I go to B's bikes in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and I live in NJ! Between my home and WillyB, I have the option of going to two dozen different shops. I choose to go there because of the super friendly folks and great deals. First bike bought there FUJI Newest 3.0 paid less than MSRP and they threw in a few accessories. Since it was a cash deal let's just say they tried their best not to involve the tax collector, they reduced the price even more to save on the sales tax(yeah that's the ticket). Few weeks later 1st bike got stolen, decided to go back to B's and get an upgrade FUJI Newest 1.0. Again got the bike for less than MSRP with a few accessories thrown in; a headlite, a $50 Planetbike SPEEDEZ fenders. And once more, because it was a cash deal they did their magic with the sales tax. I can't guarantee you that you'll get the same deals as me since I'm a cheap bastard; I mean, I drive a hard bargain.

As far as service goes; when I'm there, people stopby all the time to borrow tools and fix/adjust their bikes on the sidewalk. I'm not talking about friends of the workers/owners; I'm saying total strangers! They leave not 1, not 2 but
usually 3 pumps in front of the shop so that bikers don't have to wait for each other to pump up. I wish the other shops were like this.

A friend of mine lives a block away from a bike shop on Amsterdam between 103rd and 104th. He says he gets fantastic service there. I haven't visited the place yet. Googling them suggests it's a new shop, though I don't know.

he's referring to champion, nice place, friendly service, although pricing will change depending on who's in the store at the time

I don't trust Sid's Bikes on 34th any more. First of all they're ridiculously expensive. Anyway, some years back I bought my first singlespeed from them, SE brand, turned out to be a complete POS. Among few other things, something was clicking annoying loud. A couple of hundred dollars later, new BB, new cranks, new chain, new wheels it still clicked and they had no clue. They were nice and seemed concerned but just couldn't figure this out. Then I found NYCBikes in Williamsburg. The guy said right away, "dude, it's the sprocket, all these click like that, it doesn't bother most people though but if you want we'll replace it". $30, 15 minutes later: no more clicking. I've been their faithful customer ever since. They don't sell fancy brand-name bikes, they build their own and their mechanics are good. You can pick the parts and they'll build anything for you. Since then I learned to service my bikes anyway so something like the above situation would be easy for me to fix now.

http://www.nycbikes.com/

Their website is not frequently updated, they get all their business from walk-ins I guess. They're all urban cyclists themselves, they ride what they build.

I also heard good things about B's bikes in Williamsburg, or is it Greenpoint? I've been there once only myself.

Anyway, it depends on what you're looking for. There are different bike shops for different people I guess, no single shop can satisfy every type of rider. The two I mentioned don't have fancy showrooms with glittering lights but they know their stuff.

A.

I'd like to pick up a set of Specialized Armadillo tires in Manhattan.

Any recommendations on who has good stock and decent prices?

TIA.

Tipsy