neeonbrowwn

please. please do not listen to these other "RA-RA-RA!!" reviews‎ - bryan‎ - Today
bicycle heresy: so i came in to buy a cyclocross bike... turns out they had what i wanted, a 2008 lemond poprad disc.

it was on sale, also! 1499 from 1699...

they tried to fit me in a 57cm (i am 6'2) and it was waaayyy too small. they told me they could move the seat on the rails, swap out a new stem (at my cost), since they didnt have a 59cm... i asked them to call the company (they did not offer)....

so get this: the salesman walked around the corner... returned in 30 sec, and said the company was out of frames in that size...when i told them i had my heart set on that bike... they turned on their heels and ignored me...

the kicker:
i called my bikeshop in my hometown... and asked them to call to find a frame for me... the lemond companysaid ther were FOUR left in that size......

1) LIED to me. pure and simple.probably never called
2) tried to fit me on an obviously too small frame a
3) ignored me

please, please avoid at all costs

why do they do this? why? (fist shaking at sky)

goatalope

I didn't think LeMond existed anymore. There website is down. Trek, who owned them, dropped the name.

Not sure how this explains your situation, just saying there might be extenuating circumstances.

neeonbrowwn

i guess the rub is one shop would say lemond was out, while another could order it for me

tulip

They had a bike on sale and they had to move it. Too bad they didn't realize that that helping customers get what they want often leads to repeat sales. Oh well.

Go to Proteus in College Park next time.

cc_rider

I had a very different experience there. Stopped in on one of my rides last year just to look around. Told the sales person that I wasn't planning to buy for a couple more years, and he still spent about 20 minutes with me answering questions. He never tried to hard-sell. Very helpful.
I'll probably go back there to look when I am ready to buy, although I am leaning to another shop closer to home.

StanSeven

I've had really mixed experiences there. I was looking for a high end bike three years ago and talked quite a while with a very knowledgable sales person. Because the weather was bad, I called back a few days later to take the bike on a test ride. When I showed up, I found out the sales person no longer worked there but the manager made sure the bike I was interested in was ready to go. Despite me telling the manager on the phone what bike I was interested in, they set me up with a much lower level Madone (105 equipped in a smaller size 54 versus 56), and it wasn't even dialed in. I couldn't shift to the 12 or 13 gears and the front derailleur wasn't adjusted.

I took another bike in for an overhaul. It has the old Spingery wheels. When I tried riding it, the rear wheel wasn't right. Another mechanic ahd the take the hub apart becuase the first mechanic didn't know what he was doing.

But I also had two good experiences.

neeonbrowwn

it seems like there are some pretty mixed experiences. i just dont understand why some bike shops have bad reputations/service...and still stay in business.

Nota

...not trying to derail the thread but, out of curiousity, did you ever get a Madone?

I'm currently shopping for a good deal on a 5.2 or 5.5 Madone. Most reviewers I've read seem to love the bike, but don't think much of the Bontrager wheelset.

Consularrider

So far I haven't been very impressed. The first time I stopped in to look at a new road bike I could never get anyone's attention. I've since stopped in for a few parts and accessories they had that I couldn't get on the floor at Conte's or Big Wheel. The last time I stopped in was to look for a possible replacement for my commuter. I was interested in a particular Trek model with specific features that they didn't have and while this time a salesperson finally approached me, he didn't seem too interested in learning what I wanted, but rather in selling me what they had (tried to convince me to go with SS/FG which does not meet my needs at all!).