Where are best bike shops?
 

I am looking for a recumbent trike and visited Mt. Airy Bicycles in MD and was not impressed. The prices were very high and they have the nerve to charge shipping. I could buy direct from company if I want to pay shipping and at least I would save tax.

Moved from Northeast Regional to Recumbents.

RBR cycles in State College specializes in recumbents, and a lot of people travel here from places as far away as D.C. to visit them. While you are here, you can visit Freeze Thaw Cycles downtown. They were recently named one of the top 100 bike shops by Bicycling magazine.

Prices were high compared to what? Recumbents in general are priced higher than similarly-equipped upright bikes due to lower production numbers and large numbers of specialized parts.

If you know your way around bikes mechanically, look at the Performer models: http://www.performer.com.tw/2010/user/index.php . RBR is their U.S. contact.

If you were on the left coast, I'd recommend Coventry Cycles in Portland, Oregon: http://www.coventrycycle.com/ . Excellent people, good selection of trikes available to look over and test ride.

bent up cycles, super nice people, helped me out all the way from Tulsa Ok. They are located in Cali. they have a website, go to bentrideronline.com, tons of information. this subforum is pretty much dead, not much activity.

+1 on RBR and also on Performer. I checked out a chunk of Performer's line on Wednesday and they are legit. Very sexy bikes and trikes at entry-level prices. Also, RBR is THE place to go for recumbents.

Dead? I'm not dead, yet.

Lots of links to 'bent vendors on the bentrideronline site. Lots of trike evangelists on BROL, too. You sure you don't want a 'bent bike?

The Hostel Shoppe is excellent. Absent a yen to see beautiful Wisconsin you many not want to travel there but they are good at working with customers on the phone and through email.

You might find Bikes @ Vienna (http://www.bikesatvienna.com/) to your liking

Also, talk to these folks. I think they're in your area. Don't know how active the group is, though: http://www.recumbents.com/whirl/

Local Bike Stores
 

Go to bikes@Vienna http://www.bikesatvienna.com/. They carry recumbent bikes and trikes as well as used bikes. Nice people. If you were at Mt. Airy you are about an hour from bikes @Vienna in Northern Va. I was at Mt. Airy and a great place to try everything but I agree nothing is priced and everything seems to be at retail or higher even if used. The owner says I warrant as new which to me says it is used. So, I never ended up buying from them as the owner never wanted to negotiate.

Here is a link to the recumbent bike manufactures. Many of the sites also have links to their distributors and dealers. My wife has a Performer aluminum trike and absolutely loves it. It's low, it's light and it is fast. I don't know where you are located but here is the link to the distributor/dealer where she got her trike (Boomer Bents) here in Central Florida.

Sticker shock
 

If you had sticker shock, that's not unusual for anyone who has not priced a trike before. You need to give us more information on which trikes you looked at, what price range is within reason to you, and perhaps, what you intend to use the trike for. Trikes price vary a lot but the ones suitable for avid trike riders are usually pretty expensive. If you are a casual rider or willing to put up with some compromises in performance, longevity, and weight, then an entry level trike might be OK for you.

I also really liked the Hostel Shoppe in Stevens Point, WI. As a former Wisconsin resident I can guarantee you will freeze your butt off most winters so this may not be the best time to visit and test ride trikes.

The post office actually has the nerve to charge you when you mail letter/package; so does FedEx and UPS or a trucking company.
Buy where you want, but there are expenses involved running any kind of business.
How often have you offered/done something for FREE?
Do you work for FREE too . . . or do you expect to get paid?
Kwitcherbellyachin'!

I'm crossdecking this from my post on another forum to point out a good shop... Jmio, they are quasi local to you.

Last October I did a bad thing. I took a trip to visit the nice folks at Oklahoma Recumbent Road Bikes. I wanted to test ride a bunch of different bikes and to get an idea of what was going to fit me better than my existing bike, (A Vision R-54).

Unfortunately for me, none of the existing bike shops in my area carried a wide selection of recumbents, (a common problem). One shop in the area had a good selection of Bachettas, while another was listed as a Rans & Catrike dealer. When my wife called them, they had two Mushashi’s on the floor, (nice, but not what I was looking for).

Oklahoma Recumbents looked to be the best place to see and ride the most different bikes I could. As an added plus, they are a stocking Longbikes dealer. In fact they have not only an Eliminator on the floor, they have a Slipstream. My wife and I have been partial to the Longbikes since we first road a prototype Gulfstream at the CABDA show in 1998. As the Eliminator had came in on trade and was within my price range I was very interested in riding it. Fortunately, all I did was drool on the Slipstream as it was well out of my budget, (they wouldn’t accept small children or dogs as trade…)

I was in awe at the number of different bikes that they had on hand. They had numerous trikes from different manufactures, lots of LWB bikes, a good selection of SWB bikes, and several high racers.

They were more than helpful when I wanted to do some test rides and didn’t even blink when I started swapping out pedals and asking for a bit of an extended test ride. I really wanted more of a test ride than just down the block; I wanted to go out for a couple of miles and play on a hill or two if possible to see just how the different bikes handled.

They’ve got a solid selection of recumbent specific accessories, plenty of bags, racks, fenders, and tires. Overall, they were one stop shopping in a nice, helpful, well run retail establishment.

For anyone looking to see bunches of different bikes and trikes in one trip, ride what they have, and do business with a classic retail business I highly recommend a trip to Lexington Oklahoma and Oklahoma Recumbents.

All said and done, I was more than happy I had gone up for some test riding. I was able to find a bike that fits me extremely well, handles exceptionally good, and scratches my go fast itch.

And of course, here is an obligatory bike porn picture...

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a64/dave5339/004-3.jpg

Semper Fi

Oh, yeah! Steel is real. Of course, carbon and aluminum are nice too. Sweet bike.


Let me put in a word for Power On Cycling in Newport, TN just outside of Knoxville.

There's also Calhoun Cycle in Minneapolis, Wheel & Sprocket in Wisconsin, Coventry Cycle Works in Portland, and Angle Lake Cyclery in Seattle.

I've been to Mt. Airy bikes, too. I like that there's a recumbent friendly shop in the area but was not impressed with seeing brand new bikes being assembled for customers while laying on bare concrete floors instead of a bike stand or at least some cardboard to protect the finish!

If you feel like going for a weekend trip...head on up to Alfred, NY and visit The Bicycle Man. I live in Silver Spring, MD and did this. Of course I had a friend to visit in Binghampton, NY so that made it a bit more interesting. As far as making a purchase, I bought my Slipstream direct from LongBikes in Colorado and had it shipped. Necessary assembly upon delivery was welcome and educational.

Your post was not relevant but it did get your name in print. I see by the number of posts that you enjoy sounding of frequently. As to your remark...I do not complain about paying what is fair but I am a retired clergy person/psychologist and do have to watch my pennies. BTW: Yes, I have done plenty of pro bono work in my counseling service, but that isn't relevant either.

I checked recumbent shops in three states and wanted to steer bikers away from Mt. Airy. I finally bought a Terra Trek Rover from the shop in State College, PA. I was there working (free) for three days at Penn State and had some free time. I paid tax but no shipping and he had the trike ready to go within an hour. He even filled out the paperwork to get my free flag and seat bag from the company. The rest of my accessories I bought on the spot. Very nice and professional shop owner.

Based on your original post, I don't agree that zonatandem's comments were out of line. He could have added a comment on your not wanting to pay sales tax, which you might or might not have been obligated to do, depending on laws in your state.
Have never seen a ZT post that I would consider to be 'sounding off'.