First the bad: I can't trumpet this one loud enough--stay away from Sports Garage in Boulder. It's gotta be the worst bike shop in town. Sports Garage gets a big, fat thumbs down from me. I've dealt with them before on the recommendations of friends and rumors they had solid mechanics. After two separate incidents where they really blew it on customer service, I'm done with 'em.
Basically, they rooked me on a broken front brake. I brought it in and was told I could either have it warrantied (takes 10 days, is free except shipping) or they could fix it the next day for about 30 bucks + parts. Since I ride quite a bit, I agreed to have them fix it and they told me they'd call me the next day when it was ready to go. A day passed.
Then two.
Finally I called the shop and they explained that they had to order parts and it would take 10 days for them to come in (!) So in other words, I was now forced to pay what would have been a free warranty and I was still without a brake for close to two weeks. After politely complaining, they gave me a loaner brake which seemed like a nice move expect 1-the brake had no pressure in the line, which I had to bring back to the shop to get fixed (and they even initially tried to charge me even though it is their brake!) 2-It had brake pads that were worn down to the metal, which can potentially ruin the rotor on my wheel.
I discovered the pad issue after I had driven all the way down to Golden to ride so I had to drive 45 minutes BACK to Boulder, where suddenly surprise, my brake is magically repaired. As I turned in the loaner with bad brakes, the condescending mechanic implied I put on my old pads in place of their loaners (100% not true) and didn't give them all the hardware the brake comes with (I never touched the hardware). This is not someone you want fixing your bike. After grudgingly putting my brake on and trying to charge me for other stuff that they didn't do, I had my bike back.
In the next two days I got a strange slow-leak flat tire and more damagingly a bent rear rim because of bad spoke tension. I'm not saying there's a connection but my bike has been solid all summer...
The bent rear rim was a big deal. It happened on Hall Ranch and when it got bent into my frame I took a fairly hard spill onto rocks (luckily just bumps and bruises). I had a long walk back to the car, which also stunk. But:
The good: I brought my bike to a new shop, Boulder Cycle Sport where the whole vibe is much better. They examined my rim and noted the weird tension in the spokes (that wasn't the case with the front tire). The rim was shot, but after a few calls they were able to find out FSA, the rim maker, will warranty the rim! They didn't try to sell me anything else or give me bad info, which was a nice change in Boulder. I even asked about other wheel systems and they gave me the skinny on what was available. Nice. I'll be without a bike for a few days but that's cool... there's plenty to do in Boulder in the meanwhile.
