Ok heres the deal
im a student in west philly, last semester i went to school at home in Ct
im gonna be back in philly in about 2 weeks and i wanna get a job in a bike shop
ive worked in a bike shop at home for the past 7 months (<www.bethelcycle.com>)
i have very good sales experience and rather limited mechanical experience
i want to get a job at a shop in philly but i dont really know where to start
the only shops i ever used when i was in philly last year was Mainly Bikes in Ardmore and Bike Like in Manayunk and i know theres like a million shops
i know this time of year there isnt much worked needed in bike shops but im only looking for maybe once a week until the spring rush hits
i just dont know which shops are any good
if anybody knows good shops that are looking hardwoking students lemme know
i figured id post this in fixed/single speed cause the road forum is beat and i figured you guys would actually known this stuff


ps philly rox my sox

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/bik/122323550.html

I would never work for anybody who doesn't know how to turn caps lock off.

whats the housing market like in philly? I was thinking of buying a house there

My favorite shops in Philly:

Via Bicycle
Firehouse Bikes
Trophy Bikes

The shops in Philly that I absolutely hate:

Frankenstein Bike Worx
Drive Sports
The one around 23rd & South somewhere...

you are about 10 years too late

well i know i's cheaper then here in boston, and I'm about to sell my condo here

By too late, I don't mean that it isn't less cheap. I mean that about 10 years ago, the market started to blow up, prompting all of the anarchists and hipsters to mover further west, south, and northeast. They were followed by 'artists,' who were then followed by 'investors,' who were then followed by 'yuppies,' who are paying absurd prices compared to a few years ago. As Alan Greenspan would say, the market is due for a correction.

Penn kids in west Philly now brazenly walk down 45th street, where previously they were afraid to go to the wawa on 42nd. Houses on 47th go for 600,000

Genericbikedude: what's the deal w Frankenstein? I went in there one time on my way to my credit union out of curiosity. I asked about getting a chain ring, and dude tried to sell me a $300 complete. weirdness.

pk273340: I've gotten a good vibe from Breakaway Bikes on Walnut. Don't know if they are hiring.

generic, i disagree with your assessment of Bicycle therapy on 22nd and south. I've had nothing but good experiences there. Well, I guess at times, the mechanics have come off as a little snotty (well actually just one of them) but I'll go there over trophy any day (they do shoddy work).

As for the housing market, Alan Greenspan may say that, but he wouldn't say it in regard to the housing market. The condo market, well thats another thing. Btw, being a penn alum, i still read the penn newspaper, kids getting robbed at 34th these days... the old rule, by the way was not to go past 40th and that rule is 10+ years old. they don't walk down 45th with no fear. Penn's populace tails off drastically at 42nd. And why should a penn kid have to walk any differently from any other neighborhood resident (and for that matter how do you walk brazenly? is that the only way penn kids walk?)? And there is a 7-11 on 42nd, wawas are at 38th and 36th, but i probably don't need to point out that you don;t know what you're talking about when it comes to the area... remember, your opinion is not fact and don't let a pre-disposition against penn kids taint your views, its unbecoming.

and as for the housing market question, they speak of the housing bubble elsewhere. But you're right, in comparison to comparable cities, philadelphia remains a bargain. Condo developers are flooding the market with condos which will ultimately (within the next few years) drive condo prices down, but the houses are by no means inflated.

I live at the EXACT northwest corner of the BOSS (Box of Safety and Security) 40th and Spring Garden.

I'm tempeted to say that anybody who buys an alpha deserves an alpha. The guy at frankenstein is responsible for creating those POS's, and having them manufactured. Not only are they ugly, heavy, poorly designed, and equipped with crappy parts, but you have to deal with the nutjob owner while he harrangues you about how great his bikes are.

Dude, I can't afford to live in places where these kids are afraid of! Do you see why the whole city hates/disrespects penn kids? It is both pathetic and vaguely racist at the same time. Only its not so racist anymore, given demographic changes arising from "Upenntrification."

(caveat about generalizations)

Those kids are getting robbed by rookies with airguns. Not for nothing, but that's pretty weak. People shouldn't be getting robbed anywhere, but it's pretty far from the danger that a lot of people have to face in many other parts of the city.

And well worth facing for the beauty that is the bike church.

I think Philly would be a good place to move to. Everything seems to be getting better slowly.

I hear a lot of bad things about Frankenstein. I haven't had any bad experiences other than the fact that it's so cramped down there you can't walk without tripping over bike parts.

I live at about 42nd and Walnut. Say what?

I've been to Trophy Bikes around 32nd and Walnut, and Wolf Cycles around 46th and Market. Um....trophy bikes I didn't really like--pretty expensive stuff. I talked to the mechanics a little, they were okay. I liked Wolf Cycles though. The neighborhood is a litlte sketchier--the guy rings a buzzer and lets you in his door--but its run entirely by an older guy (like 60 y.o.?). He knew quite a lot about bikes and was fun to chat with.

bikeline on 10th and arch is awesome. they are always really nice to me, and they're really helpful.

[snob] come on man.. Wolff has TWO F's [/snob] haha, Yeah, that guy at Wolff is pretty cool. He has a younger guy doing most of the work in the back though. When I first moved here, I went there to get my shifters replaced, and he looked at em, and was like "I dont know buddy... theyre busted up pretty bad... were gonna have to replace em, and its gonna be pretty expensive." He then proceeded to quote a price of 15 bucks. That kinda gives you an idea of how much they charge for work. They dont have much in stock there, but what they do have is pretty cheap. And yes, the neighborhood IS pretty sketchy. Lancaster Ave. is riddled with useful shops, and I live Right there on 40th, but I still dont like going up that way after dark. SOmehow I dont get a good feeling when every store closes promptly at 5:00 and ALL have metal gates to roll down in front of the windows.

I used to work at wolff cycle. If somebody has a soft spot for old men who REALLY want to retire, buy his shop from him. Or set it on fire when he's not there. But first take that colnago that he'll never sell.

Bike shops:
Trophy Garage: great, but I doubt they (he) needs help.
Jays Pedal Power: Not the coolest shop, but close to me. And they have decent new stock. Maybe they would consider help?

Housing:
North Philly: Its safer and cooler than west Philly. For real.

i know the mechanics at trophy and therapy, and have seen bad work come out of both shops, which happens at every shop occasionally. some of the mechanics at therapy used to work at trophy anyways, luckily its the raging alcoholic that left trophy. i would never let that guy work on a bike.
as for expense, yea trophy's got some pretty high end bikes on display (if, waterford, etc), but they also have reasonably priced bikes/merch too. besides looking at that IF lets me dream about mine someday. when you walk into therapy all there is is a sea of litespeed (not my thing)
so, i guess my favorite shop in philly is trophy.

oh yea and the shoddy work thing...i had the guys at trophy build up my cross bike (built the wheels and everything). i was super happy with their work. so happy that i'm having them build up my new mtb. they do what i want without any attitude and the final product is superb.

I dont know if you would want to bus it to a job but the Bike Lines out
in the 'burbs hire seasonal help. There is probabably at least 1 BikeLine
right within any stop on the 104. The guy who runs the West Goshen
BikeLine rides a SS Surly too.....pretty cool considering the nouvo-yup factor that
surrounds the 'burb scene there. On the 30 Paoli line there is BEANS which is
the coolest and Performance which is busy. Just a thought if you wouldnt
mind bussing it. Manyunk too.........

i know/ridewith/trust/goto the dudes at trophy.

they are good people...

PLUS, they got one of them new sexy jamis track bikes down there too! an excuse for a visit in and of itself.

as for living in philly, what a cool city! especially if you like to mtb. i bought a nice, very reasonably priced, house two blocks from wissahickon park. it's a nice neighborhood, i can ride to work, and i am less than a minute from decent singletrack, what more can you ask for? PM me if you want some specifics.

^^^I wouldn't mind living in that area when I get to the house-buying stage. Philly is a great city.

But lets not turn this solely into a trophy love-fest, good as they are. Lets not forget Firehouse and Via. Both have gutterpunk hipsters working for them, but via has the coolest and most extensive selection of oldies-but-goodies anywhere, and firehouse will be like that someday if they can last long enough. Both have incredibly knowledgeable and geeky mechs.