Originally Posted by robertkat

I would say it depends on what you want and expect from a shop, as well as how close do you want to be to it. Personally, I do not take my bikes to a shop for service unless it's something that I do not know how to do/not confident doing it myself/don't have the tools. Also, I don't true my own wheels yet. That said, Pacific Coast Cycles in Oceanside takes care of my bikes. I've purchased three bikes from them now and think it's a great shop, especially if you like vintage bikes or need some hard to find parts, or just don't like pushy sales people. However, if you hate it when shop staff won't tell you want you want to hear or expect a shop full of carbon wonder bikes, this shop is not for you. Also, I like Bike Bling in Escondido for accessories like tubes or food stuffs. It's a few miles across town from me and everyone there is pretty nice. They do have some great mechanics as well. Stay away from Performance. As Cbad said, B&L in Solana Beach is nice and they have some really good mechanics, although I've noticed some new staff that seem to be better suited to working at Target rather than a bike shop.