After being chided by my fave mechanic about putting way too much into de-crapping my Schwinn Traveler road fixie (which I love and retain), I got a new Bianchi 2004 Pista. R&A Cycles in Brooklyn said they had 53s (me) and 55s in stock. I anxiously rode over, to find none on the floor. They reassured me that it was at their warehouse, and before I could visualize forboding docks in New Jersey, they told me they'd have it in an hour.

I do in fact really love it.

Moreover, R&A in Brooklyn, despite being a little salty until I told them I was READY to BUY, was a cool store and has pistas in stock, for those who lament their unavailability.

good luck getting any service (without attitude) after your purchase.

Just make sure you get rid of that chrome saddle asap.

I don't lament over their unavailability. Maybe that's just me.

What did he do wrong?

R & A sucks. They are such utter and complete a**holes. I bought a $500 hybrid from them a couple years ago when I first started riding in the city and they were such jerks. They acted as though they were doing me a favor just showing me the bike, then sold me one way too small (because it was the last one they had assembled) and wouldn't take it back when I realized the bike wasn't teh right size. Unless you are buying some $5000 wonder bike they don't have time for you. The sad fact is they probably make the vast majority of their money on $500 hybrids. I never ever buy anything from them, even though they are the closest bike store to me.

I want to see what color chrome saddles turn after the 200 miles of commuting I have before the NYC century. If it's not a proud looking grayish-yellow by then, I'll probably have the money to replace it.
Let's hope.

Also, I gotta say that since I have had a less than stellar experience at literally every bike shop I've ever been to, I tend to view them as a means to an end (the end of having the bike I want in the right size) and leave service to James Carpenter in the East Village, who's rad and knows a lot about bikes, and is fair about pricing. Check his ad out on Craigslist. He deserves a plug.

I've always been able to find at least one shop in the area I live that has great service. Here in Austin 360 Cycleworks is about the best shop I've ever been in. They are always really friendly and the owner is one of those guys who always remembers your name. When I first moved here I went in and introduced myself and the first thing he did was give me free water bottle and really great map of all the rides in and around Austin. The service guys are always really helpfull and get my stuff done fast and right the first time. All this and I've never even bought a bike from them.


I just bought a new Pista myself. I bought it for two reasons first I needed something cheap to tow the kids around in the Burley and second because I've never owned a fixed gear bike and I didn't want to drop a ton of money on an unknown. Now that I have it I have found that I really like ridding a fixed gear bike and this is good case of "you get what you pay for". You can feel the lower quality of the components, I fist thought of up grading the drive train but I think I'll just keep this to tow the kids and build up a different frame set. I did however swap out the seat right away and added a brake and some bullhorns but thats as far as I'll take this thing.

by the way...
all of you who have never ridden on the pista with the chrome seat, please stop commenting on them.
That seat has been one of the most comfortable seats in which I have ever ridden.
If you have a problem with the color, don't worry about it... it's not your bike.
and it has stayed chrome after 300+ miles... the way it smells now is a different story.

but I digress...
R+A is horrible for service...go to BikeWorks... or James Carpenter.

i just got rid of my chrome saddle on ebay for $30...

I don't think the seat is very erognomic for the average female, but I found it was much more comfortable if I'm wearing bike short w/chamois. That negates its bar cruiser usability, tho.

Ok, you're making the rules. From now on, no one will comment on anything they haven't ridden, be it a question of aesthetics or otherwise.

thank you.

actually, it's my fault.
this is a public board.
comment on what you'd like.

langsters suck.
hahahaha... I kid.

Yea 360 is great, if you have at least a K- to fork over once you get you ass to their shop in BFE.

what if said question falls outside the realm of otherwise?

I've never been treated badly by them and I sure haven't spent any serious cash there. Ron is really great guy and so is everyone else I've delt with there. As for being in BFE I guess that's all relative. They are the closest shop to my house not to mention the best one I've been to.

I've got 'bout 7000 (yes, seven thousand) miles on my stock chrome seat, and it's still a champ. It's peeling a bit around the nose, but other than that it's perfect. I think it's pretty comfortable too. I tried some other saddles, but none worked as well for me.

I only have a few hundred on my stock "chrome" seat, but it started to peel so badly yesterday in the rain, that I peeled the whole thing. Some of the chrome paint stayed on the seat, some went with the transparent skin I removed. What's left is a blotchy (but smooth now) chrome/white platic seat. Hopefully I don't get too much chrome paint on my shorts. It is a fairly comfortable seat, though.