lol, I
love my LBS
I'll freely admit I'm cheap, I'll shop around for the lowest price I can find on quality parts - and that's
very rarely my LBS as they very much cater to the weekend warrior roadies & their high end price tag... erm, I mean bikes.
Yet... while the store front is filled w/bikes that cost more than a new motorcycle and the folks such attracts, the techs in the shop are as down to earth practical and
far more helpful than I'd have any right to expect, given I rarely spend money there save having a custom wheelset built or w/e - usually I'm just after advice/feedback to be honest.
While I can't vouch for the sales people - I know for a fact the techs don't mess around... while they'll happily build you your billion dollar bike, being techs they do appreciate the rigors of actual application, while they'll not tinker w/motorized bikes in their shop - they dig the "test to destruction" method a MB offers on components, they love the feedback I offer on hubs & whatnot.
One of my fave occurrences happened late last season, I was in the shop lookin' for I don't even remember when a spotless roadie came clickin' into the shop with what musta been at least a fifteen hundred dollar wheelset in his hands & a pair of studded tires. After giving my bearded, scruffy self the stink-eye, he elbowed his way in between me and the tech, interrupting us to demand his tires be put on his rims ASAP... which was a lil odd as A: yer paying a guy to slip some
tires on yer rims? & B: There's no snow or ice yet...
Whatever, to each their own *shrug* The tech was a touch displeased to be interrupted but I said it was no nevermind - he was a paying customer and I was jus' babblin', defo no worries. The tech proceeds to start workin' on the guy's stuff and the guy looks around & lacking anyone else - starts talkin' to me about his spiffy new studded snow tires.
Toys are toys & I'll babble such w/anyone and be happy about it - as there's no way in heck I'd ever buy bicycle stuff in his price range, talkin' w/those that do is the only way I'll learn about it *shrug* Things went well for a while... but then he asked what
I used for studded tires, or did I not ride in the winter?
...and... I mebbe erred lol, I told him the truth - that I ride year-round as a daily commuter & I didn't bother w/studded tires, that knobbies w/lotsa lil, tall lugs worked well enough fer me at a mere fraction of the cost, I couldn't see spending three times as much as I spent on my winter beater bike jus' for some lil metal bits in my tires... and the guy about derploded in indignation, immediately informing me that should I continue to ride in the Maine winters, I would soon learn the error of my ways - that only a naive fool couldn't see the value in such exemplary tires as his, that I obviously & desperately needed to be schooled by the vastly superior knowledge he and the sales people possessed.
I jus' nodded & smiled, who am I to argue? I dunno beans about such skinny wheels as his - he might be right, for his application & use but before I could say as much, the normally soft-spoken tech dropped his tools and stormed over half yellin' at the roadie "YOU dunno jack-all about what you're talking about, YOU don't even put a hundred miles on your bike in the off season, THIS guy (pointing at lil ol' me) averages at least
six thousand miles a year, two thousand in the wintertime regardless of the weather at speeds you couldn't dream of reaching! So if he's tellin' you his twelve dollar knobbies are good enough - you better freakin' listen!"
Silence reigned in the shop as the tech went back to his task... I chuckled a bit nervously & said, "No worries - it's a cheap china shwinn w/a cheap china motor on it, I'm sure pedaling is a different game." and the roadie says, "You really ride all year, every day - even in the winter, no matter what?" and I said "Ofc, the worse the conditions, the more fun it is and it's not like I'm workin' for it, I do cheat w/the engine an' all lol"
Lookin' thoughtful, the roadie wandered off while I said thanks to the tech for the backup
Moral of the story? Skip the sales floor and talk directly to the techs. They may or may not be as helpful/appreciative as the ones at my LBS, but ya might be pleasantly surprised... Techs & tinkers, there's usually some common ground
