Comments on: Ode to Bike Shops

By: Fat Cyclist

Fat Cyclist — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 06:34:31 +0000

danimal – yep, i’ll accept that as a good reason for your wife to not like the film. though, if i were the nitpicking type (and sometimes i am), it’s more of an assessment of the kind of films your wife likes than a critique of whether the film’s any good. that said (now i’m going to pick my own nit), serenity is such an unusual mix of genres (western/sci-fi/comedy/horror) that there’s no easy way for her to have known beforehand whether she was going to run into the kind of film she liked or didn’t. regardless, saying ‘i didn’t like the film because the doglike ‘reavers’ were too jarring/irritating/whatever’ is a reasonable criticism. no arguing it, really.

By: Unknown

Unknown — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 05:52:39 +0000

I’m with this sister-thing: a bike shop slash bar would utterly rock. Beer goes well with the smell of Phil’s grease, although Tri-Flow is a bit much. Too bad the alcohol regs would make this such a hassle. Perhaps shops could just GIVE an IPA or glass of Dago Red to their favorite patrons without as much paperwork?

By: Unknown

Unknown — Wed, 05 Oct 2005 03:10:29 +0000

My wife did say she didn’t like it, but she had good reason. She said “I just didn’t like it. The mean people sounded like dogs, running after you because they are going to eat you. That wasn’t my favorite part.” I dunno if that’s a professional grade critique, but it certainly is something that I wouldn’t want spread on my toast, if you know what I mean. Anyway, thought you might like to know that Caloi rider’s report of my wife’s opinion wasn’t as complete as I might have liked.By the way, we made your "best cake in the world," and it totally lived up to its name. I’m only sorry that it’s far too rich to eat a lot at a time. That good ol’ stick o’ butter in the batter sure does make it taste good, but you can start to feel your blood slow down with your first bite. Kinda reminds me of the effect that egg nog has on me when I don’t dilute it with milk.

By: augustus

augustus — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 18:04:26 +0000

I go to Blue Sky Bikes in Saratoga, NY. Liz, Jeff, and their staff are the best. I got serious around when I got my first "real" bike, a Cannondale T800. It,s a touring bike, actaally it’s a road leaning hybrid. It has around 10000 miles in 4 years. I am getting ready to get a new commuter bike in the next few weeks. Blue Sky here I come. I hope they never close.P.S. Did i read about you in a magazine this summer? Good luck. Peace. GUS

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 16:26:29 +0000

This is me and my dog.

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 15:42:59 +0000

My husband had to take his back wheel into the shop ‘bike doctor’ for a new rim, tire, tube, basically everything. About $150 later we go to pick up the ‘new’ wheel. Thankfully we were going on a short ride so we brought the bikes with us hoping to pop on the wheel and away we go. No way! He puts the new wheel on and it wobbles. Worse then the way he brought it in. He takes it off and says hey guys this ‘new’ wheel wobbles and rubs. And they take it to their machine which is made to balance and tune the wheel. It was so bad it took another 15 minutes just to get the wheel adjusted properly. Needless to say we won’t go back there. Could you imagine if we didn’t have the bike there to put the new wheel back on. We might have been on the path or our bike trip with this wheel rubbing and wobbling the entire way!Thanks to you and your site I have started my own exercise regimen. My doggy and I are walking. Both of us are severely overweight.S

By: Christina

Christina — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 03:12:20 +0000

RE the Redmond request from Tim:My husband said the service was decent at Redmond Cycle when he recently spent quite a bit to buy parts to revamp his childhood BMX bike for our son. Other than that, we just patronize all the various shops in Redmond/Bellevue/Seattle depending on what we’re buying. The only other one that stands out at all was Gregg’s in Green Lake where my husband bought his first good road bike. The service was decent there too. And test riding bikes from Gregg’s is always scenic w/ the lake and all. :)And then of course on the other end, there’s REI in Redmond which is handy for many OTHER recreational activities, but not so much on bike service/sales. However, b/c of the "jack-of-all-trades" approach at REI, it allowed us to snag a GREAT deal on a road bike. I got an ‘04 Cannondale R100 a year and a half ago for a ridiculously low price. I got that bike w/ those mega expensive Ksyrium wheels (the highest end ones). That bike wasn’t supposed to come w/ those wheels at all and should’ve shot the price up MANY hundreds of dollars. My husband noticed the bike in the window, saw the wheels first, and then saw the low price, and we bought it immediately before someone knowledgeable might change the price tag. I think the employee who sold it to us was from the spelunking dept. or something. I also bought my husband really nice Sugoi bibs for a mere $29 at REI. I wonder if someone is trying to sabotage REI’s bike dept…

By: Jodi

Jodi — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 02:52:57 +0000

fatty – funny you should mention the girl bike factor. Tonight I took Junior to a shop that happened to be showcasing children’s bikes outside. He DID absolutely gravitate towards the girly my-little-pony bike and showed NO interest in the tuffie construction looking bike. Can’t blame him, though…shiny and sparkly beat out clunky and grey anyday in the world of a two-year-old. No purchases were made, though. I will defer to you on these matters. Perhaps you could find a way to meld the boy look with glitter and the like? A Luxury Bike for my Luxurious Boy? He will never get beat up, though…FYI little dude throws a mean punch.

By: Cinco

Cinco — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 01:56:53 +0000

If you find a good shop in Redmond, please post it.Also, what kind of gears are you using to conquer these hills? Double, triple?Great blog by the way. Absolutely the funniest thing in my day.

By: Robin

Robin — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 00:54:27 +0000

Fatty:These bike shops must have been great. They sound like a bike geek paradise.RobinGetting Fat Cyclist:Check out Ultimate in Pineville on Polk or their location on Selwyn (called Bicycle Sport). Soda will be glad to see you :-)