As the saying goes, unhappiness is the measure of the distance between expectation and reality, and when I moved here I found that distance to be cavernous. Before I get into my story, I think it's worth noting that over the past decade that I've lived in the Twin Cities, I have spent thousands on bike parts, and almost none of it in local shops because of my first year or so here. Thousands. I'm not trying to brag on the resources, just stating that local shops did not receive any of that revenue.
I lived in a lot of places with almost no cycling scene, and often a barely functional bike shop. Nonetheless, I supported those shops because they were often the only act in town, and the owners and employees were typically really great. However, when I decided to move to the Twin Cities I was excited by the prospect of moving to a bike-shop nirvana. I had visited and seen all the cyclists, I had read about the robust cycling culture, and numerous local shops had even made the glossy copy of national cycling publications. It was going to be great.
Shortly before I moved, I had ordered an Alfine hub for a bike build. I completed it when I got here, and found it had a known problem; the roller clutch slipped in 5th. The place I ordered from said I could pull my wheel apart and ship them the hub, but the easiest option would be to go to any Shimano warranty shop for a core replacement.
One very popular local shop was listed by Shimano NA as a warranty center, but I discovered that unless you are one of the regular "barflies" or hangers-on, you aren't getting the time of day there. When I finally got someone to deign to address me, and I explained the problem, the employee said "I guess that's why you shouldn't have bought an Alfine, huh?". Wouldn't even help with the warranty. I never went back.
I went to another popular chain, also referred by Shimano NA as a warranty center. They told me it wasn't a problem, they would pull the core and get a warranty replacement. Two days later I get a call that the bike is ready. That seemed really fast, but I went in, and they hand me a $150 bill for service. I explained that I didn't want them to service the hub, I wanted a warranty claim. They in turn said that if I wanted my bike back, I'd pay the $150, and that it worked just fine now. I paid the money to end the hostage situation, rode two blocks, and the problem was as bad as ever. And, they did the cable housing wrong. I never went back.
I ended up dismantling my wheel and sending the hub back to the online retailer, who promptly replaced it.
Another time, I needed some Shimano road brake cables for a seasonal re-cable I was doing. I called a different popular local chain, who told me on the phone that they had them, and I could come on by. When I got there, the employee handed me MTB brake cables. I explained that those were not what I needed, but he said it's all they had, and they just put them in all the brakes. So, a wasted trip, a lie on the phone about my inquiry, and I certainly would never buy a bike from, or get service from, a shop that throws MTB-end cables in road shifters.
The only shop that seemed halfway competent doesn't pass the "Mellow Johnny's" line for me. If you've never been, Mellow Johnny's is a shop in Austin owned by Lance Armstrong. It's not cheap, but also not super expensive either, especially considering the location in downtown Austin and the fame. They could certainly get away with charging more, but they don't. The shop in question here apparently thinks that they can charge a premium based on their lack of fame, and their honestly just-ok location. In fact, almost no shops locally can pass the Mellow Johnny's test. They all charge hefty premiums, and I don't know why. Austin isn't exactly cheap, and Mellow Johnny's is a REALLY nice shop.
I'll stop there. I have more stories...I visited nearly every shop in the area, and I can't believe just how bad they all have been. Since I gave up on them, I've built four bikes from frames and parts, all purchased online, and purchased two kids bikes from REI, heavily aided by their website ordering.
Maybe the LBSs don't miss my business, because there are simply a lot of cyclists here, and those cyclists are willing to spend their money to support bad shops just because they're "local". Some of that Minnesota culture of "boosterism" might play into this as well. But the only reason that a place with so many cyclists can have so many shops that are so very bad is because either the local cyclists don't know better, or they simply don't hold any of the businesses accountable by taking their business elsewhere. Online, if need be. I preferred to support LBSs everywhere else I lived even at a slight price premium, because of the great customer service and the connections. Here, the ask is that a pay an exorbitant price premium to be treated like they are doing me a tremendous favor, if they can even competently help at all.
If you want better shops, businesses only learn when revenue suffers.
