I;m going to do this, leaving the names off, except the last one. There's only one shop in town right now, been there since the mid-70's, is a one-man shop (w/ two or three part-timers), can be there in 10 minutes. It's a Trek/Cannondale shop. A small supply of accessories; helmets, tubes, pumps, tools, etc. Drop a bike off for a repair, pick it up next week. (The part-time mechanics come in on the weekend). Really nice guy, got my daughter's bike there; but don't expect to get anything unique.
Little town 20 minutes to the north that I pass through on my way to work, there's a two-man team-sports print-shop (for soccer jerseys, etc.), that has a bike-shop in the corner. It's really that the owner is a serious rider, so he has a 'bike shop' against a wall in his team-shirt store. Fuji-shop. Maybe a KHS occasionally, but, predominantly Fuji. Again, a really nice guy; but, if you walk in the door and say 'bike' you're now welcomed and are a peloton rider with them. Even if you're not, you are. Bigger town 30 minutes south of me has two bike shops. One is another older shop, a one-man Schwinn shop with a collection of vintage bikes and parts in there. The other is a new shop, Trek, Specialized, and Pinarello. No old stock, small selection of accessories, clothes mostly. Glad to hand you the QBP catalog, but, you're on your own for figuring out what you need, if you're looking for Rivish stuff. Between that town to the south and the town to the east, there's a bike shop 40 minutes away, three or four fellas, is a Giant/Scott shop, and some Surlys. It's the only shop I've mentioned thus far that is comfortable talking 650B, their owner thinks it'll be a part of their future. From there, another 20 minutes further to the southeast in a small community, is one other bike shop, a couple of guys, that carry BMC, Masi, Haro, Niner, Santa Cruz, and Salsa. Good MTB store. They also know a bit about 650b, are expecting it to be big in the coming year. The town to the east, 30 minutes away, has two bike shops. One, is an old bike shop that is also a locksmith/key-cutter shop; a couple of good, gruff but friendly old salts, but I'm not sure what all they carry other than Felt. The other shop... is MSL. It's multi-facet store, has clothing (North Face, Mountain Hardwear, Patagonia, etc), camping gear, Boy Scout equipment, canoes and kayaks, an Orvis fly shop and guide service. The bicycles are one part, they do have Specialized in there, too, for the majority, but, I'm always at the Rivendells (obviously, eh?). I wish it was closer, that I didn't have to plan to make a trip over, as it's out of the way to stop in on my way home after work. I usually get by one weekend, then it might be a month or so before I'm back by again. There are a few other shops in the region of note, but, mostly, further away and more of the same. Thing is, if I have to go in and have them order it, it'll be a week before I can get back by to pick anything up from them. I'll occasionally do a 'bike-shop-Saturday', where I'll pick two or three of them to hit, and go from one shop to the next, browsing through to see if there's anything I need that they might have, but mostly a social call, to see how they're doing. I usually try to pick up an innertube, or a patch kit, or something from each of them that I stop in at; more often than not, though, if there's something specific I need, it'll be MSL that has it, or, it'd have to be ordered. But, if it's gonna be a week before I can get back by, then, it makes a bit more sense to use RBW as my LBS if they have what I need, and order from them. RBW is my local LBS that's on the other side of the continent. If there's something I'm wanting, that's more generic, that wasn't on a local shelf nor that RBW doesn't stock, then, I'll hit TreeFort, Jensen, Universal, Cambria, Lickton's, Niagara, Wallingford... I need to keep Hiawatha and Harris on that list, too. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/anuiDE9Sm_gJ. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
