I Endorse

It has been observed that there are seven basic types of blog post. And while I would like to think that this blog occasionally aspires to a higher plane of content, that might not be the case.

Even so, I'm going to do something I've never done before. I'm going to endorse a business. Namely: Plaine & Son. This bike & ski superstore has been nothing but uninterrupted fair dealing and premium service since I bought my two-wheeled slice of heaven there last April.

Everyone in the store is an expert, which is typical of specialty shops. What is NOT typical is the degree to which they are forgiving of your lack of expertise. Have you seen High Fidelity? The John Cusack movie based on the Nick Hornby novel of the same name about Rob the Music Store Snob? That resonates with me. Because I love music and I know a little bit about it. Enough, for instance, that I know when someone is condescending to me in a record store. It is an all-too-regular occurrence, part of the "fetish properties" industry.



Well, not so over at Plaine & Son. Maybe that's not abnormal for bike shops. Last summer I had a bad run of flat tubes and finally had to bring the bike into (the now-defunct) Capital Board & Board for a diagnosis. Not only did they charge me a mere $4+ for the service (turns out there was a renegade staple fragment eluding my examinations) AND a new tube, but they were exceedingly kind about the whole thing.

This is the vibe I get over at Plaine & Son, too. P&S is a little pricier, to be sure, but if a little extra change helps keep that place running on all cylinders, it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

In the interest of getting ready for my car-free July, I headed over there yesterday to buy a light for the front and a blinking reflector for the back. On the phone they said service might take 3-4 days. They had it back to me, fully-installed, in 3 hours. The service tech told me - if I wanted to wait - he could have it back to me in a half hour.

"Can you stick around, brah? I'll get ya right in the rotaysh..."

And, unfortunately, brah, I couldn't stick around. But it made my day.

Buy what they're selling.