My wife and I were out doing a little Christmas shopping last evening when this shiny silver bike caught my eye as we were exiting the store. What caught my eye was not the shiny silver color, nor the discount price, but what caught my eye was that the front end of the bike was assembled backwards. My wife didn’t notice that I stopped, but I just couldn’t keep walking without at least mentioning what the problem to someone.
I pointed this problem out to the checker and once he figured out what I was talking about he appeared a little shocked. I didn’t get mad or anything like that, and I won’t name the store, because it is typical of non-bike specific stores, especially around Christmas. And as my wife pointed when I caught up to her at the car, “It’s not right to get mad at them, because they don’t really know”.
And that is my real point, “they don’t know”.
Discount and big-box stores just plain don’t know when it comes to putting together a bike. Do yourself and/or your kids a favor this year by shopping at a local bike shop, a real bike shop because they do know how to put together bikes.