Mad at my LBS

Your avatar is too cute!

Sell the Trek and use the money for a down payment on another road or tri bike . . . from another LBS!  Ask for suggestions on BT about places to buy the new bike.

Wow, you're 6' and they sold you a 51cm frame? I'm surprised you can use it at all.  I'm only a few inches taller and use an XL Giant frame, which is the equivalent to a 60cm frame.

How does the bike fit you? You've been riding it for a year--have you had any issues?

It's my experience that bike sizes aren't comparable manufacturer-to manufacturer, or even model to model. I'm 6'0" and have ridden bikes that fit me from 51cm (a Guru Crono) to 56cm (a Cannondale R-600).

Also, (and I don't know this to be true because I know nothing about how hybrid bikes are sized)  it could be that hybrids are simply sized differently than road bikes, the same way mountain bikes are sized differently than road bikes.

Before you get all mad at your bike store, know that hybrid bikes fit very differently than road bikes.  I'm assuming by 51 cm you really mean that the frame sticker on your bike says 20 inches.  For a 6' person, a 20 inch hybrid bike frame is not completely unreasonable. 

That said, you may have been more comfortable on a 22.5, the next frame size up (I'm assuming  you got a FX something).  It is the job of your local bike store to have you try both of those sizes, and help you make an educated decision about which one you feel more comfortable on.

Back to the road bike sizing, yes.  Something like a 54, 56, or even 58 would be ideal for you.  Unless you have circus-short legs and a super long torso, I'm gonna lean towards a 56 or 58 cm road bike. 

kagoscuba - 2008-09-17 9:51 AM Classic case of short-term thinking/laziness trumping long-term business intellect again. If you had truly been a run-of-the-mill buy a bike and never be seen again type of consumer, then their thinking may have been correct. Sell a bike now, rather than worry about possible profit in the future. Sometimes that works; sometimes it doesn't. My closest LBS, which is no longer my LBS of choice kept on trying to take me for a ride on price, belittled me for asking if they sold used bikes (said, "We aren't Ebay", and gave me two week out windows for such things as bike tune-ups. I now drive an extra 15 minutes to go to another shop with far superior customer service. The manager took a complete hour to fit me on a bike his shop did not even sell me. Yeah, he's got my loyalty from now on, so an hour was a good investment for him.

My original LBS didn't get mine tuned up right, and the second shop I went to could do it, but it was $70 a pop.  I went to the third LBS to buy some tools, the mech. asked me if I knew how to do the work, and I said I thought I did, and then he walked me through the process.  I know where my bike will go the next time it needs work I can't do.

I guess that is part of the problem.  I have no idea.  This was my first "adult" bike, so I don't even know what a good fit is supposed to be.

hybrid and road bikes fit VERY DIFFERENTLY.  Hybrids are ususally smaller, that you feet can touch the ground when you're sitting on the saddle without tipping your bike over. 

That said, the frame size is more dependent on your inseam leight rather than your overall height.  If you have a long torso and shorter legs, you need a smaller frame. 

Yes, not all LBS are not the same.  And even at a good LBS you will find a not-so-good salesperson. 

I went into a store near me to buy a bike, and the kid working there told me that I needed to spend more to get a decent bike (even though they sold bikes in my price range), told me that I didn't need a women's specific size frame (maybe true, but I have a very short torso so they seem to fit me better) and wanted to talk to my husband more than me.  Needless to say, I didn't purchase a bike there.

 I went back to that store a couple weeks later (its on my way home) just to buy some inexpensive accessories.  I had a different sales person help me and he was great.  If I had talked to him the first time I came in, I would have a much different opinion of the store. 

Hybrid frames and road bike frames are different. A hybrid frame is often more similar to a mountain bike frame. The top bar is slanted and not flat. Most sizing formulas have you subtract 5cm for a mountain bike.

I guess on the plus side, I can start looking at some new Road or TT bikes (still not sure which to get).  This time, I will be an educated consumer!

Partially? I'm sorry, but I'm not feeling the same hate for the LBS.

You clearly stated in the opening lines of your post that you bought a bike to "ride a little for fitness" and likely this came across to the LBS sales floor that you were just looking for a relatively inexpensive, comfortable bike to just kick around on casually. You (hopefully at least) sat on the bike and (hopefully) took it for a test ride, and if there were no big sizing issues at the time (i.e. it seemed comfortable to you on the test ride), then they were giving you exactly what you wanted. Being generally fit on a hybrid that you intend only riding casually is alot different than getting fit on a road bike or a tri bike on which you plan on spending hours in the saddle, so you shouldn't be disappointed in not getting a free 30-60 min FIST fitting

You brought up the point that they did not take the opportunity to educate you. At any time during your purchase last year did you give them any indication that you wanted Cycling101 thrown in? Did you ask many questions?

To bring up the issue a year after the fact that you may have been sold the wrong bike (because you're still not even entirely sure) and the LBS didn't spend as much time with you that, a year later, you think they should have, is just sour grapes.

Thanks sty, that was very helpful.  I didn't think of it that way.

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the way he was treated.  Years ago, when I bought my (and mrs gearboy's) first bikes, we had little idea about how we intended to ride, other than fun rides for a little exercise.  At the time, mountain and hybrids were not common, and we had no idea of any sort of specialized riding.  I had ridden a "10 speed" before in high school, and mrs gearboy had a 3 speed. We still got some degree of fitting, which quite honestly was basically the same on the $200 bikes we got then as I got on my recent $3k carbon fiber Trek. Apart from weighing a ton, mrs gearboy's bike still fits her, the wheels have never needed truing, and apart from replacing a tire or two, has served her well.

What sort of fitting did toader get? A simple "here's a bike. it should work. that'll be $450".  Or did they do a little more? Take a few bikes down, see what sizes looked good, etc?  My sizings have always been a 10-15 minute affair - lift the handlebar - check the clearance- go into the parking lot and ride in circles to get the seat height more or less right - ride around the block to see if any major issues pop up. Like I said, the same for a relatively generic $200 bike as a $3k carbon frame racing bike. No 30-60 minute FIST fitting, no "cycling 101".  If he got the former treatment, I would think he was treated badly.  If the latter, he was treated reasonably.

As for asking questions, I found when I bought my first bike, I didn't know enough to know what to ask.  When I bought my expensive bike, I knew enough that I had done the research and my only question was "how much can you knock off the price?". I think a bike shop that wants to get a decent reputation will help newbies enough to learn a little bit about the bike, so that even if they never buy a stable of bikes, they will pass on word of mouth. Maybe the hybrid is sized correctly, maybe it isn't.  But at least you should leave knowing that bikes come in differenct sizes, and how the size is determined for the bike. And of course, you shouldn't be allowed to leave without a helmet and a pump (for safety and being able to use the bike after a couple of months of air leaking out). A shop that does a decent job will get you coming back to get a roadside repair kit and instructions on use, and annual tune-ups, and the various odds and ends that we all end up accumulating (shorts, jerseys, gloves, socks, shoes, new tape, etc, etc).