Originally Posted by
gladiator13
I think you're using the term LBS way too loosely here. I don't even come close to considering Scheels a LBS. I'm buying my bike from one of two actual LBS. Those two shops actually benefit my community and if they had the shoes I wanted I would happily buy them from one of those places but they don't. I have no hard feelings about screwing over a giant department store that sends their profits elsewhere. I have a long standing relationship with my LBS in a multitude of sports and would never screw them over but I'm not going to settle for what the carry if its not what I want in some cases. Don't be ridiculous.
Food for thought. Let's say that everyone thought like you. That means that everyone would go to the big box store to try on shoes and then buy them elsewhere online for less. The big box store would never sell any of their shoes and would subsequently decide to stop carrying them altogether because they make no profit. Where would you try your shoes on then?
So be thankful there are people out there who think like Merlin. They're supporting the stores enough to make it worth their while to have shoes available for you to try on for free.