Hi All!
Catching up...
At the time when I was starting to cycle "with intent" -- and for several decades thereafter -- my local shops were simply horror shows of consistent rudeness, condescension, dangerously incompetent work, and a complete unwillingness to deal with a cooperative, paying customer (me). As a result, I swore them off and made the 84mi/135km round-trip drive to shops in Corvallis, which were very much the opposite when it came to buying components and bikes. I still did my own work, but the Corvallis shops were willing and grateful to accept special orders and often stocked -- at better prices -- the very items so often missing here in Eugene. The owners of Eugene shops for many years met once a week to discuss where to set prices and what to carry to allow peaceful coexistence in their own niches and made cross-referrals and discussed "difficult" or "odd" customers like me. The one good local shop was run briefly by a very nice gentleman and competent mechanic named Tom Muir who did not fit in, wasn't part of the cabal, did not get the local shop referrals, and eventually cashed it in and left the area much poorer financially but with his dignity and ethics still intact.
I'm actually grateful for these bad experiences, as they prompted me to learn to do my own work and in the pre-Internet days, to establish some direct relationships with manufacturers and distributors outside my immediate area that have remained and even flourished over the course of the last 35 or so years. The principals of some manufacturers and distributors in the States, Europe, and Japan became personal friends and correspondents and I'm richer for all of it. I'm still viewed to a greater or lesser degree locally as a member of the lunatic fringe for my devotion to expedition touring and reluctance to embrace the latest "racing" trends and have finally reached a state of detente with most of the local shops...mostly because I've outlasted or outlived most of the meanest original owners and staff. I see them occasionally and feel a small sense of Schadenfreude/leedvermaak at seeing them unhealthy, out of condition, and unhappy while I am still happily whirring away on my non-trendy bikes and enjoying my times Away.
Though I still view the local situation through the lens of my own long history, in fairness, things seem to have generally improved over the last 10-20 years and I see a positive change in even the last couple years. Recent arrivals would be amazed at the way it '"used to be". An outsider brought Big Change when he followed his uni professor wife to the area and opened a string of shops,and hired two really good managers. One is a casual friend and now near-neighbor and we've had a very good buyer/seller relationship for over 20 years; he's good guy. When I do need to get something locally, I always go to him if possible. The former nastiest shop in town is not doing so well financially at present, and this has caused a change in attitude; apparently they actually need customers now and are willing to hire staff that will treat customers as human beings if that's what it takes. A high-end commuter shop has opened as well, stocked with Brooks, some Schwalbe (tires, not tubes, which they informed me "Schwobble" has never and will never produce), Ortlieb (some bags but no parts or mounts), Tubus, Surly (LHTs and workbikes), and various kinds of wool clothing at prices not quite as good as those online including postage.
There's now more local bike shops in my area than ever before (11+ at last count, plus several manufacturers/framebuilders and a major high-end wheelbuilder) and the laws of economics indicate they can't all make it. It will be interesting to see which ones persist when the pie is sliced in ever smaller pieces.
For many years, my LBS was mail-orders placed with firms found in various trade magazine ads, careful readings of the Thomas Register (business registry), and archived phone books in the public and university libraries. Now, it is about 99% online, with a good portion of that trade going to St John's Street Cycles in Bridgwater. Removing the VAT (effectively about 16%) offsets the shipping costs, and the difference in exchange rates is offset by their generally good prices. I place an order and receive it here in the upper-left corner of 'Merka in about 10 days with no quibble or fuss, so I guess you could say SJSC is my LBS of choice these days. When there has been a problem, they hasten to make it right -- and do.
Best,
Dan. (...who wishes he'd had a good LBS in his "formative years" of cycling but came out alright anyway, thanks to sheer determination and cussed persistence)
