Originally Posted by
retnav94
Somehow I knew this was going to become a debate on BD. I have been buying everything online forever and have had very few problems. I do support my local bike shop by bringing him anything I need service on or purchasing things that have a competitive price. If he sells a product that costs twice as much as another, be it sold online or the shop next door I am going to buy the product based on a number of factors, price, customer service and so on. I am not buying at BD to shun my LBS, I am being a smart consumer. If either of the LBS in my town refuse to service my bike because I purchased online then I would never have purchased a bike from that type of individual anyway. If I buy a bike in Boston and move to Alabama is the LBS going to turn me away? I think not. We all do as much research as we can on fit, components, trails, accessories to have a pretty damn good idea what we are getting into. If I hate the bike I get from BD, I get another. In fact when I get my bike tomorrow from BD I may bring the entire box to the LBS and pay the $100 to have then assemble and tune it. And I bet he will rib me about the purchase and tell me I can pick the bike up in a day or so.
Exactly. It seems in the month or so that I researched buying this bike, there is always someone criticizing an online purchase who apparently hasn't made one themselves, and usually seems to have a vested interest in stering people away from an online purchase. LBS's aren't all they're cracked up to be. They tend to charge MSRP, when I don't pay that for my cars. I know they're going to try and maximize their profits, even if it means selling me a size that isn't the best for me, because they have it on the floor. I too, wouldn't shop at an LBS that would demean me for an online purchase. In preparation and anticipation of riding again, I have spent money at Amazon.com, Nashbar.com, Harbor Freight and at a local bike shop. In fact I spent $160 at the bike shop, one of the things I bought was a frame pump, which fell apart in my hands when I tried to use it on Saturday, they were closed Sunday, so I will drive over there today and return it. I was actually using it on my son's bike, because I wanted to test out the Presta/Schrader switch before I would have a problem on the road, not because I had an actual road situation to use it in.