bicycle shops hate us !!!

I live right ona town line and there's a bike shop in each town - while they're nice an all, they've so much repair work and whatnot their customer service is... indifferent. They really don't care to help or to sell you something.

I have good convos at one of the two - but it's rarely about bikes oddly enough. After the initial MB babble that first time I showed up - I get far more bicycle info on this forum then I can get outta them.

It isn't that they're amateurs or don't know anything - they just don't wanna talk about it. "Buy this" and next topic please. I suspect they no longer like what they do, burned out perhaps. The two techs I yap with used to ride a lot, but not anymore

Bike Den has the witch?

Have you tried DealExtreme.com they have some cheapo fenders that you could mess with to make fendoers.

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Map your motorized bikes location on a Frappr Map show us where you are and post a pic of your bike.

If trailer parks didn't exist would tornadoes exist?

There is nothing unsafe about department store bikes,they are usually the safer ones because they are made of steel.The reason they are cheap is because they don't come with thousand dollar forks, five hundred dollar race faces,hundred dollar chains,and hundred dollar crank inserts.Aluminum alloy rims are more expensive than the cheap steel ones because they are lighter,but they are NOT as strong. I use the steel rims for my motorized bike because they are very strong and can take the weight and the pounding. The aluminum frame on my Hrro is only guaranteed for five years and its is T-6 air craft alum. Metal suffers from many streses.One of them is called fatigue, and this is what will cause alum. to fracture over a long period of time .High tensile steel and chro/molly frames are guaranteed for life .They are heavier but alot stronger.It's funny how they are the cheaper ones.

there are a bunch of bike shops here in st pete. Some are cool some are not. There is also a shop that works strictly on pocket bikes and go carts, they are alright and a good place to go if you need something like a masterlink on a saturday. and a shop that sells electric bikes and small scooters. all in all there is like 20-25 places you could goto to get what you need, it is just a matter of who is the nicest youve found. a lot of the shops are filled with snobby folks who drop thousands on a bike and ride it in spandex with advertising on there shirt. what is the deal with that? Did Geico really sponser you or did you buy that shirt? Are you really riding for Charles Schwab? Who wears that junk. anyway this is not an ad for any one bike shop but if anyone in st pete wants more info on the best bike shops i have found they can message me.

Thanks for fillin' me w/envy again o.o

The two bike shops we have 'round here are in two different towns - and that's about it for this area. While nice enough and while they do service and sell bikes - there's but a meager handful of parts. Most things they order and drop-ship, so I might as well skip a step and order it myself.

There are no small performance engine places of any sort, anywhere to be found. I'm still lookin' for anyone that has done anything other than buy a pocket bike, blow it up and throw it out... meh.

*shrug* I'm often the aberration, I'm used to it


Oh right, of course there's a motorcycle shop... just the one... and would more aptly named a motorcycle cabin really. It's got the one bay filled with worthless and a handful of helmets and some chainlube at $20 a can lol The best thing is I don't think the one lady I've ever seen there knows anything or even likes motorcycles FTW

LOL!!!! AGREED NO TIGHTS HE HE HE !!!

there's a place by my house that i haven't been into since i was a kid. Don's Schwinn. i went in there a while back looking for a chain breaker, and the guy totally ignored me. then i went online looking for more bike stores and i saw Don's reviews.

some hilarious reading material right here:

Don's Schwinn Cyclery - Google Maps

I know what you mean about those shirts, and this why I drink Coca Cola and Coca Cola I drink also because Coca Cola is the one and only original real thing. The other colas are just wana bees and copy cats they are not the real thing like Coca Cola.There's one more reason why I drink Coca Cola.I drink Coca Cola because I like the taste of Coca Cola.

Amazing that the guy is still in business. Pretty funny reading alright. It made me think of an old lady who owned Roses Ben Franklin in Ely, MN. a long time ago when I was a kid. My brother and I would go in there for glass beads and pea shooters, marbles and other necessities of life. Rose was tall and thin, or so she seemed from my height (depth?) as a seven year old. Wherever you were in the store in a moment, ghostlike, she was inches away hovering and in a deep voice for an old lady would say CAN I HELP YOU? DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING! Creepy and I always felt guilty of shoplifting or something even though we never took anything. Some stores make you feel like trespassers and should have a large sign stating "The Customer Is Always Wrong, Goodbye". Not that Rose compares at all with Schwinn Don. He da man!
SB

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Someday when I grow up I will probably lose interest in toys with wheels, but until then...

There are two Bicycle shops close to where I live. One is run in conjunction with a Hobby Shop and it's Called Tim's. The only reason I mention it by name is that I like the place. The guy who runs the counter most of the time is one of us. He actually builds/sells Golden Eagle kits, and I've seen his work running around Everett. (I even talked with him about supplying replacement belts.) He was impressed with my rigs and the only "negative" comment he had was on the Huffy frame, and that was more of a warning about the poor quality of the welds. (Bubastis hasn't failed me yet, but I still keep a close eye on her.)
His shop deals mainly in MTBs (The real competition grade stuff), and repairs. He can re-true a wheel for a fair price, and occasionally has some interesting used things in there. (Like a Schwinn Orange Krate that hangs from the rafters.) I go there for prettymuch everything. I still have my eye on that beautiful Felt MP he has sitting out on display. One of these days, eh?

The "other shop" caters mainly to spandex superheros. One of the guys at the counter pulled a face at me when I told him I need the beefier non-skewer wheels because the engine won't handle quick-releases. They also tried to charge my buddy $150 to replace the single-piece crank on his old cruiser. (I ended up doing it myself, and learned a bit in the process.)
Plus they wanted to make him wait a week for a tuneup and charge him $99 for the privelage. Tim's did it for under $50, and got it done the same day. Or they will simply ignore you when they realize you aren't in there to drop $3000 on a road bike and a ridiculous spandex suit. Needless to say, I would rather eat my helmet than give them my money.

As for general public reception, most people just stare because they don't know what it is. This is followed by "What's the point of that? Why not just buy a motorbike?" Or the "Holy ****! That's AWESOME!" reaction, which of course I quite enjoy. The kiddies love it, they think my bikes are the most awesome thing since Thomas the Tank Engine. (I ended up with an entourage of kids on bikes the last time I decided to cut through a local park :-) Lastly the Spandex superheros ususally respond with "That's cheating!" or try to race me.... Which always ends with them wearing themselves out, and me waving as I buzz past them a second time :-) .