March 7, 2022, 8:29 a.m. -  Andrew Major

I’d argue most shops will always bring in what will sell _easily_. And that’s their business - gotta keep the lights on and feed the staff. But there are shops that are much more individually curated, especially in the road/commuter market. I mean, Dream Cycles has their own **[handlebar](https://nsmb.com/articles/soma-dream-handlebar-collaboration/)** (now in three rises) which is a window into Darren’s process that includes components from Phil, Paul, etc. It’s a sell what they ride environment. Then you get, for an example, shops where all the staff use product X, but product Y that’s more universally popular is on the wall and that’s always seemed like a loss to me. Again, shop needs to make money, but don’t you want to tell a unique story? Locally, James@Obsession, for example, was one of the few people who was really into Plus tires (and I’m right onboard with that for most riders) and I think it was cool that folks that talked to him about bikes were getting another perspective than they would at other shops. Yes, I’m also a nerd about the LBS experience. Hahaha