Was I a bit harsh?

Went into Halfrauds earlier as I need some suspension oil to service my dropper, looked in the motors oils and they only had 10w which will do but, 5w would be preferable.

So I toddle up to the “bikehut” bit can only see chain lubes and mucoff, ask the fella at the counter if they have any suspension oil…

His response “what’s it for?” then without waiting for a response “a bike fork yeah? Just spray it with 3 in 1 oil…”

I just looked at him, and then involuntarily laughed, shook my head an walked off without another word…

In retrospect perhaps it was a bit rude to be quite so dismissive but I could just tell I was dealing with the off peak help not actual “bike shop” staff…

Feel free to flame me for being a dick, but why put someone who clearly knows sweet FA on the subject on duty in the bicycle section?

Are halfords now back sliding, I am sure I read comments on here recently singing their praises…

one swallow does not a summer make

An equally valid question would be: what did you expect when you went into a shop you refer to as “Halfrauds”? Why not pop into a local motor factors instead? They would probably be 1000x more knowledgeable. Plus you can support a local business.

I think you were lucky. Reverb fluid is supposed to be 2.5W – it would be really slow with 10W or 5W… 2.5W is hard to get in MotoX shops let alone Halfords.

My reaction might have been similar depending on mood. If I was feeling especially benevolent I might have gone for a more ‘educational’ response…

You’re both wrong. The correct answer is….

given he leaped to a conclusion perhaps he just thought you wanted something to spray lube the stanchion with?

I’d probably use chain lube, not 3in1 but the effect’s the same.

Maybe if you’d stayed and said “no I’m servicing the post it’s for the internals’ he’d have been more helpful?

I’ve been guilty of this in shops – assuming I know more than the person I’m talking to, it can catch you out.

An equally valid question would be: what did you expect when you went into a shop you refer to as “Halfrauds”? Why not pop into a local motor factors instead? They would probably be 1000x more knowledgeable. Plus you can support a local business.

My “LBS” would be an Evans. Hardly a local business in need of support, halfords was convenient and having a department dedicated to bicycles you’d be forgiven for thinking they might staff it with someone who had some knowledge of the things… Indeed this was my first mistake.

Had someone asked me the same question I would would probably have assumed they were after suspension oil to service some sort of damper, not wd40 to unstick their knackered appollo…

verb fluid is supposed to be 2.5W – it would be really slow with 10W .

It’s not a reverb…

cookeaa

having a department dedicated to bicycles you’d be forgiven for thinking they might staff it with someone who had some knowledge of the things… Indeed this was my first mistake.

Here’s the thing. Working in a large bike shop is stressful, the hours are anti social and pretty crap, the pay is generally awful and the customers can be quite unpleasant.

If you do have knowledge generally it’s a burden as your colleagues who don’t/can’t be arsed/aren’t interested will simply suck you dry. During my first year or so working CRC my colleagues used to refer to me as “Google” because I was the only one with any real technical applicable knowledge of mountain biking and they’d be asking me 100 questions a day. It’s a drain.

If you love mountain biking working in a big shop is one sure way to extinguish any passion you might have, so good staff generally don’t stick around very long.

Was I a bit harsh?

hasty might be a better word – how much time did you waste going there & coming back empty handed compared to the tiny bit extra you might have wasted saying “no, I mean to put in the fork/a seatpost, I need some 5w oil”.

If he’d still looked at you all gormo, then fair enough, you’ve wasted about 5 seconds more of your day

… you’d probably still have that kept supercilious glow but I guess you wouldn’t have got to sneer at him quite so much, so I guess it’s a matter of priorities for you really

I noticed what I thought was a crack in the frame of my 18 month old Boardman Team (carbon) road bike about 6 weeks ago, and took it back, not expecting a lot to be honest.

Without me moaning, or being a d1ck, or anything other than polite occasional calls, they swapped the entire bike for a new one on Tuesday past.

I like them.

I have a Gravity Dropper. 3-in1 would be about perfect for a light lube. Maybe you don’t know as much as you think you do

* points and laughs at the OP *

My “LBS” would be an Evans. Hardly a local business in need of support.

Amen brother, AMEN!

Tragic bicycle retailer.