Rant: why I have trouble supporting the LBS

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Makes no sense in my mind. Imagine anything similar at the lbs. You agree on a price, they ring it up, hand you the receipt, then say, "Ok, now if you will just give me 5 extra dollars, we can get it out of storage for you. We didn't realize it was on the high shelf."
 
I really like my local bike shop. The number of times they have done some quick job for free or given me some little part is unbelievable.

But I also don't really expect them to have a lot of stuff for older bikes in stock tbh. I mean they have limited space and older bikes are going to be a tiny fraction of their business. And to be honest if I was building something truly vintage I wouldn't expect them to know too much because once again it is a tiny fraction of the business they do.
 
I have great luck with my LBS. They even let me know when they have a bike in my frame size. But they don't flock to you like a used car salesman when you come in the door. If you want to look around I just let them know. The tell me about things I need fixed when they look at my bike. No big surprise bills. I do light maintenance for myself. They don't mind getting me out of a bind. All stores should have owners that treat you like these guys do. Be Well, SS.






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I asked one of my guys about used parts. He's been in the biz forever, had the shop before I started cycling. I assumed that he would have piles of old stuff for me to sift through.
Nothing. He said, "I don't keep anything. I never have. If I take it off a bike, it goes to the garbage."
I have a problem with that, mainly because I had some high hopes for his horde.
He also refused to work on my Sachs 3 speed hub, not from lack of knowledge, but because he didn't want to. I don't blame him, but I guess it is a good sign for his shop that he can pick and choose his jobs.
 
I like our LBS, as well. The current owner is 2 years older than I, and started there as a part-time employee while in high school. When the previous owner decided to retire some time in the 90s, the current owner decided to step up and buy him out. He's a good guy, very knowledgeable. Once when I was mulling over several different bikes, he went to the back room and pulled out his high end full carbon ride. He told me to take it home and try it out for a few days before I made my decision. I didn't buy that model, but I did buy a new bike from him a few days later.
 
My closest BS is 50 miles away. My little brother is a sponsored team rider for the store and highly recommended them to me. I took my Trek road bike in for a tune up, the shifter was hanging up. I let the tech talk me into a new cassette and chain after replacing all the cabling and adjusting the shifters. My brother brought it back to me and it shifted worse than before I took it in. He took it back and they said the derailers were worn out and would need replacing. I told them no, got my bike back, took it to a small hole in the wall shop and let the owner look it over. The next day he had it done, $15 charge to readjust the derailers and it works great! Never going back to the first shop again.
 
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WVoldguy that is the key to being a good salesman. I should have gone into bicycle sales after getting out of the car business. I lost a customer once because he was insistent but I was talking to a serious customer before he came in. I told him I would get him right after I took care of the first guy. He was nasty and smarted off, then left to not come back. Yes, he was inebriated but I usually could get around that. I did sell the car to the first guy. I thought the second guy would have been furious if I handed HIM off to talk to another person. Customer service was the key to sales in a small market. It was a small town dealership and I valued every sale and customer. I would be the same with bike riders. Loyal to them, maybe to a fault. Sorry if TMI. Be Well, SS.
 
The other day, I was in another town and had just completed a large task. Feeling good and wanting to reward myself, I went to a small bike shop that I had been to about a month before. Then, I had spied a USED gold sprocket hanging on the wall. It’s condition was about 7 outta 10, so not even close to show quality but it wasn’t worn. I thought, if it’s still there, I’ll pick it up and a Tshirt from the shop. It was still there so I was carrying it around the shop looking for other things I might buy. Keep in mind, I can buy a NEW gold sprocket from a great place in Georgia for $25. So I’m thinking this USED sprocket that as been hanging in the wall for at least a month, is gonna be $5-10. Guy working there said “lemme check for ya”. Comes back “$20”. I said “ I’ll put it back on the wall for ya”. Oh, and no shop tshirts.
I left without spending any money when I had driven to the LBS wanting to spend money. They make it hard sometimes, they really do.
 

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