Southeast - Looking for a good service shop

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kokomo61
12-09-06, 08:23 AM
I'm looking for opinions for service in the Northern Virginia area. I'm familiar with A-1, Spokes, Revolution, Washington Bike Center and the multiple Performance locations....but I've never been riding enough (until recently) to really care where I had my bike(s) worked on.

I want to get some basic setup and adjustment on my 2 road bikes, including checking wheel true, derailleur adjustments and some possible dialing in of my fit - maybe swapping stems and adjusting seat height, etc. essentially a minor tuneup and fit session.

For my commuter, it's a little more extensive - I want to swap the front fork for a rigid one, move to more road-type tires, and do more maintenance items (since it's got much more mileage).

I have some mechanical ability, but not enough to do this stuff myself. (I'm taking the beginner and advance bike maintenance courses from FFax County after the first of the year, and will likely take the Park Tool course later on), but anyone got a recommendation on a good, fair priced repair shop? It could be a full-line LBS, or a repair-only shop.....

Thanks in advance....

ks1g
12-12-06, 08:41 PM
I've had very good results with the mechanics at Spokes/Ashburn (haven't needed the services of the wrenches at Vienna) and A-1 in Herndon. The Spokes folks helped me with a bottom bracket and headset replacement on my road bike. I used A-1 for some basic servicing (I got lazy) and wheel truing on my wife's bike and to check for a bent derailluer hanger (it wasn't!) on my road bike.

Another shop I recommend is Pedal Shop in Ashburn. Mike helped me swap the cheap suspension fork on my MTB/commuter for a rigid fork and helped me with a fixed/free wheel and parts-bin front wheel when I was converting an old 10 speed to fixed.

Unless you have a knowledgable friend (or try the guy who advertises bike serivicing at your home on craigslist) I'd let a shop handle major stuff like the fork swap. You can learn to swap the tires and do the brake and drivetrain overhauls. Zinn's bike maintenance books and the Park Tools web site have been invaluable to me.