The solution to this quandry is simple.

Scout your LBSs for women staff. (no I'm not being sexist, It's coming from experience here)

I seriously lucked out when purchasing my road bike, I got a guy first who was a bit OVER my desires in what I wanted in my road shoes... then the girl who'd finished with her customer interupted him and kicked him away! I was really lucky cause she was a triathlete who had the same tastes in shoes I did. (The shimano's weren't our first choice, but the pearl Izumis were digging into the top of my foot I was sure I was getting a BLISTER after only 2mins of wearing them!)

So what If I bought the socks and other things with my road bike and shoes... She gave me such good service I'd happily go back there.

And the guys aren't all that bad either. ^_^ I'll be going back






Just depends on who you get. The girls tend to be better salespeople and actual riders themselves. The guys are riders too but the girls know all the problems we seem to have.
You're more likely to buy more with a woman sales rep but I think it's worth it for the levels of service.

But yeah indysteel, Just because you're not a man doesn't mean you can't research. Just let all your riding friends know who he was and what shop he was at. Word of mouth is by FAR the best advertising. And if you let them know then then the chances of them shopping there drop considerably.