LBS anger

**nuthatch** · 02-22-2005, 02:37 AM

Hey, Pedalfaster, can I bring my bike to your shop?

**Dogmama** · 02-22-2005, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by nuthatch

Hey, Pedalfaster, can I bring my bike to your shop?

Me too! Me too! Maybe all of us from TE can bring out babies in for you to baby? Of course, we'll come on a weekday!

**SadieKate** · 02-22-2005, 10:48 AM

Just going to share this little experience. Yes, I took my bike down on a weekday because I know weekends are useless to talk about service on bike. Yes, I had my very specific list ready. This shop has really come through on some weird requests and they know I know my bike stuff so I figured I was safe on this one.

1) Please put new bars on and leave unwrapped until we can determine the best placement for the levers - Nope, he had to wrap them so we had to pull on my vintage gum rubber hoods an extra time and now they're splitting.
2) Hard to get the chain up onto the big ring, please adjust friction bar end shifter, derailleur or cable as necessary -- Nope, he just tightened the bar end shifter so tight I couldn't move it even when sitting on my trainer. If I'd been on the road, I would have ended up in the ditch. We loosened the shifter at home and lubed frt derailleur ourselves (gee, didn't I ask for a tune-up when they mounted the new bars?).
3) When the mechanic put the brake levers on the new bar, he attached the cables backward. That was fun because the shop owner and I discovered this together as he was mounting the bike on the shop trainer to adjust the levers on bars which should have been left unwrapped. Thanks goodness I didn't discover this out on the road.

I'm a pretty knowledge customer who can do a lot of her own work, I'm just tired of the 6 mos of non-stop bike projects we've had going in our kitchen so I figured this really easy list was manageable by the shop. It's kind of ridiculous when you and your hubby have to negotiate on who gets to use the bike stand. I know there are good mechanics out there but they are just too darn hard to find and I'm tired of letting them practice on my bikes! One of the other shops in town has cut a steerer tube too short and bashed up a very expensive headset race using a screw driver to take it off. A third installed the wrong bottom bracket and couldn't figure out why the bike was making such a bad sound. We finally showed the employee that the BB was too narrow and that the granny gear was cutting a groove in the chain stay.

Now that I've finished my rant, Pedalfaster, thank for keeping us up to date on the other side of the story. We just have to realize that, as in all areas of life, there is an equal opportunity for excellence.

**Veronica** · 02-22-2005, 11:02 AM

It's a bit of a hike Sarah, but I've been pretty happy with Perfection Cyclery in Walnut Creek.

V.

**SadieKate** · 02-22-2005, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by Veronica

It's a bit of a hike Sarah, but I've been pretty happy with Perfection Cyclery in Walnut Creek.

V.

Ooo, ooh, ooh! A bike shop I haven't heard of in a 100 mile radius? But does it have a bakery next door? That's the requirement for "perfection." One of these days, I think I'll write a guide to bikes shops with bakeries near by. I think there's some kind of corrolation.

**Veronica** · 02-22-2005, 12:32 PM

They don't have much to sell you. I did get a chain there. There's a lot of good restaurants in WC and a nice jewelty store right around the corner. And a wonderful chocolate shop.

V.

**SadieKate** · 02-22-2005, 12:50 PM

Chocolate will do

. We have a chocolate shop here in Davis that makes the most divine fudge. Hmm. Maybe I should bring a supply for the next ride on Diablo.

One thing about the LBS that just screwed things up. They try very hard to keep a lot of women's clothes in stock. So, I have to give them credit for that.

**pedalfaster** · 02-22-2005, 01:19 PM

I'm not sure out little shop is worth a drive...
but if you're ever in the area stop by!

Actually, I was just thinking, the owner of the store is a pretty darn good mechanic (although even he occasionaly makes mistakes). When one of the less-experienced wrenches makes a repair, he always likes to check their work.

BUT, the downside, is that the owner is so into the mechanical side of things that he's not very concerned with the "fluff". Sadly, you'll find very few women's clothes in the shop and the way he orders accessories is kind of...spotty (actually it drives me crazy!).

No bakery, no chocolate...although we DO brew a pretty nice cup o' Chris King coffee on cold mornings.

**aka_kim** · 02-22-2005, 06:42 PM

Re Perfection Cyclery... I've had 2 tune-ups (paid using gift certificates) at Perfection, and each time they've created problems which weren't there to start with. And each time, I took the bike to another shop to get the problem fixed. Maybe since I'm not a double century or racer type George (the owner) can't be bothered to take my bike seriously

.

How about a bike shop for the "enthusiast" cyclist? Riders somewhere between "riding the bike path twice a year" and Cat 1 racers. A shop which doesn't allow their clueless teenage interns to work on your $3k bike, at least not without guidance. A shop where the good mechanics don't all have attention deficit disorder. Ok, I'm dreaming.

**Veronica** · 02-22-2005, 06:46 PM

I was hoping you'd chime in with your experiences there. I've only been in to talk and buy parts. What did they mess up?

Thom is taking my tire with the broken spoke there tomorrow.

V.

**aka_kim** · 02-22-2005, 07:02 PM

What did Perfection "mess up"? Both times the derailleurs had been working fine (or mostly fine) going in, yet upon return were slipping and noisy. And one time the bike was in for an overhaul, yet I really had to wonder if they'd done much of anything when I got it back.

George is a nice guy, though. And friendly. And does actually seem to engage with customers as fellow cyclists. And the mechanic, whose name I can't remember, seems knowledgeable. I think it's just that they don't "focus" on their tasks fully in meeting their 24 hour turnarounds, which is their own self-imposed schedule.

But all mechanics love wheel-building

. You should be fine getting the spoke replaced.

**jobob** · 02-22-2005, 09:02 PM

Originally Posted by aka_kim

How about a bike shop for the "enthusiast" cyclist? Riders somewhere between "riding the bike path twice a year" and Cat 1 racers. A shop which doesn't allow their clueless teenage interns to work on your $3k bike, at least not without guidance. A shop where the good mechanics don't all have attention deficit disorder. Ok, I'm dreaming.

Bicycle Outfitter in Los Altos. But no bakeshop nearby, that I know of ...

**aka_kim** · 02-23-2005, 06:45 AM

How about this? Happy Trails / Cool Beans. The old "two birds with one stone" trick

.

**caligurl** · 02-23-2005, 07:03 AM

Originally Posted by nuthatch

Hey, Pedalfaster, can I bring my bike to your shop?

DITTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that shop in the first post is a perfect reason why people have turned to the internet! JERKS! (the shop, not the shoppers!)

**SadieKate** · 02-23-2005, 08:07 AM

Originally Posted by aka_kim

How about this? Happy Trails / Cool Beans. The old "two birds with one stone" trick

.

Perfect!

Love the train car.

In Bend, one of the bike shops shares a parking lot with a fly shop and a yarn shop, and is a short walk from Ray's Market, where the pastry chef makes scrumptious deserts and is a fellow Litespeed owner. We're in heaven there.

We might need to start a thread of the shops that can offer double the value for a visit. Can I have a macaroon with that tune-up?

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