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Old 01-09-08, 09:03 PM
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buelito
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Location: Broomfield, CO
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Originally Posted by Jet Travis
Anyone remember the old Nashbar (maiden name Bike Warehouse, I believe) catalogs that were printed on newsprint? They had a 60s-ish quality that was fun to read.
Yeah- I had their catalog from around 1981 or 1982... It was newsprint, and the itms were drawings, not photos. I liked it better than any other. Performance came out soon there after, and they had the glossy color catalog, but I always liked the newsprint (like Campmor is now) type catalog-- their prices were better. Arne Nashbar would actually answer questions personally... At some point in the 90's, before they were gobbled up, their son had a spin-off called "Spike Nashbar", which sold voleyball stuff.

I remember their retail stores--there was on in Northern Virginia, relatively close to home--was only here for about a year, as I recall.

I remember how I found out Nashbar had been bought--I was ordering something from them, and they charged me sales tax. I asked why, and was told because they had a retail outlet in the state I lived in. I was pleasantly surprised, as I expected them to tell me Nashbar had opened another retail store--that they were goihng back to retail. I was very disappointed when the sales clerk told me it was the Performance stores in the area... he also told me Supergo had been bought by Performance.

My biggest disappointment was that we had lost another outlet for bike stuff. Sort of when the mom and pop hardware stores disappear and HomeDepot or Lowes appears... yes they have almost anything you could want, but there is no variety. You get what they offer, and nothing else. You get a good price, but the individuality is gone...the attention is gone...

I have the distinct advantage that the closest bike shop to me is a Performance store. That's great... however, I support two other bike shops because I don't want them to disappear. One of them --PedalShop in AShburn is where I got my fixie. Mike is the area guru on fixies and single speed mountain bikes. He is also a great guy, who takes care of his customers. I don't know how he stays in business, but I do know that he needs me and everyone that goes in there.

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