The stupidest thing you've heard at a bike shop...

[TimmS]

There is no difference between FastForward wheels and Zipp wheels, so why would you spend more money on them?
(In a shop where they are selling both Zipp and FastForward, and I suppose they want to make some money)

[de zwarten]

Well, ffwd has more solid hubs without a zillion iterations before they claim to get it finally right, but in the end, they are quite similar in being both overpriced!

[yoshirider]

I called a high end LBS that specializes in road bikes to ask for a quote on how much it would cost to build a wheel with a powertap. The response was "what's a powertap?"

[justkeepedaling]

Oh sorry, we don't let your kid test ride the kids bikes with the training wheels. It's just my policy. I've had that for 20 years.

Store owner tells me when the people leave "they don't let people testride motorcycles, sheesh"

[Camilo]

Last year I was putting together a bike made up of a vintage Italian (Sannino) frame and fork I bought and parts I had around the garage. I only lacked brake levers (downtube shifters). They weren't in stock at my go-to shops, so before resorting to the WWW, I called another shop that has a decent reputation for knowledge, but is a little spotty.

The guy I talked to on the phone simply couldn't understand the concept of brake levers that weren't shifters.

Paraphrasing - but I was trying to be as clear as I could be:

Me: I'm looking for some plain brake levers for a road bike.
He: Yea we have brake pads, but would have to order the brakes.
Me: No - I need the brake levers for a road bike - for road bike handlebars.
He: Oh, yea. But we'd have to order them - Shimano or Sram? (didn't even mention Campy)
Me: just the brake levers, I don't want brake levers that are shifters, I just want plain brake levers.
He: but I have to know if you're using Shimano or Sram because they have to be matched with the derailleurs.
Me: No, I'm not looking for shifters, just plain brake-only levers. (and thinking this might jog him) Tektro and Cane Creek are common brands.
He: no, they don't make them. You have to buy the brake levers that are for the derailleurs you have because they shift the gears too.
Me: can I talk to Mike (owner)?
He: sure
Mike: Hi Cam - what's up?
Me: I'm trying to find some plain brake levers for my old road bike - you know, non-shifter brake levers, like Tektro or Cane Creek... I could give you a model number if that would help.
Mike: No, we had a set or two but they didn't sell for quite a while so when they were gone, we didn't stock them. We can order them for you, should be here within 2-3 weeks with our regular order.
Me: no thanks. It was a little odd that your guy didn't know what i was talking about. He thought I was looking for shifters. We went back and forth for a while but he had never heard of them. Maybe you can you explain better than me what I was asking him for?
Mike: sure - thanks!

So I ordered some online and got them 3 days later.

[Franklin]

In our LBS we had a new head mechanic who tried to tell my wife what the rear axle needed for our kids car was impossible to fit(it wasn't). The owner, who fully realise we bought in the range of a decent automobile worth of bikes overheard .

Owner through clenched teeth towards mechanic: You.install.that.rear.axle.right.now.

A few weeks later I had a coffee with the mechanic. Since that episode he's completely turned around and whenever we enter the shop he's talking about tech to us

Bikemechanics (and salesmen) are pretty gender biased. My wife seldom gets the right advice, they allways know better. That's amusing considering she commutes every day and was a pretty decent competitive cyclist.

[efeballi]

-(pointing at my 24mm Conti's) dude that tire's worn, it has no "teeth" left

-why not slap on a 60T chainring? you can go faster with the same effort (I'm not Tony Martin)

-shimano hubs are rubbish, everyone uses cartridge bearings now


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Guerdi]

Just after I bought a caad10 frameset : "online retailers are parasites".

I wish he had said that before I ordered the frame, I wouldn't have bought it from him.

[deltree]

Wasn't technically in a shop as we were providing help at a charity bike event, but I was helping a guy with a puncture, we were doing free labour all day. However he didn't even have any cash to pay for the tube... who does that? No tube, tools, pump or cash, ridiculous. Anyway I gave him a patch from my own tool kit and started putting it on. Noticed his rim was severely worn and needed replacing, advised him of this and he say "Oh thanks I'll buy a new one on *our biggest online rival*, cheers!"

Took a lot of energy not to rip off my patch, hand him his wheel and tell him to piss off.

[bombertodd]

.....

Bikemechanics (and salesmen) are pretty gender biased. My wife seldom gets the right advice, they allways know better. That's amusing considering she commutes every day and was a pretty decent competitive cyclist.

I notice they are prejudice to many groups. They look at my wife like she is clueless. A while back I ran into some health problems and weight went up to 250 pounds. I needed some new clothes and wanted shoes. I went to many bike shops and they all asked me if this was my first pair of bike shoes or if I just started riding. It was pretty insulting. I'm lighter today but still a clydesdales and when I go to bike shops with skinnier people (who don't ride) they get all the attention. The salesman act like they are the cyclist and I'm their non cyclist friend. I feel like a majority of bike shops are trying to get me to order online.

[asdf123]

Todd, who cares? Just ride your bike and have fun its all that matters

[gravity]

Wanted to install a new cassette on my wheel but I have no tools to do this so had to go the shop. The LBS that i frequent is 15 mins drive but I have another shop that is just walking distance from my house, so since it is just installing, i don't think any bike shop can screw this up.

Me: (stepped into the shop)
Owner: what are those?
Me: errr.. this my wheel. can you install this cassette on this wheel please?
Owner: where did you get those?
Me: well i bought this off a friend..
Owner: we only service bikes that are bought from this shop. you can probably look at the wheel selection at the back of my shop there, we have few brands like...
Me: (i left before he could even finished his sentence. I was so confused and perplexed with this treatment. how can they expect to grow their customer based with this kind of attitude? and i heard they charge 20% more than any other LBS. perhaps they have been conning all their uninformed customers into buying their bikes)

[Ghost234]

For anyone that has worked in a bike shop;


"My friend here knows a lot about bikes"


In about 80% of instances, the "friend" usually is a complete idiot and knows nothing about bikes at all.

[tcurtbike]

It's even better when the friend comes in with them...

[Tinea Pedis]

Wanted to install a new cassette on my wheel but I have no tools

...

Did you offer to pay for their time?