There are commuter bikes for $100 but it's just not worth servicing them because telling someone it'll be 40% of the original bike price in labor + parts to fix something not major is hard for them to accept.
> low maintenance, comfort, and ruggedness. Apparently that's totally uncool and biking is all about ultralight and ultrahard--feel every crack in the pavement through the hard plastic saddle!
Carbon is more comfortable by reducing the vibrations that you'll feel compared to aluminum.
The reason why they stock shitty parts is because they appear to service really cheap bikes and for people who buy cheap bikes, that's what they want. I know many shops who wouldn't service cheap bikes and I know many shops where they would but I wouldn't trust them with my more expensive Trek road bike. So it's strange that they also stock carbon frames.
You don't seem to respond to those things.
If you ask a skilled professional to do menial trivia, expect to pay for their skill level.
Yeah an inner tube for $35? And it's not even those fancy orange ones?
Well it's not hard to change it yourself, as long as they're not charging more than $4 for a basic ones. If they are actually selling it for $35 that's pretty yikes. I'd just buy it online given that it doesn't benefit from retail (you don't need to see a tube in person, just need to know the dimensions)
Bike shops need to charge for labor because most people don't buy bikes from bike shops anymore, so labor is where they make their money. $100/hr for labor is on the higher end but doesn't seem crazy in expensive locations. Not to mention that the prevailing way people treat bike shops (as places you can walk in at any time, get your bike fixed, and walk out) is incredibly antithetical to bike mechanics actually being able to take the uninterrupted time to focus and do good work.
Is it actually noticeable for an average cyclist? I don't doubt it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a marketing slogan from carbon frame producers and people went with it, and since their bicycles were more expensive, they "felt" better.
So you approve of my steel frame bike? ;-)
This is self-awareness issue. At what point did you realise you'd wandered into the wrong shop for your target segment? Judging by the misrepresentation of the genuine preferences of folks like me, as being somehow nonsensical or antithetical, I suspect, "not yet".
I'm reminded of the vegetarian who visits a steakhouse and complains there's nothing for them on the menu but salad.
> all they had was some Chinese brand
Place of origin indicates nothing about the item manufactured, and product labeling even less so. Most bicycle tube & tyre production is in E/SE Asia.
I wonder if these people are internally consistent enough to eschew the use of ramps or pulleys.
I went to get a replacement inner tube--nothing special, just a 26x1.95 with a Schrader valve--and all they had was some Chinese brand (Hilong or something like that?) for $35. I want to support local businesses, but come on. The only thing they offered over Amazon is that they would install it for you for a modest $50 in labor.
They also basically don't stock anything under $800 if you are looking to buy a bike, and even those are Giant brand mountain bikes with trash tier hardware. I went looking for something I could commute to work on every day and they were trying to sell so much fragile carbon fiber stuff that was miles outside of my budget range. I don't need to shave 5/10ths off of my commute, I want low maintenance, comfort, and ruggedness. Apparently that's totally uncool and biking is all about ultralight and ultrahard--feel every crack in the pavement through the hard plastic saddle! I wasn't impressed with the line about "it's more comfortable because you use less energy to get there".