I picked up my packet this afternoon for tomorrow’s Gator Ride, a 62 mile bike ride through and around Baytown. Pickup was at Bay Area Schwinn — a nearby bike store that I had never visited. See, I’ve always just headed to the Bike Barn. No particular reason other than that’s the bike store I bought my road bike from four years ago.
Bike Barn makes me uncomfortable. They seem like nice guys, and have always been helpful — and yet they have an air of condescension about them. They don’t do it blatantly, but I’ve always left the store with a vague, uneasy feeling, like I’ve just been talked down to and silently ridiculed.
So when I wanted someone to give my bike a once-over (after experiencing knee pain during and after last week’s ride), I decided to just try Bay Area Schwinn, since I had to go there anyway.
Bay Area Schwinn was great. Their store is smaller, and more cramped, and they don’t have the selection of Bike Barn, but the service was outstanding. The mechanic didn’t make me feel silly for asking him to look at my bike and see if it needed adjusting. He didn’t make me feel inept when he found the flat tire-causing culprit (a tiny sliver of wire stuck in the tire). He didn’t make me feel stupid as he recommended that I replace the back tire, which was worn and cracked, with a new, sturdier tire.
I was there for an hour; they gave me personal attention for an hour. He replaced the tube, since I hadn’t had any at home to do it myself. He replaced the tire. He gave everything a once-over. Then he checked my shoes to make sure the cleats were adjusted right, and put me on the bike on the trainer. He adjusted my seat to a better height, and when that didn’t help, he adjusted the elastomer (the what??) that’s inside the seat tube to make it tighter and less springy.
It cost me $38. $38 for an hour of attention, three new tubes, and one new tire. As I walked out the door, he told me to have a great evening, and that he’d be at the 4th rest stop tomorrow morning, and to stop by and tell him how the adjustments were feeling.
That is so worth it.
As I was revelling in Bay Area Schwinn’s attention and service, I came home tonight and tried to install the clip-on aerobars that I bought at Bike Barn three weeks ago. Now, my bike is a little unusual in that it has two sets of brake levers — the normal ones on the front of the curved bars, and a second set on top of the handlebars. When I bought them, I had my bike with me, and I asked the mechanic selling me the aerobars if he was sure they’d fit on my bike, seeing as how it has the unusual brake levers on top.
“Oh yeah,” he said with a cursory glance. “They’ll be fine, really easy to install.” He practically rolled his eyes, then sold me $120 worth of equipment and hustled me out the door as quickly as he could.
You can tell what’s coming next, right?
The aerobars don’t fit. Well, technically they fit — if I slant them down at about 30 degrees below horizontal. Which is pointless and useless. But to install them correctly is impossible, because guess what: the inside top set of brake levers are in the way, and are pretty inflexible. They either need to be removed or moved farther out on the handlebars — two things that I’m not willing to do the night before a 62-mile ride.
Screw Bike Barn. Hello Bay Area Schwinn.