and sort of expensive. Couldn't have been farther from the truth. They replaced the spoke and trued the wheel for the grand sum of $12 and threw in a set of free bar plugs. The guy at the counter was really pleasant while he helped me find the odds and ends that I decided to pick up. After the mechanic was finished, he came out and we talked about my iro - he was sort of fascinated with it.

In the end, I got my wheel fixed for a fair price, I didn't get pressured into anything, and I got to ogle some incredible bikes - cervelo, colnago, pegoretti...the list goes on.

doesn't cervelo roughly translate to "beercycle"?

sers!
i hear ya dog! them dudes at international in newton are a-ok. 2 thumbs up for them fo' sho'!!

Cool.

It seems that whenever I go into "high end roadie" bike shops the clerks are almost always snobs that treat me with an air of patronizing superiority.

I went to a shop like that here in DC that shall remain nameless. I was looking for a flat black Giro Atmos. When I asked the clerk about it he looked down his nose at me then looked out at my bike locked up and said "Hmm a cool helmet to go with your cool bike." I wanted to knock his ****ing head off. I never set foot in there again.

Glad to hear you had a good experience though.

You should've came up with some patronizing and/or witty comment to his comment, but I know if it was me I would've been too flabbergasted to have come up with anything. Still it's nice thinking about it.

there's a high end roadie store here and i always thought they'd be stuck up guys that think you need a $2,000 road bike if you really want to bike, but i always get a bunch of compliments on my fixie everytime i go in there.

They might be reflecting back the attitude they get all day from their snobbish customers, but still not cool.

I've had mostly good experiences at high end roadie shops though. I'm sure they have plenty of customers who think spending thousands on a bike gives them the right to treat the person helping them like dirt. They usually respond well if you're cool to them even if you can't afford most of their wares.

I think mechanics in those shops get tired of looking at the same bike over and over again. High end production bikes have a way of becoming bland.

The cats at my lbs are the best. It is mostly a roadie shop but a few of the guys ride thier ss townies around with our stink patrol(Which consists of two fixed riders and three road riders). they have a hook outside for tires that the roadies replace after a few hundred miles. Right now im rocking a set of hutchinson team tires that look brand new. Once I went inside to use the pump and some guy asked me how I liked my tires 'cause he just had his just like them replaced(they wereMichelin pro 2 race). The wrench just kinda smiled and went on trying to sell him something.