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coskigirl

Skiing the powder
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
4,590
Location
Evergreen, CO
A little bit, yup. Not gonna lie.

Because I feel like the response from the bike shop was positive and it actually solidified my loyalty to a shop that is committed to not being a stereotypical bike shop who blows off a customer who doesn’t look like a professional bike shop.
 

Carl Kuck

Ambassador of Stoke
Skier
Joined
Jan 21, 2016
Posts
739
Location
Del Mar
For a long time my LBS was actually a Performance Bicycle Shop - there were a couple of employees there that were into vintage bikes (i.e. stuff w/o fancy electric shifting, 9-speeds in the back or less, etc.) and were very helpful finding parts I needed. Sadly, PBS is no more...

Before that (and during and after as well), there's another shop I've been going to for years. There's a mechanic there that did neutral support for Mavic in Le Tour(s), he has built a number of wheel sets for me and does a fantastic job. One really cool thing they did for me is best told as a mini story.

Those that know me from cycling (as opposed to skiing) know that I like to build my own bikes. From my '87 ex-Wheaties Team Paramount, to my '90 Basso Ascot (Columbus MS tubing!) and the like, I love to track down framesets on eBay and elsewhere then build them up. I did a number of those during my LLS Team In Training days and would hook up fellow riders with killer deals. As part of that, I came across a Specialized S-Works Festina team frame - the most beautiful bike I ever owned. During a time trial for the TnT one season, I'm on the course and decided that down-shifting for a small hill was lame so I got out of the saddle and started hammering up the climb. Several pedal strokes into it there's a loud SNAP in back, my rear wheel locked up, and I skidded to a stop. The drive-side rear dropout had fractured. On a steel frame that might have been fixable, but not on the scandium alloy frame of the S-Works. Bummer. I took it to the shop, the owner (Brian) looked at it and told me if I could leave the frame with him he would see what he could do. About a week and a half later, I get a call - "Hey Carl, your bike is here." The shop owner knew that I'd gotten the frameset on eBay because I told him I did. I get to the shop, and there's another Festina frame (not mine) leaning against the wall. Brian said "Look familiar?" and pointed to the rear dropout, that one had also fractured. Apparently it was an engineering defect and this happened to a number of frames. He goes in the back and comes out with a brand new S-Works in the Mario Cipollini zebra paint job, including fork, headset, and a carbon seatpost. It didn't have the sponsor decals from the Acqua & Sapone team, but hey - I'm not complaining. I still have the bike.

s-works1.JPG
 
Thread Starter
TS
Erik Timmerman

Erik Timmerman

So much better than a pro
Instructor
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
6,302
BC160163-6A28-440A-92E6-1078D9A3180A.jpeg
It is again, not a bike shop, but I must give kudos to Silca. I have their super pista floor pump and last year it developed a leak. Using water I traced the leak to the gauge. I called them and they readily agreed to send a replacement. They had just come out with a new low pressure gauge and I was torn about getting that vs the stock 160 psi unit. The guy said no need to decide and sent both. This makes it much easier to blow $60 on a sweet bottle cage or $100+ on a set of hex wrenches.
 
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KevinF

Gathermeister-New England
Team Gathermeister
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
3,345
Location
New England
The first bike tour I did was Cycle Across Maryland, back in '95 or something like that. I was pretty psyched; ride, eat and sleep for a week.

I'm riding around the neighborhood two days before the ride starts and my rear wheel did something that made me do an immediate "uh-oh". I forget if I broke a bunch of spokes or what, but I stopped, looked and discovered a big crack in the rear rim. . :eek:

There were four or five bike shops around me, so I started calling to find somebody who could either make one or had one in stock. Mike at Spokes, Etc. said he'd stay late and build one up for me, "swing by in the morning". Brought over my busted wheel, he swapped the cassette and tire over, etc. I put probably 20k miles on that wheel; it never once saw a spoke wrench.
 

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