When I wanted to get fit before ordering a frame out of city I called all the lbs in the area asking for the price to get fit. Found one that sounded reasonable. Went, got fit, paid. Called back a couple of times to ask advice on a couple of parts which they answered and didn't have to. When I had every thing I took my bike back there for assembly, further fit, and to buy a BB. Worked out well. I found fitting ranged in price from $40 to $150 depending on who you called.

no reason to tell the LBS that you're buying online - you have to realize the guy is in business and probably has children to feed - all he probably heard was "I want a free fitting but you wont be getting a cent for the trouble."

just pay for a professional fitting ($100) and be on your way.

and if you're not willing to pay that amount, just use an online calculator.
the results are not as good as a in-personal professional fit, but it's free.

i deal with this **** all day long. he is right, people come in and talk to us all day long, asking about sizing differences in frames, wheel ect. We spend an hour with them. After all this they just leave and by the **** online. There is nothing me hate more. Im with the guy.

So all this makes me contemplate the question:

Am I being a dick to my LBS by not accepting ****ty service, a bike I don't want and probably follow up service that will be even worse than going to a hooker looking for 'a lasting relationship' all to keep his kids fed?

Sadly, I'm not even trying to be sarcastic - this is my situation outside of buying online.


I also have a Chevy Suburban for sale, you'd be a dick not to buy it off me if you live locally and don't want to help me feed his kids too

If you never go into the shop, you are not being a dick. If you go into the shop and ask for free service -- no matter how ****ty it is -- you are being a dick.

Yes, you are a dick. Do you realize that the average pro fit costs $100-150?

Completely inappropriate analogy. Nobody is asking you for help picking a car and then running off to buy a car from somebody else. You're also not a dealership. You're not a garage. You're not a business. You don't have employees. You don't have overhead. I could go on.

When my LBS couldn't order the frame I was looking for, they suggested I try to find one online, and measured me and suggested a size. Then again, I tried to buy through them.

He wants him to do a service he's willing to pay for, lots of riders pay bike shops for fitment and buy a bike elsewhere so I don't see what the issue is here. Fitment is just another service a bike shop should provide and selling this to a customer is no different than any other part or accessory so how can they dictate how the customer should use this new purchase. The treat us like this cause we stand for it, that is the unreasonable part IMO.

True. My analogy was mis-stated by me, and would do nothing to keep the topic on track. Sorry.

No, just as you're not being a dick by cooking your own food instead of going to the local diner. If however, you chose to sit in the diner and keep flagging down the waitress for complementary glasses of water and then leave an hour later having left no tip, you are in fact a dick.

The analogy isn't hard to grasp.

In his initial post (which I responded to) he made no mention of offering to pay. In light of that information I don't see that what I wrote is incorrect. Like I said, I don't think it was right if the guy was rude to him, but if I were running a bike shop I would find the request for service to assist someone in buying from one of my competitors extremely rude.

If he wanted to pay for a fit it's a different story. But then, if you're willing to pay extra to get service, why the hell would you order online in the first place?

Now I feel like a dick for being so harsh about it.

Well you're a dick anyway, so relax all is ok

I'm willing to bet the OP didnt actually offer any money...

Agree.

you should have gone to a pro bike fitter

i stop going to shops when it gets to everytime i go to pick up basic parts they're out of stock...
chains, bolts, cogs, rings, tubes, tires, etc... its like no bike shop inventories

Na, don't feel like a dick mate, it's all good.

everyone in this thread is a dick.

This thread is now about dicks.

how big is yours?

Considering that our full, complete, mega-racer-boy fit is $285, then you would have been better off buying the bike from us instead of online, since that fit is included free with purchase. Our basic fit is about $100.

We had some tool come in and spend 1.5 hours trying on wetsuits (we're a Tri, Track, and Road shop). We finally found the perfect size and brand for him. When we asked if he would like to purchase it now, he said no...that he was going to go find the exact same one online.

He won't be in the running for Customer of the Month any time soon.....

what a wetsuit wearing dick.
iron man wannabe.

Better than a dick-wearing wetsuit, that would be terrible to see riding down the road on a bike, fixed or otherwise.

I would have informed him that's the last time I'll ever be asking for help buying from someone else *ever* again

if they really wanted your business they would've tried to sell you on one of their bikes, or charged you for the fitting, or tried to order the bike for you, or offer to order the bike and fit you, every bike shop i ever go into tries to nickle and dime me until i get to know the employees
the 2 bike shops closest to me lost me as a customer as well, one has little to no knowledge in fixed gear bikes (with the exception of 1 mechanic) and one of the employees even told me he wouldnt trust any of the other employees to work on his own bike so I shouldnt either (he meant the ones that were on the floor, and the mechanic had already left i guess? idk) and he was too look at it
the second shop told me they wouldn't put my bike on a rack to work on because it doesnt have a brake and that's illegal, id never been told that, and until it becomes the norm i wont return there
I offered to pay at both shops
I'll just buy the tools i need and do it myself
you should do the same, just buy some tape measure and click around online