Originally Posted by livedarklions

I decided long ago that I can't do business on the basis of guilt because there's no way to "support" someone without "not supporting" someone else. There's two good bike stores in my city, and they're both good at different things, and both are non-competitive on prices with online part and accessory purchases. I go to each of them for those things they are good at or for my convenience, and I don't buy parts or accessories from either unless the need is urgent and they have it in stock. Even if I felt obligated to go local at a financial cost to myself, I would only be "supporting" one of the two stores, so would I be guilty of "not supporting" the other one?

Question really isn't whether you should take your business to a LBS that isn't reasonably meeting your needs, it's pretty obvious you have no obligation to do so. I always buy my tires online, for example. Buying from a store just means paying a premium to do so at a randomly selected store, and I'm under no obligation to do so, and can't support both stores with that purchase.

That said, I hate servicing my bikes, and that's primarily what I use the LBS for. I have, in the past, also bought a bike from both of them, but that's because they had what I wanted at a reasonable price.