Just wondering. Why is there so much LBS hate?

I understand that LBS prices are usually a lot more than online. But I have gone to some bike shops that have amazing customer service. For example, I just built a wheelset this weekend, and since it was my first build, I wanted my LBS to check the tension, and overall quality of the build. The bike shop guys took a look at my wheel, offered some advice on checking the wheel build, etc. They took about 30 minutes talking to be about building wheels and some tips I can use for next time. They even trued my wheels a little bit more. And they didnt charge me a dime. I have actually done that a few times when I have built up some of my bikes, I take it over there and they check my work and they never charged me.

With that kind of service, I really dont mind paying a little bit more to my LBS when I have to pick up tires, tubes, etc. They dont even mind if I get the stuff online and have them put something together.

Some LBS are great, Where they actually do there job because they ride a bike.

My local bike shop up the street is horrible. All he can do for me is spare tubes, oil grease, and import parts for me.

If i need to work on my bike and i dont have the tools, i use his tools and pay him shop fee....

I go to performace bikes to actually get my bike worked on.

The owner of my lbs doesn't care if he scracthes your bike or anything...

Some lbs are great. Some lbs are a parts bin.

Which bike shop did you go to?

Even within a particular shop it can be a crap shoot.

I had one experience trying to get a Vittoria Rondo onto an old Fir EA65 rim and it just wasn't happening. It took me 30 minutes of prying with a steel tire lever to get it over the lip, and then the tube pinch flatted when I tried to inflate. I said "F it" and took it to Performance, figured I'd pay their $10 flat change fee and let them deal with it.
Mechanic got on it right away (cute female mechanic, I might add...) and it ended up taking her longer than it took me, and all for naught. 45 minutes spent working on that tire while I hung around and chatted, and in the end they offered to exchange a different tire because we concluded the Rondo just wasn't gonna fit. Mounted the new tire for me and all that, still charged just the $10 (despite well over an hour of mechanic labor going into the whole process). No cost for the exchange even though the bead on the Rondo got pretty chewed up in the process.

I've also had shops try to dick me over paying $45 for a seatpost binder bolt.


The latter seems to happen more often than the former, and so:



=

LBS

I just can't stand LBSs because most of them are poorly run businesses and I have no tolerance for that. There are a variety of reasons for this...obsolete business models, ignorant employees, elitist attitudes, dishonesty, predatory prices and sales tactics, insufficient inventory, poor service, half-assed mechanics.

Well-run shops exist but are few and far between. I don't hate well-run shops, but I tend to avoid them because I am sufficiently bike-savy and internet-savy to operate without need of an LBS, which saves me a ton of money. This, btw, is why you will always find a bias against LBSs on an internet forum. DIYer bike hobbiests that are also savy internet users are obviously going be biased against LBSs.

Threads like this have been started before, and quite frankly, serve no useful purpose. There are few people on this forum who hate all LBS's, but most adopt a rational balance. I and many others have already stated our respective opinions a multitude of times, so I feel it would be redundant to repeat them.

45 dollars is over kill... My LBS will give it over. he'll trade you parts... I needed to change my rear brake to a front. he took my new bolt and gave me a new one. thats pretty nice i guess.

We may not agree often but I agree with you on this.

/thread.