Before I moved out to where I am now, my girlfriend was living here by herself. One day she needed bike work done - the 25 year old Suntour Cylone derailer I gave her wasn't really cutting it anymore. She went to one local shop where the mechanic looked at her bike, and seeing the downtube shifters said something to the effect of "Oh honey, you can't ride a bike like this. It's dangerous." She described his tone as patronizing, condescending and sexist, so add those afflections when you read that sentence in your head. The mechanic started in on selling her a new bike, a flat-bar road bike (hybrid), but she cut him off and left.

She promptly took the bike across town to another shop, where a now good friend of mine (then a stranger) promptly installed a new inexpensive Shimano derailer, adjusted all the gears, the headset and the brakes, for $25.