Originally Posted by floorjoist
Thanks for the responses folks. My concern regarding wheels was that I perceived them to be potentially more fragile than other bike parts, however, you guys have alayed my fears. Thanks.
I'm located in North West Tasmania, Australia. I've tried the local bike shops before, and while they're good for basic, common road and mtn bike parts, for touring parts they are not so reliable. I did enquire about getting some wheels built at a local bike shop, however, I had ordered some other parts that they failed to order on account of "behind the scenes" stuff going on with staff and ownership, etc. So I abandoned that idea.
Experiences like this have sent me to the internet. I've found ordering parts over the 'net to be cheaper and a lot faster (in one case, overnight delivery from a shop in Melbourne vs. waiting probably a month from the LBS), and they generally know their product, unlike the locals. So for me, the issue of the ethics of using the LBS is resolved: Where I live now, for basic parts and mechanical servicing, I use the local bike shop, but for more specialist parts that are going to be "a hassle" for the locals, I'll shop in the 'net.
++1
The local shop is just that - a local, convenient place to do basic repairs and check-ups, and buy off-the-shelf products. For anything other than that - i go to the WWW too. Also, i spend enough money at the LBS so that when (last month) i bring them wheels that i bought on the net, they check the tension and re-true them for free.
Best of both worlds.