I've been bike shopping this week. Bikes have come a long way since 2007 when I did this last. There seem to be two kinds of bike shop employees. For the shops downtown close to campus, they'll help you ride whatever you ask for, but that's about all the help you get. They also find the color a notable feature. Hint: for a $3000 bike, color is the last thing on my mind. Then there are the shops that listen to what you want and respond to your questions in helpful ways, working out the details of what you need and how they can help. Customer experience is a buzz word these days, but my customer experience probably affected my ride experience. My favorite bikes are from the shops that listened to me, even if I knew what I wanted to test ride before I got to any of them.