Kfergos, sorry you had such a miserable experience. I was never really impressed with their service and selection, and that was for the little things.

Mimi, the ski and bike thing is not that unusual. I think there's at least a couple more in the Seattle area. Business slows down in the colder rainier months for bike shops, so it's a way for them to have a steadier income stream. They tend to focus more on sales than servicing equipment though.