It's not all or nothing, internet knowledge vs shop knowledge.

Your local homebrew shop, even if they aren't as interested in lagering, will almost always have a network of suppliers, customers and other contacts who they certainly can access, and often with more nuanced information that a web forum. More importantly, you can better evaluate their context, so you can adjust what they are telling you to fit your reality. And they can almost always get anything you need even if it's not what they normally stock.

In a hipster shop and they roll their eyes about disk brakes being a waste and 105 being just as good as Di2? You can just look at them and see... how they look, how they talk, what they surround themselves with, how many cigarettes they suck down while telling you it's "just as fast" like they have the first clue what training really is....

Same idiot on BF and suddenly its much less clear if this is a roadie hating hipster, or a roadie who is successful with baseline equipment. Where does he really fit and what context do I need to back out of his "information" to begin to relate it to my world?

Some people look for a shop that exactly matches their interests. (As if anything less can't possibly be useful?) Other people are better at navigating the wide variety of interests and experiences they encounter and finding ways to leverage the diverse knowledge.

For me, the idea of buying a camera based on internet reviews... a motocross bike... brewing equipment... those things you tend to benefit systems matching support. If your local shop that halfway understands MX is a Honda dealer, you should think long and hard if driving 3 hours a way to buy a Suzuki is really going to be an advantage week to week over a long season. Even if the local dealer doesn't know why you keep blowing head gaskets or why you can't get the head shake sorted... they have access to the Honda and 3rd party resources that do know. And they're probably much less motivated to help you figure out your Suzuki.