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"Triathlon Store Owners" - please oh god please...stop it
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I live near a shop who claims to be the "Triathlon Specialist"...sure, and I am the "Ferrari Specialist" (cause I like to look at them). This jag moron will not only sell you the wrong size bike (you know what size you are? THIS one, oddly the one I have in stock!!)...but he will then equip you with the most idiotic bits that can be had.

So, say you were a first timer with a goal of finishing a Triathlon - Great! You know what you need? An aero drink system, a behind the seat bottle system with $1.99 CyclePro cages and an aero helmet. Put all of this on your ill-fit bike and you sure as a quarter is round will look like a Tri geek - to hell with the fact that the bike is the wrong size, you dont know how to shift, the aero bars freak you out and you have to stop every time you want a drink cause you just cant see your bottles. We then instruct the rider to pump their tires to 140 - yes, 1 freaking 40 psi as that also is faster!!! We give the rider some clipless pedals and toe out the cleats, as we are fitting this bike to a penguin - (possibly the owner of the LBS is on retainer with the local Ortho practice like a crooked lawyer?)...and then...just to be sure that the "fuck you for your money" scenario is solid...we sell as WOMAN a MENS wetsuit that is no less than two sizes too big...

Sorry for the rant - but after what I have seen this past weekend, and time and time again from this idiot LBS - I am going to write more coherant and to the point emails with structure to Felt as well as a few other brands this guy sells. Last year he sold a bike to a buddy of mine, he is easily 4 inches taller than me...sold a bike 2cm smaller than mine. Looks like a guy who stole a kids bike...only this bike was a Felt B2 with 404's. That is just criminal.

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?
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Re: "Triathlon Store Owners" - please oh god please...stop it [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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I hope they provide "professional fitting" and "professional bike packing" as value added services. I hope that soon "professional bike washing" will be a reality. Don't forget to have the chain serviced by a qualified professional after!
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Re: "Triathlon Store Owners" - please oh god please...stop it [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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Opportunity and ignorance, driving the American economy. I was waaaay ignorant when I bought my first road bike. Granted the frame size was only 2cm high, it was one of those situations where I thought I had done enough research - materials and components and gear .... it all made good sense. With no real sense or metric for bike sizing, I walked in an idiot and walked out with the "best available" bike. Thankfully, I'm infinitely smarter these days (at least regarding bike matters). The LBS is 2 minutes from my house, but instead I drove 3 hours to the next closest dealer for my new ride. The package they put together for me in a week would've taken my LBS two months and a minimum of 3 major procurement/assembly issues. At least they don't make any claims about being Tri specialists.

"The right to party is a battle we have fought, but we'll surrender and go Amish... NOT!" -Wayne Campbell
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Re: "Triathlon Store Owners" - please oh god please...stop it [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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I guess the buyer needs to be informed, but it can be hard for the first timer if the shop is prepared to flog them anyhting just to make maximum bucks. I am no longer surprised by the quality of LBS in NA.

I went to four bike shops in the DC area before I could find one that could service a bike, you name it they got it wrong, Handlebars that were not attached properly, pedal that came flying off on a test ride, rear wheel not adjusted propeorly rubbing on the frame, could not tune the gears, brake cable not attached, the list goes on and on.

The best bike guys were those at the races and as the quality of servicing at the LBS was so poor I always needed to use them the day before the race. The LBS that also sells themselves as a tri store is hilarious, their wet suit fitting expert, yes that is a good fit, sorry mate I say but I have bat wings, nah that is a good fit he says.

Bike fitted by FIST guy, we narrow down to Felt B2 and Cervello P2, bike shop yeah P2 is the one. But I want to try the B2, nah P2C is the one, I wait. Felt comes into stock, funnily enough it sells for more, not fit test done at at all on the Felt, Yes Felt is now the magical bike. Just like Zipp are the only wheels to buy, why LBS well they are fast, why are they fast, well I rode them and they were fast.

Did you try a Reynolds, Mavic, Hed or any other wheel, nah man they are crap, Zipp are the best.

That is 4 out of 5 local bike shops in the DC area, Please let it be better else where. Fortunately number 5 was good
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Re: "Triathlon Store Owners" - please oh god please...stop it [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
I live near a shop who claims to be the "Triathlon Specialist"...sure, and I am the "Ferrari Specialist" (cause I like to look at them). This jag moron will not only sell you the wrong size bike (you know what size you are? THIS one, oddly the one I have in stock!!)...but he will then equip you with the most idiotic bits that can be had.

So, say you were a first timer with a goal of finishing a Triathlon - Great! You know what you need? An aero drink system, a behind the seat bottle system with $1.99 CyclePro cages and an aero helmet. Put all of this on your ill-fit bike and you sure as a quarter is round will look like a Tri geek - to hell with the fact that the bike is the wrong size, you dont know how to shift, the aero bars freak you out and you have to stop every time you want a drink cause you just cant see your bottles. We then instruct the rider to pump their tires to 140 - yes, 1 freaking 40 psi as that also is faster!!! We give the rider some clipless pedals and toe out the cleats, as we are fitting this bike to a penguin - (possibly the owner of the LBS is on retainer with the local Ortho practice like a crooked lawyer?)...and then...just to be sure that the "fuck you for your money" scenario is solid...we sell as WOMAN a MENS wetsuit that is no less than two sizes too big...

Sorry for the rant - but after what I have seen this past weekend, and time and time again from this idiot LBS - I am going to write more coherant and to the point emails with structure to Felt as well as a few other brands this guy sells. Last year he sold a bike to a buddy of mine, he is easily 4 inches taller than me...sold a bike 2cm smaller than mine. Looks like a guy who stole a kids bike...only this bike was a Felt B2 with 404's. That is just criminal.

The bike shop 'pusher' mentality can be found in many different locales...
When I first began cycling in 99', I had a similar experience... I'm 5'9'' and the LBS put me on an XL mtn bike.

Then my first tri bike was a 56cm with 170mm crankarms!! Talk about wonky!!

Anyway, I see at too often at the LBS (which is different from the two situations that I described above).. the shop owner sells people who are 5'10'' a 56 cm tri specific. Sells the same guy a 58 cm road bike.

C'mon, man! It's discouraging to see how unethical and lazy the salesmen can be when selling someone a 3k bike that once ridden, cannot be returned.

Rock on Record10Carbon. Good topic.
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Re: "Triathlon Store Owners" - please oh god please...stop it [barrybevan] [ In reply to ]
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don't want to ask you the name of the bad shops, but what was the shop you did like in DC area?
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Re: "Triathlon Store Owners" - please oh god please...stop it [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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Record...I love ya buddy but perception is reality. If a 1st timer triathlete goes into a shop looking to be a triathlete, then the damage is already done. It's not the shop's fault, it's the entire industry's fault. Shop is just filling the void.

Actually, I'm not so sure it's even the industry's fault....it's usually fellow competitors/trigeeks who are feeding the bears.
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Re: "Triathlon Store Owners" - please oh god please...stop it [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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Record 10 I always respect your views but i do have to say i agree with it partly being the industry's fault. There is not enough educated shops out there. i have been doing tri's since 1981 and must say that the common customer that comes into my shop the first thing i ask is what there triathlon goals are? If it is to just finish the local multisport event I am sure not going to say they need a P4. Media hype is an issue here too as there are just way too many reviews done on equipment by magazines fulfilling their advertisers requests. As to the fitters out there in the world. Specialized has just initiated a Certified fitter. I went thru this process which was pass/fail. We went out to Morgan Hill Ca and were given a 120 question exam as well as a fitting to be performed on an idividual we had never met. Myself I had the task of fitting a gentleman that was a former semi-pro football player. He had taken up cycling to maintain his fitness level due to injuries he sustained in his football days,running was not really an option. The fittings were observed and evaluated by members of the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and highly scrutinized. I am glad to see that fitting is finally being reconized as a profession. I thank Dan(Slowman) Andy Pruitt, NECA,and Ben Serrotta for their years of input into the science.But i must say to those shops out there into the SWISS theory (Sell Whats In Stock Stupid) PLEASE STOP!! You are really giving the retailers a bad name. Thank you for allowing me to rant from the business side.

Robert Driskell
Certified Master Body Geometry fit Technician
Certified Master Retul Fit Technician
Zipp Service Course Specialist
Bikes Plus Pensacola Florida
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Re: "Triathlon Store Owners" - please oh god please...stop it [Record10Carbon] [ In reply to ]
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As for bike frame sizes its great being on the tall side of any frame made. A 37" inseam ain't fitting anything except a 62 or a large/XL. : ) I really have zero choices in frame size.......just give me the biggest bike made : )

My first bike was a Trek 2300..............size 62. Couldn't go wrong. They didn't make a seat post long enough to get me onto a 60 : )

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Paul
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