Why Buy at a Bike Shop

I've worked in bike shops since the beginning of the Millennium. So I've been around to experience the damage on line stores have had on retailers. It's a cut throat world of commerce out there. Lots of new venues pop up daily vying for the consumer's dollar and trying to under bid the existing competition. Many people succumb to the lure of a cheap deal and purchase their goods online instead of seeking the same product locally. This sends money to communities outside our own, leaving local businesses to wither. This is the moral argument for shopping locally instead of online. Another argument is what you get for your money. Somebody can save $15 per tire if they order their tires online. But what if the casing has some irregularity or the bead is warped or bent. The purchaser will have to send it back and hope the online source is good and quick with their warranty service. But how does the consumer know? They just google searched the item they were looking for, clicked on a result, looked at a shiny pretty web site for a minute and hit 'check out'. The consumer really has no idea who they are buying from and won't have any idea if the seller has their best interest at heart or not. This becomes increasingly troubling with the introduction of many counterfeit fakes entering the market. Cinelli has posted a warning regarding counterfeit seat posts imitating their product that fail dramatically. Chris King has also become aware of counterfeit look alike components on the market. These are leading names in component manufacturing. I won't even get into all the "no name" products flooding the web stores. In a bike shop a consumer will meet the staff and get a sense of their fields of expertise in the bicycling world. The customer can choose a shop that fits their personality and type of riding. From that initial visit to the shop, relationships develop. It's a place where everyone there is into bikes. Otherwise they wouldn't be in a bike shop. Perhaps a consumer purchases their bike components online and then brings their purchases to a bike shop to be installed. Although the customer's business is very welcome anytime, this is the equivalent of bringing your own fish, grains, and vegetables to a restaurant and asking the cooks to make a meal out of it for you. Most restaurants would kick that person out on their ass. Often a person who has purchased their components online, will end up with parts that are not compatible with each other or with the frame in question. Because a web store doesn't have the presence to see the situation and advise on the best combination of components or accessories for the application.
All of this said, I have myself purchased bike related things online. There does come a time when, especially living in rural areas or small communities, the local bike shop doesn't carry or have access to that PINK anodized brake caliper or that leather saddle with the gold plated rivets and magnesium hollow rails. But before you click "Check Out", its always better to check the local shops first. And when purchasing online, one can at least be sure to purchase from a site connected to a retail outlet. That way, the money spent is still supporting a struggling bike shop in a community somewhere.