Please, for the sake of my OCD..
I'm on the cusp of spending what for me is a lot of money on a new bike. No disrespect to those in the trade, but my experience of LBS' in the area has been almost universally pitiful; having had a lot of stuff that I value damaged in the past when in for straightforward jobs that (had I had the tools myself) I could easily have done without incident.
Lesson learned re. servicing, but I'm aware that bikes require some degree of assembly when they arrive which is something I'd rather do myself / avoid having the supplying shop do. I feel especially resolute about this having witnessed first-hand a significant amount of damage caused to a fairly pricey bike pre-test ride in an LBS recently, while the shop assistant battled with the complex, hurculean task of adjusting the saddle position
So... in an effort to ease my anxiety about the capacity for damage when my bike is assembled I'd be interested to hear from anyone with experience. From boxed bikes I've seen I'm guessing they arrive at the shop mostly assembled and all that takes place in store is removal from the box, removal of the protective packaging (hopefully with careful attention to where those scissors are being brandished around the frame
), then fitment of the wheels, bars and saddle before a final check that everything works and is tight. Is this correct or is there more to it?
Tbh I'd rather just get the bike in a box, take it home and build it myself; however I'm also aware (especially having been told so in a pretty pointed manner by one shop) that if this were to happen any subsequent issues would all be on me (so grand if I unpack it and find a problem from the supplier before I even start to put it together).
I've asked a local place about allowing me to unpack and build the bike in the shop and am awaiting a response, however past that it's looking like mail-order only, with all the additional pleasure in the returns process if I find anything wrong.
Unfortunately it seems that my OCD combined with seemingly very few people in bike retail who are willing / able to do their jobs to a decent standard has turned this potentially joyous process of buying a new bike into an anxiety-fuelled burden of "should I even bother..?"
I'm on the cusp of spending what for me is a lot of money on a new bike. No disrespect to those in the trade, but my experience of LBS' in the area has been almost universally pitiful; having had a lot of stuff that I value damaged in the past when in for straightforward jobs that (had I had the tools myself) I could easily have done without incident.
Lesson learned re. servicing, but I'm aware that bikes require some degree of assembly when they arrive which is something I'd rather do myself / avoid having the supplying shop do. I feel especially resolute about this having witnessed first-hand a significant amount of damage caused to a fairly pricey bike pre-test ride in an LBS recently, while the shop assistant battled with the complex, hurculean task of adjusting the saddle position

So... in an effort to ease my anxiety about the capacity for damage when my bike is assembled I'd be interested to hear from anyone with experience. From boxed bikes I've seen I'm guessing they arrive at the shop mostly assembled and all that takes place in store is removal from the box, removal of the protective packaging (hopefully with careful attention to where those scissors are being brandished around the frame

Tbh I'd rather just get the bike in a box, take it home and build it myself; however I'm also aware (especially having been told so in a pretty pointed manner by one shop) that if this were to happen any subsequent issues would all be on me (so grand if I unpack it and find a problem from the supplier before I even start to put it together).
I've asked a local place about allowing me to unpack and build the bike in the shop and am awaiting a response, however past that it's looking like mail-order only, with all the additional pleasure in the returns process if I find anything wrong.
Unfortunately it seems that my OCD combined with seemingly very few people in bike retail who are willing / able to do their jobs to a decent standard has turned this potentially joyous process of buying a new bike into an anxiety-fuelled burden of "should I even bother..?"
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