I agree with you Donna, to a point.

Maybe my choice of words was a bit heavy handed. But this is my point. There are MANY, MANY folks out there that want to get into riding but just can't drop the coin for the nicer harware you see at the typical LBS. I know, I went to three of them before I ended up making my purchase at Target.

I have seen posts by other folks asking similar questions only to get the standard, "avoid the box stores at all costs" speech.

My LBS is a decent shop, the first were cliqueish and if you weren't known or haven't bought you bike there, they didn't want to deal with you.

I live in an area that is frequented by quite a few Roadies and by all appearances, some damn good cyclists. I have yet to have one of these guys even give me the time of day. They seem to look down on my Box store monstrosity.

I'm just a guy who happens to really like riding bikes; I wish I could afford to drop some major coin on a new bike. But can't. It seems really unwise to spend $125.00 to $200.00 on CL for a 10 year old entry level LBS brand bike.

Hope this adds some clarity.