I love my local bike shops.
I bought three bicycles from one of them. I've purchased several parts from several shops. I've had work done at a couple of them. All of them have given me invaluable advice and help when I was at an impasse.
I just bought a used C&V Fuji ('81 S12-S Ltd). The bike is in pretty good shape to start with but there was work that needed to be done to it and upgrades I wanted done to it. I am trying to turn it into an ultimate commuter and light touring rig. All of the bike shops that I frequent are more than capable of doing what I wanted done to it, and all of them are competitively priced. The shop I chose to work on my bike I chose because I haven't thrown any money their way in a while and when my wife and I were looking for a bike for her the owner of the shop spent quite a bit of time working with us to help her decide what to get. In the end she fell in love with a bike at another shop which I like and we bought that one (a signature Schwinn Cream - she loves it).
I like good service. I like a "no BS" attitude. I like dealing with honest people, and the owner of the bike shop where we didn't purchase had all of that in spades. So, when it was time to work on the used bike I had purchased for myself, I took it to him. I know the work will be done right. I know that if there are any problems they will be handled graciously. I know that the guy stands behind his work. He's a stand-up guy.
He didn't have everything in stock that I need to finish the job quickly. He had to order some stuff, and the order doesn't show up to his door until Wednesday next week. That's fine by me. I can wait a week to support an entity that is so helpful to so many people (they do charity work as well).
In the end, it's a philosophy. Do I want to support some guy running a warehouse somewhere else or do I want to support a bunch of people in my community that in turn help me and many others? Do I want to send my money away from my community or keep it circulating in my community?
Everyone needs to make their own choices. In this matter I've made mine.
