Personally, I think it makes sense to "talk" with the shop about it. No one ever wants to be a bad person (well, there ARE certain exceptions), but bad situations put people at odds.

Talk about it and find out what is going on. Maybe since you are getting the work done for free, you are lower in priority than paying customers (and he assumed that you would understand that). He may not realize how valuable the bike is to you. If someone told me that they needed to keep my bike for a week, I would probably freak That would let that person know that I really want my ride back.

Don't think about it as complaining. Just go in and talk about it with an open mind. This is where the local shop has it over the big chain. The local shop generally has more invested in the individual customer than are chain stores.

One last thing, learn about your bike so that you can be an educated customer. Then you can talk with the shop in common terms and come to a mutual understanding much more quickly. However, don't try to be the customer that is always trying to stump the mechanic. This will not win points...

Good luck.

- Jeff