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I bought my wife's bike, which she'd purchased back in England while on a fitness kick, to a local shop in Manhattan for a brake service years ago. I have never

I bought my wife's bike, which she'd purchased back in England while on a fitness kick, to a local shop in Manhattan for a brake service years ago. I have never forgotten the interaction: the hipster douche who greeted me launched into a multi-minute tirade about how Decathlon was "ruining cycling in Europe" and how I was complicit in doing the same in the USA by bringing this abomination into his store. I'm pretty sure I know who is more responsible for ruining cycling. Fortunately my local shop in the suburbs here couldn't be more different. They're patient and lovely with my kids, efficient and non-condescending with my wife, will even send a little car to your house to collect a broken bike for service - whether or not they sold it.

tim333 1mo ago
That's interesting. I have a Decathlon bike (UK) and was thinking there's not much elite jargon or such like and they are quite straightforward and reasonably priced for fixing things. Different strategy I guess. They are probably a good choice if buying a bike as they are reasonably cheap but have decent availability of spares and servicing unlike no name Chinese bikes.
- scrumper 1mo ago
  Yeah they're basically fine. The hipster's main complaint, I think, was that Decathlon was very big in France and that size was causing local bike shops to close. So I have some sympathy for the argument, but certainly not the way it was presented.