Trying to establish a relationship with LBS

[tulip]

You seem to be taking everything very personally. Would it have made a difference if the shop clerk were an old fat guy? Your own insecurities are your worst enemies--I know mine are. Sounds like the shop clerk was doing her job explaining different types of tubes. How was she supposed to know what kind of tube you were looking for?

[PamNY]

It's possible -- even likely -- that the woman who explained tubes meant to be helpful, not patronizing.

[velo]

Your own insecurities are your worst enemies

Absolutely!! This is it, in a nutshell. The woman was nice and I asked an ambiguous (stupid) question. My own insecurities killed my confidence when they shouldn't have... and when I wanted to stick around to browse, I took off instead. I did, however, get my Klein looked at again. They said it's adjusted to specs and it did not need to be worked on again. I didn't argue and said "thanks for looking at it!" and left.

[indysteel]

Why do you keep saying your question was stupid? Maybe it could have been phrased differently, but I don't think it was stupid. Try not being so hard on yourself.

[Owlie]

It's possible -- even likely -- that the woman who explained tubes meant to be helpful, not patronizing.

This. I work for a large chain bike shop. It is amazing how many people (including apparently experienced cyclists, who ride far more than I do) don't know what size tubes they need. I had someone (who rode a metric century the previous weekend) ask if a certain tube (with the size range printed on the box) would fit his tires. It's safer for her to assume that you don't know. (I'm not entirely sure how she didn't get "road bike tire, 23", though.)

[ny biker]

This. I work for a large chain bike shop. It is amazing how many people (including apparently experienced cyclists, who ride far more than I do) don't know what size tubes they need. I had someone (who rode a metric century the previous weekend) ask if a certain tube (with the size range printed on the box) would fit his tires. It's safer for her to assume that you don't know. (I'm not entirely sure how she didn't get "road bike tire, 23", though.)

Yeah but I don't see how a lecture about different types of bikes gets you to finding out what size tires a person has on their bike. It's certainly not a direct way of doing it.

Anyway, if I'm understanding this right, the bike needed some adjusting before the tune up but after the tune up it's making new noises at times when it should not be making noises, and the answer from the shop was that it's supposed to be that way. That's just wrong.

[Owlie]

Yeah but I don't see how a lecture about different types of bikes gets you to finding out what size tires a person has on their bike. It's certainly not a direct way of doing it.

Anyway, if I'm understanding this right, the bike needed some adjusting before the tune up but after the tune up it's making new noises at times when it should not be making noises, and the answer from the shop was that it's supposed to be that way. That's just wrong.

I see how she was trying to get there, but I agree it's silly. All I meant was that she was attempting to help, but not effectively.

[velo]

This. I work for a large chain bike shop. It is amazing how many people (including apparently experienced cyclists, who ride far more than I do) don't know what size tubes they need. I had someone (who rode a metric century the previous weekend) ask if a certain tube (with the size range printed on the box) would fit his tires. It's safer for her to assume that you don't know. (I'm not entirely sure how she didn't get "road bike tire, 23", though.)

And quite possibly, she *was* all about being helpful to a customer. What I meant in the post, though, was that she was talking to me like I was a child (this I know well... I'm a mother ). I can't relate the tone of voice she had, but it actually was very patronizing.

I'm not being hard on myself. It really was a poorly-phrased question. No way for her to know if I had ever been on a bike or not. She could, though, have spoken a little differently and that's what I was talking about. She shouldn't be patronizing to any customer. She was not being *helpful* in my opinion. Yes, I should not have let it kill my confidence. That's my own insecurity. I buy plenty of things with technology/concept being "new" to me (e.g. my recently acquired e-reader) but where the salespeople are friendly and helpful, not patronizing. It makes me want to do more business with them. This place... not so much. They do give off a vibe and it's not all just me, I know.