After thinking about it more this weekend, I think I rubbed this guy the wrong way from the moment we met. After expressing some of my opinions about fit, I think he took the attitude that "this girl thinks she knows what she's talking about. Well, I'll show her...." What a little man to feel threatened by me.

I sometimes wonder whether I'm just "imagining things" when it comes to dealing with certain LBSs here in town, but your responses are consistent with my own experiences. I tend to think there are two basic mentalities among LBSs. There are those guys that think it's cool that you know something about bikes and that they want you to know more. They assume a positive role in your bike education. I can think of a couple of guys--the guy I bought my bike from and the guy that did my fitting--that fit into that category. They were great to work with, and I owe a lot of what I know to them.

Then there are those guys that think you have to know everything about bikes to know something. They further think that the average person is too dumb to figure it out without their help. That's a load of you-know-what. I appreciate their experience and acknowledge that they have a lot to teach me, but the truth is that bikes aren't rockets. They're actually fairly simple, mechanically speaking. That's why so many people successfully do their own wrenching. You don't need to work in a shop for 30 years to know a lot about bikes, especially with the wealth of internet resources that are out there.

My friend did buy the bike and rode it a couple of times this weekend. So far so good. I hope it fits her and serves her well. I'm not sure he spent enough time with her to make sure the bike is the right size, but she seems happy and comfortable on it. And unlike this guy, I'm not interested in spoiling her fun.