Bike stores?
 

Im thinking of getting into road bikes after maybe, 10-15 years (i'm 28, so yeah, since I was a kid :o ).

I moved recently to the Oakland / Rockridge area and it has great places to road bike.

What are good stores around here ? My budget is pretty limited 600 or so. Any suggestions ? :)

The Pedaler in San Pablo is not too far away. Trustworthy guys, great selection, knowledgeable people.

Try Robinson Wheel Works in San Leandro (right near the zoo). Highly recommended by several people I ride with.

JB

I used that bike shop when I lived in the area. Good people. Although bike selection is kind of limited.

Thanks :)

How is http://www.wheelsofjusticecyclery.com ? I plan on stopping by there as well :)

High recommendation for CycleSports on Grand. Ask for Chris. Great guys.

Well, i stopped by the pedallar this morning in San Pablo. I first spoke with Ron over the phone to confirm if he had the Allez Triple.

When I went there, I got helped by Mike. He had me ride a trek 1000 which was used for about 60 miles, another trek, and a specialized seqouia.

I loved the specilized. Unfortunately, they did not have any assembled :( But, he said he would assemble it and drop it off at my place!

He also helped with getting a cruiser bike for my wife. Picked up a trek navigator 200.

Got an excellent deal on both the bikes as well since they are the 2006 models.

Nice place, nice people. I'll definately go there for my biking needs, even though its a little far :)

Here
http://www.mayurbhatia.com/bike/Bicycle%20002.JPG

My skills at ****ty photography :lol:
http://www.mayurbhatia.com/bike/Bicycle%20014.JPG

Picked this for my wife:
http://www.mayurbhatia.com/bike/Bicycle%20005.JPG

Now is a good time for buying a new bike. All the stores are trying to get rid of all the '06 models and bringing in the '07. That Allez is perfect for someone trying to get into cycling. Good luck with it!

But I'm curious, what kind of shifters are on that?

I'm a fan of the Pedaler. I bought my wife's Specialized Elite from Ron. I also helped my parents buy their comfort bikes from Mike. Great service, non-pushy sales, excellent prices.

Congrats on your bike purchases!

Congrats on your new bike!

Just thought I'd pitch in and note that Justice at Wheels of Justice is a great guy. He helped me with a steering problem and didn't bother to charge me anything for a 30 minute repair... and I didn't buy my bike from him, in fact, it was the first time I'd ever been to his store. It won't be the last time.

He has a small inventory, but his prices are reasonable and the service is top notch.

I also used to go to the Pedaler a lot... they helped me put together my single-speed. Nice group of people.

Now you can do fun stuff on the weekends, like climb Old Tunnel Damn Road.

Congrats!

Thanks :)

I tried biking today. Key word, tried, lol. Biked broadway upto the intersection of 24/broadway. I got tired :( I've not biked/excersised in a few years.

Are there any flat areas to bike in around here ?

Drive or BART to Orinda/Lafeyette/Walnut Creek if you're looking for flat. There are some nice flat rides around that area. The ride from Walnut Creek to Dublin is great and is almost totally flat.

That area around Broadway is horrible for traffic. Most of the best rides in the East Bay are either up around the Tilden Park/Skyline area, or over the hills into Orinda/Moraga/Lafeyette/Walnut Creek/Danville/Mt. Diablo/ etc.

Keep riding as much as you can... you'll improve.

You can also do Bay Trail in Berkeley. It's kind of flat, although windy.

Bay Trail is nice only on weekdays in the middle of the day when the pedestrian/roller-blade traffic is light. It's windy but only on the way toward Richmond, it usually pushes you back down toward Berkeley/Emeryville so the return ride isn't bad at all. I bike from Piedmont to the Richmond Marina on my days off. Pretty easy 20-mile ride after all is said and done.

Once you get more regular biking in, there are tons of great rides to do in the hills in this area.

I used to live in Walnut Creek up until earlier this year. I think its called the horse trail or angel trail ?

It does have nice flat roads.

I'm going to practice around town for a bit before I take on something more than 3-4 miles :o. I'll probably bike early mornings on college ave and get my stamina higher ;)

Do you know what their rate is for a tune-up for road bike ?

I'll be going there again tomorrow to get a few adjustments made. I could ask them :)