LBS Politics (LONG... sorry!)

[tulip]

RM has the right attitude and advice. I bought one of my bikes from my LBS, and the others I did not, but my LBS works on all of them. But I buy my tires and tubes there, and my shoes. I also buy my shorts there, even though shorts are cheaper at Performance. That extra $10 is worth it to me to shop local and to get my shorts right away. I support my LBS in small ways with tubes etc as well as in larger ways (bike). I also have them work on my bike when I can't do it myself. I would never bring in parts that I bought elsewhere to install.

Because of this, they pushed a repair up because I needed it done pronto. I would not expect them to do that if I was not a regular customer. You do get what you pay for, and in the long run, I'm not spending much more (if any) than I would by shopping at Performance or other internet bike sites (I'm not an ebayer).

That said, I do go to the original Performance shop when I visit North Carolina and check out their bargain room from time to time. I have found some great deals on jerseys there.