yet another bike shop rant

[beatcad]

there's 2 bike shops in my town. the one thats been there for 25 or 30 years(as long as i can remember) and my favorite shop thats only been around a little over 2 years. that guy is cool and digs all kind of bike.
the "other" shop i havent been to in years cause theyre snobs. if ya dont have a hi dollar BMX or hi end road bike they really dont care.
well last sun i went to "my" LBS to purchace a couple items. i got there kinda late and it was closed....so i thought well these are dumb small items, i'll drive across town to that "other" shop and see if they got 'em
well they did have the chainring fasteners, but it was the other item i wanted that was stupid...my fault.
i asked if they had"item X" and they(2 young guys)said they dont have them, that's just for department store bikes.
well that really burned my biscuits cause it was a schwinn that was sold at a bike shop. possibly that one :shock: before they were born of course :lol:
i didnt say anything smart. let it go like a gentleman i am 8)
but the more i think about it the more it cheezes me off.
i work in completly different industry(auto repair) and if my boss heard me talk like that to a potential customer i would get chewed out.
i have been told that guy wanted to give us $ and you ran him off!!
i dunno. maybe i'm makin a big deal outta nothin'.
i do know i wont be back there

 

[user 135]

The best reply for any retail shop is- "We don't carry them , but we can order them in. Or LBS X might have them."

That said, I dislike ordering. I usually need the item now, so I always move on. I am lucky as Boise has lots of bike shops. 12 or so with 3 miles of my house. :shock: :shock:

 

[B607]

12 shops within 3 miles? You've got it made. There aren't 12 bike shops with 100 miles of here. Gary

 

[Bigcam59]

That's why I like my LBS, Erlton Bikes. They've been around since the 70's and have a wall of drawers filled with misc. hardware. Bearings? no problem. Fasteners? sure. They also have a staff that is not a bunch of bike snobs and if they don't have it they'll get it, or tell you where you can find it. 8)

 

[CRASH]

While I agree that as a seasoned human you would think that a "treat the customer with respect" attitude is best, I can understand... not agree... that if you leave young kids unchecked, they are going to do what young kids do, and that is whatever they want. Obviously they aren't being supervised by someone with a business sense in mind. I've seen the snobbish working at LBS's. I've dressed one or two of them down, camly, and did it in front of their manager when he finally showed up. But that has really been few and far between. For the most part in my town the young people working in my shops are respectful, even if I stump them with old stuff. But they've taken the direction when I show them what they don't know, and vice/versa.

Anyway, back to your question, I don't think you are off-track for getting upset. Had it been me, I wouldn't have let it go. I wouldn't have made a scene, but I would call them on their stuff right then and there, and make their 'boss' aware of it. Just because they are employeed at a bike shop doesn't mean they know it all, which is, I think, the trap that they fall into.

 

[Rat Rod]

I always wonder how people become bike snobs.

What exactly is it that creates an elitist attitude in any hobby...is it just a prideful arrogant spirit?

 

[deven_science]

The problem with snobbish LBS's is that the taste shifts over the years, as does their stock. Their shops may be full of road bikes now, but ten years from now, it will be something else, and they might be snobbish about those types of bikes, then.

There's a great shop in Yuba City called Van's. Ten years ago, it was filled with cruisers and Nirve choppers, because that's what was hot. Now it's mostly BMX and road bikes, though he does still have a corner of cruisers. Anytime I go in there, he and his young staff are still very cool. They don't anyways have what I'm looking for, but they're very nice about it, and say that they can order it.

 

[CRASH]

I always wonder how people become bike snobs.

What exactly is it that creates an elitist attitude in any hobby...is it just a prideful arrogant spirit?

Knowledge = power.

Money = status.

My bike costs more than yours, so I am of a higher station than you are. I know more about bikes than you do, therefore I am smarter than you are.

Substitute "bikes" for X. Every hobby has them. I inherited an antique tractor. I spent a couple years researching and tinkering around with it, wanting to restore it to "original". As you can imagine, there are "Correct Police" that will admonish someone for even the smallest error, including a wrong bolt.

To get into the psychology of the issue, I think it may come down to a lack or self-esteem or a need for a reinforcement of ego. Results may vary of course.

Personally, I ignore such people, or try to call them on their stuff. I try to surround myself with helpful people who enjoy the hobby and smart people who want to pass along knowledge. And then I quietly get mad at people like you who find all the cool old bikes in really good condition for ridiculously low prices and flaunt them with really crisp photography! :lol: (just kidding of course)

 

[Rat Rod]

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[user 135]

I think there is a difference between a snob and someone who is rude. But a bike snob can also be rude.

A bike snob just doesnt' know, because they only deal in alloy and carbon. On the otherhand, many of us could not tell you the difference between DuraAce, 105, Chorus or Record components.

 

[SylusMk2]

thats how the bike shops are by me....the one around the corner is knapps...the only sell Specalized bikes if you have anything else they dot care....i went in looking for a masterlink they tried charging me $5 asked me what kind of bike and laughed at me....wanted to get my rims trued and they told me just buy new ones...



a place over the bridge in PA on the other hand....go there monday to drop my rims off ...yes this place sells higher end bikes too but the dude went crazy when he saw the skip tooth chain ring on the hub....even hooked me up gave me a great price on truing both wheels

 

[Rat Rod]

I suppose if people are jerks then they'll be jerks no matter what they are doing...selling bikes, driving, hanging out on forums, etc.

 

[kngtmat]

Until the past 10 years I have never heard anyone put someone down for having a bicycle of any kind or of any price but now I hear it about wherever I go online, I read people get a bike for $50 and people say that bike is only worth $6 yet I see you guys actually sell the same thing for $200 and I truly dislike the whole BSO bull but don't get me started on that snob stupidity.

 

[X-RAY]

there will always be someone smarter,richer,or that has a better bike.no point in being a snob. i just cant beleive that some shops act this way in this economy.kind of counter-productive.

 

[yoothgeye]

I'm always jealous of you guys who have LBSs around you, until stuff like this comes up, though I'd love to go to a store and pick up a bike part I have to order everything.

But now that I think about it, our LBS closed about 2 years ago, the few times I went in there they were helpful, but I could see a vein of snobbery in them. I carried in a REALLY cool vintage road bike, mid 80s hand built Eddy Merckx, full Campy compnent set, tubular rims, team issue and raced, probably even in the Tour De France. The guys looked at it and picked it up and said "That's heavy!" Ugh... :|

 

[pjbaz]

I'm always jealous of you guys who have LBSs around you, until stuff like this comes up, though I'd love to go to a store and pick up a bike part I have to order everything.

But now that I think about it, our LBS closed about 2 years ago, the few times I went in there they were helpful, but I could see a vein of snobbery in them. I carried in a REALLY cool vintage road bike, mid 80s hand built Eddy Merckx, full Campy compnent set, tubular rims, team issue and raced, probably even in the Tour De France. The guys looked at it and picked it up and said "That's heavy!" Ugh... :|

I would LOVE to see the Merckx! My roadie (a LeMond) is just under 19 lbs with pedals and considered porky but rides great and back in 04 was right in the middle of the price, performance and weight lineup. The local group ride I hit has everything from old dudes to young on bikes under UCI limits to well north of 25 lbs and no one cares.

Last ride of the season this year I rolled up on my super clean 87 Pinarello Treviso (it's pink and blue!) and dropped some jaws because almost everyone recognized how dope it was. I spent 15 minutes riding two-up with a guy who couldn't get enough of it. THOSE and the shops and rides I want to always be on.

 

[deorman]

As you can imagine, there are "Correct Police" that will admonish someone for even the smallest error, including a wrong bolt.

I was at a Revolutionary War re-enactment one time filled with British soldiers, American soldiers, French surrenderers, American Indians and a bunch of various settlers running around all about. I was talking to this one "Indian" re-enactor and he was freaking out because some of his fellow Indian re-enactors had shirts that were machined stitched when they should have been hand stitched because they did not have sewing machines in the period of time they were re-enacting. I told him I couldn't see any difference between the shirts that were machined stitched as compared to the ones that were hand stitched. He said, no, you couldn't really from the outside, but if you turned the shirt inside out, you could see the difference in the stitching because on the hand stitched shirts like his, the stitches were not as evenly spaced, whereas on the machined stitched shirts, the stitches were all nearly perfectly even. He was going on and on and on about the goofy shirts, so I asked why it mattered to him so much when it was impossible to tell the difference anyway unless you turned the shirt inside out and studied the stitching. He said, in a voice loud enough for all his fellow re-enactors in the area to hear, "Because the machined stitched shirts are not authentic."

I said, "Uh, aren't you a white guy pretending to be an Indian? How authentic is that?"

He shut up and walked away whist several other not-as-authentic, machined-stitched-shirt Indians started giving him the Wo-wo-wo hand clapping the mouth, little kid, Indian chant. That was probably not very authentic either, but it was pretty funny.

Should have asked if the settlers should use "authentic" musket balls. :mrgreen:

 

[socal_jack]

We probably have a dozen bike shops in a 5 miles range here ranging from family type LBS to high-end specialty (tri, road racing, mtb) type shops. The thing I've noticed is either you have "bike guys" working there or not, if they're "bike guys" they are jacked up on anything you bring in. But it's much less likely to happen at specialty shops as it seems like the bike is a means to an end whether it's tri(worst IMO), road, or mtb(least likely, maybe due to the klunker beginnings) and they don't have much use for anything else.

 

[blackdiamond]

i asked if they had"item X" and they(2 young guys)said they dont have them, that's just for department store bikes.

was "item X" the little hooked washer things the hold front wheels in? ive had the "dept store bikes only" thing said for them, but they were nice, if i drive my '79 stingray in they drop everything and swarm it like they are seeing a dinosaur

 

[jerrykr]

I guess I'm lucky. The closest LBS to me would have every right to fall into the snob category.
They sell the UPPER end road bikes and all the spandex stuff to go with them.
The owner has been asking me to bring by to see my CWC board tracker style bike. The one I traded RR for.
The afternoon my bro and I did the video and rode Upside Down Xcess, I stopped by while the bikes were still on the carrier.
He and his mechanics were very interested in the Xcess build. Later I hauled the CWC over, and they had a blast riding it around the parking lot.

Since then I sold the owner and one of his mechanics two old Columbia balloners I had.
The owner is putting a motor kit on his and the mechanic is planning on powder coating the other one.
They were just having great fun with them last time I was in there.

I don't expect them to carry parts I need, but they always help out with tools, tubes and stuff I know they will have or can order.
Good attitude and respect for the other guy's interests goes a long way!