"There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die."
On a more positive note: I got a single speed the other day and my old man legs couldn't handle the rear sprocket. Started phoning around to see who could change the sprocket and adjust the SS chain. After about 7 Auckland stores, I phoned T White bikes and they said Yep, we've got the parts, come and drop it off.
So I cruised over and asked politely if they could do it then (they were pretty busy). No problem they said. Whipped a new sprocket on, changed the chain to a longer one and charged about $30 for a sprocket, chain, and labour. I couldn't believe it. Unbelievable service at a great price. Now, I've heard all sorts about this shop (positive and negative) but the proof was in the pudding....they were awesome.
T Whites seem pretty legit. I've only dealt with them via their webstore (I picked up some sweet foot straps for my fixie at a decent price). I've only been to Auckland twice in the last three years, but I'll have to check it out next time. I wish their website was updated a little more frequently. Do they have a decent range of second hand stuff too?