I've had a good experience and a bad experience all wrapped up into one when I was buying my roadie.

I'd just been on a group ride on my very clunky hybrid. I'd had enough and BF and I decided it was time to start shopping for a Roadie.

So we rocked up in our bike gear at a bike shop on the way back that was reknowned for stocking SUB bikes and Specialized. So we went in.

I was served by a brilliant woman. She was a mountain bike enthusiast and after telling her what I was after she came took me through everything I wanted to know. When I was test riding stuff I gave her my feedback and she agreed with me based on her experience or explained what I was experiencing based on the spec sheet.

She was a GREAT servicewoman and Bike shops need more sales people like her! (She was also the mechanic! ^_^ Too bad the store's half the way to ipswich which is too far to ride)

BAD EXPERIENCE:
While she was serving me the owner of the store could sense a sale and came over to add his two cents in. Based on the bikes I was leaning towards he told me That I'd probably be better off with the lower model "because it comes in pink" He just ASSUMED... Sure I loved pink. But I hated the 2006 model sub zero.1. I test road it and it wasn't that much of an improvement on what I was riding already.

The woman serving me wasn't happy after this exchange. She thought I'd do better with the higher sub zero.pro model because I liked the ultegra and it was a lighter machine.

moral of the story: There are some jerks out there. But there are also some really enthusiastic people who love their job and want to see you walk out of their store 100% happy with your purchases.