Did I screw over my LBS?

Here's the situation:

Been road riding a shitload lately, and was having some "fit" problems...numb feet, numb hands (see previous posts), so I went to my LBS (for roadies) to get a proper fit. In the process, one of the shop guys has spent about 2 hours thus far with me, and has lent me a pair of used carbon soled Nike Poggios and Look pedals (to try to see if there was no foot numbness with a stiff-soled shoe and a wider pedal than my MTB shoes and my ATACs - which was absolutely right!), and have swapped out several saddles after each "try". I'm on my 3rd saddle now. I have done 2 fittings thus far, and have not paid a cent yet - they are very laid back and have let me ride with each setup for a couple days, then come back.

I even tried on some carbon-soled shoes there because I love the feel, but the prices are all full list prices - Shimano SH-R151s are $170, Nike Poggios are like $220, etc. Found shoes that fit me well (the 151s in a 43).

Anyway, here's my dilemna...they spent a lot of time on me and have been way cool, but I just can't afford to pay full price for shoes, a saddle, and pedals at this time. So, I ended up buying a pair of road shoes on Egay for a hundred bucks, saving about $70. I still plan to buy my pedals (Shimano 540s) and my saddle there (so that's about $120-150 combined), and will probably buy the guy a six pack for all his help.

But I feel guilty for buying the cheaper priced shoes online. So did I screw them over by doing that, or is it cool since I will still be buying the saddle and pedals there at full price? Don't know why this is bothering me... :confused:

I don't think you screwed them over, but, I think you could've given them an opportunity to negotiate a "package price". You still would've got the shoes cheaper at ebay but if they met you in the middle then would you have bought at the LBS?

I had the same kind of situation recently and personally felt no guilt. I bought my shoes from the LBS, Specialized Carbon Comp $160ish and the pedals from ebay (Look Keo's $135 NIB from $220 at LBS).

Tough call, but if you're still spending money in the shop it could be worse. Did you buy your bike from them or are you truly mooching free fitting time? To me it comes down to the long haul balance...if you've dropped big bucks in the shop then don;t feel bad using thier service, if you've only been a saddle and shoe customer than perhaps rethink it.

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Originally Posted by truth

Tough call, but if you're still spending money in the shop it could be worse. Did you buy your bike from them or are you truly mooching free fitting time? To me it comes down to the long haul balance...if you've dropped big bucks in the shop then don;t feel bad using thier service, if you've only been a saddle and shoe customer than perhaps rethink it.

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Hmm, good question. Well, my wife bought her bike there and we spent $1300 on that, plus a helmet. I did not buy mine there - bought it off ebay for $300 (for a $950 ride...not bad) - not knowing if I'd like road riding or not. Now that I'm addicted, I want to be comfortable on the bike, so I went in for the fitting. The fitting costs $50, so it's not like it is free, but they have spent a crapload of time on me - at least more than I "expected".

:) I feel a bit better already!

you obviously appreciate the time they have spent. i am willing to bet it will pay off for the shop in the future. having said that you should at least give them a chance to negotiate price.

sometimes a higher price at shop isnt so bad. i buy almost everything at local bike shop. because of it they treat me like gold. when i come in for last minute repair or whatever, they drop everything to accomodate me. kinda nice. often times simple repairs cost me nothing, because they know i will be in to buy more later.

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Originally Posted by vanilla gorilla

sometimes a higher price at shop isnt so bad. i buy almost everything at local bike shop. because of it they treat me like gold. when i come in for last minute repair or whatever, they drop everything to accomodate me. kinda nice. often times simple repairs cost me nothing, because they know i will be in to buy more later.

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I also buy almost everything from my LBS, mostly because of the same reasons you said. They treat me well, labor usually (always, except for the occasional case of beer)costs nothing, and well....they give me most everything at cost

i try and always work with my LBS when I can. having said that, if they can't or don't deal with certain brands that i might be interested, then i go to the net or other shops. in the end, i still come back to my LBS for tweaks or other things and they hook me up. a case of or six pack of Fat Tire Amber Ale never hurts.

Nope. I dont feel there is any way for a decent consumer to screw over a bike shop. It is easy, however, for them to screw you. I think I was screwed by my LBS this summer when I took my new dh bike in for a tune up (bought it used, assembled it myself when it was delivered, and then took it in for a tune). They nicked me for over 70 bucks and it was apparent that a complete tune up was not performed due to the poor shifting and loose brake calipers. I spent over 1200 bucks getting into the sport last summer at that bike shop, but they treated me like shit this summer. F center cycle in Renton, washington. They suck. If your shop treats you well, youll know what you should do.

Hey man,
I wouldn't sweat it. They aren't making the big bucks working at a bike shop and they know how it is to get a good deal on gear... hell, thats a big reason why they're there in the first place. Buy the guys a 6-er, make some friends, have some laughs and they won't even care.

GF's roommate from college is a wrench monkey.

Beer and a pizza and all bike problems are fixed. :fm: :yourock:

If you bought nothing there, then yes, you should feel bad, but that's not the case. And yeah, in the future, I'd ask if they could work out a package price. Some small shops get pissy if you say - "Hey, I can get this online for $xxx, can you work with me a little bit here?" (like you shouldn't be comparison shopping or something...) Maybe they can't or won't. But then you'd feel like you gave them a shot at being reasonably competitive. I personally wouldn't even expect them to price match, but if they'll work with me, I'll spend a little more to buy from them, and I do consider time and effort for fitting, etc.