I get as much as I can from my LBS for a number of reasons. It is a strictly local store; even though the brother of the owner own the bike shop the next town over, and the nephew owns a shop 2 towns south, they have resisted the urge to form a mini chain. My LBS is now facing in-town competition from one of the larger bike shop chains here in Mass. I have nothing against this chain, they support MassBike and PMC. I'm not sure why they relocated their southern-most branch from a college-town to a town that already had a bike shop. I doubt that they want to put another shop out of business, but the fact is that since they can be open 7 days a week they will take a fair chunk of business from my LBS.

Why am I so loyal to my shop? Because they have a 20 year history of loyalty and service to my family. Paul taught my son about credit, by letting him re-build his BMX component by component. The final component was the new frame that changed his basic BMX to a top-flight Haro free-style. They have gotten accounts set up with vendors that they haven't previously dealt with so that they could order things for me. They often do all that, and still give a price that is competitive to web prices. While they don't carry a lot of WSD stuff, indeed they don't carry much clothing at all, they often ask me if I would be interested in a new item that a vendor is listing. They are well aware of my gadget propensities, and often have the info on hand when I come in to ask if they could get something or other. They know my riding style and size requirements and currently are helping me in locating parts for the bike build I'm doing, and ultimately Paul or Doug will do a road check of the finished bike to be sure I didn't screw up. Why wouldn't I do as much business with them as I can?