Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Philly people need advice

So i live in philly and just bought my first fixed gear, looking to upgrade parts and buy all my supplies,tired,tubes,handle bars, new pedles ect. The only shop im familar with is Guys bikes in feasteville and the place is horribly overpriced. Was wondering where all you philly guys buy your stuff from. Let me know the shops name and the area its in. Thanks

Bell's Bike Shop is in Philly and those guys are awesome. Maybe adriano can chime in and point you to some others.

Is your bike assembled yet? Go post pics!

ha funny you say that I was gonna take my bike to bells to get it assembled, but took it to ****ty guys instead because its closer. Ill definately be buying my stuff from bells thanks, and pics coming soon

I've bought a lot of stuff from Bell's and they've always been really great to me. They'll treat you right.

Bicycle Revolutions (4th & Monroe) has lots of really nice stuff, and caters mostly to fixed bikes. For tubes and tires and such I usually go to Breakaway because they're right around the corner from my workplace and I get dealz. Good mechanics at both shops.

I recently just used Bells for the kilo i just built. Called them up and everything I listed they had and were real cool guys.

Bicycle Revolutions. Bell's bikes is the worst.

Bicycle Revolutions. Bell's bikes is the worst.

That may just be your opinion.

That may just be your opinion.

I live here dude. I've also lived in Boston. I've worked at shops in both cities. Bell's is more of an ebay store than a personable, full-service bike shop.

I wasn't trying to start a fight. Where did you work in Boston? Most of the shops in the city are staffed with blowhard a-holes.

In before.......
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Nah, I wasn't calling anyone here names. Just commenting on the attitude found in a lot (but not all) of the shops in the City of Beans.

Yeah, Bell's bikes may have great online services but they had a bunch of a-holes working there when I went, that was then though, I havn't visited them since my second bad expierience. Maybe they have a new staff?

So i live in philly and just bought my first fixed gear, looking to upgrade parts and buy all my supplies,tired,tubes,handle bars, new pedles ect. The only shop im familar with is Guys bikes in feasteville and the place is horribly overpriced. Was wondering where all you philly guys buy your stuff from. Let me know the shops name and the area its in. Thanks

Forgot to ask, did you just move into Philly? If so the first thing you should buy is the best bike lock on the market, then look into a bike and/or bike shop. If you lived here all your life or for at least 5 years please carry on. ;0)

No, Ive been here my whole life I kinda live on the outskirts far northeast phila. But im going to be doing a lot of city riding. So im investing in 2 krypto U locks. The reason i was asking for shop recomens is because im kinda new to the bike scene and have hated the shop by my house since i was a kid.

another vote for bell's bike shop for me...
i've ordered online as well as picked up stuff from within the shop...
customer service was on point

I'm going to hve to check out Bells again as they seem to have made some changes, I'll swing by some time soon and give an updated opinion. ;)

You need a comma or something in the title. I thought you were going to start ranting at people from Philly

I'm going to hve to check out Bells again as they seem to have made some changes, I'll swing by some time soon and give an updated opinion. ;)

When I was in Philly while on tour last summer, I stopped in at Bell's for a visit and the place seemed pretty damn ok to me.

When I was in Philly while on tour last summer, I stopped in at Bell's for a visit and the place seemed pretty damn ok to me.

Last time I was there the staff wouln't take their eyes off my, treated me like I was going to steal something, and when I asked about a MTB I liked this is the reply I got,"Haha! I don't think you can afford that bike!" :mad: So yeah, I'll have to go back and check them out before I change my opinion of them. ;)

(a girl builds the wheels at bells, good or bad you pick).

Why do you think that's important enough to even mention? If I made a list of the traits I thought were important in a wheelbuilder, gender wouldn't be on it.

Yeah, that is pretty dumb. My wife would punch you in the eye for saying a thing like that.

I had the set of wheels on my Madison custom built by Bell's. If the girl who builds wheels is the one responsible for mine, she did a damn good job.

Bicycle Revolutions (4th & Monroe) has lots of really nice stuff, and caters mostly to fixed bikes. For tubes and tires and such I usually go to Breakaway because they're right around the corner from my workplace and I get dealz. Good mechanics at both shops.

That's the place to go. Prices on parts and components is Great!

there's some shop on walnut street, don't even know what it's called but i've passed it like 30000000 times. never went it so idk if its any good

I honesty find the smaller shops with older staff (read late 40+ looking just greying at the temples types) are the most well mannered and helpful. I've not gone to all the shops in the city and did have good experiences at Bicycle Revolutions but some others seem to have a sense of elitism/indifference/assholery/conceit about them especially if a regular fellow dares to commit the sin of bringing a cheapo target type bike or looks to make a bicycle purchase under $500, or otherwise is plainly ignorant of biking in general.

Again I certainly havent been to them all and I'm a suburbanite so dont singularly focus on the city but the shops I have had stellar 10 out of 10 service from are 'Abington Wheel Wright, Evolution Pro bike and ski out in Buckingham PA (upper bucks co..beautiful locale), Keswick is great, no complaints but not as "come into my house, sit down, heres some hot cocoa" kinda feeling like the other really small shops. Again, Bicycle Revolutions was good, young knowledgeable crew, drippin with hipsters tho, but look at it's location, makes sense and the shop cant be faulted.

The big bike shops (Bikeline etc) I find has maybe one knowledgeable staff member and the rest are clueless, just regular retail folk slinging the companies wares.

What I've found with all shops I've been to is that I find little to no compelling reason to give up using the web as a source to find parts, understandable as they only have so much square footage but anything I've needed has never been in stock or they just dont carry it. I think I'll always call them first as I like to support the LBS that I like but more than not I'll go to amazon alas.

there's some shop on walnut street, don't even know what it's called but i've passed it like 30000000 times. never went it so idk if its any good

Around 30th ST? If so, that's Trophy, pretty cool place. Particularly if you like folding bikes.

I wasn't trying to start a fight. Where did you work in Boston? Most of the shops in the city are staffed with blowhard a-holes.

I worked at back bay around 7 years ago. Maybe 8.

a lot of the shops are pretty pompous, but that's bike culture. That pompous attitude is also the northeast. We're well known for being pretentious and condescending know it alls.

There's also Keswick cycle, Human Zoom, Performance[ICK!!], Bicycle Therapy which is right around the corner from my place[good dudes there, but they cater towards roadies], Firehouse, Bike Line, Cadence, Bike Stable[good dude's there too], Trophy, Mexibike, Frankenstein[be prepared to have your ears chewed off and meet a badly copped attitude if you leave without buying anything].

etc etc etc

Thanks for the shops guys, definately am gonna check them out. Took my bike to guys friday morning said they were short handed, so it will be done on saturday. Its now monday they close in a few hours and still didnt call me.

Thanks for the shops guys, definately am gonna check them out. Took my bike to guys friday morning said they were short handed, so it will be done on saturday. Its now monday they close in a few hours and still didnt call me.

**** those guys! Either go over and get them to build your bike or pick it up and build it yourself. :thumb:

For real, go in and ask about it.

Legit. That kinda sucks.

Oh I called right after I posted this, they said the bike was done I thought common curtiousy was to call me asap when it was done but I guess not.

Frankenstein is a decent shop, I have heard that the owner can be an ass but he was cool with me the few times ive been there. fast and reliable service though. At least in my case.

Frankenstein is a decent shop, I have heard that the owner can be an ass but he was cool with me the few times ive been there. fast and reliable service though. At least in my case.

Yeah, they're alright if you need to swing by and grab something, but I've seen them hack some repairs. Like haggard repairs, and send em out the door like nothing happened. It's too bad.