We love our LBS. Very friendly. There are two another high-end shops in town but they treat us suburbanites like outsiders as they cater to a particular part of town.

Unfortunately our favorite shop does not merchandise well and does not carry the bike my hubby is drooling over at the moment. He is working up the nerve to go grovel at the other shop. I think he should stick with the favorite LBS and get the bike with less snob appeal.

I keep reminding him that I drive a VW GTI because I don't need the name but I want the fun. More bang for the buck! He still hasn't forgiven me for not going for the BMW name plate. I love my bad little Rabbit. I smile every time I spy it in a parking lot.

We have purchased multiple bikes from all three LBS's. Our last two from our favorite LBS this year. We bought one on ebay. I don't think we have purchased any bike related items from a local big box. We do quite a bit of mail-order though. Mainly because of the poor selection of accessories at our favorite LBS. We also live in the country and on-line shopping it more convenient. (Our UPS guy is as friendly as the bike shop)

But I have to say, the nice people at our favorite shop are worth paying a little extra when they have the item we need. Plus we have to support them so that they will someday move into a bigger building!