In the thread about the Nytro post there was some commentary to the effect that the (former)employee in question may not have had the typical physical appearance of an athlete. That opened the debate about whether or not an athletic appearance/aptitude is a prerequisite to being a competent bikeshop employee and/or lends credibility to them.
In general, I think what is true of society is true here also: You can’t judge a book by its cover. I can think of a number of personalities within the industry who certainly do not have an athletic physique, but whose credibility, knowledge and expertise is beyond reproach. John Cobb himself may not necessarily look like an Ironman winner, but when John says something about equipemtn, position or bike set-up, you better believe I listen to what he has to say. He has established and proven his credibility along with many others in our sport who will never be cover models in a swimsuit shoot for Triathlete magazine. On the flip side does having the build of a Van Lierde or Hellriegel qualify you as an expert? No. Absolutely not. We are fortunate enought to have several very elite level athletes as regular customers at our store. One has completed the Tour de France nine times- more than any other American. He still can’t fix his own bike and does not know his own saddle height by heart. Another, who competed in the Olympic triathlon and has won a number of World Cup and ITU events, could not find the seatstays on their own bike becasue they are not familiar with the vernacular.
Physical ability and appearance and athletiscism do not necessarily confirm credibility. For that matter, even going to fit schools and parading around as an “expert” doesn;t do that. There are an enormous number of new “triathlon specialty stores” showing up since the sport is huge now and bikeshops are figuring out that a triathletes dollar has 100 cents too. Just because they sat through F.I.S.T. and ate Monty’s fine Mexican cuisine at Xantusia doesn’t necessarily confirm them as authoritative or even competent to advise clients on appropriate bike purchases and position. I’ve seen some of the “fittings” these guys have done. You don’t have to be very experienced to see their work is butt-assed, dick-in-dirt wrong.
What should a qualified bike shop employee look like? They should look like whatever a person who has a lot of experience, has learned as much as they can, takes their job and commitment to customers very seriously and is always trying to learn and is a good critical thinker. That is the most important thing. At least that is my opinion.
