Originally Posted by
bonsai171
Not to scare you off, but my buddy bought a dual suspension mountain bike from them. Needless to say he got an earful from a local mechanic for "not supporting local shops" when he brought it in for service. It was very unprofessional on the mechanic's part to say the least.
Dave
Dealing with an lbs is invariably a nightmare. You're going to deal with either: a) immature kids such as stoner teens that the shop hired because they're the only person in town willing to turn a wrench all week long for $8 an hour, b) bored, confused millenials who don't have a career path and are trying to avoid adulting and c) pompous middle aged bike nuts whose ego's are completely tied up in owning the latest Dura Ace road bike.
More often than not, you're dealing with all three at once in the course of shopping for, buying and getting the bike serviced.
It is infinitely easier and less expensive dealing with a direct order retailer. All you need are the most basic of wrenching skills and you can save yourself hundreds of dollars, and sometimes thousands.
Originally Posted by
gsa103
Wow! I would have considered that unacceptable, easily correctable since you're skilled. Still that would have been an immediate return for me.
3 mm is nothing. Even a slow mechanic with middling skills such as myself can correct that in 5 minutes. Compare that to loading the bike up in your car (enjoy trashing your car's interior), driving there, driving back, waiting a few days, driving there, driving back (trashing your car's interior again), spending $20 and waiting days for a 5 minute job. Just the time to get the receipt written up and paying for it would take just as much time as actually doing the work of truing the wheel.
Or, you can ship it back, wait two weeks for a refund, and then go through a second round of bike shopping again.
Then, your 2nd new bike has a rear mech that's out of adjustment, so you ship THAT one back for a third, and the next bike has a scratch on the seatpost....