My bike is back home, and no riding home necessary! I’m not going to B&K again unless I need tubes desperately.
While the repair job seems decent (I haven’t ridden yet), the finishing seems…shoddy. They re-lubed moving parts, but didn’t remove the excess. As a result, my bike looks like a little kid with a bad cold. Ick. I also had to spend half an hour putting my seatpost back to the proper height. I need to take a permanent marker to it. It’s black, and I’ve not had much luck with the silver Sharpies.
The bigger issue, though, is the customer service (or the lack thereof). I know that being female and walking into a “strange” bike shop can be something of a liability, but this is insane. They treated me like I was a complete idiot when I went in there. I think the (older) man I dealt with expected me to ask him to fix a flat. When he asked what was wrong with the bike, I told him that a) the front derailleur and/or shifter cables needed to be tweaked as the cage was rubbing the chain in the smaller two chainrings; and b)the rear wheel needed to be trued. He put it up on a stand to take a look at it. Half an hour later, he tells me that what was wrong with the bike was that “the chain is rubbing badly in the small ring” and that the rear wheel was out of true. Uh…didn’t I just say that? He also recommended a tuneup. (Yeah, I know it needed one, dude. It’s a year old and the last one was July 2009. ) He gave me an estimate of 2-5 days, and A and I walked out of the shop. (This was July 27th.)
Five days would have been Monday, August 4th. I gave them an ‘extra’ day because they’re closed Sundays. After calling them twice last week and not getting a definite answer, I called Friday. The guy I talked to told me that it was done, and that it was odd that I didn’t get a call. After a few days of hunting for a ride and trying to find side streets that I could ride back on, someone in the university’s bike club offered to give me a ride. It turned out that he and I live in the same building!
The man I dealt with today grilled me when I went to pick up the bike. I can understand that, as it prevents people from stealing the things. And as usual, he addressed my male companion first. Service with a smile is something this shop has apparently not heard of, though I’ve been in the shop before, when I was bike-shopping, and dealt with him before and he wasn’t so unpleasant. Maybe I caught him on an off day.
Funny: My companion apparently didn’t know which size tube his tires took.
While I don’t absolutely love Montgomery Cyclery (the shop I go to when I’m in Cincinnati), I’ve certainly had better service there. My first experience when shopping there wasn’t great (pushy salesman–tried to push the Avail, then tried to push the FCR3 when he found out I hadn’t been on a bike in 10 years), but subsequent trips have. The staff is certainly knowledgeable, and haven’t tried to sell me a pastel cruiser since that first or second trip. Of course, I’ve spent quite a bit of money there in the past four months (bike rack, pedals, shoes, Shot Bloks*), so maybe that has something to do with it. They’ve certainly gotten a lot more friendly since the first time I’ve been there, and the mechanic has done minor repairs for me for free. MRC (both locations, from what I’ve seen of Chardon and my visits to the Chagrin Falls store) is still my favorite bike shop.
Now I just need to get my mojo back. I’ve found a short route that I might try, on roads I’ve never ridden before, so we’ll see. There’s supposed to be rain in the forecast, and it was really sticky today, so I don’t know how much riding will occur. Maybe I’ll stay home and clean the drivetrain!
*I can get them at Whole Foods, but they’re cheaper at the bike shop.
Going Whole Cog 