But I've talked enough about ME! How about you talk about me?
Heh.
Oh I LOVE people who do research! See, there are two kinds of shoppers in this world; Those who are compulsory and "pass through" any given business and purchase on an emotional level, and those that take the time to plan, research, search and execute. I am the prior, mostly, and will pay a little more, if the establishment peaks my curiosity. That's probably why I don't "window shop". If I go into a business, I feel obligated to buy for being allowed to look. Then there are those like a couple folks we met yesterday. A very nice couple came in, after spending time "checking out" a variety of local shops (YAY for the Internet!) stating they caught mention of us from a variety of sources online, and decided we were the ones to service their bikes. They have a pair of uni-sexed Diamondback Comfort Hybrids that suffered the misfortune of being stored in a shed with Pool chemicals. Sadly, the vapors released from them have the unfortunate side effect of corroding spokes from the inside out. Yea, when those little brown lines start to appear they're getting ready to pop. They had a LOT of brown lines after being stored for two years, and a LOT had popped! That, coupled with a need for a minor tune up. And, with no small amount of self back patting on our part, we were successful in convincing them NOT to get rid of them! They apparently take several sojourns to North Carolina each year, and what drove them to store the bikes in the first place was a fateful stop over in one of the bike shops up there. It would appear that, sadly, the propensity for the majority of bike shops out there, is their sales practices lean heavily on discrediting and degrading whatever ride you may happen to bring into their shop. I know, from experience, that this tactic is heavily used in some of the shops around here. They pick out one or two minor issues, expand them into potentially life threating defects, and attempt to scare the customer into purchasing one of their more "suitable" bikes! Or, in the case of this young couple, convince them that the rides they had were unsuitable for the terrain in the area. Well, sure, they were not "off road MTB'S" they sported a nice set of hybrid tires, with the smooth raised center, and were upright in seating position, agreeably NOT for the "down hill, dirt crunching, rock climbing" set, but that's not the kind of riding they were doing, anyway. Sadly, they took this advice to heart, rented a couple of nice MTB's when they were there, and upon returning to Florida felt compelled to "put them up". As they did the majority of their riding while in NC, the bikes just sat. After awhile, and settling more into Florida life, they decided to bring the rides out of the rafters, and either fix them, or (and they were leaning more towards this angle) sell them and buy NEW mountain bikes. Don't get me wrong, these rides, other then the wheels, were cherry! Like NEW cherry, and would have been more than happy to have them. I told them as such, but that it would be a shame to rid themselves of such versatile rides, especially when the "WAY gone" wheels set greatly diminished their resale value. Better, they just have them fixed, which in the end cost them less then a third of that of ONE new bike! After this discussion, they both appeared very relieved, commented on the fact that they had used our Internet presence as a Litmus test for where to go, and I over heard the wife nudge the husband and say "I TOLD you we should have come here!" Does the heart good!
The next lady to come in and pay us a visit was an all too familiar "I had NO idea you were here!" types. Lives in the neighborhood (two streets directly behind us as a matter of fact) and drives right in front of the shop every day. But we understand, our visibility is completely dependent on a persons need to see us. She found herself, recently, getting ready to take care of her granddaughter. And in the fashion of folks within our generation, was damned if her granddaughter was going to sit inside all summer, and she would, in fact, be getting OUTSIDE! YOU GO GIRL!! She spent, according to her, several days online, checking out local shops, Wal-Mart, K-mart and the like, looking for a suitable upgrade for her six year old visitor. Slowly, she was becoming somewhat forlorn, commenting on the fact that she had NO idea of just how damn expensive bikes were. And for KIDS! SHEESH! At this point Providence stepped in, a friend suggested Craigslist, and that's all it took to discover that her answer was in her own neighborhood! It was a joy chatting with her, but we both agreed it would be preferable that she bring her granddaughter in here to pick one out, when she arrived, in order that she be inspired by her own choices, and get out and ride willingly!
Well, aside from those and other really cool conversations yesterday, we did manage to put out two newbies! A nice, run of the mill, 20" Mongoose BMX, and a really fine Diamondback MTB! Oh, it's not one of the Top-of-the-Line ones, more their base model, but is now in really fine shape!
Today? We acquired a few gimmes and a trade yesterday, which I will be poking at shortly, but the majority of it is more just parts. Although one is a GT MTB, so even though it's really thrashed out, probably will be rebuilt.
Other than that, well...we'll see where the day takes us!
See ya soon!!
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| 26" DIAMONDBACK MTB!!\ ONLY $160.00!! |
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| 20" MONGOOSE BMX!! ONLY $45.00!! |
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