March 14, 2014, 9:13 a.m. -  morgman

#!markdown In the service department? Absolutely. Unless you've already got a good reputation with the mechanics and they don't mind doing you favours, a six pack is your ticket to a rush job at the wrong time of day or a day-of spoke replacement on a Saturday. Funny thing is those with good reputations with mechanics who get favours also bring cookies or beer or whatever. Coincidence? As for sales? Well, it's not quite as black and white here but keep this in mind: bike shop employees don't (couldn't) do their job solely for the money. When you walk into a shop you are dealing with a person who's passionate about bikes, doesn't get paid a ton, and lives frugally because they are also paying for a new bike or two. It's not Jimmy Pattison waiting to clean out your wallet. (Besides that, margins on complete bikes aren't even that high anyway.) If you've decided that you would like to deal with a particular shop for your new bike purchase and warranty service, and you've made that decision based on their service (which you should), here's the reality: beer is a widely accepted bike shop currency and will be much appreciated.