Quote Originally Posted by maillotpois View Post
Has your friend talked to her bike shop about what options are available for her bike to get her a bigger cassette? My LBS is super innovative when it comes to putting big cassettes on. I have had no trouble shifting or anything with the larger than "standard" cassettes.
Her LBS is part of the problem. When she bought the bike they assumed "soccer mom on the bike path only" and never asked her what kind of riding she would be doing. She, being new, didn't know what kind of questions to ask them. All she knew was she needed a road bike not a hybrid. They don't listen to her when she has brought it in, repeatedly, for the same problem and when she asks to speak to the tech when she picks it up he is always "unavailable" so nobody tells her what they found and how they fixed it. My shop takes me back shows me the issue, what they did and how to prevent or fix it in an emergency. Her bike is currently making this terrible rattling noise. It's been in twice and they can't "replicate" it but as soon as she gets it back the same noise is there which leads me to believe they aren't interested in fixing it. I went with her the third time, dropped some cycling terms and put on my best "angry eyes" and they took it out immediately for a test ride, heard the noise and decided it was the bottom bracket which they replaced. She hasn't been able to ride it to see if that fixed it (personally I think it's the saddle rails but I am often wrong). I feel like they are just patting her on the head and sending her on her way because she's not a "real" cyclist. I don't trust them at all and am reluctant to suggest she talk with them about changing the cassette. My LBS is a Specialized shop (she has a Giant) so worried that if they do the work her warranty will be voided. I just want her to have fun and not be worried about holding me back or feeling like a failure. UGH!