I always thought that the idea of supporting my local bike shop sounded great. Support your local shop buddy because they have your best interests in mind. I spent 10 years in a shop as a bike mechanic in the 1980s and think my current position to other cyclists would be "learn how to maintain your own equipment". For those of you that trust your local shop, I think that you should buy the mechanic lunch and count your blessings. I am through with it and will continue to support the mail order company that I believe to have the best ethics for the cyclist. I have had enough of the bait and switch double talk of how "I don't have it in stock, but can special order it" mentality.
Whew, I feel better. How many of you feel the same?

I'm not a fan of my local shop either. It's really hit or miss with service. They don't stock much either.

I suspect they have a poor attitude because they've been the only game in town for so long. Other shop doesn't even bother carrying anything other than MTB and BMX.

If you're going to do a decent amount of riding, it pays to learn some basic stuff yourself or at least find a friend who can help. I want to be riding, not waiting for an overpriced shop to find time to fix whatever.

Very little LBS loyalty here. Lack of customer support, shoddy repair and set up, double or more prices have forced me to by online.

A $60 BB from LBS cost less than $20 from Amazon. Another $60 to install? Took less than 15 minutes. Bought my last Cannondale from local REI, setup was such that bike would have been dangerous to ride.

I worked at a LBS one summer years ago and do my own service. Another LBS sold me a pricey pair of cycle gloves and refused to warranty them when a hole was found in them prior to use, but after the sale. I sent them back to distributor and they replaced them, after four months.

My last dollar spent at local shops here except for my next Cannondale, unless I can find it online.

Nowadays it's just like anything on the Internet. Cheaper on the net but ya gotta wait. Or buy it now at the lbs. I tend to buy the needy stuff at lbs. Tubes, tires, chain, etc. Big items like wheels or hubs I get online.

Unfortunately, that's what you get in a business that's being squeezed from all ends. Bike shops can barely afford paying minimum wage...so you're expecting competent technical help from a guy making McDonald's wages...maybe less.

Yes, absolutely learn to do your own work. I do my own, and it's FAR superior to anything coming out of a bike shop. Most of my friends bring their bikes to me rather than go to the shop.

I like my shop. They're friendly and helpful. I do my own maintenance and repair, mainly because I enjoy it. I mix it up between the LBS and online retailers, depending on what I'm looking for.

After four years of working on cars bikes are pretty simple. My bike hasn't needed anything major yet but I figure I'll bring it in to the LBS if there's a specialized tool that cost more than parts and labor (So I guess professional wheel truing - I can do it just fine, but I'm always scared I'll seriously break something since I do it blind without a tension meter). Otherwise I buy accessories from them because they're an excellent shop and I've seen them talk in depth with a few walk-ins about maintaining and riding their big box bikes.

If you feel that the LBS gives you what you need, then you need to let them know. When I talk about my local shop, I am referring to a 30 mile radius of at least 10 shops. I have to bite my tongue when I am talking with them. The lack of knowledge and interest in the general customer's well being is bordering on criminal. I keep trying to find that common ground with a shop that has the passion and interest in the general sport of cycling that brought me in to the business when I was younger.

Although I've only bought one bike from them, I've had them service our bikes numerous times with no complaints. I do buy tubes, tires, and some equipment from them, fully aware that I might get it cheaper on line, just to be sure I"m helping them keep their doors open. My only complaint is the lack of choices, but that is to be expected. Nobody carries everything, especially if you are a small business.

I'm all for supporting GOOD bike shops and other local businesses, but I won't support a shop with bad business practices, excessively high prices, or bad customer service just because they are local. I'm lucky to have a couple of good LBSs who have given me nothing but great service and decent prices. One even price matches regular internet prices (not auctions). That said, I have no problem ordering off the internet when I find something that can't be obtained locally in a reasonable amount of time, when I find a deal on a closeout, or sometimes just for convenience of having it drop shipped to my door (I live 45 miles from the nearest bike shop).

We've moved several times since I first got into cycling avidly. So even if I wanted to be loyal to one particular shop, it wouldn't be practical. I live in Australia now, several of the bicycle shops I've frequented in the past are in Canada. We move on.

We also travel a lot, and if we need something like tubes, we're not about to get a shop in Canada or Australia to mail tubes out to a small town in France when there's a perfectly good shop right there.


In our current situation, we live approx. 100 km from bicycle shops. So we've got 2 choices ...

1) Go to the shop when we're going to one of those towns for other reasons, and hope they have what we want in stock. If not, they offer to order it for us and tell us we can return (200 km round trip) to pick it up in 6 weeks.

2) Order online and have what we want delivered to our front door within a week, for less money than what the shops have it for.


We don't always use choice #2 ... if we happen to be visiting a town with a shop, and if we need something, we might drop in to take a look ... but choice #2 is our most frequently used choice.


And fortunately, Rowan knows what he is doing when it comes to bicycle building and repair.