Originally Posted by indyfabz

Good lord. Another LBS rant.

Then again, I guess I should be happy because you reminded me why I patronize the two LBSs that I do. They save me time by doing research on parts for me, such as when I needed to replace my touring bike chainrings a few years back. They actually found a gearing combination that suited me better. Any parts I order through them come quickly. I always get fast service. Sometimes I get free service. Sometimes I get emergency service. Sometimes I get unadvertised discounts on items. When I use the shop closest me my home (I can stop in on my way home from work or at lunch or after a weekend ride) to pack my bike for tours they walk it around the corner to the FedEx/Kinko's store for pickup. Jeff Bezos has never offered to do that for me. The other LBS I use built me a custom ti frame and wheels and installs my tubeless tires for free. And if something does go wrong I have someone to answer for it in person. If I had a $1 for every thread I have read on BF about somebody having a hard time addressing a problem arising from an on-line transaction I would have a lot more dollars in my wallet. Oh....The shop close to me has some really cute shop pooches.

There are good restaurants. There are bad restaurants. I've been to some bad restaurants, but that hasn't stopped me from eating out. I have gotten some bad haircuts in my life, but I haven't started cutting my own hair.

But I do understand that there are people out there who don't mind scouring the Internets to save $2 on each inner tube. I have better things to do with my time.

BTW...I Philly, putting the recent corporate closings of Performance aside, LBS are not dying out. In fact, numerous new ones have opened during the last decade. In fact, one that has been around for a while is opening a second location in a month or so, if it's not open already.

Or is this really another trite LBS troll thread?