Oleanshoebox

Hello hello to bike forums folk. I am a married 26 year old who loves music and fitness. My grandfather collected bikes and I started riding with him at a very young age. Some of my favorite memories are of misty morning rides with him down the strand in Hermosa/ Redondo beach. I decided to join the site for some advice about buying a decent bike to play and keep myself in shape on. I have bought three junky mtb's and have seen the light. No more. I had a custom schwinn (road bike) that my grandfather passed on to me that has been most heinously stolen (if you have it you better hope I don't see you on it). I'm leaning toward a Trek 4300 which I will hopefully have the cash to buy at the end of the month. I'm very interested in the idea of trying out a triathlon. So there. Thats me. If you wanna know more you gotta ask.

jyossarian

Welcome Olean! Sorry to hear about the stolen bike. If you're gonna do tri's, I'd suggest a regular roadbike w/ clip-ons until you decide you like it and want to get a dedicated tri-bike. Lots of tri-geeks here so have fun and post race reports!

lsits

Where in Riverside do you live? I'm over off of La Sierra. I ride solo, with the RBC and with the BF group on occasion. (Do you really look like Billy Gibbons?)

lsits

Check out the Southen Caliornia section of the forums.

Oleanshoebox

hey, i live off of la sierra too. it would be cool if you could suggest an LBS for me to check out. i'm thinking about getting my bike from cyclery usa. i have bought a few tubes and stuff there in the past. can't say they gave me any service though. i kinda just wandered around until i found the tube on my own. at any rate, the beard is sadly fake. i took the picture in a makeup class at cal state.

lsits

Oleanshoebox, ( I bet there's a story behind that name)

Cyclery USA has some plusses and minuses.

Plusses: They're the closest. Their head mechanic is very good. I get 10% off non-sale items for being a member of the Riverside bike Club.

Minuses: I've had the same issues with service. Once I had to barge in on a conversation between two employees to get them to notice me. Since I've been there a few times they recognize me and the sirvice is a little better.

I really can't recommend Circle City Cyclery in Corona. They have a limited selection of Trek and Specialized road bikes. They aren't too keen on discounting from the list price.

Don's bike shop in Rialto was better. I wanted to try a couple of Cannondales and they were the closest. The owner was very helpful and rode with me around the block when I tested out four different bikes. They didn't have a huge selection of road bikes in my size, though. To be fair, I was there before the 07 models arrived, so I was testing out the 06's that they still had in stock.

If you want to go to Pomona, check out Coate's Cyclery. I went there a few weeks ago because I wanted to test ride a Lemond. They were great. Cory, the owner (I think) greeted me at the door and asked what he could do for me. Let me test ride a lot of bikes and answered all my questions. I ended up buying a Bianchi Vigorelli from them.

socalrider

I would also 2nd Coates in Pomona.. They have good service and really try to help you.. I am amazed at how quickly some repairs are done.. They usually have 1-2 mechanics working at all times.. Deals should be available right now, because 2007 bikes are starting to come out..

Oleanshoebox

thank yous all for the bike shop info. i actually wandered into competitive edge in rancho cucamonga yesterday because it is near my work. the guy was fairly nice (kinda treated me like an idiot) but their selection was really small. has anyone been there before? at any rate, it seems like the deal that most of these places sort of assume you don't know a derailer from a spoke until they've seen you in the shop a few times-or you've bought something from them. he said they do tune-ups for two years free. is that a good deal? oh, and there is no story behind my name. i just made it up one day figuring it was something i could always count on there not being a duplicate of out there. i find it annoying when people's names are bob9878765654545 or some such nonsense. anyway. i got bike fever bad. i'm headed to some shop sites to stare at bikes. ooh. ahhh.

socalrider

The comp edge in Upland has a much better selection...