Originally Posted by RalphP

When I was young and living in San Francisco, I bought two bicycles from who is the one outstanding bike shop owner I have met. He was an East Indian with a shop near the west end of Haight Street. Each time I walked into the shop to buy a bike he asked me how much money I had. I told him and then he took a bike off the elevated rack and presented it to me. Maybe I did the top bar test, though I don't recall that. He was such a nice person it never occured to me to ask to see another bicycle. But the bikes he sold me fit perfectly. Well they fit my wallet! And they were beautiful bikes that I loved and road all over the place. When I had a flat, I walked the bike to his shop and he would patiently explain to me the method for fixing flats, then fix it himself and charge me a dollar. For years, and many flats, we went through this routine and he never showed the slightest impatience. The man was cool.