Originally Posted by peligro
Having lived in both NYC and So Cal, I'd caution you not to spend too much time visiting bike shops in NYC. Sure, swing by Bicycle Habitat if you're in the neighborhood, but because real estate in new york is so expensive, the shops are small, inventories are limited, and prices are generally very high, especially compared to Cali. When I lived there I got all my stuff mail order.
Yup, the reason I wanted to visit the shops there was because I was going to be in the neighbourhood. Mailorder and ebay are my friends, since the shops in my neck of the woods cater mostly to MTBs.