Uh...are you comparing a locally-owned mom-and-pop bike shop with a nationwide corporation? Best Buy vs. REI or Performance would be a more accurate comparison. Plus no one said that there's anything wrong with saving money online...the problem comes when you waste the local shop's time and then buy online, or you try to rip the shop off. When you pay in the shop, you pay not only for the item itself but for the customer service too...and even if all you did was walk in and buy a tube, I'm assuming at one point you probably asked for the shop's expertise for some reason or another. You may also be paying for store-run bike rides, store-offered clinics/classes, a store farm team, volunteers at races or store-sponsored races...or maybe just a place to stand around and shoot the **** with other people who like bikes. Which Pablo would have clarified for you if he were still here...left the forums a while ago though, too bad.