Tales from the LBS.... When the day starts like this you KNOW your in trouble..

[Running Mommy]

Trisk-
It was not being ELITIST at all. The caveman reference was to the fact that when I explained the tube situation to him he tuned me out and then got snotty and acused me of not answering his question. But when my male counterpart explained it to him using the exact words I did, he suddenly tuned back in and changed his tone with him.
It was the fact that I had the distinct feeling that he had an attitude towards me because I was a woman. Even my mgr agreed. He actually was the one to refer to his attitude as that of a caveman.

And as for just generally not being elitist or speaking down to someone, or using to much shop speak.
I really take my time to get to know my customer. Figure out how much they know or don't about cycling. I ask a lot of questions.
For people that are completely new I actually show them what a "drive train" or Derailluer is by pointing it out. I try not to overwhelm them with too much knowledge, but also want them to know what to look for when shopping for a bike.
Now people that are cyclists and are upgrading I go a bit more in depth with.
I always hated the way I was treated in bike shops, so I try to be careful about how I interact with people.

Ok. After getting some PM's suggesting that my post was out of line, or may not be so good for business, I am going to let this thread go now. And I think this is the last edition of "tales from the lbs".
Maybe I will just journal them and write a book someday.

carry on folks.

[kenyonchris]

Trisk-
It was not being ELITIST at all. The caveman reference was to the fact that when I explained the tube situation to him he tuned me out and then got snotty and acused me of not answering his question. But when my male counterpart explained it to him using the exact words I did, he suddenly tuned back in and changed his tone with him.
It was the fact that I had the distinct feeling that he had an attitude towards me because I was a woman. Even my mgr agreed. He actually was the one to refer to his attitude as that of a caveman.

And as for just generally not being elitist or speaking down to someone, or using to much shop speak.
I really take my time to get to know my customer. Figure out how much they know or don't about cycling. I ask a lot of questions.
For people that are completely new I actually show them what a "drive train" or Derailluer is by pointing it out. I try not to overwhelm them with too much knowledge, but also want them to know what to look for when shopping for a bike.
Now people that are cyclists and are upgrading I go a bit more in depth with.
I always hated the way I was treated in bike shops, so I try to be careful about how I interact with people.

Ok. After getting some PM's suggesting that my post was out of line, or may not be so good for business, I am going to let this thread go now. And I think this is the last edition of "tales from the lbs".
Maybe I will just journal them and write a book someday.

carry on folks.

I liked your story. It is why I read this, in addition to getting great help and support. Please write more...I got you (and I bet most everyone else did too).

[Kris]

I liked the story too. And I don't know much about bikes, especially by the standards of these boards. I have met the occasional caveman, though, and it seemed to me the story was more about sexism than bicycle ignorance.

However, as a relative newcomer to the world of bicycling, I was mentally composing something of a rebuttal as I read it. Since you said to carry on, I'm going to. I've been frustrated by my LBS's here recently. One sold us a POJ (piece of junk) that we could just as well bought at WW. He's been bought out, and his successor told us it was a POJ when we brought it in to be repaired. Great. Apparently I still need to be an informed customer, and I don't have a clue how to go about getting informed. (Well, I do have one clue. I'm reading here. It's a slow process, though, when I don't even know what questions to ask. And a fair amount of what I read is right over my head.)
The other shop just doesn't seem very interested. One of my husband's students who works there said that every time the shop gets really busy, the owner leaves. People say, "Don't go there. They only care about people with $3000 bikes."

I'm wondering how many of you shop at big box stores for things other than bikes?

[witeowl]

I liked the story as well. I was a bit offended by parts of the CL rant. (And very grateful to know that there are many LBS owners who are less, well, judgmental.) There were numerous differences between your story and that rant. If you were like the CL guy, then I'd also suggest you keep your stories elsewhere. As is... well... I'm going to be sad at the thought of not getting to enjoy similar stories from you.

[Biciclista]

maybe you could collect a list of those of us who WANT TO hear the ranting of a bike shop owner. I loved the stories, including the "pole" story; because sometimes I forget a word and the only thing I can do is substitute something else (and it's funny, I know it is!!!)
It wasn't such a long time ago that my derailleur was a thingy and if you ask my DH he'll tell you I still don't get cassette and chain rings straight sometimes!

[Irulan]

I liked the story as well. I was a bit offended by parts of the CL rant. (And very grateful to know that there are many LBS owners who are less, well, judgmental.) There were numerous differences between your story and that rant. If you were like the CL guy, then I'd also suggest you keep your stories elsewhere. As is... well... I'm going to be sad at the thought of not getting to enjoy similar stories from you.

The CL rant is humor btw.... like most CL rants, it's overdone to make a point. I'm sure most of us could rant like that about some aspect of our work or personal lives. If that style of humor offends you, probably don't surf
Best of Craig's List in your spare time: there are some doozies out there. "Why I Want a Stoner Boyfriend" is one of my all time favorites, as is the Minute Man Bike Path Rant.

[witeowl]

The CL rant is humor btw....

Yeah, I got that. I liked most of it, but I certainly have the right to be offended by the implications of certain jokes; certain things just aren't funny if you don't have a shared view (humor has to be based on truth). For example, to truly appreciate the post, you'd have to think that someone sounding like a fattie would be a bad thing. (Would sounding like a black person be a funny insult?)

But that's OK. I was just using it for contrast, not complaining.

[Zen]

For example, to truly appreciate the post, you'd have to think that someone sounding like a fattie would be a bad thing. (Would sounding like a black person be a funny insult?)

Yeah,I didn't care for that part either.

[kenyonchris]

I'm wondering how many of you shop at big box stores for things other than bikes?

I would rather be transported straight to hell than set foot in WalMart. It is like a third world country. I don't do badly behaved children, and for some reason every badly behaved child in the county flocks to WalMart with their indifferent parents. My children would be fitted for pine boxes if they even thought of behaving like WalMart children (and they know it).
I can shop at Target during non-prime hours for groceries and general stuff without too much angst.

(Back on Topic) An area LBS here (actually where I took my broken Colnago) tends to be pretty condescending. I find it frustrating, so I don't go there unless I have to. At the same time, I understand they deal with people with WalMart bikes on a regular basis.
My SO is really picky about anyone touching his bike. He DOES know what he is talking about, is probably a more experienced cyclist than most the bike shop people, but is very, very quiet about it (he doesn't advertise that knowledge. I think he is superman, he doesn't). It really doesn't sit will with him to have his bike tossed around like these bike shop guys do (it is a number, a tag, and a will-call-you). But, fact is, it is the best bike shop in town in terms of experienced mechanics and stock. He makes his point by being very picky about how things are done, and puts the guys feet to the fire if it isn't done right. They could stick my derailleur on upside down and I am not sure I would notice it until I got it home. I assume the know what they are doing, so they do it.

[OakLeaf]

I'm wondering how many of you shop at big box stores for things other than bikes?

Okay, can't resist the drift (and for the record, I'll shop at Best Buy, Lowe's and B&N, but not WM; the closest closely-held electronics and book stores to me are over an hour's drive; I prefer to shop the local hardware store but they often don't have what I need).

I concede that when setting up a new household, most of the mom-and-pops that would carry things like plastic trash cans for the bathroom have already been driven out of business by WW, so there isn't much of an alternative if you don't want or can't afford Architectural Digest grade trash cans.

But there's a more important difference. A pair of polyester stretch pants with the seams sewn crooked won't kill or seriously injure you or your child. An improperly assembled bicycle very easily could.

[Cataboo]

I don't find anything offensive about RunningMom's posts... and would shop at her bike shop if she was anywhere around here.

I can't quite say I buy a ton from local bike shops (I'm an evil internet and craigslist shopper), but if I can't get something significantly cheaper online than it is at the bike shop, I definitely go to the bike shop, because I'd rather give them the business and I get instant gratification.

And there are lots of times I go into shops expecting to be laughed at. I called an appliance store the other day asking "for that little copper nut type thing that threads onto the heating element of my dishwasher from underneath" I can't remember what name it had, but it had hat or something. They knew what I was talking about, laughed at my description and got one for me.

I once had a parts guy at subaru laughing his *** off at me... I'd done my first oil change on my subaru, drained out all the fluid, changed the filter, and then tried to start the car and it wouldn't go in gear.... Turns out that subaru uses the same filter size & housing for their oil filter as their automatic transmission fluid filter... And i'd drained out all my transmission fluid and changed the transmission fluid filter.

So being a new car, autozone didn't have replacement transmission fluid or filters, and I had to go to the dealer... So I'm asking for new filters, explaining what happened and the parts guy was just absolutely cracking up. When he gave me the new filters, I opened up the transmission fluid filter and pointed out to him "LOOK IT SAYS OIL FILTER ON THE SIDE HERE JUST LIKE IT SAYS ON THE SIDE OF THE OIL FILTER"

He continued to giggle, but did say "Yeah, it really shouldn't say oil filter on the side of that, and it used to be they made those different colors than the oil filter.... "

I'm sure I was the idiot woman that made his day - but I can completely understand him laughing at me for it. He helpfully got me all the transmission fluid & parts I needed though.

[Possegal]

I picked up hardwoods that I'm having put in my living room soon. The guy selling me the stuff said many things that were just beyond my comprehension. He laughed when I asked him to write it down for my contractor as I felt he was speaking a foreign language. Then I said - though in my defense, you wouldn't understand me if I talked shop either, we all have our own language.

I enjoyed RM's story too. We all have to rant when we deal with people that drive us crazy. Better to rant to us than to the customer, right?

[witeowl]

Then I said - though in my defense, you wouldn't understand me if I talked shop either, we all have our own language.

I don't know what you're talking about. When I taught SpEd, I'm sure the parents of all my students understood fully that the purpose of the IEP (discussed in the presence of an LEA) was to provide a FAPE in the LRE, possibly while implementing PBI based on an FBA.

And, yes, we were constantly reminded to not throw around those acronyms around parents... or even non-Special Education teachers... but we would often slip into old habits. Of course, even without acronyms, it's still jargon-ific.

[Irulan]

I picked up hardwoods that I'm having put in my living room soon. The guy selling me the stuff said many things that were just beyond my comprehension. He laughed when I asked him to write it down for my contractor as I felt he was speaking a foreign language. Then I said - though in my defense, you wouldn't understand me if I talked shop either, we all have our own language.

I enjoyed RM's story too. We all have to rant when we deal with people that drive us crazy. Better to rant to us than to the customer, right?

This board is full of potential bike shop customers.

[MartianDestiny]

But there's a more important difference. A pair of polyester stretch pants with the seams sewn crooked won't kill or seriously injure you or your child. An improperly assembled bicycle very easily could.

And we have a winner. I go to Target and a large chain grocery store (Safeway) for most of my day-to-day consumable needs (food, personal care, etc) and some of the basics that don't have equivalent local stores or who's equivalent local store's price is far out of my pay grade (trash cans, plastic containers, etc).

Most of the rest of it (including nearly all of my "luxury" type purchases) are at speciality and/or local stores with some exceptions made for online stores like Amazon which I am dearly in love with for my boxed TV series sets. About as close as I get to "big box" on a regular basis is REI. I just enjoy shopping at these places more, and luckily I live in an area where a) the prices remain fairly competitive and b) these guys are still around.

It is a goal of mine to never set foot in a Walmart again. A goal made easy by the fact that my City refuses to let them build, so the closest one is something like 15-20 miles away (HURRAY!).