The wait continues

After a great call with Niner last week I had a not so great call with the bike shop yesterday. On Friday Niner said a new frame was on the way and would be shipped out on Monday (yesterday). I figured I owed a call to the bike shop to let them know the outcome of that call. When I talked to the owner of the shop he implied that this was not a done deal, there was still more verification to be done. Ugh. I am probably (and hopefully) just being paranoid, but I'll need some serious depression medication if this is not going to happen.

I ordered a new bash plate for the bottom of the bike and got confirmation that the rest of the parts are on the way. I guess deep down I believe its still going to happen, but I just have this little spot of doubt.

I hate bashing a bike shop, and I have really restrained myself on Facebook and Bikerag - I know they have a tough business environment with parts at half price on the internet. I'm their worst customer, specifically this bike shop. I have never set foot inside the place until I brought my broken bike to them. I will most likely buy nothing from them, yet they have to do this work for my warranty claim. That said its not A LOT of work, taking a few pictures and sending a few emails - seriously that's it!

When I started this process I figured I was going to get a new rear triangle and I thought in a few years when bought a new RIP, I would potentially buy from whatever shop handled this for me. In my mind this was kind of a trial of what kind of service they would provide and justified them doing this for me without any possibility of payment. I am not impressed so far. They seem like nice enough guys, but I want a bike shop with passion and these guys are severely lacking in that department. I would love to have come in to the shop and had them say "let's see what we can do to get you a new frame" rather than "I'll send an email and let you know what I hear".

I sometimes daydream about working in a bike shop after I retire from the business world. I think I could bring the kind of energy and enthusiasm that is missing from so many bike shops. I'm sure that gets drained from you pretty quickly though after dealing with problem customers. Since hearing about the new frame I've been a bit obsessive in finding pictures of the new RIP9 built up and generally scouring MTBR for any mentions of the bike - in that quest I've seen so many of the inane questions that get asked by people who have nothing but a poorly formed opinion to go on. I'll bet it doesn't take too many years (or months) of dealing with that situation before you get jaded.

My head cold is finally subsiding, hopefully back to mountain biking this week - I've had three great road rides in the past four days, but they were all pretty subdued.