Originally Posted by
nick__45
man...service is not what i anticipated. no fitting, no chit chat on what i use it for for offer advice or suggestion, and just plain cold shoulder attitude. i always thought all bike shop have those bicycle trainer to put the potential customer on to custom fit the bike; which should involves more than just adjust the seat height. the two shops i visit just threw me bikes that don't even fit and i had to adjust them using my tools from my car. one sale dude (always a kid) stood there while i obviously had a hard time pedaling away since the seat was low. he's more concern with his ipod.
without the top notch service, these shops are not even worthy of asking price for their bikes. now i need to get on craiglist and buy from private salers and do the fitting myself, which is apparently a requirement as well from bike shops.
This is why my LBS isn't local. They're 2 towns away. The real "L"BS doesn't see any of my business. I bought my first bike after 7 years being without and the attitude was crap.
The one I use now I just found back in the winter. Very friendly. I walked in with a wheel that needed truing expecting to drop it off and have to come back later in the week. The guy stopped working on one wheel, popped mine in and was done in 5 minutes. Even told me what probably caused it (and he was right on the mark). Charged me $4 bucks. So now I drive the 40 miles round trip when I need something I can't do or can't get on line.
Keep looking and you'll find a good one. It just may not be very "local".
Originally Posted by
nick__45
OP here,
it is hard for me to believe that bike store admission requires a purchase every time we walk in. how can someone buy a new bike every time they wandered into a bike shop when their spouse is either at the macy or golf shop next door. i just got back into biking and spend a lot of time with it because, unlike my other hobbies, this one is actually good for me. i like to look at a lot of bikes to know what's out there and what i should save for. in a way, bike stores hurt themselves by creating this atmosphere so people just decide to not show up and stick to their bike, which is probably more than they need to begin with and see no reason to update or treat themselves to a new weekender.
the two shops i speak of have been around for about 20 years and are the only game in town. a lot of people with money i guess. i always thought a purpose of riding a bike is to save money by living responsibly but i am having second thought by the price of these bikes. :>)
I used to live in Jacksonville, NC and we had a GREAT LBS there. I'd go in every 2-3 weeks just to look. Most often I wouldn't buy anything. But they were still very friendly and helpful.
Then when I planned a cross-country train/bike vacation the only thing they sold me was different tires - for touring. And that's AFTER talking to them for several months about it. 2 tires, that's all they recommended I buy from them - all that I needed. I bought and had a wonderful trip.
Oh how I miss my favorite LBS!
Originally Posted by
jgedwa
The excellent one is Merv's Bike Shop. USAZorro alluded to it in his message. It is a pretty good haul from Camp Hill, since it is about 2/3rds of the way to Shippensburg from Carlisle. Maybe too far for weekly visits for you, but sometime you should make up some excuse to get in there. Fantastic prices, best stock of any place I have ever seen, and while Merv and his boys are sort of shy (maybe a Mennonite thing?), they are extraordinarily helpful. They will leave you alone in the store and will not be too quick to offer help, but if you ask them to help, they will do anything for you. Its not too hard to find (take hwy 11 out of Carlisle towards Shippensburg. Take a left on Firehouse road (maybe about 14 miles out of Carlisle), and his shop is on the left after about 1/3 of a mile.
jim
+100 on Merv's. That's MY not so "L" LBS. Those guys are great