LBS anger

I bought my new bike from a different lbs. Mainly due to the crabbing that started this thread, but also because they had the brand I wanted. This shop was just ok on service. The guy who helped me took time to make sure the fit was right and swapped out a seat post for me. Then I told him I wanted a different seat. He was more concerned about how the seat looked than how if felt! Honestly I had to tell him that when my fat @#$ was on the seat, no one would know how cool it is!!! They also did not ask if I needed any accessories. I was prepared to buy a set of slicks, a rack, shoes and clipless pedals. When it came time to check out those, I got passed off to a less than enthusiastic guy who didn't seem to want to show me anything. I said maybe I will wait. Then I went to REI, got tons of help and spend some serious dough!!!

I did take your advice. I went on a quiet day, still chilly out and the shop was nearly empty. I guess my solution is less time in the shop, more time on the seat!!!!

I've done my share of crabbing about anti-helpful LBS personnel. Now, in the interest of fairness, I really feel I should tell about a good experience.

I went back to the LBS where I bought William, and was treated like someone who knows what bikes are about, and is an equal in getting the bike set up exactly as I want. When I walked out, both of us were smiling. I was carrying some new Stuff to hang off William's frame, some of which he just gave me. Can't beat that with a stick.

I like being treated as an equal partner.

In my early quest to finding a fitting LBS. I've been shopping 30-40 miles in all directions to build a relationship with each crew. My second attempt for an LBS led me to the Southside's West Liberty Cycles, which was an automatic fit. In the meantime my relationship with Biketek has improved and that is where I'm buying either my 2005 Felt SR91 or Jamis Coda. The manager wanted to sell me the 2006 he had for a better fit, but for now the '05 will have to do. In addition, Biketek's neighbor Pittsburgh Pro Bikes is moving into Cycleworks old home. Yeah?!

Let's see what happens.

Man I am spoiled - my middle child works at a very large LBS and of course I always get excellent service ;)

Now - I will say - in my experience with other things (the aquarium for instance) that I have gotten shoddy service in some places and just kept shopping until I found the place where I could get my needs met and the product I wanted for a price I wanted to pay, thats harder in a smaller market where you don't have as many choices!

Techno, you are spoiled. Your offspring servicing your ride is awesome!

My brother's 400+ miles away. My other alternative was to buy a bike from the local shop in Montclair/Cliffside Park/Bloomfield NJ back home, but why buy high and service elsewhere. I get one year service (plus he gave me 35% off).

The 2006's have arrived so the '04-05's in the shop have to move out. I'm planning on purchasing a '05 Kona, as well. So two bikes for under a grand. They usually go on sale in July, but competition's moving into town.

I'm going to need a bigger place.

Just got back from pedaling up to Salem and checked out a couple shops in the surrounding towns there too. Only found a couple of nice shops out of the whole pack (and only one had something for me to test ride....but man I think I found my bike!). I even biked ten miles out of my way to visit one shop because they had an ad in the phone book that mentioned over 100 bikes in stock, touring mountain, road, etc.... I ride up there to discover a tiny store with some bmx bikes, hybrids and tandems.... False advertising anyone?

Had another guy who was very nice, but kept insisting that the Trek 520 was the cheapest touring bike I was going to find and that I was nuts for looking for something under $1000....even though the shops down the street both had touring bikes for the price range that I'm interested in....

I have the constant problem of shops not listening to what I am saying and instead rolling out $1,300 plus bikes with carbon forks.... Despite all the wonderful reviews I have found for Surlys, I've yet to see one in person and they thought I was nuts for inquiring.

I do think I found the bike I want, or at least, I finally got to actually test ride something, a Fuji Touring bike. Fit felt nice and I wouldn't have to change the gearing. The guy at that shop quoted me full price when I asked about accessories though, so rather than going all the way back up there, I think I'll have a local shop order one. Maybe I'm expecting too much? The bike shop I got mine from gave me a discount on the stuff I bought with the bike I have now though and so did my SO's shop when he bought his...

I'm in Corvallis, looking for a new hybrid bike. I'm of the 40ish, overweight, mom-ish variety of consumer, BUT, I've done a lot of reading about bikes and want to make sure I get a good fit, decent service, and a place for maintenance and repairs. And I ask a lot of questions and want to be taken seriously. Potentially, my hubby might buy a bike too, so even though we're not looking at very expensive bikes, we're looking at more than one, plus a trail-a-bike, kids bikes, etc. in the future. We are new to the area, and I haven't been really with any LBS I've been in so far. That's actually not true, there is one really nice shop, but I didn't find a bike there (in stock) that I'd want.

Any place between Eugene and Salem I'm willing to visit.

Thanks!