unabowler

I live in a town which doesn't have a bike shop (Montgomery, AL) so I've been buying stuff by mail order. It never seems to work out.

A while back I ordered a left crank for my hybrid (I stripped the original one changing out the pedals because I didn't know it contravened righty-tighty lefty-loosy). It ended up not fitting the bike. At the same time I bought some clipless pedals which are incompatible with the shoes I have for my road bike.

This time I bought some "comfort" bike shorts from LL Bean (because I don't think lycra is a good look for me). I knew they had a liner but I didn't know it was a full-length lycra liner. It's ultimately a two-layered pair of shorts which is too hot for me.

I wonder if I can package this stuff up and return it. I'll probably end up throwing it in a corner and getting rid of it when we move again.

NH Girl

LL Bean has a good return policy - give them a call or have a look on their website.

Zeake

Man roll on up to Goldens bikes in Auburn. Bill and his crew are great.

Peter_C

FYI - I *LOVE* AreoTechDesigns - never had to return a thing, but their policy is nice and easy to use~! https://www.aerotechdesigns.com/

strow

Take the interstate up to Birmingham and you'll have more shops than you can visit in a day to choose from. There's also a small shop in Prattville that might be of some help.

You can contact most mail order folks with any technical questions you have before you buy to reduce the risk of purchasing the wrong items and going through the returns hassle.

Good luck................

unabowler

I think I was kind of on a rant on Friday when I posted this but seeing those LL Bean shorts was pretty frustrating. I will send them back.

Thanks, guys for the posts. Yeah, I've been to the shops in Prattville and Auburn and many in Birmingham. The one in Prattville is the closest to me by far, and the guy who runs it is very nice. It's a tiny, tiny shop though, and they never seem to have what I need. To go to any of the rest of them really requires me to have time for, to be in the mood for, a road trip. And I do make the trip sometimes.

In the meantime I found out there is an LBS opening up in town. It looks promising.

Grillparzer

Bob's Bikes in Homewood is a great store if/when you're in that neighborhood.

unabowler

Bob's Bikes and a couple of the Cahaba locations are the ones I like in Birmingham.

zoste

Do you live near any of these?

unabowler

They are ALL gone now.