I love these stories. Pantah 's in Post #21 is especially heart-warming. veganbikes in Post #22 too.

My local shop, Bicycle Sport in Charlotte North Carolina, has been in business for 30 years or more. "Thad" the original owner was awesome and so are the current owners. I'm greeted by name every time I go in there, their service is excellent and if/when I ask questions I get them answered honestly. There's 4 or 5 other shops in town but Bicycle Sport continues to get 95% of my business.

I bought a new hydraulic fork for my mountain bike many years and ago managed to strip out the mounting hole for the cantilever brakes when installing the fork. I took it to Thad and apologized profusely and he said no problem, I'll put a heli-coil in there and it will be better than new. He did, no charge, even though it was his time and my fault. That's service, that's a great business model - because it makes a customer for life.

And, being an old school mechanic for years as a young man back in the 70's and using the "feels right" tightness instead of the (now) ubiquitous torque wrench, I learned to lean on a torque wrench for parts like that. Thad was kind enough to suggest I use one.


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I'm gonna ask my LBS if they can keep my helmet on their shelf while they service my bike.

HA. Forgot to include my LBS story in the earlier post.

I recently moved into the 21st century with a full carbon bike but didn't have a proper torque wrench. This meant that while I adjusted things for fit, swapped out the saddle, etc., I was going entirely by feel. No worries on my usual steel bikes, but it made me uneasy with the new one. So once I had all the correct bits on the bike and my fit was where I wanted it, I took it to the LBS and asked if they could go over everything and just make sure it was all tightened to spec. They put the bike in the stand and did it right there while I waited. When I insisted on paying them for their help, they insisted on my not paying. Finally I said "Okay, sell me a torque wrench for next time then." They didn't have one on hand so we special-ordered and I had my Park Tools ATD-1.2 torque driver later in the week.

Edit: Broadway Bicycles, Tucson AZ since 1975.

Even the online stores are fading away, many that I used to buy from 20-25 years ago are gone, bought up by somebody else, Nasbar is an example, bought things occasionally from them, but haven't since they changed hands and prices and policy changed. Locally there has been a big turnover, the shop my parents bought my first bike and then another when I was 13 eventually expanded from one store to about a half dozen, now they are gone. A shop I really liked back in the 80's had aisles of parts you could browse, ... although still around in name, last time I was there the shop was dominated by their coffee and donuts and a patio to sit and enjoy it WTF, sit? at a bike shop?

For the past decade or so I've gone to the places that are do-it-yourself shops, but they seem to come and go too. Thankfully there is one left in town where I was able to locate a part for my SRAM shifter that is no longer available. It reminds me of the old shop mentioned above, aisles and boxes of parts you can look through to find what you need, or ask a worker if available.

IMO, although a lot of cool stuff nowadays, the golden age was the 80's. In fact I still have my 6 speed Shimano 600 steel Trek, my favorite ride, all original except normal wear parts. Why change a good thing?

All your stories are much like my LBS, Skagit Cycles in Oak Harbor. Those guys (Isaac and Andini) are knowledgeable, friendly and willing to go extra for you. Probably helps that my family has bought 3 bikes there in the last couple of years. There are a few things I have bought online, but mainly accessories they don't carry, like the new Elemnt Bolt, or the Tailfin top tube bag. When I need tires or tubes, I'm going to keep getting them there. One of the guys helped me turn a Trek hybrid from a 1 x 10 into a 2x. Cool stuff I couldn't even have imagined trying to do myself.

I dropped by my brother's shop one fine day, as I often do, and the tamale guy who comes by every day was there with a flat tire. This is a middle aged hispanic fellow who is extremely poor and barely keeps his tamale cart/trike thing cobbled together. My brother is well aware of this and wanted to get this guy going again so he could keep making money selling his tamales. So, he pulled out some used tubes, I gave him my set of Maxxis Hookworms (both front tires were absolutely trashed) I had left there as take-offs from a previous build and my brother charged him something like 4 tamales. Guy was extremely happy, my brother had breakfast set for the next two days and I got to get rid of a set of tires I was never going to use, it was a win-win-win.

I will give another positive story with my local bike shop of which I am client since 11 years soon.The local bike shop owner is a very talented mechanic but also kind with customer and an absolute treat to do business with. He builds wheels in the most qualitative manner and is very careful to detail, also he knows a welder that works with him for repairing cracked frames.Never looked elsewhere since the previous bike shop where I used to go closed abruptly in 2010. He even did some free repairs for me. All my moutain bikes and road bikes projects have been assembled and built by him with the spare parts I provided, and the results were and are always beyond expectations.

Cool deal to have such a great mech to work with.

Just as a point of information, the bolded text doesn't mean what you appear to think it means.

Keeping My LBS - heck, I just made them homemade Banana bread muffins

I see great value in a local shop. I am lucky to have one that has been continuously operating since 1973 (The Bike Palace, San Pedro, CA). Nice to be able to go grab a basic part, while in the middle of a project, and not have to wait for shipping. Same with tools, more than once I have needed a tool to continue my work and rode my bike down and bought one from the pegs at the shop. They have not always had the tool I needed, but always offered to order for me. From what I can see the parts/tools usually get to the shop faster than if I had ordered myself & usually at the same price or cheaper, since I am not paying shipping. While I do order some things online that are odd or old, most I could get through the shop.

I am pretty scrappy and d.i.y. and do most of my own wrenching, but it sure is nice to have a seasoned mechanic when you hit a snag or something you haven't seen before. I love being able to ride in and have them solve a problem that had me stumped and they are always happy to show me what they did. Nice when you are missing a tool you would only use once (famous last words) and can roll in and pay a few bucks to get something disassembled (TA Specialties crank). Sometimes they go next level and just loan me a tool (that's what got them baked goods )

A good LBS is curated, I find many of the items recommended on BF in my local shop. Often I notice them after reading a thread recommending them - Mirrcycle being the most recent example

The LBS is also nice to have as a place where folks share your interest and like minded folks can gather. I regularly see other local cyclists (I pass in the streets) in the shop. A couple of local groups start their weekly rides from the shop. The owner and mechanics will often show/share new interesting things that came into the shop, not to sell them, just to geek out on. The LBS in it's best form, is a community.

I am also keeping my neighboring LBS ( The Bicycle Stand - Long Beach, CA) which is an amazing vintage specialty shop with nice and knowledgeable folks. When I had questions about a bike above my pay grade they were happy to help. The owner took time to look everything over with me, assuaged my concerns and offered various options for how they could help me proceed. If I need pro vintage work it is nice to know they are there.