s4v8

Hi everyone,

After ~20 years I'm trying to get myself on 2 wheels again. During those 20 years I've been getting around on 4 wheels or 8 wheels if you count my inline skates

I'm looking for a hybrid bike or maybe a road bike depending on how comfortable I am with the drop bars.

Are there any recommended shops in the area that I should visit?

So far I've tried out the following:

Giant Escape 2 at Harris Cyclery in Newton
Trek 7.2 FX and Specialized Sirrus at Landry's in Natick

Thanks!

AlexGS1

Both are good shops. Landry's caters a little more towards the road bike/racing crowd, but they are pretty welcoming of all cyclists. I have found their service department to be expensive. International Bike in Allston has been very good for same day service and parts, but, I've never bought a bike from them. Wheelworks in Belmont and Somerville would be on the list of shops to check out for sure.

rumrunn6

bike shop in Chelmsford called Chelmsford Cyclery

Chelmsford Cyclery

francis_a

In So. NH, there's Colonial Bicycle in Salem, DG Cycles in Londonderry, Goodales in Nashua/Hooksett, and S&W Sports in Concord.

gabedad

I would stay away from chelmsford cyclery

Goodales Nashua - exit 6 off of rt 3. Very Knowledgeable and tax free

s4v8

Thank you all for the replies.

I've been reading some of the reviews on Yelp and I see in a lot of cases where someone rates the shop 5 stars but the shop gets a 1 star rating for bad repair work. I'm not completely relying on Yelp ratings, just trying to weed out some of really bad ones.

How important is the service/repair side or do most of you guys service your own bikes? I plan on learning how to repair mine. It can't be as bad as a car with a motor that's shoehorned into the engine bay.

rms13

I highly recommend learning to work on your own bike. The longer you ride the more you save and it will be more rewarding. You'll need to invest in some specialized tools but just get what you need when you need it. Also look into local bike co-ops where you can use their tools and get help from experienced mechanics.

My experience with LBS is similar to car dealers. Service is much better when you are looking to spend $1000-2000+ on a new bike than it is when you are paying $25-100 for service. Not always the case but usually.