Trying to establish a relationship with LBS

[indysteel]

If they really don't respect you, they're not worth the effort. My favorite bike shops are not the ones closest to my home, they're the ones that treat people well.

Amen to this.

I firmly believe that if the LBS is worth your business, they will not rebuff you simply because you hold them--politely--to a high standard for customer service. If they do rebuff you, then they aren't worth your business in the first place. Better to find out now what kind of shop the new shop is. Of course, there are other aspects to a good shop, too. I hope for your sake that they have good mechanics (and who are adept at working on Campy), regardless of how responsive they are to you. Good to find that out now, too.

[lph]

I can't imagine any bike mechanic worth his or her salt not wanting to fix something properly, and being happy for the chance. It should be a matter of pride. Maybe it helps if you know that bike wrenching, especially derailleur adjustment is often not a "there, that's fixed once and for all"-kind of thing. You need to tweak a little, and try it, tweak a bit more, and try it again. Telling them that it still rubs is not telling them that they're lazy or terrible mechanics or did something wrong. You're just telling them that they were a little conservative in the adjusting or the cable stretched a bit more, and they need to finetune it a bit more. It's not really a complaint, so just smile and tell them you need 10 more minutes of their time, please.

[Jiffer]

When my husband was first into cycling he felt sort of degraded when he'd visit our LBS. They were racers and all and he just didn't like how he felt when he went in there. He subsequently switched bike shops to one who takes care of him and he has, therefore, spent a gazillion dollars with them, as well as referred a lot of business to them.

You might consider taking your business to a different shop that you feel more comfortable at. The one he ended up at caters to all levels. The owner used to race professionally, sponsors a race team and has a lot of high end customers, but a LOT of his business comes from people buying commuter bikes to save on gas. And then he has everything in between. He treats everyone with the same respect. And, by the way, it was definitely a farther drive from our house.

As for your current problem with your bike not being adjusted properly, I do encourage you to take it back to the LBS who tuned it and assertively, yet politely, tell them it's not right and that it needs to be adjusted again. Don't "ask". "Tell" them it needs to be done. If nothing else, it will probably do your self esteem wonders. And you'll hopefully get it fixed properly without having to pay someone else to do it.

Who knows, maybe in doing so you'll discover the people there are more friendly than you thought and maybe you'll start to develop a better relationship with them.

We used to take our bikes to our LBS for adjustments and upgrading components and all that. Since then a cyclist friend of him taught him how to do everything on his own, plus gave him a book that teaches how to do it all. It has saved us a lot of money.

http://www.amazon.com/Zinn-Art-Road-...ke+maintenance

He said he got a lot of basics from that book, but also reads info from manufacturers of components, etc. to get more specifics depending on what he's doing.

I know you may not have any aspirations of becoming your own bike mechanic, but thought I'd pass that along. At the very least, you may want to learn how to do your own tune up.