Dude, what do you expect? You walk into a smoothie shop, you don't expect the cashier to be a certified nutritionist. You walk into a clothing store, you don't expect the salesgirl to be able to hem your jeans.

Retail is retail.

He did specify "if you ask the clubmaker". Who you'd expect to know about making clubs. Except they typically don't.

If you ask the tailor at your local clothing store to hem your jeans, you'd expect him to know how.

I don't mind if employees don't know something. What bothers me is when they blatantly just make **** up to maintain the facade that they are informed.

Right I do expect a "clubmaker or clubbuilder" that is certified by a clubmaking body to know the different theories behind the practice. Just like a bike shop when I call I expect them to know what a cog is.

I expect the cashier of the smoothie to shop to know what is on her menu. And I expect the salesgirl of the clothing store to know what kind of clothes they sale.

The golf industry is filled with half-truths, lies, mis-information, and "professionally certified clubmakers" that will bs you when all they really do is cut and glue. Any hack can learn how to cut and glue. The ones out thre that know what they are talking about are swimming upstream.

I'm saying the bicyle industry IMO isn't much different.

good job, you must be the wizard of bike repair. why don't you come out to portland and i'll give you a job. well you risked it and ended up sounding like a total ******. you are the type of customer that i hate. the guy that thinks he know more than the person who has spent years behind the bench dealing with **** you couldn't begin to know where to start. you think you know more than 90% of the mechanics in Austin about road and fixed gear bikes?? are you ****ing ********?!?! seriously, are you? i would feel bad if you had some mental problems.

Joe: He did say 90% of employees. I don't know if he was talking about just the mechanics, but it's pretty reasonable that an avid cyclist will know more than retail schlub #7 at your local Performance outlet.

If he was claiming he's a better wrench than 90% of LBS mechanics... yeah, I'll second the "mental problems" notion. The mechanics are usually among the only competent workers at a big box LBS, though I could easily see them getting jaded by 100 $15 flat fixes a week and slipping on some of the routine stuff.

In fairness, I've only been working on bicycles for about three or four months (although I can build a motorcycle from its componant parts) and I'd say I now know more about them than a good 50-60% of the people working behind the counter in my local bike shops. I freely admit I know very little but actually finding out about something before opening ones mouth and spouting off about it seems to be a rarity in this particular field.

The best one to-date was two guys in the same bike shop insisting point blank that 700C tyres fit on 27" wheels. Even when I pointed out there is an 8mm difference in rim sizes between the two wheels.

I bet ya $10 I could get a 700C tire on a 27" wheel.

Good luck getting it back off, though.

he said in all of austin, not the performance stores in the area. then he followed it up by talking about trusting only one mechanic. i stand by my claim of this guy being a moron

yeah cycle path is the good one. the other is athens bicycle on stimpson, not sure how long its been there.

I do work on my bike that other mechanics can't do. I have done most of the maintenance that there is to do on a bicycle. Recently I went to the LBS b/c I was having BB problems on a 1991 Specialized Sirrus (non-cartridge BB). keep in mind, this is one of the "best" LBS in Austin. None of the 3 mechanics who were working even knew how to service this type of BB.

Here's the deal: bicycle maintenance is not very complicated. Bicycles are the simplest machines I have ever worked on. Try rebuilding the motor of a DI, supercharged jet ski. So, yeah, when I go to a LBS and some guys there don't even know how to service a BB, I laugh at them. I'll admit, I have botched several bicycle jobs in the past, but I learned from those mistakes. I haven't messed up any maintenance in a while, and I've done some of the "hardest" work there is to do on my FG and road bikes.

You think I want a job at your ****ing bike shop? Haha, like I would ever work at a bike shop.

EDIT: I said 90% b/c I'm will to admit that there are a FEW old timers at the LBS who have been wrenching for +20 years that definitely know more than me. But, the vast majority of mechanics at our LBS are 20-something y.o, idiots. Don't take your frustrations out on me just b/c you were stupid enough to open an unnecessary business in an over-saturated market.

On my way home from work, I stopped into a semi-local shop to pick up a brake cable. I don't usually frequent this place because there are two bike shops closer to my house...and the dude who owns the place is an elitist dickhead. Everyone I know has had problems with him and each time I've dealt with him has made my blood come to a near-boil. Still, I figured I'd give it a shot. I locked up my bike, walked inside and dude is sitting on a stool behind the counter blankly staring at me with his arms folded. "Sick risers, braaaaah" is the first thing out of his mouth. I ignore this and proceed to tell him I need a brake cable...no housing, just the cable..with a road end. He responded by saying "If you knew how to ride that thing properly, you wouldn't be spending your money on brake cables" and tossed the cable onto the counter. I looked him square in the face and rather calmly responded, "If you knew how to keep your bullsh*t comments to yourself, you wouldn't have customers that want to beat your ass", grabbed the cable and walked out (without paying).

Did I do right by stealing the cable? Perhaps not, but screw that dude.

sick risers, brah.

wow, ignorance is par for the course in most big LBS' but that level of dickery is impressive.

I buy all my bikes from the LBS called revo cycles. All the guys there know a lot about bikes. Although they think fixed gears are a fad and some what comical. The head mechanic use to have his own auto garage and knows a great deal about bikes. Most other bike shops I go into the guys are more there for sales then anything else.