Originally Posted by
southpier
I view REI as I do West Marine. they pay kids & schoolteachers who know everything, and things go down hill from there.
I have a friend who was the bike department manager at their King of Prussia, PA, store. Excellent mechanic with decades of experience. Their Missoula store has reassembled my bike before tours on four occasions. Awesome job every time. One of the mechanics used to work in an excellent shop here in the east before he moved west. Called me sua sponte before one tour to tell me I needed a new chain, which was correct.