Philadelphia Mountain Biking Association - Forums

I just wanted to give a local bike shop some credit for doing the right thing.  I think we live in a country where customer service is virtually non-existent.  This is not one of those horror stories.  Last summer I decided to buy a new Gary Fisher Fat Possum.  On my second ride at the Wiss, I blew out the weld on my rear rim (Bontrager  Rhythm Comp).  The rim was totaled and had to be replaced. Human Zoom replaced it no questions asked.  A month later, I brought the bike in for minor adjustments and they noticed a hairline crack in the frame.  They worked with the Fisher reps and got it replaced at no cost and no hassle to me.  Last week I returned with the bike for a tune up.  They found another hairline crack on the new Fat Possum frame.  Well, they replaced it with a Santa Cruz Hackler frame and assembled it in record time.  They even installed a new rear shock.  No questions, no hassle and no cost to me.  Not even for labor.  Not bad huh?   ;D

Yeah thats great, maybe they have a front through axel for a FOX 36 fork....  :o  Long story.

The guys that work there seem nice, but some of their prices are crazy. One time I went down there to pick-up some headset spacers and they charged me nearly $10.00 for an inches worth. Good for emergency purchases I suppose (it was).

-pete

Yeah, I've come out of there a few times with weird prices.  They do have a decent stock of clothing though, so that is kinda nice.   Believe it or not, I've had ok luck finding random emergency parts at cadence.   The service dept there is pretty hooked up, even though they don't do much MTB stuff.  If your gonna pay msrp (or more) you might as well get a nice bag to go with it.   :D

If they were carbon spacers that sounds like a deal. The others, I guess they are aluminum, they should be much cheaper.

I'm yet to find a better deal for CF spacers. All my bikes have these and had them for years with zero problems

http://pricepoint.com/detail/12703-205_SETHS4_SET-3-Parts-63-Headsets/Sette-Carbon-Headset-Spacers---All-Sizes--Set.htm  (http://pricepoint.com/detail/12703-205_SETHS4_SET-3-Parts-63-Headsets/Sette-Carbon-Headset-Spacers---All-Sizes--Set.htm)

Yeah they were plain old aluminum spacers, they could have been take-offs from other bicycles for all I know (not bagged).

-pete

Chris King prices $$:  http://chrisking.com/parts/spacers.html

I have been going to Human Zoom for over 10 years. It started out as Metropolis bikes and then was Bike Line. Carl has been the manager there for almost the entire time and I know him well. I only deal with him because he gives me a good deal on stuff becuase I have been going there a while and have spent a good sum of money. He goes through a lot of guys and the new ones don't know me and I dont know them so I dont get good service or pricing from them. They are basically charging retail for most stuff which is way high based on what you can get on the web. But I do buy stuff from them to help support them so they are around, because I get Cannondale parts from them, cables, housing, etc. If you talk to Carl and tell him you are a member of PMBA he should take care of you, but do realize that they have to pay the rent at that place which is a lot! BUT don't be afraid to haggle or tell them their prices are out of line...

Yea Carl is a cool dude and a damn good rider.

If I buy a bike an after second ride, and my bike cracks, the bike shop better dance for me, Lou and Tom are right, Carl is the man over there at HZ, the rest can barely tie their shoes, I waited 2 weeks for a derailed hanger because they gave me the impression that it was at the shop or was shipped in, long story short, I went to Guys and they had the part in stock, it wasn't unit a month or more later that HZ got the part. 

Even though this is the competition -I'll stick up for them (except 4 the spacer pricing)  Brick and mortar shops can rarely compete with on line discounters - we don't buy up all of Jamis's leftover inventory, part it out and sell for pennies on the dollar.  We have alot more overhead (backshop labor and tools aren't cheap)  Where we do have the opportunity to shine is in customer service.  If the part or bike I sold you failed and it had little to do with you being a knucklehead, I'll take care of you ASAP. 
Glad to hear you had a good experience w/ Human Zoom.

The other Karl

One more quick story about Carl (Human Zoom) If it wasn't for him, I would not have been at the first PMBA meeting. I stopped in he shop the day before the meeting, by chance, and he was like "are you going to the meeting" and I'm like "what meeting" and he's like the IMBA trail care crew is having a meeting about a club .......... and here we are. Thanks Carl.