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@Jacqui
I had a great experience yesterday.. I was at TdV yesterday chatting and generally bothering their mechanic when a mother and son came in looking for a Christmas present.
The boy was probably 12, athletic looking and just on the brink of puberty.. he still had a puppy fat face but he had the look of someone just about to have a growth spurt. (those with children will know what I mean). I’ve seen them in the shop before. The woman has 2 sons and they are building one a bike for Christmas. We discussed hubs, the boy and I talked about some sexy campy record track hubs and how he’d like to have them one day and mom and I discussed the lower end options that were more practical given that her boys continue to forget to lock their bikes up..
Then, we sized the boy for a frame. What really impressed me was how mature and realistic the 12 year old was. I don’t remember being so at his age. He didn’t seem embarrassed, or as embarrassed as one would anticipate when i asked him to gauge the stand over on a bike we tried him on. I explained why it was important to have at least an inch between him and the bar; he and mom took it in stride. I told him I would love to sell him the campy wheel set he was drooling over, and complimented his tastes, but i wouldn't do so until he’d been down to Herne Hill and had done some riding on lesser wheels first. I told him to think of it as something to achieve – when he was serious about track then he’d feel he deserved them and it would mean more to him. He liked that . I think mom appreciated that too. I explained to mom about the importance of a decent bottom bracket in enhancing the life of a bike and quality of the ride..
she left feeling more confident. The boy left with an ambition.
For me it was a fantastic 30 mins.
He's getting a bike under the tree for christmas; it's one he won't forget i am sure. I remember my first bike under the tree.. and my second and my thrid all of them were magical moments in my childhood.
Do you remember those magical moments?