on buying local

Last week, on the Anchor House training ride, I met and rode with a fellow rider, who buys his bike stuff from a local shop. The local shop in question (let's call it Walter's) is the one that's most convenient to my house, but I've taken a resentment against the owner (he always seems to be trying to sell me stuff that's more expensive that the stuff I think I need). In response to that, I've taken to using another local shop (let's call it Tim's), where they always treat me like they're glad to see me, and frequently give me small discounts.

Now, everybody I speak to about Walter's loves the shop. I'm the only one I've ever met who seems not to like them, so I'm willing to believe that the fact that I don't like them is my problem. Nobody I know uses Tim's, partly because it's far away from most folks I ride with, partly because some of their stock is old, and partly because it's hard to get to (it's in the middle of a not-great area of New Brunswick) and parking sucks.

But this fellow rider person made the point that if we don't buy from local shops, there won't BE any local shops, and there are some things (like specialty services, wheel trues, headset insertions, measuring, &c.) that you can't get from internet vendors. In fact, the only two things you get from internet vendors are large selection and good prices. These are big advantages, but if you know what you want, you can probably have a local shop order it for you... and if they know the price, they may not be able to beat it, but they may be able to make it worthwhile. For me, I also give up the satisfaction of knowing I solved my own problem... but the advantage of having a few local shops may be worth letting this go.

Hrmph.

With that in mind, I went to Tim's today. I had installed a new chain, and i like to keep one in the garage. The last chain I bought was a Shimano, which installs in a slightly different way from the SRAM's I usually like, and when I used my chain tool, it almost didn't work; the chain tool pin (which is a wear item, like a replaceable saw blade) had gotten too short. So I was also in the market for a new pin. Tim's had both the pin, and the SRAM chain (a lower grade than the one I usually get, but the correct brand). And when I bought the chain, the clerk threw in the pin for free.

Now the pin is about a $2-3 item thrown in on a $35 purchase. Nonetheless, they are doing what they can to keep my business. Drat. I like the cheap prices on the internet... but I also like the local shops. Grumble, grumble.

(In other news, the fellow rider alluded to above said that he also doesn't like dealing with the owner at Walter's, but he just deals with the head mechanic or another clerk, instead. So maybe I'm not wrong about the fellow in question... but maybe avoiding the shop entirely is breaking eggs with a sledgehammer.)