Northern California - best bike shops in bay area

Me and my buddys are going down to the bay area tomorrow and screw around at bike shops. We thought we would go there because the shops in Sacramento don't really have high-end bikes or decent accessories. We heard that Above Category in Mill Valley,
Wrench Science in Berkeley and Paradigm in San Anselmo are all good shops.
We want to see some really nice steel or Ti bikes and upper end accessories for road.
Any suggestions? thanks

For what you are lookng for, try: Bicycle Odyssey on Bridgeway (the main drag) in Sausalito; American Cyclery in SF on Stanyan at the southeast corner of Golden Gate Park near Kezar Stadium; Stone's in Alameda (on Santa Clara Street, I think, but Google it to make sure).

Missing Link in Berkeley (Shattuck just north of Univesity) is pretty good, too, but I think you'll be happier with the others, based on your description.

If you are willing to go a little further afield, Livermore Cyclery on Old First Street in Livermore has about the largest selection of bikes and components you are likely to see. They know their stuff, too.

If you go to Mill Valley to see Above Category, you have to see Studio Velo as well. They are awesome
http://www.studiovelomv.com/

High end?

Visit us at Robinson Wheel Works in San Leandro. One of the largest Seven retailers in NorCal

Pegasus in Downtown Danville. Really nice high zoot stuff n there.

Cupertino bike shop in cupertino.

Willow Glen bikes in san jose for awesome service and knowledge.

Calmar cycles in Santa Clara.

Pacific Bicycle on 4th Street, next to Whole Foods, great for snacks and people watching is walking distance from BART.

Saunter from there a few blocks to 635 Brannan, perhaps the best Performance shop (it is still just a Performance shop...) in the world. A bit further down is REI at 840 Brannan.

The Sports Basement on Old Mason.

Perhaps not "the best," but they are my favs on the Peninsula.

Nod to Missing Link in Berkeley, big rasberry to Mr E... at the Berkeley Performance

thanks for all the input. We went to many shops. The best by far was Bicycle Odyssey.
I have never seen so many steel bikes. Look forward to goin back and checking out more shops.

I'm pretty sure The Bike Biz has some fairly nice bikes is Sacramento. I think you can order custom steel bikes there, but last time I checked it was really expensive. Montano Velo in Piedmont also has really nice bikes. The people there are pretty chill and I would go there often if it wasn't so expensive. Both of these bike stores sell campy and sram parts if that is what you are looking for. I think the bike biz sells high end BMC's and im not sure what else. Montano Velo sells really high end bikes like Time

But my favorite bike store in the bay is the Pedaler in El Sobrante. I personally think they have the best prices for basically everything, I even choose to drive my bike down there for maintenance instead of doing it myself sometimes because its so cheap. I know that theped has high end Specialized and Cannondales, not sure what else.

But if you are for particular bikes you may have to look at what brands each store supplies.

Me and my buddys are going down to the bay area tomorrow and screw around at bike shops.
We want to see some really nice steel or Ti bikes and upper end accessories for road.
Any suggestions? thanks:wtf:

Yo, Jerry, you are unaware of the not one, but two custom
frame shops in Sacramento? One of whom (Whitworth) actually
specializes in titanium frame design? The only word that comes
to mind is clueless. Sorry.


I'm pretty sure The Bike Biz has some fairly nice bikes is Sacramento. I think you can order custom steel bikes there, but last time I checked it was really expensive.
:lol:

Trust me, you can spend just as much cash on bikes
and bike stuff here in Sacratomato as you can in the
Bay Area. I think they don't even mind if


Me and my buddys are going to screw around at bike shops.

although in all honesty, they would prefer that you
eventually spend some money.

Davis Wheelworks in Davis, close to Sac has an incredible stock of upper tier bike brands: Cervelo, Scott, Pinarello, Look, Colnago, etc.

I went to Steve Rex if that is what u are talking about. Never heard of Whitworth. They apparently don't advertise. We also went to the Bay area because Sacto does not have
the gear that we saw at Bicycle Odyssey. Way more variety.

Davis Wheelworks has one of the worst attitudes of any bike shop I have ever visited. Arrogant and horrible service to people who are new to road biking. Long story, but they really pissed me off, and that is hard to do.

High end?

Visit us at Robinson Wheel Works in San Leandro. One of the largest Seven retailers in NorCal

I'll vouch for them - Chris did my bike fit and built up my Lynskey even though I didn't buy the frame from him. Great shop, and great service! And complimentary espresso, too.

JB

Davis Wheelworks has one of the worst attitudes of any bike shop I have ever visited. Arrogant and horrible service to people who are new to road biking. Long story, but they really pissed me off, and that is hard to do.

I feel the same way towards the shop.

If you are passing through Morgan Hill, stop at Concept Cyclery. I always stop there on the way down to the Monterey Peninsula.

I bought my frame and custom made wheels from Jitensha (http://jitensha.com/)Studio which is on Bancroft across the street from the Univ of Cal Berkeley. I loved Left Coast near the Claremont that the recession took them down. On Piedmont in Oakland near the Kaiser Hospitals is Montano Velo (http://montanovelo.com/) which has some of the most beautiful frames I have ever seen; this coming from a guy riding a handmade frame. In Alameda there is Stone (http://www.stonescyclery.com/)'s cyclery. I met a guy riding a beautiful waterford he got at a good price from Stone's. Nothing is more beautiful to me than a nice Waterford.

I think Eden Bicycles in Castro Valley is worth a look. They've certainly treated me well.

-Bert

La Dolce Velo in San Jose is good for the road cycling crowd.

I think Eden Bicycles in Castro Valley is worth a look. They've certainly treated me well.

-Bert

Eden Bicycles is really the only bike shop around me to which I wouldn't go. Those guys rarely know what they're talking about, treat me and my friends like crap, and have left me on hold for over an hour on the phone.

A fellow student I know works there and the fact that they employed someone with his amount of knowledge and skill really makes me worried.

I'll vouch for them - Chris did my bike fit and built up my Lynskey even though I didn't buy the frame from him. Great shop, and great service! And complimentary espresso, too.

JB

They're really good guys, in my opinion. Some people don't like their sense of humor, but they've been good to me and help me out on a regular basis.

Some one should do a road trip of all these stores and post pictures. I guess that could be me but I am a bit busy these days.

Eden Bicycles is really the only bike shop around me to which I wouldn't go. Those guys rarely know what they're talking about, treat me and my friends like crap, and have left me on hold for over an hour on the phone.

A fellow student I know works there and the fact that they employed someone with his amount of knowledge and skill really makes me worried.

Interesting.... My experience with them to date has been quite the opposite.

-Bert

Davis Wheelworks has one of the worst attitudes of any bike shop I have ever visited. Arrogant and horrible service to people who are new to road biking. Long story, but they really pissed me off, and that is hard to do.


I feel the same way towards the shop.


Hmm, that's interesting, since I've had a number of good experiences there. It could very well be that my team's assistant coach is an employee there, but I've had good experiences with a few floor employees and at least one mechanic.

Hmm, that's interesting, since I've had a number of good experiences there. It could very well be that my team's assistant coach is an employee there, but I've had good experiences with a few floor employees and at least one mechanic.
I also have had great service at Davis Wheelworks, including my fitting. Free followup fitting two years later too.

Veloro (http://www.veloro.com/) in Redwood City is a nice little high end road/TT/tri shop. Gebhard has built two bikes for me. Snapped these earlier while I was waiting for him to put the finishing touches on my new ride.

http://milliron.org/hosted/addict-01137.jpg

http://milliron.org/hosted/addict-01133.jpg

http://milliron.org/hosted/addict-01138.jpg

Davis Wheelworks has one of the worst attitudes of any bike shop I have ever visited. Arrogant and horrible service to people who are new to road biking. Long story, but they really pissed me off, and that is hard to do.

+1 Way overpriced as well. They tried to charge me $40 to cut a carbon fork...

I also have had great service at Davis Wheelworks, including my fitting. Free followup fitting two years later too.

I am new to TTs/Tri bikes, and ended up getting a P3 from Davis Wheelworks. Joe Santos has been amazing to work with - spending hours in there finding the right bike for me, followed by multiple fitting sessions already to dial in the position. I felt like a complete newbie going in, and the customer service has been outstanding....

Shout out to Cyclesports in Oakland - awesome shop. Starting the build of my new Parlee Z5 there :-).

Nice. I'd love a Z5 or Z5sl. Hot.