I know that there's already been a book written about life in the bike shop, and it's a good one, written by our friend Maynard Hershon, available here. But this is something that plays out nearly once or twice a week, but with out the dramatic ending, usually. So I couldn't resist...

So here's the request:
If you've been searching for weeks on end for some bizarre, N.L.A. part that hasn't been made in like 43 years and you find it, EXPECT TO PAY A BIT, OR A LOT, MORE FOR IT! This is S.O.P. for any N.O.S. part. (If you don't know these acronyms, then you probably don't give a shit about what I'm writing...) If you're a cheapskate, keep that info to yourself- shit, man, enough people already know it about you, so what's the point in getting more press?
Your friendly and knowledgeable bike shop guy, contrary to popular opinion, is really invested in your situation, at least in the moment. The good stores pay (or at least try to pay) decent money for the guys that know their shit, and when you nickel & dime the store for something you've "been looking all over for" you dis-respeck all of their time spent living and loving the sport, and that's not cool.
Thanks for putting up with my crap.

Great.
Now Tim and Skye and everyone else even remotely associated with Swobo are gonna kick my ass. No calls from a team of lawyers, no Cease & Desist order. Just a swift beat down.
The genesis of this all comes from my great admiration of How To Avoid The Bummer Life and my more than 23 years of seeing the lamest stuff done to otherwise well meaning bikes.
This will not be in any way, shape or form a forum for basing on bikes that don't fit into some neat and clean category. Likely it'll morph into a stupid tips and tricks kinda thing, or I'll realize that I simply don't have the time to write to one freaking blog, let alone FOUR, and delete it...
*Disclaimer*
I do not aspire to the journalistic heights attained by HTATBL, nor do I claim to be able to do so, so fuck you.