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

[Donkey]

Puncture, then what?
Rather than making goods simpler and easily accessible or maintain they are going the other way.

[rmerka]

Ha! maybe they are thinking of starting a "Schwalbe Road-Side Service", for a modest monthly fee...

[7ducati]

When I bought my S2, I asked the bike shop to install my existing SRAM group set instead of the 105 that came on it. After a week of not getting my new bike, I called and asked about the delay. The mechanic said that "SRAM derailleurs require too much throw and can't be installed on Cervelos". Um, ok. I drove right to the shop and picked up the bike unfinished. I managed to get my SRAM installed that night and was riding the next day.

[fxrextreme]

so i moved house and there was a lbs near it i hadnt heard of....

me:can i have a 42 tooth 4-bolt outer ring please,preferably a cheap steel one (i was fixing a cheap bike for a mate)
lbs:sorry weve stopped selling chainrings coz theres too many fitments!

they closed down not long after!

[Stolichnaya]

As described in the Vienna Bike Shops thread, Hammertime2 pointed me to this one: Here goes:

The Bernard Kohl shop in Vienna, Austria (hereafter 'asshats') opened up a Alchemy ORC hub without having the proper tools and almost ruined it, causing me to order the tools from Alchemy myself to fix the problem - this after telling them three times, I only wanted the tension checked. They acted like it was my fault for complaining and then offered me a €50 gift certificate (which they give out like candy anyway). The mechanic actually stated, "You know, it did look strange when I opened up the hub, I had never seen something of that design." My reply: "And that did not put up a red flag to stop and call the customer?" His retort, "Well we do have professional tools." My counter: "Do you have the Alchemy drifts?"

I cracked The ORC open once the Alchemy (who are an awesome team to communicate with) tools arrived and indeed the Bernie Kohl team (with a super over inflated sense of self worth) had reinstalled things incorrectly. "What is this washer for? Aw, just toss it, the wheel spins somewhat freely."

Why they opened it in the first place is still a mystery - the wheel spun freely for minutes and had less than 1000 km on them. There was zero need to service.
(Note, I do all my wrenching myself except building / tensioning of wheels.)

Their staff also has a super limited knowledge of what products the are selling.
Me: "Can you order the Northwave Artic Commuter road shoes?"
Sales: "They don't make a road version. We have the mountain version right here."
Me: "They certainly do make a road version." (Showing the site on my phone.)
Sales: "Well, you should be wearing booties with road shoes anyway."
Me: Shrugged and walked away from him. He did not even realize the lost sale.

Beautiful shop, I'll never be back. Even if they offer me the appropriate amount for the mess they caused.

[tymon_tm]

i'm recently in the business of calling local bike shops asking whether they have some Michelin Pro 2 Race tires left, as all my sets are pretty much done, and i don't really want to try anything "new". one call was particularly lucky:

-do you have the Michelins Pro TWO Race tires by any chance?
-yeeees, we've got the Michelins
-pro 2 race? TWO?
-yeeees, pro race. but, see, number TWO is more like a training tire, heavier and not as good as the FOUR. yeeees, FOUR is the highest level in Michelins, do you want the FOURS?

[bearsdidit]

Good luck finding a tire that is 6+ years old.

[tymon_tm]

you'd be surprised what one can find in a bike shop's storage mess. At my friends' joint, where i have a permission to poke around, i've recently found a 1st gen. Flite ti saddle and a box full of old (10-15 y.o.) veloce RDs..

[fromtrektocolnago]

I always hear the same two things. The new bikes are faster and carbon is much more advanced now. Often they'll say this without knowing what I ride and when I bought it.

[tymon_tm]

there's a new joint in town! my pal asked me to help out getting him a new bike. i swear i'm gonna start recording those conversations...

we've found a nice Focus, all was well, but the bike had 'regular' clinchers and my buddy asked if some nice aero wheels can be fitted instead. here's the main part of the salesman's elaboration:


"aero carbon wheels are not suitable for climbing. they're too heavy, you'll be better off with those! points towards stock wheels, basic Fulcrums. you can't descend in carbon clinchers, because the rim is too heavy and it warms up rapidly to the point breaking becomes impossible and the whole wheel might break"

[Raineman]

I was having a bike fit done, the fitter set up my cleats as two right feet. Neither of us noticed for the rest of the time until I came back a week later with a knee problem.

[droid1973]

Hmmmmm
Just remember, sales staff is only as knowledgeable as the pay they receive from the owner
Well paid employees know what they are talking about

[pinoymamba]

"zipp uses proprietary spokes"

"you can't just measure the spokes, you need to look on their site"

old store manager at a LBS. glad she has left.

[wheelsONfire]

This one happened in our own shop, a campus shop at the UofA.

One of our regulars is in the store. He's blind and is the stoker on a tandem. He has his dog next to him as he's trying on helmets. When he leaves one of the "higher education" students asks the guy behind the counter how a blind guy can ride a bike. The guy behind the counter says that "he rides on the back of a tandem"..... The girl accepts that, but then starts to look really confused. After a minute she leans over the counter and quietly asks the salesman in all sincerity, "how does the dog steer the bike?"

Haha...... superb!
Old thread but this is super funny

[sawyer]

depending on the tire and size 40psi might not be too low (but probably is if they're narrow road tires). there really isn't any reason to run any tire above 100psi though unless theyre 19mm clinchers or you weigh 250lbs or something ridiculous. tires with "low" psi (to a certain point) actually roll faster on the road than the same tires at "high" psi .... and skinny tires roll slower than wider ones, even up to widths like 40+mm ... now wrap your head around that

Yeah, we all know the data. No need for the rehearsal

Generally the point made by the guy in the Wandsworth store, in the context in which he will have very likely made it, is correct.

Huge numbers of riders bounce around on bikes with under-inflated tyres

A few newbie / misguided roadies crash along on tyres significantly over-inflated

- that madcow quote re tandem and dog is genius