Many years ago, a friend of mine moved half way across the country, and because it involved a long drive, he wanted to have a CB radio in his truck (this was back when almost no one had a cell phone).  He bought the CB radio from Wal-Mart because they had a “no questions asked” return policy.  He only used the CB radio for the one way trip and then returned it to the nearest Wal-Mart at his destination.  He had no intention of keeping the CB radio.  So essentially, he rented a CB radio under false pretenses for $0 at Wal-Mart’s expense.  At the time, I remember thinking, “That ain’t right bro”.

Now, let’s fast forward almost two decades to 2014.  I came across a video (see below) from Prager University titled, “Is the Customer Always Right?”.  In the video, Dennis Prager uses the example of a person going into a brick and mortar retail store to check out cameras and to ask a sales person questions.  This person had no intention of buying a camera from that store at any point.  Her plan was to evaluate the cameras at the store and to buy it online afterwards at a lower cost.  Wasting the sales person’s time and utilizing the store’s resources is, according to Dennis, a form of theft.  It’s not a form of theft from a legal perspective.  But it is a form of theft from a moral perspective.  This video really clarified the moral thoughts I was having about my friend’s CB radio experience discussed above.  He was a god damn thief!

How does this moral concept apply to the cycling world?  Local bike shops offer at least two values that online stores cannot.  One, you can thoroughly evaluate a product in person.  And two, you can build a long term relationship with a bike shop that can offer you in person, expert advice.  So, if you walk into a bike shop to utilize their resources with no intention to buy there and every intention to buy online, you are, according to Dennis, a thief.  I’m sure most bike shops could come up with many examples of this happening, but I’ll just share one.  Let’s say a person goes into a bike shop to try on many pairs of cycling shoes and then tells the sales person, “I really love this pair, but I’m going to buy it from Nashbar because the price is lower and I won’t have to pay sales tax.”  Not only is he a thief from a moral perspective, but he is also what many call, an asshole.

This is not to say that buying online or doing your own bike repairs is immoral.  I do some of both myself.  The moral question is all about the intent as described above.  Intent makes the moral difference.  But with that said, even if your moral intent is impeccable, it wouldn’t hurt to throw a little extra business towards your local bike shop.  Yes, you might pay a little extra and yes, you might have to pay sales tax, but just think of that extra cost as patronage for your local bike shop for all the great things they do for our cycling community.  I think they deserve it.

Shout out to my local bike shops

Spark Bike Run Sports
https://www.sparkbrs.com

Travis Cycle
https://www.traviscycle.com

Bike Works
http://www.bikeworksma.com