|   Pity for the LBS dude that dealt with this guy | JFR
Mar 27, 2002 11:06 AM | | I was at the LBS the other day and some guy was in there ranting away (seriously upset... raised voice and everything) on how he bought a mountain bike there three days ago to ride around town on... and it's got a flat tire already! I overheard him complaining (loudly) to the helpless bike shop guy that the whole reason he bought a "mountain bike" was so he would never have to deal with flat tires again... that if people were riding off road... over rocks and such with them, he figured that there was no way he'd get a flat riding around town.
By the way, his flat was caused by a thorn. |
| LBS could install some of those solid rubber tires... | CraigH
Mar 27, 2002 11:15 AM | | The guy would never have to worry about flats again. |
| Used to get tons of crap like that | Jive Tolkien
Mar 27, 2002 11:27 AM | | In a former life, I worked as Performance store/sales manager, and had to handle all kinds of crap like that. For some reason, bike shops attract more than their fair share of "characters".
Like the guy who wanted the address of Michelin so he could get some custom road tires made. Two of them.
Or the guy who would come in every couple of weeks to get his tires aired up (we'd do it just to get him out of the shop). On each visit, his saddle would have yet another layer of upholstery foam and black electrical tape on it. Only thing was, he never used to remove the layers underneath, so the thing looked like a freaking sofa perched on top of his seatpost.The odour emanating from that saddle would funk up the workshop for days. Nice.
Or the guy who asked us to discount a bike he wanted by 25%, because the paint was scratched. We knocked 10% off the price, he seemed happy. A week later, he came back with the bike (now dirty and obviously ridden off-road), demanding another 10% off because he'd "found a scratch that we must have missed when I bought it".
And let's not forget the guy who claimed he'd received $500 in Performance Gift Certificates for Christmas, but had lost them. He expected us to take him at his word and honour them, even though he had zero proof, not even a receipt.
Ah, memories. |
| Something about Performance really attracts strange folk... | fixeyfreeride
Mar 27, 2002 11:51 AM | | I worked for a spell at a performance and man what a strange place.
- Meathead military who crush cheap bikes by the dozen and keep buying them (not non-meathead military - those guys are nice, so nothing against the military)
- Rednecks who smoke in the store and holler about thier TRUCK by god is cheaper than that there BIKE-cicle
- Freaky smelly tire fetish people who nervously feel stand by the tires stroking the treads and run away when you ask them if they need help.
- Suburbanite do-it-yourselfers who obsess over the latest in Forte technology (soooo nice)
- My favorite all time customer was the guy who had this rusty old Murray that he found in the trash that promptly built it up with mostly XT/XTR because of all the money he saved by digging the bike out of the trash for free - Yes I tried very hard to convince him otherwise - he would hear nothing of it.
Kind of miss the place now and then, though not really. |
| One of my favorites is........................... | RF
Mar 27, 2002 1:37 PM | | I went into a Pacific bicycle about 3 years ago. The owner was standing outside smoking a cig. I posed as a "newbie" and asked beginner questions. At the time I was curently riding a Turner XCE. I'm nothning outstanding just a hammerhead sport racer. Anyways I inquired about the specialized fsr-xc that featured a whopping 3 inches of front and rear travel. I questioned the dood with the lung cancer enhancer in his hand and about the bike and if it was a cross country type fs bike. He looked at me with a serious look and said "well actually all dual suspension bikes are downhill bikes" I said oh really? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I can see it now. Steve Pete terrin it up pushin 40mph with that 71.5 degree head angle.
One more for the road.
My next door neighbor worked at a performance. He and I would constantly hit one of our favorite "bonus" singletracks. Thats illegal singletracks for you newbies. Anyways he was working one day when a guy came asking about places to ride in the area. My friend told him about the Hiking/biking/equestrian multi use park, and noted to him at the last minute that the bonus trails were by far the best ones, much better than the legal ones. Little did he know the guy was an equestrian himself. Basically the guy screamed at the top of his lungs...........you effin mtbikers!!!!!!!!you efff up the trail and you cause trails to get shut down when you do that. the whole store basically stopped and staired.
Rule of thumb..........if you work in a bike shop keep your mouth shut about the fun stuff....you never know whos listening. In fact anyone else for that matter. |
| Something about Performance really attracts strange folk... | tubby
Mar 28, 2002 8:02 AM | | I too worked at performance for a short while and i was also one of those "military meat-heads"! you must have been in socal? i was at the irvine store right next to MCAS Tustin. Anyway, i was a part time wrench and i loved the part of my job where i got to test ride everything after i fixed or built it. sometimes i'd go on "extended test rides", you know, i had to make sure that the suspension settings were correct and all. about 4 blocks away on the bike path was a small dirt jump section, sometimes, i'd take the bikes over there if the boss was at lunch or something.
there were some really strange folks in there, mostly yuppies that thought the suspension seatpost was the greatest thing since SUV's.
i absolutely hated it when someone would bring in some huffy POS and expect me to make it work like a $1500 bike, but i did get some satisfaction by charging them a tune-up fee that was close to the value of the bike. |
| Which LBS? | ciclistagonzo
Mar 27, 2002 11:32 AM | | Just curious.
Aaron g. |
| Delta Cyclery in Stockton (nm) | JFR
Mar 27, 2002 1:14 PM | | nm |
| You crack me up... | ciclistagonzo
Mar 27, 2002 2:50 PM | | How the heck does a 90 minute drive constatitute Local Bike shop?
=^D
Man the discounts must be really good to make that trip worthwhile.
See ya at Prairie City?
Aaron |
| Well they're somebody's LBS | JFR
Mar 27, 2002 5:03 PM | | I have in fact been known to make the drive for some of the pro deals I occasionally get (and great service). This time I had stopped by on my way home from the otter.
Yes, I'll see ya at Prairie City in two weeks (TWO WEEKS! dang that's close)
Johnny |
| Good op to sell some Mr. Tuffys Nm | Jrm
Mar 27, 2002 11:51 AM | | |
| and slime! Never ride New Mexico without it! (nm) | krank
Mar 27, 2002 12:36 PM | | |
| Hah! Thought it was gonna be about me & my Jekyll. | fp
Mar 27, 2002 1:45 PM | | Oh, yeah. Eminem. |
| I did something almost as bad... | WarrGuru
Mar 27, 2002 2:59 PM | | About 13 years ago, I bought my first mounain bike. I knew very little about bikes at that time. My choice was a Giant Iguana.
It was a great looking bike that rode well. I ordered it from the bike shop and they told me that it would be ready the following day (Friday).
When I went to pick up the bike, the LBS owner told me that they hadn't checked the bike out, and for safety purposes, could I give them a little more time to make sure everything is set up "just right". I thought "Wow...what a great shop...caring for me like that". I agreed and came back the next day to pick it up.
When I came back to the LBS....it was sitting on the showroom floor, looking great. I paid the owner and immediately went on my first ride with a friend.
We went inot a local park. On the first major downhill, the front brakes failed...nothing. I went flying down a paved hill, poison oak on either side. I tried to stop with the back brake, but all it did was skid.
So there I was, skidding down a hill, dragging my feet, wondering if I was gonna die. I finally wiped out near the bottom of the hill. Luckily, I only got a few minor cuts and bruises.
I took the bike back to the LBS and told the owner that I wanted my money back.....After all of the crap that the owner laid on me about needing extra time to ensure my safety, I wanted to beat him to death with the bike.
He argued with me, but I told him he could either give me my money back or I would go to the credit card company and have them stop payment. I ended up going to a different shop and buying a Trek 850. |
| I did something almost as bad... | joemtb
Mar 27, 2002 3:44 PM | | Glad to hear that you weren't that badly hurt...but, let me tell you
that was the funniest thing I've heard all day. |
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