1. Your coolness factor doubles when you’re friends with a bike shop employee. It’s science.
2. Making friends at your LBS also leads to excellent advice and, you guessed it, discounts. And aren’t all we roadies prone to loving a good discount?
3. They’re honest with you about repairs–especially when you really don’t need them. Trust me on this one. The guys and gals at Art’s Cyclery have often adjusted my derailleurs, let me grab a free cleat screw from an old shop bin, or told me not to buy an expensive replacement part when a cheap fix will do. Love your shop, and they’ll love you back.
4. They’ll tell you about local rides, and probably won’t drop you when you show up. Pretty selfless of them, right?
5. You can touch stuff and test it out before you buy it. That’s one thing Amazon will never have on them. Plus, you can always read the employee’s face to make sure that white and orange helmet really does look as sweet on your head as you think it does.
-Excerpt from “The Best Bike Shops in SLO County”
Those are my reasons. What are yours?
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