Stuff they tell you in the LBS

[Euan Uzami]

I was told some other bollocks recently as well and I can remember arguing quite vocally at the time but I can't remember what it was, it'll come to me soon ish....

oh yeah,

"you can't get 30.0mm seat posts, they only come in 27.2mm and 31.6mm" ... 

[andygates]

I think a thread by cycle retailers entitled "Stuff they ask you" might be funny too.

Standard fare between shops, too, the "did you have that customer who..?"

[GrahamG]

Me: "It's a black bike so I'd rather have black mudguards - can you order in a black set? I don't mind if it takes a bit longer"
LBS: "They don't make them in black" (in reference to SKS Chromos!)
Me: "Riiiight, let's not worry about mudguards then..."

The one comment that will forever stagger me is anything that derides the customers bike in any way shape or form that isn't a friendly joke. Why would anyone in a customer facing environment make any comment which immediately alienates and annoys the customer?!

[perpetual dan]

As an oik a teenager I had a saturday job in a bike shop. As far as I remember I was pretty straight about getting someone from the workshop when I got out of my depth, but I do wonder if I came out with any right nonsense. 

[Domestique]

Me taking bad buckled rear wheel into lbs end of August.
"I suppose this will be a new rim"
Lbs "Yep, about two weeks we are quite busy right now"
"Sounds ok, I have a spare wheel"
Still waiting, despite assurances the supplier now has rim in stock 

[Clandy]

Me taking bad buckled rear wheel into lbs end of August.
"I suppose this will be a new rim"
Lbs "Yep, about two weeks we are quite busy right now"
"Sounds ok, I have a spare wheel"
Still waiting, despite assurances the supplier now has rim in stock  

Hope that wasn't … & Daughter, they are usually very good, much better than the large chains either side of them.

[cyclone]

"A compact will make you faster than a triple" 

[clarion]

A briefing I overheard for staff in a chain bike store (no, not Hellfrauds or Evans, surprisingly/depressingly):

Aluminium frames are better than steel in the hills because they bend to go round the hairpins, where steel won't.

[Greenbank]

"A compact will make you faster than a triple" 

There may be a grain of truth in that. I'm slower climbing most hills on my geared bike than my fixed because I can change down to a much lower gear and spin and take it easy. On the fixed I don't have a choice and just get on with it.

[Adam]

"A compact will make you faster than a triple" 

There may be a grain of truth in that. I'm slower climbing most hills on my geared bike than my fixed because I can change down to a much lower gear and spin and take it easy. On the fixed I don't have a choice and just get on with it.

Having switched from a triple to a compact, I would also agree.  Having a smaller number of gears does force you to push yourself more, and therefore improve your climbing ability.

[cyclone]

- It would depend entirely on gear ratios! Fast = high gear ratios (usually for the same cadence), so a 53 tooth will be "faster" than a 50 all other things being equal. 

[mrcharly-YHT]

Overheard staff member talking to customer.

"h, it isn't possible to get those cogs anymore (a freewheel), they aren't made. <ed: well, there are a few shops, such as spa cycles selling them, plus 150 yards away there is a business selling old bike parts>. So you'd need a new wheel. Except that it's really hard to get those size tyres (27), and a modern wheel won't fit in the frame. So you might as well by a new bike.
<Some minutes pass, while customer stands astride a few bikes and picks a Scot, pays for it>.  

Customer leaves, and I remark to the shop staff; "The reach on that bike looked a bit long for that guy." Staff "Did it? I wouldn't know, I've never ridden a bike with drops."

[Karla]

  
I thought that particular shop was usually better than that.

[mrcharly-YHT]

erm, no. Very glossy stock with a good range and probably best range of town bikes in the country.

One ok mechanic. Rest are very moderate. I've handed a bike in there with a broken spoke - when I picked it up I got to the millennium bridge before 6 spokes went.

Turns out they'd 'trued' the wheel without checking spoke tension. A bunch of spokes were rattling loose, some were pingfukkit tight. It was a roller-brake rear wheel, so being ultra-true didn't matter so much. But torque through the spokes *did* matter.
I bawled out the senior mechanic - he handed me a bunch of spokes and I fixed it myself. Just put even tension on all spokes, tweaked it a bit. Funny, didn't break any more spokes and that wheel was passed on to someone else, who is still riding around on it without problems.

It is possible they've improved since then, but I never hand a bike in to there for repair.

[Domestique]

Me taking bad buckled rear wheel into lbs end of August.
"I suppose this will be a new rim"
Lbs "Yep, about two weeks we are quite busy right now"
"Sounds ok, I have a spare wheel"
Still waiting, despite assurances the supplier now has rim in stock  

Hope that wasn't … & Daughter, they are usually very good, much better than the large chains either side of them.

No, its the other well known one. Its a bit of a shock really.
I am away next week, if its not done by then I will most likely take the wheel back and have a new one made elsewhere

[Steve Kish]

... it's really hard to get those size tyres (27) ...

That reminds me of how I came to find cycling forums. My LBS told me in 2003 that as all road bikes are now metric it is impossible to get parts for my bike. Believing him, I disposed of the bike and in my search for information about new bikes, I discovered the C+ forum where I learned that I was told a lie.

May not actually be a lie.  Probably a bit of guesswork on his part based on what he knows (not a lot, by the sound of it) shuffled in with a snippet if information about the length of timber in his local wood yard and laced with a dash in inventive 'genius' in the hope of you saying 'OK, how much is your cheapest metric bike?'

[EMnut]

why do you want a lower gear than a 39/25?
with suggestion that I shed some lard...

(when trying to change to a compact chainset)

also quizzed and bemused expression when I mentioned triple chainset

[MSeries]

why do you want a lower gear than a 39/25?
with suggestion that I shed some lard...

(when trying to change to a compact chainset)

also quizzed and bemused expression when I mentioned triple chainset

and you retort "WTF would anyone except Jan Ullrich need 53x12 ?"

[Hilldodger]

I think a thread by cycle retailers entitled "Stuff they ask you" might be funny too.

There's one on the Bike Biz trade forum and very funny it is, too

[fuzzy]

... it's really hard to get those size tyres (27) ...

That reminds me of how I came to find cycling forums. My LBS told me in 2003 that as all road bikes are now metric it is impossible to get parts for my bike. Believing him, I disposed of the bike and in my search for information about new bikes, I discovered the C+ forum where I learned that I was told a lie.

Would that be a shop I know RR?

[fuzzy]

Not a problem Fuzzy. We can repair/ replace that for you but we are tucked up for the rest of the day. You haven't got the right tool to do it yourself? Borrow mine and bring it back tomorow.

[Sergeant Pluck]

I think a thread by cycle retailers entitled "Stuff they ask you" might be funny too.

There's one on the Bike Biz trade forum and very funny it is, too

Do you have a link?

[Adam]

- It would depend entirely on gear ratios! Fast = high gear ratios (usually for the same cadence), so a 53 tooth will be "faster" than a 50 all other things being equal. 

Surely what defines it will be the amount of power being put in?

[fuzzy]

Would that be a shop I know RR?

Perhaps. Neither Saddle Safari nor Bucks Cycle Centre ... head over Amersham way.

Somewhere between C and E's?

[fuzzy]

Somewhere between C and E's?

C and E's? I can't think of what that is. It was Andy, the owner of Dees of Amersham in Hill Avenue. I had good service from them for the 16 years I commuted to Amersham, so it would be wrong to hold one possible mistake against him. Dees knows little about road bikes so I took my business to Bucks Cycle Centre until it closed and now to Saddle Safari.

Dees is right in the middle of C and E's (Alphabeticaly  )

I don't have a great deal of Dee's experience myself but on the odd occasion I have been in there, find they are a bit stand offish if you are a roadie type.