That happened to me once long ago before I knew how to take care of stuff myself. Was rounding a tight corner one moment, the next moment was on the ground all skinned up and the front wheel taco shaped. No impact that I was aware of.

You're oversimplifying the situation. It's an economy-class recreation bike, not a Surly LHT / Trek 520 / Novara Randonee, so it comes with wheels adequate for light use. The most straightforward way to handle this is to set the bike up with at least a rear wheel built for serious workhorse duty, not just casual toodling on the MUP.

After my trip, I noticed that he didn't even put the valve cap back on the stem after he inflated the tire. I should able to find a replacement at any random auto store, so I guess it's not too much of an issue.

I certainly hope not, but I suppose it's possible. I didn't notice anything wrong with the wheel when I left the grocery store, but if it was hit -- could it have eventually gotten as worse as it did by the end of the two miles? I'll start locking my bike behind the store, to be safe.

That sounds like a great idea. I checked my frame and there are braze-ons on the front to fit a rack. I'll try to get the rack and bag(s) before I go grocery shopping again.

There are a number of bike shops in Winston-Salem, and I plan on moving there in November so I'll take a look around and ask about a stronger wheel. I don't plan on returning to the bike shop where I bought the Haro.

Thanks,

Lot's of decent shops up in that area, sounds like you got a bad one. There used to be one up there called Neighborhood Cycles. Great place, but I think it is closed now, the owner was riding home from work one night and got run over by a drunk driver. He survived but was in pretty bad shape for a long time.

Aaron

Any shop that treated me like that wouldn't see another penny of my money.

Even if you're asking the most simple questions ever asked, you're still the customer. If he can't be bothered to treat his customers with a little respect (and here it seems he couldn't even manage a very low level of respect) he shouldn't be in a customer facing business. Find another bike shop, and spread the word.

My wife and I were on a trip and stopped at a new little bike shop. The store was set up very nice and seemed like a good location. The owner wasn't rude to us but was extremely rude to others. She was snapping at other customers in the store and on the phone. We recently were in the area again and we tryed to stop there but they had gone out of business. They were only in business a short while. Maybe if she was a little bit more polite......

The owner is a typical "bicycle nerd" with few social skills that enjoys arguing about bicycle related issues.

If after replacing spokes on your wheel the spokes still break (I assume that is what you mean by pop) then the wheel is likely defective. Replace the rim and all spokes.

Wheels are defective for many reasons, the 2 that are invisible are the spokes are incorrectly tensioned spokes and the rim has a warp that causes too much stress on one or two spokes. One a spoke breaks it means the surrounding spokes pick up the slack, so they end up breaking and so on.

I'm sorry to hear that. There used to be a bike shop in the city that I live in, but it closed down a little less than a year ago. Since then, I've been going to Spinz in High Point and have hated every visit. There are a lot of bike shops in Winston, so I'm sure I'll be able to find something.

This is what happened. I noticed a warp in the wheel when the first spoke broke, and they continued to break on every other ride even after being repaired. It took me two weeks to convince the owner I needed a replacement wheel built.

How busy was the Shop at the time?

Completely empty. I was the only customer.

I think the best policy is to inform the owner of your experience and you're opinion regarding how to improve their customer service.
Bottom line, the money is everything for a business, not the buttering of employee fellow egos to boost moral at the expense of the customer!
The smart owner would supply you with a new water bottle or something to make amends, I should think.

If the owner is the one being rude? I believe you would be wasting your breath. Besides who is the lowly customer to be correcting the obvious superior owner? (tongue not so firmly planted in cheek) FWIW I have run small retail business in the past and it is a two way street when it comes to customers. We always provided what we felt was superior customer service and in most cases the customers felt that way. However you always have a few customers that wouldn't be happy even if you refunded 100% of their money and gave them the product for free. I don't believe that to be the case in this instance, it appears that the store owner lacks some people skills as well as the ability to educate and solve issues.

I know if someone brought me a wheel that kept breaking spokes I would be asking questions and making suggestions on how to remedy the situation. It may involve the customer having to spend more money to get a stronger wheel, but it would not involve haranguing the customer and insulting them.

I am wondering if the owner was trying to hide the fact he knew he screwed up the last time the wheel was brought in, by not repairing it properly?

Aaron

It's what I thought, initially, as his attitude made no sense to me. I also can't say that I've spent a lot of time around too many egomaniacs, nor have I ever dealt with someone who was so absurdly rude for no foreseeable reason. It seemed like he took it really personal that I came in with a warped wheel; yelling at me and rolling his eyes. The following few times I came in just got worse and worse, and nothing had changed each time except for a broken spoke.

Sounds like a bully to me.

After the second spoke broke, the shop should have offered to replace the wheel under warranty. A wheel shouldn't have failed that quickly, even on a 'cheap' model.

Businesses with hideous customer service are quite common. Businesses with hideous customer service which have succeeded in keeping their doors open for any time are considerably less common. Aren't there any other shops in your area? I ride an extra mile or three for a friendly face and good service all the time. In fact, I used to ride ten extra miles each way for better service.

180 pounds and about a backpack worth of cargo, one pothole and the wheel failed? Wheel is defective. I regularly have ~350 pounds of weight on my bike running over roads that look like they've been through a natural disaster. I don't baby my wheels. They hold up fine. Last time I replaced a wheel was when I had the Extracycle and snapped a couple spokes by putting about 550 pounds on the bike, with 20 year old stock wheels. So I replaced the rim with a heavier duty one next time.

Rudeness or honesty? Some people can't handle honesty, especially nowadays. If you have been in a few times and overloaded your bike, then you are the reason for the damage. BUT another bike shop owner might pat you on the back and say nothing, and soak you for repairs over and over and over. Now, who is the rude one?
Like I tell my patients, it would be a LOT easier to say NOTHING than it would be to tell you that you are doing wrong.

I have to travel thirty miles to reach High Point (where Spinz is) and the same mileage plus a few more in the opposite direction to reach Winston Salem. It's a matter of just taking another bus route, and dealing with how infrequent the stops are.

I was unaware that being blamed and insulted was a part of constructive criticism. I asked many times about how I could prevent the same problem from happening again, and (except for his accusations and insults) the only thing he told me was not to jump curbs. I went into the LBS knowing or at least thinking I was to blame for the wheel's condition, and was looking for advice not and not this sort of mistreatment. He also kept telling me that the weight on the rear wheel played no part, and that I was lying about the real reason (as I already mentioned).

I would gladly accept any criticism if it was at all HELPFUL.

Did you even read the thread and note that the experienced wheel builders here have stated that the LBS owner claims are BS. The only thing that the LBS owner did right was to submit the wheel for warranty coverage to the manufacturer (owner still got paid for his warranty work).

Just for the record, it's highly unlikely the LBS owner got paid squat for his warranty work. And I would know, after 20+ years in this business. And while it sounds like the LBS owner is a complete undiplomatic jerk, I think too much is being expected of a light-duty wheel on a basic recreation bike, built with a soft single-walled rim and OEM-quality spokes. Routinely hauling 30-50 pounds of dead-weight payload is a job for a fairly serious wheel, which it sounds like the OP is open to upgrading to.

There was once upon a time that manufacturers covered the LBS labor for their warranty work. I saw the paperwork on a Cannondale back in 1995 that covered new parts and the labor.

I know Trek will no longer pay for labor on their "lifetime" frame warranties and sticks the customer with the the shipping charges as well. My next new bike will not be a Trek. Litespeed no longer honors their lifetime frame warranty and probably the same for many other companies.

Did you happen to get that bike wet? Didn't anybody tell you they melt when you get them wet!?

No, no, seriously, that is one very bent wheel. I didn't even know it was possible for a bike wheel to get that bent without some kind of intentional and fairly strenuous mischief. Has anybody here seen one that bent without a crash or like Godzilla biting on it?

I'm currently at a Trek dealership, and they're hit-&-miss. We actually could file a warranty claim for the sort of problem under discussion, but to make a long story short, the opportunity cost (for those of you who took Economics) of filing the claim and waiting to see if it got OK'ed would be higher than just throwing in a replacement spoke, truing the wheel, and sending it back out. Warrantying the entire wheel sidelines the customer's bike, and doesn't fix the root of the problem (the wheel's not suitable for ongoing heavy-hauler duty).

I've been in this situation before... used to have a big strong customer who rode tons of mileage and collected scrap metal in his rear basket to make ends meet. After he went through the OP's problems with his stock wheel, and with another cheap replacement wheel, I diplomatically explained that he needed a serious rear wheel. We hand-built him a 36-spoke Rhyno Lite with DT spokes and a Deore LX hub, and that was the end of that problem.

Last major cycling item I had replaced under warranty was in 1975 on my Schwinn Heavy Duty...the frame broke! I still had to pay for labor to swap the parts over to the new frame.

I work industrial construction, warranties are written to protect the manufacturer, not the consumer in most cases.

The ones that crack me up are the ones the come with something like a $9.95 watch...if the watch fails within the warranty period, return to this address with a check for $15

Aaron