The Chainlink

Bad experiences at the bike shop?

Maybe it's just me, but everytime I go to a certain bike shop, I get treated terribly. No, I don't have chiseled calves (yet), and no, I don't know the names of each and every part of my bike, not out of ignorance, but if I come in there, it's to buy something. I may need advice, but chances are, I will walk out of there with something. My girlfriend now has the impression that bikers are elitists, which I don't think is always the case. Does/did anyone else have this experience when they were first starting to ride? It really makes you think that bikers aren't nearly as friendly to beginners.

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Permalink Reply by B on September 17, 2008 at 7:54pm
the genderism thing at bike shops drives me nuts. far too many women I know, including those that can pull a bottom bracket on their own, walk into x,y or z shop and immediately get the, "let me talk SLOWLY to you so you get the basics" approach. crazy nuts.

The best bet is to find a shop that you can connect with and then keep going there. It doesn't hurt at all to go in for the first visit with someone who knows the shop and/or does a lot of business there. It gets you past the get-to-know you stage. A good shop that you develop a relationship with over the time will do backbends for you to make things right.

Also don't be afraid to do a little homework before you head into a shop for a mechanical. If you go into any shop and say, "hey I think the dishing in my rear wheel is off," you'll get a different response than, "my rear tire is rubbing against something." That's a little extreme, but for sure specificity with the problem and a quick visit to the how-to section of the park tools website to get the basics of how something works will help the communication with the shop. This is irrespective of gender...dudes will get the same odd stares with calling parts by the wrong name, etc.

Also note that shops change over time. Different wrenches, different owners. Armitage is a good example, also Mission Bay who was bought and now is run by guys who used to wrench there.
Permalink Reply by Tommie on September 17, 2008 at 8:26pm
I had something long typed out but most of it didn't matter. . .

Don't simply go to a new store and, if you can help it, don't just go to online vendors. Instead, politely get the clerk's name and then call their manager. Explain in a polite fashion (if you sound bitchy or crazy the call will be ignored--I know, I used to ignore those kind of phone calls). A polite complaint will likely change things for you AND for the other customers and probably give you more satisfaction than thinking, "FUCK YEAH! I'm sticking it to that jerk, I'm buying a tube at ________ store!!!!"

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