[balabaster]

About the only work I don't do myself on my bikes is handlebar tape because I don't have the patience for that shit. But I'd rather have a bike repair shop at hand that I trust and will offer me the best advice, one that I know I can drop my bike off when I'm in a pinch, one that will tell me what I should order when I need it. I will order it from them every time. I don't want a shop with all the fanciest bikes and offer such cogent advice as:

"This one's got grippier grips than that one and it has a basket and it's pink."

"Can you tell me about this groupset? How does it handle mud? does it age well or is it going to be rusty as fuck 6 minutes after I walk out of here?"

"Did I mention it's pink?"

I wanna know that the XTR groupset functions in the opposite direction of the XT and that even though it's more intuitive for someone that doesn't ride that often, if you've ridden day in, day out for the past 10 years and you suddenly switch to gear shifters that go the opposite way, that fucks with your head - and your ride until you've reprogrammed yourself.

I wanna know that the ultra expensive plastic shielded brake cables aren't going to be any better 3 months down the road because all the shielding wears off and I paid 3 times over what I could've paid for cheaper ones at no real long term benefit. Meaningful advice. Not just technically accurate.

I want the mechanics who know their shit inside and out. I want the sales guys to be riders, not just hardcore elite riders but every day commuters who are passionate about their bikes. I don't want to talk to someone who works here because "it was the only job I could find that fit my schedule."

These guys are the reason I got into biking in the first place. Because their passion inspired my passion.

[Dangeranger]

Yeah, usually the people with the best advice are the tougher older bikers who just want to ride. They've seen the hype cycle come and go a dozen times, and they just don't have time for that kind of BS anymore.

[balabaster]

Absolutely agree. And it's the gruff and grumpy older bikers that I always go in search of when I walk into a bike shop. This is the kind of relationship I want with the service department in my bike shop:

"Hey you, you look like you've been in here since 1963, what can you tell me about this component?"

"It's shit, get this one instead. It does exactly the same thing, looks the same, feels the same, fits your bike the same. It costs about 20% more but'll last 10 times longer. The older design sheds muck better meaning less wear and the compound it's made from has the same tensile strength as the newer one but it doesn't rust because it was made before they cheaped out and started making shit quality product. I don't even know why the fuck they released this one. The old one was better. We're gonna stop carrying their newer stuff until they get their shit together."

They don't tend to mince words. They tell you exactly how it is, rather than exactly what they think you want to hear to get you to part with your money. In my opinion, you cannot pay enough to have people like this on your team.