Road Cycling - Nominations for the best LBS.

OK - so you all talk about finding a good LBS.
It's obviously an important part of a good bicycling experience.

I'd like to hear some nominations for the best LBS.
Where's it located, privatly owned or larger company, and most importantly what makes it so great.

And for those of you who actually work for the store you're nominating - I'd like to know if you're just trying to keep your jobs, or really think it's that great...

Cheers,
:beer:

R

Bicycles Unlimited in Peachtree City Georgia. Good people, good service, lots of knowledge on most all aspects of cycling, good team, lots of rides fo all levels, they are very active in the cycling scene all across the south side of Atlanta. WWW.BICYCLESUNL.COM There site is new and a little slow but check out the calendar.
:beer: :fun:

Richardson Bike Mart, Plano Texas.

Great service, wrenche's always seem willing
to help.
They have a huge selection of bikes, and equiptment
and don't seem to put the almighty dollar above
everything else.
Prices are good, they are pretty close to what
the e-tailers charge on alot of stuff.
they are very community minded, have weekly
rides and support up and coming racers
(they put Lance on his first real racing bike).
check em out at:
Richardson Bike Mart (http://bikemart.com/site/index.cfm)
Marty

Scheller's in Louisville KY. Treated me as a real person even when I knew little of what I was looking for. Has answered every question I asked.:)

The best store that I have ever been to is Richardson in Texas.

They were very nice and willing to help. They even let me put my bike up on the stand and work on it for a few minutes when I said I was from out of town and just needed to adjust something. They also have a great selection.

The best LBS that I have access all the time to for road bikes would have to be La Bicicletta in Toronto. Great selection of high end road bikes. The warranty sucks, but the tuneups that you do get are flawless. All the bikes on the floor are already to be tested and the service is great. They have locations in mid town Toronto, and in Niagara Falls, New York.

The best LBS that I have access all the time to for Mountain bikes would have to be Bike Depot in Thornhill, Ontairo, 2 lights north of Toronto city limits. They carry many brands of mountain bikes, they have one of the best mechanics in the city, especially for brakes, and when they are setting up your bike, there are 5 restaurants surrounding the place and a mall with a food court. They even include a 5 year full service warranty with every bicycle purchase. Other locations are Broadway cycle at Bloor and Dufferin, and Grind, our bmx store on the upper level of bike depot. Check it out at www.grind-online.com Bike depot's site will be up shortly.

High Caliper Bicycles in White Plains NY. This is a privately owned shop that has the gamut of bikes from inexpensive hybrids to the newest Colnago/Ferrari collaboration. The owners and personnel always have time to answer any question (no matter how silly it may seem in retrospect).
Their service is the best with several mechanics who have been on the staff for a number of years. Any repairs that I have needed and brought to them has resulted in a one time fix.
The owners, Harlan and Ed, are both avid riders as are all of their employees.
Finally it is a real pleasure to go into a shop where you know you will be greeted with a smile and warm welcome.
I believe they can be reached online at www.highcaliper.com

I've never actually been there, but I know the owner. He rides with us in the winter. Great guy. If you are in the area, shop with him. He is extremely knowledgable and just a plain nice guy.

Primeau Velo (http://www.primeauvelo.com/)

Go to the "contact us" link, and click on the "Brossard" location. Check out the photos of the inside of the store. VERY cool. The Style Man would definitely approve.

Big Wheel Schwinn in Hollywood, Florida is a pretty good local shop for us down here.

That's tough. I like BUchanan's Bicycles in Norman, Oklahoma, personally. Good place for racer types. Staff knows a lot and they all actually ride, which helps. The only LBS around here is Scoreboard Sports in Gallup, New Mexico. IT's a good shop from where I sit because I know what I'm looking for and don't rely on a shop for much information (instead, I come here and try to distinguish lies from fact). Anyway, they do a lot of local trail advocacy stuff and have been the main power behind a push for a planned trail system in Gallup. They also work with the state parks service to keep trails in the McGaffey Wilderness Area open to riders. They don't carry a ton, but they can order stuff and get it as fast as online, and they help out on pricing every once in a while.

I have to put a vote in for a shop I went to once in Colorado, one of the Denver suburbs. It was called Cycle Analyst and they had a case of old Campy stuff that reminded me of a shop in San Francisco that I've been in that's legendary for it's selection of old school parts. Oh, and Richardson Bike Mart, in spite of its size, is a cool shop. If you go in and a guy named Rodney talks to you, you're set. Good people all the way around.

Performance Bike shop in Colorado Springs, CO
Definitely part of a bigger company! The folks at this store shine though - the whole company is great though too. I've ordered plenty via the web site as well - always great customer service there too.

You've had better experiences at their shops than I. I've only been to one in the south Denver area, though, and was impressed at the staff's lack of knowing what they were talking about. Hopefully, they've overhauled their staff by now at that location.

Bike Line in Newark, DE
Part of a chain of bike shops in area around Philadelphia, PA.

The folks there were very patient with me. Being new to cycling, I had lots of questions. They took the time to answer and make suggestions that proved to be very helpful. They allowed plenty of time to test ride. They even suggested that when I was ready to purchase that I wait 2 weeks until their corporate sale started. When I told them that I couldn't get back to the store at that time (it's an hour & half drive), they arranged to get me the discount anyway.

it would be a cross between,

Blue Diamond Bike outpost (http://www.bikeoutpost.com/)

and ProCyclery (http://www.procyclery.com)

I've been really impressed by the nice and knowledgeable staff at both places :)

I like Cycle Smithy- a small LBS over on North Clark Street in Lincoln Park. The guy who worked there, Mike, was good enough to help me out with some minor questions I had after I went to the other 3 biggest LBS's in town.

The other three LBS's looked at me like I wasn't worth the time.

Mike was good enough to take about half an hour to help me out with my bike- no charge.

The store is small and the people working there are extremely personable. I bring my bike in for repair work, and they're on it right away. And the mechanic there took the time to talk to me and encouraged me to take some mechanics classes so I can do some of my own maintenance.

Last weekend, a couple drove up to me and my friend as we were sitting on our bikes and asked us if there was a bike store around because they wanted to buy bikes that day. I told him there were 3- LBS #1 on Wells had a big selection and crappy service and couldn't care less. LBS #2 on Halsted had a slightly smaller store than #1, but was nationally recognized, but also had a limited variety of bikes, and the service was just a little better than #1. Cycle Smithy on Clark may run you a few dollars more, but they'll take the time to talk to you, they have impeccable service, and you'll get plenty of one-on-one and follow up. The couple thanked me, and they took off in the direction of Cycle Smithy, even though they were a block from LBS #2.

There's something to be said for good service.


Koffee

I'd have to say Racer Sportif on bloor in Toronto. Big selection of mid to high end stuff (although they do seem to push their stuff which is made local). They were great with me, and the wrenches were easy to talk to as well. http://www.racersportif.com/

I wish that I could nominate one of the local shops, but, alas, even the best shop seems to periodically be run by morons.

**sigh!!**

Another vote for the RBS in Richardson, TX. Wish I could take them to my present locale. Always on the ball, friendly and anything but high pressure. What every LBS should aspire to as far as the way they treat customers. Kudos to Jim, the owner, for running such a great LBS year-in and year-out. And hello to Jack, the Service Manager. He goes a long way in helping Jim make the RBS what it is.

The place I always go: http://bikegallery.com/site/intro.cfm

At the eastside branch located on Sandy Blvd. the staff have always been enthusiastic and unwaveringly courteous and helpful. I'd recommend this shop to anyone. Always a positive experience. :)

-Rob

Minneapolis/St. Paul? Freewheel in near the University has a really grass roots feel. Everyone is friendly. If I had to pick it would be them, but...

Bikemasters on the west side has the best prices and nice staff. Grand Performance in St. Paul has a nice road contingent and cycling club. Eriks and Penn--the two big chains--have the most inventory, but aren't always the best prices. No BIG complaints about them but I like the Ma and Pa type shops. There are more but these carry the brands I like.

MOAB's Poison Spider was a cool shop to visit and I second Cycle Smithy in Chicago as a great shop. Better than Performance that's nearby.

Looks like Richardson is getting quite a few votes...

My favorite is Bike Line - Indianapolis. Family owned business, quality merchandise, knowledgeable people, excellent maintenance, one of Seven Cycles top 10 shops!

Went to performance on sat. and very helpful and the girl was good to look at to which is a big plus.The guy gave me a catalong on every bike i looked at and wrote the price in the catalog by each bike i was looking at.He also said they could build a bike with a salsa bike frame.I said to much $$$.He said they moved to another country and the frames went from $1500 to $600.Very helpfull.

Walmart. They have killer deals on full-suspension downhill bikes.