Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - your favorite LBS...

where do you do most of your shopping?

why do you love your LBS so much? (or hate it?)

how many LBS's are within 5 miles from you?

support your LBS..

randy

3 shops in my local little town, about 6 miles out. One is the Bee's Knees, they even have a Surly Fixxer in stock! Everything from a new lock ring to my Fort frame, and everything else besides. The other two are crap; one steals kids bikes (or has them stolen for him) and sells them on at rediculous prices (so I've heard), the other sells motorbikes and electric old people scooters, I don't with that one.

Fantastic Thrift is my fave LBS, followed closely by Diversity thrift, the Goodwill Auction, and Southside thrift.

Of course, their service department(s) don't exist as such, but who needs a service department? Prices can't be beat.

This pops up now and then, but my experiences with the LBSs here in Richmond have been so all-out bad I use the LBSs as parts bins of last resort. Rowlett's is the best; at least they have some clue what a bike is. Might feel different if I'd found them earlier in my stay in Richmond, but there you have it. LBSs are pretty much the entire reason I do all my own work and buy second-hand bikes.

My FBS is my ex-LBS from when I lived about 20 miles to the north of where I am now. I still go to them because they know me, have great prices, always cut me deals and generally treat me very nicely. I'm friends with the owners. There is one shop that's a couple of miles from me and I frequent them too. They also know me and treat me pretty nicely and I buy small items or sometimes parts from them but my major purchases still go to my FBS. There are a few more shops around the area too but they generally seem pricier and don't have that great a selection. I will admit to trolling around from time to time for discount/closeout items from various shops... especially clothing.

Only psuedo close LBS is 15 miles away. I try to do business there, I really do. They're clueless, complete idiots. Last time I was there I tried to get an Italian BB for my Pinarello. I brought the frame in to make sure it would fit. Not only didn't they have one in stock, once they tried an english bottom bracket and it didn't fit (even though I TOLD them it was Italian) they just handed back the frame and said it didn't fit. I asked them if they could measure to figure out what would fit. The main guy kinda looked at me and sighed and said "I guess so" So he measured it and said he'd call me if he could figure out what I needed.
I came home and ordered it from Harris Cyclery. I try to be good and buy local but unless you own a brand new trek that they sold you then they have no idea what the hell is going on.
It makes me sad.

Performance Bike. They're half the price of everyone else in town (Marin County is $$$) and they all know me by name (and vice versa). Unfortunately, I had to buy my Bianchi at a different shop, and have been hating life ever since. :(

Yeah, I spend a lot of dough at Performance in Redwood City. The Team Performance 10% back is awesome.

My LBS in San Bruno is cool but they rarely have the parts I want. I do let have them work on stuff I don't have the tools to work on like installing headset races and cups. They also only sell Specialized, blech.

Valencia Cyclery has a great service dept and carry many hard to find parts.

American Cyclery is pretty good too. Nice bunch of guys. It's just a pain to get to from San Bruno.

The Freewheel on Valencia is good too, and is where I bought my Bianchi Axis. They have a nice selection of Bianchi's, Kona's, and accessories too. One disappointment is when I went to look at a Pista and the guy tried snowing me about how the Pista frame is so much better than a SOMA Rush frame.

well...if you're looking to race it on the track, the pista's angles might be "better" than the rush's. i think the rush is a little too loose, for my tastes, as far as rear wheel to seat tube clearance goes, but i could be making that up...i like the freewheel. but i wouldn't call them "local" to me. i haven't had enough money to really have any experience with many of the shops in berkeley...but from what i can judge this is my list and reasons why:
1) Recycle on sacremento in berk. because they're right down the street from my house and they have a friggen used parts ROOM! with everything organized into filing cabinets and different bins.

2) momovelo. because they have tons of nifty specialty stuff, and because kai is rad and was telling me about how he can get an entire gold pista kit from japan (gold nitto bars/stem/seatpost, gold izumi chain, saddle with gold rails, and gold chainrings, all NJS, of course).

3) velo sport. because they're friendly as hell, and seem to be one of the larger shops in berkeley that actually sell track bikes and parts. everywhere else i've gone into with one of my trackies the service people have been super snooty...

which leads me to my least favorite shop in berkeley:
Mike's Bikes and saulsolito cyclery on university.
they seem to do a lot of high-end mountain and road bikes, and of course the first thing you see when you walk in is a bunch of clothes...i hate shops like that. if i wanted to go to a clothing store, i'd go to a clothing store. i went there my first week in town looking for a mechanic job, wound up talking to their head wrench for a while, a sort of informal interview, and at one point he actually said "bro, no offense, but that bike doesn't have any gears on it..." this was after i had told him that i built five bikes of my own including a road and a trials bike...he wouldn't hire me because he "couldn't take the time to teach me how to work on disc MTB brakes." he then said to keep checking back because they might need someone to help out changing a tire some day. and he also gave me his personalized business card. ****ing prick. that's really the only shop that i avoid like the plague here.

Missing Link is a cool shop, and they have tools that anybody can use for free, but they don't have a lot of track stuff, and every time i've been in there they didn't have at least one thing i or one of my friends were looking for...also one guy looked at me funny because i wanted to switch from STIs to downtube shifters on my road bike and wouldn't accept pod shifters as a suitable alternative...then again, my face twisted in horror when the words "how about pod shifters?" came out of his mouth. it's a reflex i have to poor technology.

i could go on to extoll the virtues of, and deride a bunch of shops in the boston area, but this post is getting too long.

Budget Pro Bikes in LA.....5 miles
Helen's in Santa Monica.....20 miles
Supergo in Santa Monica...... 20 miles

There is no local LBS worth visiting if you are fixed oriented in Central Ohio. This place is Schwinn Varsity Heaven. The only thing that I could possibly buy here is brake cable. Oh yea, thats right, I don't run brakes on my almost all of my bikes; and on the one that I do, I never use the front brake more than once a month to see if the cable is still intact. Seriously, There is one shop that tries to be a "Pro Shop" in that it has Higher end multi-geared race bikes but it is very snooty and if you are not part of their scene, they ignore you. I tried to special order something from them a number of years ago, before I discovered Harris Cyclery and other Internet sources. When I checked back after not hearing from them after 2 weeks they said that they had not ordered the item as they did not have a big enough order to place for that one item so they were waiting to get a few more items to combine with mine to make the order "Worthwhile". Thank god for the internet. If you live out in the sticks it is your only hope of salvation. I hope the local shops can survive without my help as they have no relevance to my needs. Actually I couldn't care less.

fixedgearhead

hicksville isn't the best place for fixed/ss cycling, huh? Similar things here in Bowling Green. Two bike shops, neither of them even carry a single fixed/SS bicycle, except a cruiser or two. The place to be is in Cleveland, called Eddy's Bike Shop. Lots of sales and discounts if you are a member of CAMBA like me.

hicksville isn't the best place for fixed/ss cycling, huh? Similar things here in Bowling Green. Two bike shops, neither of them even carry a single fixed/SS bicycle, except a cruiser or two. The place to be is in Cleveland, called Eddy's Bike Shop. Lots of sales and discounts if you are a member of CAMBA like me.
I know that shop and it is great. The trouble is they are 80 miles from where I live. That is 160 miles round trip. Frankly, it is easier/cheaper ordering via the internet with no wait for service; when you factor in gas/wear and tearon the vehicle, and time involved in that much travel, to say nothing of the tax advantage, which may not last. I think that bike shops that will survive, are the ones that embrace the internet sales presence and potential, and expand their customer base. Look at Harris Cyclery, for example. they are a small New England town bike shop with Major internet sales. They did it via Internet presence. I think that fixed gear is a Major City Phenomenon, for local sales, and will remain such until the cows come home. It will only change if the cows, somehow, discover fixed gear riding. Now there is a visual that I would like to witness.

fixedgearhead

They give a sweet deal...when you buy a bike, you get lifetime adjustments(if it is geared and/or has brakes) not to mention a sh*tload of extras. I made the mistake of not buying my Trek there. But, the 80 miles is too much of a haul i'll grant you. But for me, its 10 miles away, and i frequently ride my bike there when im in Cleveland. God bless the internet in your case!

Revolution Cycles

Good wrenches, deep used parts bins, always a fixie in the window.

Several weeks ago, some punks must have decided it would be fun to steal one of the two clamp-jaws off the support arms that secure the seatpost of bikes to my Hollywood Teamrider hitch rack. They simply unscrewed it and took it with them which is rather annoying because what are they going to do with just the clamp-jaws? Anyways, I went to my FBS and asked them if they could order me replacement parts.

Today, they called me and told me that Hollywood has discontinued that model of rack and didn't have any parts left. The bike shop however said they were looking around and found an old rack extension kit (allow the rack to carry two more bikes) in their warehouse which people had been scavenging other parts off. They told me they had two clamp heads for me (one as a spare) off it and that they should fit. I asked them how much and they told me they'd just give it to me for free. I seem to recall Hollywood pricing these things at around $25/ea. When I drove over there to pick up the clamps, I discovered they were still attached to support arms. The bike shop was giving me for free a set of replacement support arms too! I can't say enough about how well this shop has treated me over the years and have referred many customers to them. This would be Bothell Ski and Bike (http://www.bikesale.com/).

Cool shops rock, uncool shops are LAME.

If you have a local bike shop that is great. Cherish and utilize it. If not the internet is a wonderful option which will eliminate all the deadwood local bike shops and not soon enough for me.

fixedgearhead

My LBS in San Bruno is cool but they rarely have the parts I want. I do let have them work on stuff I don't have the tools to work on like installing headset races and cups. They also only sell Specialized, blech.
ARGH! The second headset I have my LBS install, and the second one they F'up. The first one was a 1" threadless Cane Creek S2 and they forgot to put on the top compression ring/race. Luckily they didn't toss it in the trash or something.

Now on the second one, another Cane Creek S2 1" threadless which I had to buy elsewhere because they don't stock it, they somehow installed a 1 1/8" compression ring on the top bearing! How could you miss that since the ring is not snug sliding down the steerer! I'm gonna by a long threaded rod and start installing my own headsets. Sheesh.

which leads me to my least favorite shop in berkeley:
Mike's Bikes and saulsolito cyclery on university.
they seem to do a lot of high-end mountain and road bikes, and of course the first thing you see when you walk in is a bunch of clothes...i hate shops like that. if i wanted to go to a clothing store, i'd go to a clothing store. i went there my first week in town looking for a mechanic job, wound up talking to their head wrench for a while, a sort of informal interview, and at one point he actually said "bro, no offense, but that bike doesn't have any gears on it..." this was after i had told him that i built five bikes of my own including a road and a trials bike...he wouldn't hire me because he "couldn't take the time to teach me how to work on disc MTB brakes." he then said to keep checking back because they might need someone to help out changing a tire some day. and he also gave me his personalized business card. ****ing prick. that's really the only shop that i avoid like the plague here.




WHOA!

ARGH! The second headset I have my LBS install, and the second one they F'up. The first one was a 1" threadless Cane Creek S2 and they forgot to put on the top compression ring/race. Luckily they didn't toss it in the trash or something.

Now on the second one, another Cane Creek S2 1" threadless which I had to buy elsewhere because they don't stock it, they somehow installed a 1 1/8" compression ring on the top bearing! How could you miss that since the ring is not snug sliding down the steerer! I'm gonna by a long threaded rod and start installing my own headsets. Sheesh.

Ok the question is "Why is this bike shop 'cool'"? They sound to me like a possibly personally likable collection of incompetents. Like the song say's
"Fool me once shame on you,
Fool me twice, shame on me."
I suggest you go elsewhere for service, and have your "cool bicycle shop" experiences that are truly "cool".

Fixedgearhead

Ok the question is "Why is this bike shop 'cool'"? ...


They were cool when I dropped the bike off a few days ago...
They are NOT cool now that I got the bike back and actually tried installing
a stem and handlebars.

You're right though, I'm going to a different shop for service in the future,
and I may just fashion some tools to install and remove headset cups myself.

They were cool when I dropped the bike off a few days ago...
They are NOT cool now that I got the bike back and actually tried installing
a stem and handlebars.

You're right though, I'm going to a different shop for service in the future,
and I may just fashion some tools to install and remove headset cups myself.
Headset cups are easy. Go down to your local hardware store and get a 3/8" threaded rod that is ling enough to pass through everything and 2 nuts and 2 Fender Washers. These are really large washers that have a hole that will accept the 3/8" rod. Just make sure that the washers will come into contact with outer edges of the headset and not any inner bearings that may be integrated, or you could damage the bearings. Slip the rod through the head tube and through the cups with the washers outside and lastly the nuts. Tighten the whole thing down, making sure you grease the bearing cup outside, and the head tube inside, before trying to install them in the head tube. Be sure also that the cups are in perfect alignment with the head tube before you start to torque down on everything. That's it. Snug that puppy down and you are done. Of course you could use this whole process to justify buying a nice Park Headset Bearing Press tool, but that justification is only necessary if you have to account for bicycle expenditures to your significant other.

Fixedgearhead

My favorite LBS is the only one around, and, for a change, it's a rural shop with some know-how. Scoreboard Sports in Gallup, NM. And I can usually afford to buy more stuff because of their used parts room and discount that I always get there. My roadie-fixie conversion, including the fancy rear hub, was well under $200 due to hook-ups with a chainring, bottom bracket and other misc parts that I didn't have in my parts bin. The guy is also up to speed on most stuff I've asked him about, or has found out for me if I was too lazy to look for information myself.

It helps that there are so many SS mountain bikers around here. I think I might have the only fixie for about 200 miles, but the SS guys are a lot more common so they see more SS stuff. And it's not that much different than fixie stuff, so it's an easy transition for them.

Close to that is the shop of choice in the town where I'm originally from, BUchanan's Bicycle Shop in Norman, OK. Cool guys that know about a lot and ride a crapload. Service is good. Oh, and they ride a crapload.

Headset cups are easy. Go down to your local hardware store and get a 3/8" threaded rod that is ling enough to pass through everything and 2 nuts and 2 Fender Washers. These are really large washers that have a hole that will accept the 3/8" rod. Just make sure that the washers will come into contact with outer edges of the headset and not any inner bearings that may be integrated, or you could damage the bearings.

It sounds like you've done this sucessfully with Chris King headsets? It worked OK? I have a Park headset tool but was told that I'd need a special adapter from Chris King. I gave up on cheap headsets too and don't feel inclined to beat a King cup in with a block of wood and a hammer. If a large washer works then I should be able to flip the stepped cones of the Park over and use the large flats.....hmmm.

I've also become anal about facing the head tube on new frames. My guess is some manufactures don't reface after the frame is welded. My girlfriend's Steamroller ate an aheadset in 2 weeks because the headtube wasn't true....yike.

Jim

I literally have 7 LBS's I could go to within a 5 mile radius...

Switchback Cyclery in Orange--Mostly MTB stuff.. although I did notice a couple Lemonds on the floor when I peeked in the window when they were closed...

Jax Bikes--I got my wife's Specialized there... good people, ok on the knowledge... depends who you talk to.. Andre there, is the man.

Orange City Cycles--Small shop, nice enough people, need to learn how to use the air conditioner though... always stuffy, and hot in there.

Bike Alley-- 99% BMX gear... might be good for Fixie build up stuff. Never really been in there

Performance--Idiots work there.. a bunch of clerks... although I get good deals occasionally

Santiago Cycling--High Zoot racers go there... SUPER knowledgable people, very cool, small shop...

The PATH bike shop-- MTB Stuff, never been in there

Supergo is a few miles from wrok along with Buy my bikes in CApistrano...

damn... too many choices !

jeff

It sounds like you've done this sucessfully with Chris King headsets? It worked OK? I have a Park headset tool but was told that I'd need a special adapter from Chris King. I gave up on cheap headsets too and don't feel inclined to beat a King cup in with a block of wood and a hammer. If a large washer works then I should be able to flip the stepped cones of the Park over and use the large flats.....hmmm.

I've also become anal about facing the head tube on new frames. My guess is some manufactures don't reface after the frame is welded. My girlfriend's Steamroller ate an aheadset in 2 weeks because the headtube wasn't true....yike.

Jim
Actually I use the Park Headset press to set King headsets. Just reverse the stepped cones on the center rod and you have a Large surface to act against the outside of the Chris King h/s. Done 5 of them recently and nary a burp. It is a good idea to make sure the surface of the head tube is trued up though. I don't have a mill for this so that is one job that I farm out to a shop. The Park tool which will do bottom brackets and head tube surfacing is a few hundred bucks so I am loath to spend that on something so infrequently used. Cheaper to have it done. I think you could jury rig something up on the H/S Press if you used small abrasive grinding wheels on the 3/8" rod home built press. I may try something like that on an old frame I have that is f/u and unusable and see what happens. I could purposely get the h/s out of square with a file and then try to bring it back to true. Hmmm...


fixedgearhead

peddle pushers in el cajon.

Nothing fancy, but they've got plenty of old bikes laying aorund.

I'm close to the Velodrome in Northbrook Illinois, so the LBS up thattaway has a lot of fix gear parts. They can be a little conservative when it comes riding in the streets though - lots of high flange campy hubs.

I'm close to the Velodrome in Northbrook Illinois, so the LBS up thattaway has a lot of fix gear parts. They can be a little conservative when it comes riding in the streets though - lots of high flange campy hubs.
What is the name of the shop that has the high flange Campy Hubs?
I am interested in some.

Fixedgearhead

Not only is my favorite LBS the closest one to me (less than four miles), but it is the best shop any fixie/SS fan can aks for. Cycles Gaansari (on the Web at gaansari.com). Check'em out!

They specialize in fixies and singlespeeds and even sell some used ones. They carry Surly and Gaansari, thier own house brand made by Co-motion, amoung other brands.

Another awesome shop, sixteen miles from me, is International Pro Bike Shop. Mainly for the racerboyz, I have bought a couple of track cogs there. Campy spoken here!

An honorable mention is Tipp Cyclery, about fifteen miles away, but in the other direction.

All these guys really know thier stuff!

might as well chime in with my reply, since i started this mess..

Chicago LBS's...

my fave is On The Route, Belmont and Lincoln...

my second fave is Cycle Smithy, N. Clark, just north of Fullerton..

Sprockets...Broadway and Wellington...

Urban Bikes is cool, close, good parts bins...

Higher Gear on W. Fullerton seems snobby, bunch of lycra freaks!!!

Performance is lame for bikes, but decent for shoes, clothes, some parts, blah blah...

Kozy's is decent...not a fan of the Halsted location, but 400 S. La Salle has saved my ass a few times in the loop!

Village Cyclery on Wells has a nice selection of bikes, but I don't think they know what fixies are...let alone service...

there..ive said it..

randy

I forgot to mention Gravy Wheels... It's only 1/2 mile down the road... They make some of the sweetest stuff I've ever seen http://www.gravywheels.net/

Yojimbo's is always good.

Performance is close by, Kozy's on Halsted is right around the corner literally though I never go there unless I have to. Sprockets is decent though I never go there or to any of the other Lincoln Park shops (save for Performance for 27 inch tires).

Working Bikes takes the cake though.

Yojimbo's is always good.
seconded

Good:

[and expensive] Spokes in Vienna (VA)
[and cheap] Performance in Tyson's Corner

Sucky:

Performance in Reston. Hopped of the bike path with a flat. Grabbed a new tube off the rack and asked the mechanic if I could borrow a couple of tire levers.

"We don't loan out tools."

"Okay," I said. "It's just a tire lever."

"We don't loan tools."

So I get some tire levers off the shelf, rip the package open in front of him and change the tube in like one minute. I ask him If I get get some air or if I need to buy a pump too. He lets me use the pump.

So, I go up front to pay and the kid at the counter tells me I owe $20. I do the double take and he says "We charge $10 to change a flat."

I'm like "Do you think I bought tire levers so you could use them to change my flat?"

I went from going in there twice a week to get stuff to never again.

Superchivo - sounds like a bunch of uptight pricks to me.

I actually had the same thing happen to me and I dropped in the Performance by me. They were kind enough to let me use tire levers and a demo floor pump. I suppose it's up to either the discretion of the employees or how cool/nice they are.

No Doubt. The guys at Tyson's rock. They're generous with the used parts and love it when you bring by the project bikes.

I went from going in there twice a week to get stuff to never again.

Why bother? Now he just helps himself to my parts bin every couple of weeks.

The Performance in Redwood City, CA rocks too. Both Mike and Greg, the mechanics I've dealt with there, are great guys.

So my recent bad Bike Route (in San Bruno) experience is that I brought a bike there to install a headset, the headset didn't fit (1" BMX aheadsets have different cups than 1" road aheadset cups, apparently). Good to know but they don't really stock much parts there, so I went to Performance and bought a Cane Creek S2 and took it back to have it installed. I get the bike back and a couple of days later, I start to install the handlebars. But I notice when I tighten the compression cap, that the play doesn't go away. I took the headset apart and found they had used a fork crown race as a top compression ring. What happened to the top compression ring that came with the headset?
Well I go back to the shop and "they don't know what happened". They suggested the fork race was what came in the new Headset package! I give them the benefit of the doubt and went to Performance who graciously replaced the fork race with the proper part from new headset. Thanks Greg!

First headset I had installed at the Bike Route (another S2), they left the compression ring out altogether. Luckily it was still sitting on the mechanic's tray. Both botched jobs were don't by the same mechanic. This same mechanic who installed a short cage Ultegra rear derailer on a 11-32 cassette on his Specialized Enduro Pro frame and ripped the derailer hanger right off the frame!

What is the name of the shop that has the high flange Campy Hubs?
I am interested in some.

Fixedgearhead
George Garner in Northbrook has some decent fix stuff. I bought a high flange campy hub from them five or six years ago pretty cheap.

Just my opinion, but I don't think that Performance counts as a Local Bike Shop. It's like saying that Walgreen's, WalMart, Safeway, McDonalds, Applebees, etc. is a local business. My idea of a LBS is one that's locally owned and operated, reinvests its profits into the LOCAL economy, and ain't part of a friggin chain. OK, rant over.

I guess I'm lucky in that there are four really good LBS here in Portland, all within a 15-minute ride of my place. In no particular order:

En Selle - One man shop. Sells high end road gear - Merckx, Colnago, Pinarello, etc. Great service.
Veloce - Another one man shop. Lots of vintage and classic, as well as new road stuff. I bought my Vitus track frame from this shop.
Sellwood Cycle Repair - www.sellwoodcycle.com (http://www.sellwoodcycle.com) - Great service and a big selection of used parts/bikes. Big into cyclocross. Fun guys to hang out with.
River City Bicycles - Big shop. Sells bikes for all ages, styles. Has Colnago, Merckx, Calfee, Waterford, plus LeMond, Specialized, C-dale, blah, blah, blah.

Just my opinion, but I don't think that Performance counts as a Local Bike Shop. It's like saying that Walgreen's, WalMart, Safeway, McDonalds, Applebees, etc. is a local business. My idea of a LBS is one that's locally owned and operated, reinvests its profits into the LOCAL economy, and ain't part of a friggin chain. OK, rant over.

What about small local chains? Do those count? For instance the biggest local bike shop chain here in Seattle is Gregg's. I think most people would still consider them individually to be an LBS.

My opinion is that if it's a local chain, like The Bike Gallery here in Portland, that counts as a LBS. But Supergo or Performance...no. They're NBS. National Bike Shops.

Just my opinion, but I don't think that Performance counts as a Local Bike Shop. It's like saying that Walgreen's, WalMart, Safeway, McDonalds, Applebees, etc. is a local business. My idea of a LBS is one that's locally owned and operated, reinvests its profits into the LOCAL economy, and ain't part of a friggin chain. OK, rant over.

Yeah, I know what you mean... I did take my bike to the LOCAL shop first, they got my money and I got a botched job (actually two out of three now :mad: ). I'm taking FGH's advice and making my own headset tools to I won't need them anymore.

Just my opinion, but I don't think that Performance counts as a Local Bike Shop.
Well, it's the only shop in the area that always has what I need, at a price I can afford, and everyone, everyone in the shop knows me by name. Marin County in general is extremely snooty, and the bike shops are no different. Also, I can't afford to pay the $7.85 (no b.s.) that the closest LBS charges for their cheapest tube (all their other prices follow suit).

From the IRS
"Over the past 30 years, the Bay Area counties of Marin, Santa Clara, San Mateo, and Contra Costa have consistently reported the highest median incomes. Marin County again had the highest median income for joint returns, reporting $96,826. The highest median income for all filers was also in Marin County, at $42,879."

I'm super poor, especially compared to that.

my favorite shop is the one i work at.

I like the Hub Bike Co-Op in Minneapolis. They have a lot of fixed gear stuff, and it's on the way to my brothers house, who's got all the tools. They did a good job on re-building my Surly hub when the first rim got wrapped around a fender.

Performance Bike. They're half the price of everyone else in town (Marin County is $$$) and they all know me by name (and vice versa). Unfortunately, I had to buy my Bianchi at a different shop, and have been hating life ever since. :(
I do almost all my bike buying at a North COunty Performance...Like the store mostly because they have a great mechanic.
One problem with PErformance...They carry a limited number of bikes...Jamis, Giant, Performance, Fuji..
Had almost considered a Giant(road bike). Accessories are just fine..The staff is almost always very helpful. Up here in NOrth COunty not too many independent stores.. Don't know why never been too big a fan of Supergo.But they do have a bigger selection of bikes.

I do all of my bike shopping at Indy Cycle Specialist here in Indy. It's a nice, friendly, neighborhood shop.

The owner is all about biking and making sure his customers are 100% happy. He won't try to sell you something that you don't want (if that makes sense). Sure, the money is important to keep the business running but you can tell he loves biking and getting others interested, as well. He supports local advocacy groups, as well. Nice thing about this shop is that the owner and his employees are all avid bicyclists. They would rather ride than drive.......

We have "corporate" shops around Indy but they're just not the same.

I ride old bikes and do all my own work, so a good LBS is one that doesn't try to get me to upgrade to "modern" crap and that let's me root around in the parts bins. In Eugene, OR I've had good experiences with Hutch's, Paul's in Oasis, Paul's on Alder, and Revolution Cycles. The first three have let me spend a fair amount of time digging for stuff. The last one is just a really cool place to go to. They only do used bikes and often have something cool hanging on the wall. None of them really have much in stock for fixies, but they're all willing to order what they don't have.