My LBS rocks because the owner has over forty years experience in bikes and is more than happy to share his knowledge.

They have an excellent selection of high quality parts at really cheap prices, ie NOS Brooks for $5, Ti racing frame, fork and FSA headset for $285.

They have the best mechanic in the country, the National Team's Head Mechanic.

He charges me $10 labor to build a wheel.

While they sell mostly high quality racing gear; ie vintage Merckx, vintage Concorde, Cinelli, etc, they have no attitude at all. I've seen X-Mart bikes next to high end racers on the repair stand. Their attitude is; well if it's all you can afford at least you're riding a bike.

They're not about image. I've never heard them knock a person with a cheap bike. One time we were laughing at a guy who XTRed his RD, and crankset (people can see the XTR label there), and put on the cheapest Deore hubs on his new wheels.

If you call and ask they will stay open late for you.

The list goes on... What about your LBS?

Hmm... I have two local bike shops, one being Eddy's(a small chain here in ohio). The guys working in there are nice for the most part, but can be real asses sometimes. They have some way low prices, but some extremely high prices. The main problem is they don't stock a lot of parts, but they will always order what you want. Overall they are a good shop.
The second is B&K bike shop, the mechanic(I think he is the head) is really cool, and will help me with anything i need. He teaches me all sorts of stuff, and is extremely laid back. The other 2 guys(owners) can be nice at times, but are mainly real asses. They are extremely pushy. I almost always will go to this shop first because of the mechanic, so i guess their a good shop too.
Not sure if any of this helps or what.

I've hit up 3 LBS in total.

The Bike Zoo
Pros - Large shop, Friendly Staff, Large Catalogs
Cons - Not Talkative, High dollar parts, Long wait times for repairs

Cedar Bluff Cycles
Pros - Tons of in-stock parts, That's it
Cons - Know it all cocky staff, long wait times, High Prices

West Cycles
Pros - On Site Service, Friendly Knowledgable Talkative Staff
Cons - Limited selection for anything even remotely clydesdale, Roadie Store

Riverside cyclery
Huge store, very nice staff, ex cat 1 guy very knowledgable, good service and quick.

Don's bikes
Owner former pro team coordinator, nice staff, but small shop

Bicycle Trip -
They've been around for 32 years (still not as old as my bike :)), they have very knowledgable salespeople and wrenches, a decent supply of parts and tools, and they are more than willing to help save you money by selling you (or talking you out of) a different part.

My LBS is a locally-owned 'chain'. The one closest to me is a mere 1/2 mile away. Pretty convenient.
When I need help, I can roll up and usually get immediate service on my bikes while I wait - even on weekends!
They also have a workstand for customers, and a box of tools for tinkering on your ride. They rock!

Durham Durham Cycle Center
Chapel Hill Franklin Street Cycles
Carrboro The Clean Machine

I have 7 shops near me. They are all 'ok'. At best I use 2 shops for potential wheel builds as thats the only think I don't do on my bikes.

Tony's cyclery in NH. Great place to be. THey sell entry to almsot high end road and mtn bikes. Been doing business since 1958, his current owners father started it then. Amazingly fast service. And the owner has been building wheels for around 40 or so years so they help me a lot. They let me sit around in the shop playing with their truing stand and tensiometer for 3 hours. And i think best of all, they are honest. Not like they try to make me buy the most expensive stuff all the time

$10 labour for a wheel build, sounds good whem i ****ed up my wheel snaping a load of spokes and whipping the rim. It cost me £25 (thats like $45) to get the whiped rim fixed and the wheel re-built with a new set of spokes. That included parts, after oyu take in to account the price of spokes i do not think it is much more expensive then what you paid, and a year and a halflatter the wheel is just fine.

I got a few bike shops in my area, the 1 i go to is quite good, although a lack of choice. theres another good shope but its not in the middle of town so i cant really get there hence i dont use it much.

Anyway, any expensive components i buy off ebay, cycling clothes i buy from other bike shops as this 1 has ppor selction for cycling clothes. Although i must point out i recently bought some new cycling shoes and a hope mini mono disck brake from there.

and oyu know what i dont know why im posting this, as if some 1 actuly wants to here about some bike shop they dont know of and never will :)

College Park Bikes in College Park, MD.

Great shop, friendly guys. They have a lot of higher end new stuff along with a TON of used parts and vintage frames. They have heaps of used bikes, a fact connected with being in a college town. Helpful guys, always willing to explain stuff.

Cosmic Wheel in Ridgefield Park, NJ.

To me it seems the owner, John, is more interested in making cyclists happy than he is in making money, and he achieves it through his shop. It shows in the details.

When I got back into cycling as an adult, I tried between eight and ten different shops before I first walked into Cosmic Wheel, and it stuck out as the only place I wanted to return to. For a few years now it's the only place I go in any non-emergency.

I've sent at least three other customers into his shop by word-of-mouth, and I know at least two bought bikes, (friends of mine). Sure, bikes aren't much in terms of income for his shop, but it's support.

With everything I hear about the bike business -- wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy.

Joe

My LBS rocks because it's, well, Local. Here in Warner Robins we have exactly 1 bike shop :)

This is a great thread! My LBS rocks because ......

... they are extremely friendly people. They host a thursday-night potluck in the shop (only been 1 time but it was great fun). They'll happily help do-it-yourselfers, even if it involves finding a bottom bracket dust cap or counting out ball bearings. They'll give repair advice without being condescending. They won't try to sell you more than they need. They have a nice dog wandering the shop. They employ a framebuilder. Everyone there obviously loves bikes and enjoys meeting others who do too. The owner rides a Colnago with Campy Record, and I enjoy drooling over it :)

It's Proteus Bikes in College Park, MD. College Park Bikes is nice too, but they seem to cater to the high end, and so they often don't have parts to fit my budget. (Example: they are the only local shop that stocks fixed gear parts, but the only fixie hubs they sell are Phil Wood :))

I've dealt with Proteus over the phone, they're a Heron dealer. They seem great and very knowledgeable.

Yeah, I can see that. I don't really go for highend stuff either, but in my experience they've been helpful.

I've never bought anything from Proteus, but I've talked to the people there and they were very helpful. I might have to swing down there sometime soon.

I actually just got back from the Performance in Rockville and their shop guys are knowledgeable and everyone there seems very friendly and knowledgeable.

Damn Midgie, I gotta get up that way and try the stuff. Is it legal in your state?

J/K
:D

My LBS rocks becuse Its a great place to hang out, the owner is an A-1 mech.He let my kid come in on a saterday and taught him to build his own wheel.
www.sycamorecycles.com

My LBS is also just a convenient 1/2 mile away, and often has a cute little dog in the shop. It's a small neighborhood shop owned and operated by 1 guy, with often his wife and sometimes his daughter helping with the sales. He is a commuter like me, and used to be an auto mechanic before working at the LBS. (He was an employee before he bought the business last year from the owner at the time, who retired.) He's an extremely friendly guy, never laughs at my dumb newbie questions, and always seems happy to explain anything or just yak for a while if he's not too busy. No trace of attitude, as I sometimes hear about from other people on this forum. His rates are extremely reasonable (I often feel like he didn't charge me enough), and I always get my old parts back in whatever plastic bag he has evidently brought from home -- last time it was a Green Giant frozen corn bag. :)

One drawback is he doesn't have too large an inventory, being a very small shop, but of course is willing to order.

Performance in Rockville is nice too, just further away. Proteus's prices are a bit higher, closer to retail, but they have a great selection of used and NOS parts that they sell quite cheap. And you can wander around and see them working and they're just very consistently helpful and good overall.

Erik's in Bloomington. Busy-azz weekend and they still -

Brought me into the back to show off vintage goods -
Helped me out by lendnding a hand and a wrench to tighten my seatpost binder -
Realized my binder bolt bottomed before binding ( ! ) and added a washer for me -

Never had to wait. Also they accomodate my stupidity when I show up after closing to pay a bill.

If you can't say anything nice.....

I consider nashbar.com, ebay, and perfromancebike.com my local bike shops ;-)

The best LBS in my area, Ziggy's Cycle, is also the biggest. When my wife and I were out shopping for bikes, they were the only shop where the people genuinely seemed to want to sell us a bike. The others seemed to point out wht they had, hovered for a bit, then went off to talk to coworkers or more wealthy-looking patrons. The staff remembered us when we came in on subsequent days, which always helps. We eventually bought a Trek 7300FX and a Trek 7500FX from them.

The 7300 was ready to go that day, but my 7500 had to be ordered. I need a 22.5" frame. How could I be sure? Well, they built up a basic 22.5" giant they had, on the spot, to see if a frame that size would fit.

Now, for the best part, something that displays a good bit of honour IMO. They received my bike from Trek about a week ago, but when they assembled it they noticed that the front fork wasn't properly made. I guess one side was longer than the other! (tsk tsk on Trek's QC!) Anyway, the mechnaic said that he managed to set the wheel so that it wouldn't rub, and could therefore be ridden, but didn't feel comfortable selling it to me. They phoned Trek and ordered a replacement front fork, and are currently waiting for the replacement (As am I!! ;) )

Anyway, I thought that is was cool that even though the bike could be ridden, they wouldn't sell it because they KNEW it was wrong. I can say with a bit of confidence that the local wal-mart wouldn't have done that.

Thanks, Ziggy's. :)

You changed the spelling on me. Its Heron Bicycles. I was never dumb enough to try that *****, but in High School acid and dust was very popular, not legal, but popular :beer:

Hehehe... it'd be funny to call Proteus and say, "Hi I read on bikeforums that you guys are a heroin dealer. Can you hook me up?" Probably a good laugh for all involved. On the other hand, I like them and don't want to waste their time.