spinnaker

I finally got to the new Performance bike shop in Pittsburgh. I really should have gotten there sooner because I missed out on some great discounts.

Anyway, first the store is located in not so great an area of Pittsburgh. Not the worst area of the city but certainly not the best either.

It is also not the best destination for a ride. I would probably ride there but a more novice rider would probably not want to ride those streets,

But the biggest disappointment was the selection. I expected some where near a store front version of their website and what I found was a store with not that much more of a selection then my local Trek shop or REI. They have almost zero touring gear and don't seem to have a variety of product. They seem to carry pretty much one manufacturer for a given product. I was looking for a cable lock for example and they had only one brand.

I am glad they came to Pittsburgh, We are lucky as some cities have little or no choice at all. But I sure wish they would expand their product line.

travelmama

Perhaps they will expand on their selection but keep in mind that Performance is a chain bike shop, not a bike touring shop. Most people who go to Performance are recreational cyclists, not tourers.

Neil_B

Your description matches that of the local Performance stores on this side of the state. Most of the products are their own in-house brands.

CCrew

Keep in mind though that a lot of their in hous brands are perfectly acceptable - being other brands that are simply rebadged for Performance. Forte Titan wheels for instance are made by Neuvation, and their TI frames are made by Lynskey. You just have to do a bit of research.

cyclist2000

The few performance bike shops that I have been to, are typically small and located in strip malls.

spinnaker

I realize that Performance is not a touring shop but a few bags and racks is asking too much? Plus as I said the overall variety of all gear stinks.

spinnaker

Yes this is is a strip mall too. But when I was looking for the place, I saw a HUGE building with bicycles painted all over the outside walls. I thought cool this has to be it. Wow it is gigantic! Turns out it was a health care outfit of some kind. Probably added to my disappointment.

spinnaker

They did have a halfway decent display of tires and wheels. Much better than our local Trek shop.

A number of helmets and shoes. Actually a pretty decent selection of shoes. It will be nice to not have to order online again and take the chance the shoes don't fit.


I guess another advantage of the store being in town is that you still can order from the website ad get it delivered to the store. Go in and look at the product and if you decide you don't want it or it does not fit then don't buy it. No cost or hassle of shipping it back. And no cost to you for shipping to the store. A friend is considering buying the Team bike case. He will save a lot of money on shipping by having it sent to the store.

fixedgearinker

I was in the new performance in da Burgh today, and found the store a little lacking. They seemed to have a little of most things but no real depth to anything. The area I found to most disappointing was that of the staff, of the two who offered assistance, neither really seem to have much knowledge of biking in general. I was looking for a set of replacement tires for my cooked Michelin pro Race's and I found that reading the packaging on the various tires offered more insight and assistance than those who worked there. The Washington Blvd track is not very far from there, I was hoping for a higher scale of store. But it is a chain store afterall I suppose.