Services

Bike Sales

The “custom” in Customer
Every customer is different, every bike is different, and every ride is different. We don’t apply a formula to bike sales, we don’t assume we know everything about the type of riding you do when you walk in the door, and we don’t use high-pressure sales tactics. Our sales technique starts with asking and then listening. From there we give you options based on the type of riding you are doing, your budget, and where you see your riding evolving.

Once we’ve given you the options we think would be appropriate we go back to listening: What are your concerns with these bikes? What do you like about the bikes? Do YOU believe they fit your need? Do you have further questions?

Once you have selected a bike we address any special needs you may have by adjusting the componentry and fit of the bike to you, rather than fitting you to the bike. For more information on this, please see our “bike fitting” section.

Bike Fitting

We guarantee that an uncomfortable bike will not be ridden and an uncomfortable rider will never reach their cycling potential. Every bike that leaves our shop is fitted to the new owner. Some fittings are more precise than others, but every bike and owner are “sized” up together in order to create the most comfortable fit.

Basic rules of fitting rely on generalizations of an average of riders. The oxymoron is that no two riders are alike. We recognize this in our fit process and take into account specifically what the bike will be used for; any special needs of the rider (i.e. previous injuries, flexibility, and/or cycling experience); and factor that into the fit of the bike.

We also recognize that fit will change: as a rider becomes more experienced their position may change on the bike. Conversely, as a rider ages flexibility may be lost. Both situations require adjustments to fit in order to keep the rider comfortable and injury free.

Adjusting saddle height, saddle fore/aft, cleat alignment, and stem length may not be enough. In this case, we are more than happy to adjust the bar width, crank length, type of saddle, type of components (i.e. shifter styles, brake levers, etc) to fit the customer.

This may sound expensive and wasteful-taking perfectly good components off a bike and replacing them with new, slightly different components. Neither is true. For changes in componentry we will give you the value of the original equipment towards the new equipment. If the value is the same, there is no charge for the swap. If the value of the new item is more or less, the price of the bike is adjusted accordingly. During this process we are careful that you are aware of what is going on and comfortable with the changes.

As you ride the bike you may find that your riding style calls for slight changes. Stop by our shop with the bike and we will accommodate these changes as soon as possible.

Custom Bicycles

Mom’s home-made cookies with hand picked ingredients always tasted better than the store-bought cookies. We believe that the same idea applies to bikes (Actually, most things in life are better when hand chosen-we can’t, however, pick everything).

Do you have a dream bike? Have you planned out each component of the bike: bar, stem, seatpost, saddle, etc. Or do you have specific components that you know you prefer to use? Let us custom build a bike for you. We can special order road or mountain bike framesets from the MANUFACTURERS WE SELL and build your bike “from scratch.” This sounds pricey, it isn’t. We can put together build kits that are competitive with “boxed bike” prices, but they will be bikes that are tailor outfitted to your spec.

It also sounds like you need to be “hip to the cool” of bike components. If you aren’t a bike geek (and just like to ride), never fear, we spend hours testing new product, researching online, meeting with suppliers, and reading the latest catalogues and magazines, and all around “geeking out” on bike stuff so that we can be a resource for you. Want suggestions for components? We are more than happy to give you suggestions and anecdotes from our own and our customer’s experiences with individual components and brands. Or, if you want a hands-off approach but with a custom bike result: give us a price range and an idea of your “ultimate bike” and we’ll give you several build kits to compare and play with until you find a combination that works for you.

If you want to go even further, several of our bicycle manufacturers offer custom built frames including MOOTS, and MARINONI. With these companies we can measure you up and work with the frame designers to create your ultimate ride. Because it is the little things that count, even if you want to leave the bike design to the experts, we can custom order frames with pump pegs, rack braise-ons, 3rd cages, fender mounts, long reach brake options, and/or disc-brake mounts. (Contact us for more information!)