Originally Posted by
Zephyr11
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.
"Shopping" at the LBS and then buying elsewhere is basically called "showrooming." I prefer not to do stuff like that, but I will do it at a big box store. I really don't have many cares when it comes to box stores.
I'm on a first-name basis with the owners of the LBS. I'm on a first-name basis with them and they're just really good people. When I go in there, I wind up in there for at least 30-40 minutes and most of the time spent in there is just BSing with the owner or some of the employees. It's just a more personal experience, which I like.