i never said that was the only reason or only bad experience. that happened to be the last straw. to assume that i acted as such is, in fact, only juvenile on your part. grow up.

Yeah, I've been at The Bicycle Link for about 2 months.

Then you don't disagree with me, because I feel the same way. To not go to a shop because you don't like it is fine.

But to stop liking your local bike shop of 6 years because of 1 bad visit (out of what, 3 or 4 dozen?) and then tell all your friends to do the same doesn't seem rational or mature to me.

Bike people being pretentious too-cool-for-you jerks???? NO WAY!

dude
did you read anything i posted? anything?

WAY!

ive met a bike shop worker or two who had no choice but to be an ******* since it was the only way he could justify existence

but is this really any different for the rest of us

You get a bike mechanics merit badge for that...

I'm not into giving people monetary handouts (could go to booze or drugs) but fixing a homeless man's bike is pretty amiable. They need their bikes to get around, especially if they manage to land a job or something. I feel like you should help these people if and when they're trying to improve their lives!

There wasn't a bike co-op nearby was there? The employee could have at least directed the guy to one...

I figure it's important to understand that people who work in bike shops don't make very much money. I should know.

That said, any bike shop worker that defaults to a mean attitude or nastiness works at a bike shop that is not worth frequenting.

And that said, many customers are often bigger 'holes than they think they are. I am never mean to a new customer, or to a repeat customer who is not nice but is not straight mean. However, anyone who comes to me for help and...

-insists upon special discounts,
-insults my knowledge on the subject of bicycles,
-suggests that I am trying to work him/her for cash, or,
-is nasty...

...no longer deserves politesse, amicable treatment, or my profound and extra-mile interest in his or her bicycling ills, and receives none. My (the worker's) obligation has then ceased to be personal, and has become purely professional, which seems to bother some people. An employee who is mean right off deserves no business. An employee who treats his customers following the way they treat him is human and sane. An employee who treats all customers the way they think they should be treated, all the time, regardless, is a robot.

I hate going into a bike shop and having something done wrong. Like when I got my first cog mounted on my first fixed hub. The mechanic mounted it backwards. Me, being naive and uninformed rode it around like that for a long time before realizing that my chain probably shouldn't be a micron from my spokes/flange.

^ it happens--a cat did this at my lbs and i went home and reversed it.

If you want to correct a beginner mechanic when they are doing something wrong, do it politely or tell the boss. It just pisses them off and, if its anything like our shop, they'll be caught out anyway by someone.

But nothing irritates me more than someone who insists they know a better way to do something when it is their way that got their bike wrecked in the first place.

lots of people put the cog on the "wrong" way for a better chainline. it doesn't matter how close the chain gets to your hub as long as it's not rubbing.

Nail on the head!

I started out as an apprentice mechanic two years ago and really had to get used to customers and their behaviour in general.

Because I was learning on the job and still had to learn to multi task, I sometimes may haven given the impression that I was impatient or not listening very well to what a customer was saying. I think I even gave the curt reply or attitude every now and then.

I feel that every customer deserves the respect and service that any good LBS should give. However, what has really disappointed me is the less than average attitude of at least half the customers we get. I know I should point out the positive examples first, but really, it boggles the mind how rude, stingy or arrogant some people can be!

If you always insist on a faster turn around time or discounts, always accuse the lbs of not having done their job properly when there is something wrong with your bike ( even though it was six months since you had your brake pads replaced, ride 100 miles a week and the fact that they are rubbing is probably because you tried to adjust them yourselves and couldn't get them right) , always slam your bike in the middle of the workshop when there are people who have to work there, even the angel-like, always friendly, very knowledgeable mechanic will start to ignore you eventually when you come in again.

It's a trade-off. Even if you are a total *******, but you are making an effort to at least behave normal, you will get the service and attention you deserve. If you disregard everything an employee tries to tell you, argue for half an hour about a flat tire which you think happened because your lbs put a tube in that is too big ( on a 37-622 tire, come on!) you simply deserve attitude or at least a look that says 'go **** yourself'.

On my way home from the supermarket where I bought my eggs, bacon and juice for my breakfast, I stopped by a local diner and in the middle of the breakfast rush, asked if I could use thier kitchen to fix my breakfast. When they said "no", I then asked what was the best way to make my breakfast, they gave me a bunch of attitude about "bringing in outside food", what a bunch of d*cks!

perhaps your local bike co-op or collective would be happy to help you do it yourself. some offer maintenance 101 classes.

it's hard to speak to meaness or attitude, but it is really frustrating to be second-guessed like that.

when i saw my bianchi i fell in love at first sight, and then had to convince the clerk that i really didn't want gears, and that i really didn't want flat bars, that i really didn't want some low-end hybrid "that everyone was buying" etc.

in that case i'm sure she was trying to be helpful, but someone with less of a will might have been swayed into getting something they didn't actually want.

i'm so lucky that i live with a mechanic now so i always get the "special" discount

Do you have to buy AstroGlide to get the discount?

Not Astroglide, Grease! I knew a bike mechanic that would eat finger fulls of Lithium grease to impress and/or gross out people.

Edit: This is not safe and you should NOT do this.

benzene bad

I wonder if bike shop owners categorize people like me as "serial browsers". On a typical Staurday I will ride into the shop, browse every show room bike and display case, say "I'm just looking", and then leave without buying anything.

I remember him. May he rest in peace in LBH (local bike heaven).

I don't see anything wrong with that, and if anyone says otherwise then they're idiots.

I on occasion use eco grease in my hair if its being extra poofy at the shop.

im not a dick but I dont takes no guff

apparently you haven't been to a bike shop in Europe a friend of mine is from Italy and he gets nervous just browsing bike shops in Europe they are serious business when he was living in Italy he was run out of several shops "you buy something or leave your are loitering" is what the shop owners would shout at him...