Dubious cycle shops and why I do it myself

[Corduroyboy]

Bike shops need to make money.

They are probably no different than a car garage (and we ALL know what a rip off garages can be - I have some CLASSIC stories...)

DIY all the way if you want to avoid all of these potentially expensive pitfalls.

Garages, plumbers, builders, solicitors, bike shops...........

Don't trust any of 'em!

What gets me are the high-end bike shops that look at you like dirt when you want to buy a small spare part to fix your bike:
"You want to buy what? You mean you're not here to spend £x000 on the Newfadhyperbolx? Get out of my way you insignificant backward pleb." :evil:
Either that or ignore you completely until you p*** off.

 

[THWANG-666]

we had a bike shop in huddersfield i think it was called rainbow cycle a guy called tony owned it great chap his son danny what a wanker if you wasnt spending a 1k plus he wasnt interested in dealing with you.danny lost all his custom and it closed a few years later.

 

[Alison]

I have yet to meet a bike shop I'd realy trust and as corduroyboy says, a Garage, plumber, builder, solicitor, too.

Why are these guys so bad?

 

[leonatico]

Two of my old cycling mates opened what is now my LBS, I run a company car so not to bothered about the garage, my best friend is a plumber, my brother in law is a builder and my mums a solicitor. So I suppose it´s a matter of knowing the right people.

If any of you come down to Malaga, and need any of these you can tell them you´re my cousin/aunt/grandad/sister in law/brother or anything you can think of , I always wanted a big family

 

[gump]

Leonatico, thats no good!! Too far from Elche for me!!

Could have hooked up for a ride sometime

 

[orange71]

why can't some businesses understand that it IS the small things that count. get them right and people will come flocking as word of mouth works better than any amount of paid publicity...

go down to your LBS - ask for a cheapo stem or similar - see how they deal with the request, decide accordingly. It may be small today, but I might want a new bike tomorrow and I'll remember how I was treated...

 

[FirstFlight]

OK, not to stick up for the shop since I am not familiar with them.....but always try to look at it from the other side.

There really isn't a reliable way to tell when mis-matched cogs and chains will work (other than riding it). So the shop tries to do it on the cheap and replaces the middle chain ring. Customer takes the bike home, stands on the hill and the chain skips. Customer becomes intimate with the top tube and blames (or in the USA, probably sues) the shop. So lets add the new chain in and since the middle ring is worn, we can reliably assume that the cassette/freewheel is also shot. The other rings don't usually wear as quickly but can easily be worn past the point of being compatible with a new chain. If you look at the wholesale costs of 3 rings, it can easily surpass the cost of a new crank. And remember that rings often have slightly different thicknesses which can lead to putting it together, checking the spacing, taking it apart, putting in spacers, checking it again.........unless you happen to have the exact brand/model of rings in stock.

There is no "absolute" answer to problems like this but I have been on the other side of this transaction and it often ends badly for the shop.