I really dislike people who come into the bike shop with a Lé Huffy or Lé Next (or sometimes less boutique brands) and they act like the major safety problems the bike is having or will have in the very near future are just fine and could you just fix the brakes or some stupid **** like that. We had some kid on what was most likely a red-hot bike with a broken pedal and many many many many other problems and he for a week would come in a different times hoping we would just replace the pedal that was broken and ignore everything else after we refused service because the bike was unsafe. We also had a guy who had various issues with his old Trek but mainly it was frayed brake cables and he kept insisting that we were trying to scam him and he just wanted us to replace the pads and then he started acting like a small but also immature child.

Firstly don't buy a bike that was most likely made by a person also building patio furniture, grills, tool chests, and whatever else that can go together with nuts and bolts. Secondly realize that buying said bike will end up in it needing money to fix it especially if you don't maintain it as most don't do. Thirdly if something is unsafe to ride, mechanics don't want to piecemeal fix it because when you crash and get hurt you will blame them because you wanted them to work on parts of it.

RANT OVER! Sorry I just had to vent being that our bike shop is picking up again

EDIT: Gotta agree with Walrus1 aside from on cyclists number 4. I do ride sometimes with a hood in cold or rainy weather and I do ride with Yurbuds at lower volume and am pretty aware of my surroundings plus it helps me keep a good cadence but it is an extra hazard and I do recognize that.