Work at a Bike Shop?

I've met some great human beings who work at bike shops. I'm quite tolerant of a wide range of personal interaction styles, and I'm able to connect with people who aren't able to connect with most people. And bike shops give me the willies. I'll provide some specific examples of bike shop interactions I've had that were Less Than Helpful.

My husband and I went to buy something to transport our first child on bike rides. We knew about trailers. We knew about bike seats. We had consulted friends who had used both. We knew we were going to get my husband a bike trailer and me a bike seat. I knew I would never use a bike trailer. I also knew my husband would be fully capable of adapting to anything I got for me. I'd done a ton of research online, and identified several possible front seats and wanted to see them in person. When I tried to do so, I could find no bike shops that had them to look at, only rear seats. When I asked about rear seats, I was told flat-out wrong information about the age range the rear seats were aimed at (cause I could read what the box in front of me said) and that I wouldn't be able to get on and off the bike once a rear seat was installed. It should be noted here, as it was not by the bike shop employee I was speaking to, that I had already told him I rode a bike with a step-through, women's configuration. I repeated it. He couldn't seem to grasp the idea that you didn't swing a leg over on some bikes.

I was unhappy with the height of the handlebars on my Bianchi, so I took it to a bike shop and asked them to please make the handlebars higher. They objected, saying I would get used to it. Since I'd already had the bike a couple months, had not gotten used to it, and was more unhappy now than I had been at the beginning, I said, no I want it higher. They said I'd have to get a new riser. I said, no problem. Money not an issue. They did sell me a new riser, set it slightly higher. I asked if it could go higher still. They said I wouldn't want it to, then said it wouldn't be safe. I later took the same bike to a different bike shop and said I wanted to replace the riser and handlebars if necessary again, to get them higher. Bike shop employee took a look, lifted the handlebars up another good inch or two, and said, this is as high as this one goes safely. Which was high enough. So I'd been riding this bike unhappily for years because another bike shop thought they knew what I wanted better than I did. And in the meantime, I spent over several hundred dollars buying a Townie because its handlebars were plenty high.

I called a bike shop (same as the helpful shop in story just above) to order that Townie. I knew exactly what I wanted in terms of what it did (8 spd Nexus, foot on the ground, women's, upright riding position etc.) and I listed the criteria on the phone, and said I wanted to order a Townie 8. The person on the phone did not want to sell me one (the shop is a dealer) and tried to get me to buy a Trek instead. I said, I'd be willing to do that if it satisfies my already stated criteria (8 spd internal hub, foot on the ground, women's, etc.). They checked. It was not available with the 8 spd. To be fair, they did ultimately sell me the Townie, altho they complained every step of the way and insisted I pay full price in advance. Which I was perfectly happy to do.

Moving on to a recent instance where someone else went to a bike shop, another middle-aged woman, buying a bike for someone else, trying out a Townie for herself. The bike shop employee said to her (so this is hearsay), well, it's all right if you like it, but I wouldn't ride it. I'm a racer.

Have you ever had this kind of interaction with a customer? If you're not sure, but you dread talking to non-riders or new riders who come in and can't seem to explain to you what they want, I'll just say this once, clearly: you are doing yourself and your coworkers and your bike shop and cycling in general a disservice. On the one hand, a lot of these people are going to spend, at most, $1000, and probably a lot less, and if you sell them the right bike, you probably won't see them again, at least, not until they decide they need some accessories or something, or come back with a friend to get her a bike, too. Nothing like selling some Mavic wheels that cost a bundle and will conveniently explode thus guaranteeing that person comes back to spend still more money.

But how many people out there are going to be buying carbon fiber wheels? And how many people out there might be convinced to buy a 3 speed upright with a basket to keep in their garage and bring out on sunny summer days? How many parents would love to ride around the neighborhood with their kids, because they want their kids riding, but they don't want them riding alone? A lot of people are buying expensive bikes online that qualify as "friendly" bikes. You might ask yourself if you could sell them an expensively wonderful friendly bike instead.

It won't happen as long as you're trying to convince them to wear spandex bike shorts without undies, and acting like 10 mph is so slow it doesn't count.

And one postscript: if you've got a customer trying out a women's bike with an internal hub, do not bring her out a larger frame version of the same bike with a derailleur without asking ahead of time. In my case, I was buying a bike for someone several inches shorter than me, and the internal hub was a dealbreaker necessity. Would it kill you to ask a couple questions? You work at a bike shop, so it might.

Copyright 2009, Rebecca Allen
Created: July 11, 2009
Updated: November 23, 2009