Originally Posted by rxn

My parents just bought me a new bike from bikesdirect.com. I don't know crap about bikes and I didn't want to assemble it myself. I live in Boston and I took the bike, still in its box, to Back Bay Bicycles, which is the closest LBS to me. The staff there didn't make me feel awkward at all for having them assemble a bike that I didn't purchase from their store. In fact, the mechanic was impressed with the bike I received as a gift and told me some interesting things about it that I would have never found out on my own. After I left my bike with the mechanic, I asked one of the sales guys to help me buy a pump, lock, and helmet. I didn't feel like he tried to oversell me on any of these items. I really feel I've taken advantage of both worlds, the online and LBS; I don't know much about cycling, but I think my parents got a good deal on a bike and I felt good about pumping money into my LBS without feeling ripped off. By the way, is 120 dollars and a 4 day turn around a good deal for bike assembly? I paid it happily because the bike would probably fall apart if I put it together.

[edited for grammar]