I needed to find the phone number for Bicycle World and I typed the name into Google and this Yelp site came up and I read the review posted by someone at the end of July and I was shocked. I have no idea who that person is and I know nothing about the situation in question, but I find it next to impossible that this person's account of what happened is accurate. My first clue that this person must be wrong is when this person suggested that Eric did not properly fit the bicycle to the person at the time of purchase and that caused the person's hip to hurt. I could believe certain things, but that Eric didn't do a proper fitting is not even close to possible. Eric is a perfectionist when it comes to fitting bicycle to someone. If you allow him the time, it is an art Eric practices with the precision of a brain surgeon. I went to Bicycle World many years ago when they were in their old location and I met Eric for the first time over there. I wanted to get back into cycling and I purchased what was, at the time, a pretty sweet Cannondale bike. I have a pretty bad back from a childhood injury and I wasn't sure if cycling would be good for me. But, I knew that I needed to have the bike properly fitted if I had any chance of being able to ride regularly. At one point during my fitting, I remembered thinking that the tiny measurements and adjustments Eric was making were almost excessive--but that's how he is. He wanted to get it absolutely perfect. Now, I might have thought that I just caught Eric on a good day and that he wasn't normally this detail oriented but for the fact that I now ride with a group of riders twice a month who ride at my same level more or less. 4 of the 7 people in our group so happen to have purchased their bikes at Bicycle World and Eric is uniformly recognized as a bicycle god among us. Next week, I'm going to ask some of them to log on to this site and post their stories about Eric. Something about the story of this person with the Felt just doesn't add up.
Now there is something else about this person's story that really bothers me and that is the part where this person implies that Bicycle World used some sort of bait and switch technique and tried to milk more money about of him or her. I don't buy that one bit. Every experience I have had with that store tells me that they are honest. I can think of one example. A few years ago, I had found an energy bar that I really liked which Bicycle World did not sell. I called and spoke to Eric's wife, Eileen. I asked her if she could get them for me. She told me that she wasn't sure but that she would try, especially since the bar was made by a company that they had an account with. It isn't worth going into, but I have some food allergies and this particular bar was better for me than the other kinds that Bicycle World had. Eileen got back to me by email and told me that she could get me some bars, but they could only be purchased by the box. That was great for me, so I asked her how much they would cost. She gave me the price and that was also okay with me, so I asked her to get me two boxes. When the boxes came in, I got a phone call to come pick them up. Eileen then informed me that she was mistaken as to the cost of the bars and they were actually less expensive than what I had originally been told. Huh?! You mean I had already agreed to pay the higher amount and Bicycle World told me that I didn't have to? YES! Tell me how many store owners you know who would do that in today's day and age.
Like I said, I don't know the person with the Felt or the actual situation, but I just cannot believe the story that is being told. If Eileen told that person that she needed to wash her hands of him or her, I betting on the fact that she had every reason to want to do so! read more
