Of course, not every person that owns or works in a bike shop is a twit, but when looked at as a group, the standard of proffesionalism and customer respect is appalling.
You should see it as an opportunity, lets face it, when the competition is that poor, with a bit of effort and the right people working with you, you could clean up.
I have always thought that the biggest mistake any bike shop could make was employing nippers on very low wages, OK have them in as part timers or saturday staff, but in general the shops are staffed full time by kids who know nothing about road bikes, alot of them know nothing about BMX'x or mountain/jump bikes either.
It's got nothing to do with age or cycling dicipline, it's more about education and working in retail that's missing.
And let's face it, it's not just London, the same is true all round the UK with the possible exeption of some of the shops up north where they seem to have a higher volume of loyal customers and wages can be lower, allowing shop owners to employ more experienced staff.
In the UK in general the problem seems to be that shops can't make any money because the wholesalers and distributors are skimming off the profits before the shops even see it, the shops are forced to get in dirt cheap labour to save on costs.
Or, the shops are making alot more money than they let on by employing kids and selling expensive kit to people without any kind of sales or after sales service.
Sorry for the rant, but that's the way things have gone in London and the surrounding areas for the last 15 years or so.
Cheers, Rob.
