Let's talk bike shops
Mar. 31st, 2010 02:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darkemeralds posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
bicyclesRecent bike shop win and bike shop fail has got me curious about other people's experiences.
What's your best bike shop experience? Worst? Ideal that hasn't happened?
Do you have a preferred local bike shop? How would you characterize it? Neighborhoody? Big and sparkly? Sport-and-performance oriented? Down and greasy and can fix anything? Woman-centric? Family-friendly? All-purpose?
And how do you use your bike shop? What kinds of repairs do you have done and what kinds do you do yourself? Do you buy accessories from them? Peripheral sporting goods? Clothes?
Do you have a good selection of bike shops in your area? Do you know if different ones have different specialties?
How far do you have to go to get to your favorite bike shop? Do you feel loyal to it?
Me, I dislike working on my own bike, and as documented here recently, the bike my former bike shop sold me has needed probably more work than average, so I've been a frequent flyer at the service counter. I'll have a flat fixed at the nearest shop, but for scheduled repairs I'll ride three or four miles to my new favorite commuting-and-city bike shop (Clever Cycles FTW!), where I plan to buy my next bike. I'll give my limited accessory business to whoever has the beset stuff (again I say, Clever Cycles FTW! Cutest panniers you've ever seen.)
There are approximately eleventy-eight bike shops within the Portland area, and half of them are within an easy walk, ride, or push of my home or my workplace, so I can afford to be kind of picky. So unless I've got a flat in the rain, if I walk into a place that has all men staff and all men customers, and mostly speedy sport bikes, I expect I'll walk out again.
What about you?
What's your best bike shop experience? Worst? Ideal that hasn't happened?
Do you have a preferred local bike shop? How would you characterize it? Neighborhoody? Big and sparkly? Sport-and-performance oriented? Down and greasy and can fix anything? Woman-centric? Family-friendly? All-purpose?
And how do you use your bike shop? What kinds of repairs do you have done and what kinds do you do yourself? Do you buy accessories from them? Peripheral sporting goods? Clothes?
Do you have a good selection of bike shops in your area? Do you know if different ones have different specialties?
How far do you have to go to get to your favorite bike shop? Do you feel loyal to it?
Me, I dislike working on my own bike, and as documented here recently, the bike my former bike shop sold me has needed probably more work than average, so I've been a frequent flyer at the service counter. I'll have a flat fixed at the nearest shop, but for scheduled repairs I'll ride three or four miles to my new favorite commuting-and-city bike shop (Clever Cycles FTW!), where I plan to buy my next bike. I'll give my limited accessory business to whoever has the beset stuff (again I say, Clever Cycles FTW! Cutest panniers you've ever seen.)
There are approximately eleventy-eight bike shops within the Portland area, and half of them are within an easy walk, ride, or push of my home or my workplace, so I can afford to be kind of picky. So unless I've got a flat in the rain, if I walk into a place that has all men staff and all men customers, and mostly speedy sport bikes, I expect I'll walk out again.
What about you?
no subject
Date: 2010-04-02 12:55 am (UTC)My bike is 'creamsicle', it is white with orange highlights. Very nice. :)