I just went on my first ride this weekend - 20 miles And I was having a problem with the left shifter/front deraileur. I took it straight to the LBS where I bought it. They "tweaked" it. But it still stuck/was very hard to shift/skipped one of the rails (went from small to large and skipped medium) and so they tweaked it again. I left it there b/c I didn't want to wait, but I am crossing my fingers that the repair guy was good and got it right this time. He rode it and said he could "fix it" but he also said "these are just hard to shift" Hmph! The right one is fine....

So we'll see. It's interesting to read about the same issues with others.

Oh, and yesterday I found out that the guy that sold me my $1000 bike is now the manager of their little "mini-starbucks" in the store. He serves cappucinos....you know, I had a weird feeling that day that he was "winging it". One of the other guys told me that biking is "not his area of expertise". I observed while I was there yesterday and got names of who I should ask for from now on.....

my seat was too low and my handlebars too wide - the cappucino guy never measured my shoulders but they did yesterday and I went from a 40 cm bar to a 36 cm and WOW what a difference. Anyway, live and learn! I love coming here to learn......