i will be in san francisco for one week starting this friday and i am verryyy interested in checking out at least one bike shop. Now I know there is a sticky for this but since I will be in town on un related business I will probably only have time for one shop. What I'm asking from you guys is to recommend a bike shop(hopefully fixed, track specific) near macarthur ave. which is where ill be staying. I have never been to sf before and all i know is the street im staying on so any help would be much appreciated and so would directions<<<<

thanks alot

If you do mean Macarthur Ave (and not Macarthur Blvd., which is across the bay in Oakland) then you'll be in Ft. Mason/Marina. There are no track specific shops there. Believe me.

Lots of women with too much make up, though.

edit: Everyone's going to recommend Travis at Freewheel Hayes anyway, so I may as well get there first.

+1 for freewheel. Marina... its uhmm... its the marina.

Not very track specific but relatively close by are Sports Basement and City Cycle (https://citycycle.com).

city cycle and my shop were #1 and #2 for mechanicry and sales, according to "city sports" magazine...or something. they were number one for mechanicry, and we were number one for sales. it's an arbitrary contest, but still cool nonetheless. city cycle is a great shop, as is freewheel hayes...and probably every other shop in the city for different reasons.

freewheel again..

I know you said SF, but you could hop on the BART (get off Macarthur Blvd.) to Oakland and check out Montano Velo. They are really becoming the THE place for track suff, IMHO. On any given day you'll find a gan well, nagasawa, iro, etc, and more phil hubs and velocity rims than you can shake a stick at...

true... ugh.... *shudder*

so far it sounds like freewheel and possibly montana velo are the places to check out. Does anyone have exact adresses so that i might mapquest these once im in the bay area?

4266 Piedmont Ave, Oakland = montanovelo

1920 Hayes, SF = freewheel

i love how montanovelo is like a 5 minute ride away from my house.......mang!

i add +1 for them.....but they will make any bike you ride feel like a fisher price ride. they just have INCREDIBLE stuff.

While everyone is (for obvious reasons) recommending freewheel on hayes (cause travis rocks!), If you want to look at fixed eye candy - the freewheel on valencia might be more fun to visit.

thanks a lot for all the info, ive mapquested a couple places and im sure ill manage to get to at least one of them. Also despite my fear of sounding like hipster scum id like to ask if any of these shops recommended carry reload bags in-store or if there are any others you know of that do. Ive been dying to get a look at one in person,
thanks again

I think montanovelo does, as well as american cyclery (i think)

Go to Montano Velo. Talk to Jason. Have him show you the Nagasawa! Drool.

never speek of that american cyclery blasphemy. you thief.

If you're an out-of-towner and you're looking to buy, American Cyclery is good because they have pretty much anything you want in stock. Sherrif star campy hubs? Check. DA7600s? Check. NJS parts up the wazoo? Check. Cinelli track parts? Check. Instant gratification. Pricey as hell, though. Definitely a nice place to wander around and look at stuff.

Freewheel Hayes seems like a great bike shop, but I think a person who lives in SF is much better able to appreciate it. If you just walk in and look around, there's not really much to see, and there isn't a crazy amount of inventory. They can get anything you want in a few days though (as they did for me while I was there... hello yellow strong-g grips!).

Jitensha Studio in Berkeley is worth a visit. It is a shrine. More boutique than bike shop though.

As far as Montano Velo goes, learn from my mistakes. They close at 5:30.

In any case, a proper SF vacation should be structured around eating moreso than looking at bike stores.

i agree: american is a good place due to their stock of things to look at as well as their inventory of hard to find stuff (hard to find in the usual bike shops...). their prices are high, but i think it's dictated by the market. you could get NOS c-records or da's on ebay OR you could buy them NOS from your local shop... your dollar is your vote, as they say.

now, for the real stuff: food in san francisco. let the suggestions and arguments fly. best burrito - castellitos, church/market. i'll be there this evening in just 1.5 hours, as soon as i am home from work. heaven wrapped in tinfoil.

Freewheel Hayes has a good inventory of hubs, cranks, rims, tires, bags, etc. but it's all in a very small space, mostly a pile in the display case, so not really a good place to stand around and gawk. Best shop around though.

Agreed on the eating thing, lots of great spots around the city...

My favorite Mexican, Corneta between 23rd and 24th on mission, had lunch there today.
Must eat, cheap:
King of Thai noodle on Ofarrell and Powell
Pakwan on 16th and Valencia or in the loin
Goat Hill Pizza on Conneticut and 18th

being a long time cancun advocate, i'm really beginning to like el castellito. although the super burrito is pricier than other places, they (re)fry the meat right before buildling your burrito so it's nice and hot. the other places the meat has just been sitting in those metal pans all day.

cancun still holds a soft-spot in my heart. their tortillas cannot be beat.

castellito has the exact method down (according to my tastes). 1-they grill the tortilla (steaming it leaves it too soft, plus it sticks to your teeth), 2-their rice is never dry and their beans are never too salty, 3-the dudes there are totally nice, 4-on the rare occasions that i do have meat in the burrito, it is always top notch plus they grill it before buidling just like cancun, farolito, etc..

actually.. freewheel hayes carries re-load bags in stock... and other great local independent bag builders. freight, ramblin worker... that are on par with the reloads.

as stated before, not much to look at... but it's all there... just behind the counter or in the case. just get to talking to travis. he'll hook you up, you'll be surprised at the amount of stuff behind the counter!

welcome to SF, btw.

as far as american cyclery their website lists two locations, one on frederick and one on stanyan, which of the two is more track/fixed specific or carries more parts of the like

^they are both across the street from each other, one's full of moutain bike stuff & the other has track and road bike stuff, you can't miss em'

haha sweet thanks