Crashbox

Bicycle shop owners and employees (for the most part) have got to be the worst snobs of any industry I have had regular dealings with. They are so much worse than the auto parts world, and that's pretty bad. I can't even count the number of times at this point that I have been looking for a part or asking advice at some shop somewhere and been told that nothing I am talking about makes sense, I'm stupid for not spending hundreds of dollars on factory parts, and my idea definitely WON'T work. Normally after going home and tweaking with things a little those same things work just fine. The bike I ride constantly (and have been for over a year) supposedly was going to fall apart and kill me by the 2nd or 3rd time out, and the reasons they cited for this was that it was 'unconventional' and built with used parts. I guess used parts are automatically weak, dangerous and dysfunctional. Hmmm. Does you ego require you to feel smarter, cooler and safer than me, or are you just really dying to sell me stuff? The most recent experience I had of the sort I am ranting about was when I called a bike shop about a half-link for a chain, a somewhat rare part admittedly, but not unheard-of. I knew I could order it, but I didn't want to pay shipping and then wait a week for a $3 part, so I was trying all the local shops. Yesterday was the second shop in a row where the owner adamantly insisted that no such thing existed---all the while I was looking at it online from a reputable source I have purchased from before---and when I gently tried to tell him that I was LOOKING RIGHT AT IT, he started huffing and puffing that no one would ever even want such a thing anyway and that is why they have never made them and never will, blah, blah, blah...

Now remember that I love bikes and work on them myself, so in all fairness I have to call myself a cyclist; and I also have my preferences (and prejudices) when it comes to assembly and parts and styles---and it is because of this a feel free to complain; however, I would rather see someone riding a stupid-looking bike than a cool one if that is what they like, and if some hip cat can put together his own bike for cheap I say MORE POWER TO HIM! What is wrong with the folks that think unless they are riding in spandex and a pro (who is actually your local high-school stoner) at a 'real' shop adjusted their shifter by turning the barrel adjuster with two fingers, they aren't doing something right? And where are the shop owners who really care about biking and not about selling expensive new bikes to timid middle-aged folks who just want to ride to church on Sunday? I just wish those who do know more than me and the droves of other amateur cyclists out there could just be a little kinder and more helpful, that's all.

Okay. I'm done.