PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post

dtanesq · #6 06-06-2002, 09:04 PM

Okay, I'll give myself a little credit. I am a somewhat feared sprinter in my normal peleton. You don't know my normal group of geriatrics, though War Emblem would be left in my wake. Uh huh. Enough of that.

Another thing about this subject. A bit of a rant, perhaps. I am in favor of using mail-order or internet-order (Fastlane, for example) for the purchase of BMW and Mercedes parts for my cars. There is a direct correlation between my purchases from those sources and my feelings about the local authorized Mercedes dealer here in my area (the BMW people are better).

Screw them, basically.

I am NOT in favor of mail-order/internet bicycle stuff shopping.

Whatever you decide about a rack for your bicycles, I would urge you STRONGLY to purchase the equipment from a local bike shop of your choice, with real human beings (regardless of their body art, piercings or personal hygiene issues) rather than using one of the mail-order outlets. Yeah, I know, you could call up Colorado Cyclist and perhaps get a Yakima rack system for less than you'd pay at a local bike shop. It's tough to get a Tommasini frame from anywhere other than mail order, as I well know (got mine direct from the guy who then was the sole agent in the US for Tommasini). One day, however, much as Home Depot has obliterated the local hardware store, I forsee that I'll be out before a Saturday morning ride looking for somewhere to get a patch kit or a tube or a chain and I'll be SOL because all of the little guys are history, unable to compete with the big mail-order places.

Yeah, gearheads can be rude to those whom they perceive are poseurs. Personally, I don't care that the guys behind the counters in the little local bike shops can be snotty unless they know you. I wonder if they are because they know that a fair amount of the time guys are wandering in to see for themselves what they're going to go home and buy out of a catalog. Also, though it might seem like you're paying out the nose for equipment, it's a choice of lifestyle and a "socio-cultural" thing of mine that small businesses are, in the end, more valuable to me in my neighborhood than mega-chains or mail-order houses. The reason my next bike purchase is a custom-made road frame from local frame-building icon Steve Rex is in part because of what I know I'm going to get from Steve in the way of support that I couldn't get from a catalog, a Home Depot-sized "superstore" or from a computer screen.

Not only did the guys at the bike shop 300 yards from my house cut the steering tube and mount the headset on my Tommasini for me, they gave me great advice on finding authentic Mexican food in a certain neighborhood, took me into the shop to watch them tune my bike (and teach me some tricks about doing it) AND handed over a pair of Look pedals that no one needed at the moment. Last Christmas, the owner gave me a killer deal on the bike that my 7-year old daughter had been drooling over every time she passed the shop window. Which, by the way, wouldn't have been sold to me if it didn't fit her. The owner knew she coveted the bike and made it easy for me to give it to her.

That's worth more to me than saving a hundred bucks on my next Campagnolo purchase.

Out.