I really do not have any pre-conceived notions. Those "notions" are actual impressions I get from going into the LBSs. Of course they are very friendly and knowledgeable and willing to service your bike. Every time you go in for service, they make money. And I know you go in for the quick tweaks and adjustments now and then and it is free. But the majority of their "free" service is geared towards you coming back and purchasing that next upgrade. And it is not a conspiracy issue--it’s merely the way the industry operates. They know people may be willing to pay extra for the personal service. And they have significant overhead that has to be paid for. And they don't offer deep discounts because no one wants to open that door.
1. You must not value your time very highly because you've wasted quite a bit of "money" on doing research and bickering with people on this board over the value of service.
2. LBSs, or any other businesses don't need (nor seek out) CHEAP customers like you that do not appreciate paying people for their expertise. (You sound like the type who would use TurboTax to account for your $50MM company to "save" on highering real accounting expertise.)
3. The few dollars you are trying to save by buying cheap will come back to bite you when you realized material quality isn't the only price indicator in any product or service (eg. wrong frame size).
4. Like a previous poster said: THERE'S NO FREE LUNCH. Economics professors are right after all!
Oh, you could also cut out your latte-a-day for a few years and then justify the cost!
Cheers,
TD
