On Sat., LBS said that they did not have the size I wanted to try in stock, that he would have it in on Mon. or Tues. and would call me. I get a call on Fri. saying it's in to come by and try it. While on the phone I ask if they have Speedplay pedals to try with it or if I should bring my own. The response, "what is Speedplay?"

I get to the shop and tell him why I'm there. The guy behind the counter (who was working in the back when I was there previously says, yeah it's in. Give me your Driver's License and you can take it out back and try it out. I told him that I wanted to see if it fit before I took it out. He said what do you want to do? A confused look came over me. I asked if it would be possible to put in on the trainer? He said he didn't want to put it on the trainer, that he could hold onto the bars. I straddled the bike, and he said it looked good as there was an inch or so clearance. I asked if there was some way to see if I would be too stretched out or if the saddle height needed adjustment, and he tells me I could hold onto the edge of the counter. (I had already made up my mind by this point-this was just nuts). I put my leg over the top tube, and realized that some adjustment might be required. I got off, thanked him for his time and said that I didn't think this one was going to work. Bye.

I'm guilty of calling the "other" LBS "snobby", but I guess by some definitions, I can be called snobby for expecting something more than I got.

I would never buy anything from a LBS like that. I tend to patronize my LBS even when things are a bit higher priced. They have a great selection of bikes, parts, clothes, etc. The most important thing to me however, is their knowledge, experience, willing to go that extra mile (sometimes literally) and they are all bike fanatics!
If you cant trust them, why buy from them. You are not a snob, just a smart shopper.

Toothpick,

which shop? was this RBM? if so which store.
sounds like the guy had no idea how to fit a bike,
nor the inclination to even bother trying to adjust/fit.
I'd walk out too, no matter what shop.

Marty

Oh, no. Not RBM. That's my next (and final) stop. I should've known not to stray. Oh, well, guess that means I've done my research.

(and you're allowed to say I told you so)

let me just ask some clarifying points:

I am not a very experienced biker, so maybe this will explain why I also fail to understand what you wanted from the LBS guy. You asked the LBS shop for a specific size bicycle for you to try, they got it for you, and when you arrived to try it out, he offered for you to take it out and ride it, is that correct? Why didn't you do that? That would seem the reasonable thing for a customer to do.

I would have thought that the best way to test out a bike's fit would be to take it for a ride. How much could you learn by sitting on it stationary and not turning or moving? Probably not the whole story of how good the fit would be. Maybe this is why the guy was also unsure of what you wanted to do.

I guess asking to put the bike on a trainer is not *unreasonable*, but it might seem like a strange request without some explanation from you. I would not know why you would want to put it on a trainer (this is a bike for going on the road, right), so perhaps this guy didn't as well. So I too might see it as reasonable to offer to hold the bike instead while you sit on it.

It sounds like there was a lack of communication from both sides -- you not saying exactly what you wanted to get out of the test ride, and him not understanding and asking you more questions about what you wanted. i agree it could have gone better, but maybe you also had unrealistic expectations of what other people should or should not know to offer you without more information!

If you don't tell people what you desire or expect, how can you expect them to fulfill your desires? perhaps you could explain more from your side that would show how it was a strange experience?

thanks.

supernova87a
My last bike purchase was from Competitive Cyclist (great experience all the way through, by the way). I went to pick it up. Upon entering the store and telling them what I was there for, Brendan introduced me to the guy that would be setting the bike up for me. He brought me the bike and asked if it met with my expectation, then without me asking, he tells me the there is a changing room in the back (as I was in street clothes), asked if I had my pedals or if I was going to be needing some (to purchase or borrow for the visit). When I came out, he tells me to give him a second while he puts the bike on the trainer, telling me he'll change out the skewer so as not to scuff the new one. He had my measurements from previously and initially adjusted the seat height using tape measure, then with me on the bike/off the bike, adjusted the saddle fore/aft, adjusted the stem and then replaced it with a slightly shorter one and adjusted the bar, spacers. Once this was done, he asked if I would like to go for a test ride.

Now, as far as this trip to this shop was concerned, there was some lack of communication on my part and also some expectation based on the aforementioned prior experience - although when I told the salesman that I wanted to see if it fit, that's exactly what I meant. I asked him if he could put it on the trainer, no? I could have done or said a lot of things, but as the customer, he is the one who is supposed to be the one helping me, and I was open to suggestions....up until he said I could hold the counter and mount the bike to check fit....I'm not an expert and don't claim to be, but I'm fairly confident, this is not the way it's done. At least to get my business. BTW the bike also was to come with free lifetime service.....a couple of sayings come to mind...free at what price.....a gift that would keep on giving...

And your prior experience is the method I've seen good, successful shops employ.

I've been fit to a bike to try on a trainer even after explaining to the staff that I was not interested in purchasing a bike at the time - I was merely browsing to drench myself in drool over some nifty new models! Didn't matter to them, they thought I should give the bike a spin anyway. . . these are the people who will be selling bikes.

I recently purchased a new bike. I went to several different shops. The lack of knowledge, service and professionalism was nothing short of amazing.

I went into one shop and the one employee didn't even bother to look up and acknowledge that I was in the store. I will NEVER walk into that shop again. Most people knew next to nothing about the bikes in their shops. Most had no idea on fitting a bike. I had one guy tell me I was 5'10". He even checked with a tape measure. He held it about two feet in front of me and looked at it, and said "yep 5ft 10 inches." I am a little over 6ft. He recommended a 54cm. Yeah, right.

I hear lots of whining about LBSs going out of business on this forum. With what I experienced lately, 80% of them SHOULD go out of business. This would let the few good ones, and I mean FEW, get the business.

The bicycle shop business needs an overhaul.

I think you did right for walking, and for not posting the shop name here. I think that in spite of the fact we are enthusiasts, we should expect quality service from the shop we patronize. If we can't get it, we should buy elsewhere, and/or train ourselves to service our bikes.

By the way, I keep all my setup measurements in a small, spiral-bound log in my tool box. These measurements should include correct saddle height from BB ctr., the distance the tip of the saddle is set behind the BB ctr(saddle setback), and the distance from the saddle tip to the ctr of the handlebars. If you know what these should be, you can set up any bike in ~5 minutes to suit you, adjusting for crank length, pedal/cleat differences, and handle bar stem length.

I also record all the frame/fork specifications like fork crown race seat to frt. axle ctr.(in case I want to swap forks), head tube lengths, top tube lengths, angles, etc... for all my frames. How can these be helpful? I have been considering purchasing a Reynolds Ouzo Pro fork for one of my bikes. The fork has a 372mm fork crown race seat-to-frt. axle ctr. dimension. My current fork has a 367mm fork crown race seat-to-frt. axle ctr. dimension. That is .5 centimeters and will change the handling of the bike. Good to know.

Eh, I just thank god that this isn't my shop. ECK

I tend to agree with supernova, but I also think that if you are that knowledgeable re fit yourself, you might have already researched the geometry of that particular frame and might have a good idea of it's being or not being a "fit" for you. I think I would have ridden it and then seen for myself.

I must say, that this type of experience is 90% of the local shops around here. Only in one have I been offered help with fitting. The rest are "you're on your own" set ups.