Customer Service

I know there are a lot of racers/riders who stick with small companies because of one-on-one service, quick turnaround, and acountability. But I have got to tout Specialized ... and I am not even sponsored by them ... yet.

I am soooooooo glad I decided to pack my bike for La Ruta a few days early. I started breaking it down at my house and then took it to Bruce at The Outdoor Store the next day to finish. This is my maiden voyage with my bike and I wanted to be sure I did it correctly. Anyway, upon inspection, Bruce noticed a rather LARGE puddle of oil underneath my shock. Oh, crap! Yes, about 10cc of oil had leaked out from around the rebound knob. We figured this was all the oil in the shock.

So here it is, Thursday, and I am leaving Sunday. I have another bike, but it was not race-ready. Bruce gets on the phone with Specialized. With no hesitation they said they would overnight a brand new '08 shock at no cost to me. Sweet! Bruce got the new shock yesterday and I rode my bike last night. All felt good.

I guess there are other companies out there that probably have this type of customer service, but I am sure they are few and far between. And this is not the first time Specialized has come to my aid. They overnighted a Fox shock on another bike a few years back that would not hold air. Once again, at no cost to me. Thank you, Specialized, for coming to my aid so quickly. My heart sunk when I saw all that oil, but within 10 minutes, my spirits were lifted.

And thank you, Bruce, for resolving my crisis. He had even thought about taking the shock off his wife's bike and putting it on mine. This would have thrown a wrench in his weekend plans as Pam and he had planned a trip to Tsali. Luckily that was a fleeting thought after talking to Specialized.

So, after a scary moment, I am back on track. Back to packing my bike.