Best cycling/bike shop in chicago (personal opinoin)
So i live in the burbs but ill be heading up this weekend to check out some shops i chitown. So tell me your favorite one, and why.
Thnks
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike Schwab on
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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on
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The problem is that in many cases some of those junk kids bikes really are not worth fixing because the cost of the repair is going to far exceed the value of the bike. It's a difficult conversation to have with a customer and have them not feel brushed off.
Tony Adams 6.6 mi said:No, they did not have a terrible attitude in either case. They were somewhat dismissive of the father/son combo, but I would not call it a case of terrible attitude exactly. Sure it is just an anecdote and I suppose it was a rare cooincidence, but what killed me about it was that both of these events happened within a few minutes of each other.
I totally get it (now) about the seat post, but I think even if it ends up in a financial loss for the shop, kids need to be encouraged to maintain their bikes rather than being encouraged to throw them away. A positive experience at a bike shop for a child - rather than being turned away - goes a long way toward building a life-long rider and eventually a paying customer.
I know that bike shops run on a razor thin margin. But any business that wants to survive for the long haul needs to have some patience and be willing to invest in the community if it expects the community to invest in them.
notoriousDUG said:Did they have a terrible attitude when dealing with you or with the father/son combo?
Honestly both of those are things that I have done in a bike shop.
Most shops will shy away from stuck seat posts because they are very labor intensive to remove and there is a chance of the frame being damaged in the process. A lot of shops will also try and take a pass on repairing really cheap bikes, especially kids bikes, because it often opens up an ugly can of worms.
Tony Adams 6.6 mi said:
I told myself I would not bring up my Get a Grip horror story unless the place got mentioned again. It was a long time ago, but it was so unforgivable that it bears repeating. I need to repeat it because Get a Grip should not be included in the statement that "most bike shops in Chicagoland are good."
I broke the seat post on my daily rider. I found it was seized. It was an aluminum tube in an aluminum frame and I freely admit that I had not maintained it properly. I am better about such things now (including mostly sticking to steel frames). I bring the bike into Get a Grip on Irving and I'm told that there was nothing they could do. I was flabbergasted. My other option seemed to be to trash the bike. Now subsequent to that I've experienced some other seized seat posts and I know that the effort to remove this one might have ended up exceeding the value of the bike. But really? throw a bike away because of one broken part? Seems pretty inexcusable. Ok, so that was very bad and I know that I was implicated (due to failure to keep the tube lubed) so ok, I could find a way to move on with my life.
But as I was leaving the shop a father and son come in for some service on the son's bicycle. They are also shooed out of the shop - refused service because the boys bike was deemed not worth the effort. What kind of lesson is that for a child to learn at a bike shop? That what we are supposed to do in life is buy carbon fiber road bikes that are worthy of a bike shops attention? That we are not supposed to keep what we have running? That the solution to mechanical problems is to throw your bike away and get a new one? Any business that elitist, that snooty and that unconcerned with cycling's future riders has no business calling it self a bike shop.
If these two events didn't happen at the same time I might not still be holding a grudge, but they did and I am.
Michael A said:The fact is most bike shops in Chicagoland are good, what matters more is if you are a good customer. Tell the sales people what you want in a bike, what your budget is and you will get a good starting place.
If someone does not want a TT bike, tell the salesperson that and they will show you what you want to see. We all have our favorite shops, mine have all been listed here. You will not find a high end carbon fiber race bike at Heritage nor will you find a linus dutchie style bike at get a grip.. Shop around, find a bike that fits you and the style of riding you want to do. DO not expect to find the perfect bike the first day you shop, and try not to shop on the first sunny weekend day. Asking a site of 6500 plus users what there favorite will bring lots of opinion, 500 or so from the same 4 people.
Shop around and good luck to you
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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on
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Wow! Mike comes through with some awesome background info. I've always wondered how Yellow Jersey fitted in to the whole regional Turin coop story. The next time we ride together I'd love to pick your brain and hear more about it if you are in the mood.
It seems like there is enough of a convoluted plot with different personalities that emerged from the late-60's era counter-culture of hippie bike-enthusiasts to make a decent mini-series or Hollywood movie. Of course, they would get everything wrong in order to throw their own fetid social-engineering spin on things like they do to everything they touch with their Midas fingers.
Growing up in Madison, Yellow Jersey always had a bit of a mystique, and I liked to hang around a little in College when I was close enough to State Street to consider YJ to be my "LBS" between classes at the UW. I didn't live on campus so it was fun to drop by there when I was downtown and had some time to kill. I've seen good & bad things at that shop, but mostly good. I don't get back up there often enough these days and it's been a long time since I've visited their shop. I do love to peruse the crazy website they have, it fits their shop personality well IMHO.
Geographically I was much closer to Middleton Cycle since I grew up and lived on the far West side during my formative years. There is not much else I can say nice about Middleton Cycle other than it exists in Middleton with a University Avenue address. I haven't darkened their doorstep in many a year.
All in all, I feel that the Chicago flatlanders are VERY lucky to have so many diverse and excellent bike shops. Coming from Madison I am just blown away at how many good shops exist just blocks from each other and so few bad apples in the whole bunch. Plus there are so few chain stores which is refreshing coming from a place when the majority of the LBS's in town seem to be all Erik's -other than Yellow Jersey and a tiny few other random LBS's stretched very thin across the greater Madison area.
mike w. said:The history of Turin Evanston is filled with all manner of drama from the day it opened. i also get the feeling that drama extended to the very early days of the Co-op when they were a hole-in-the-wall on Carmen av. There were several shops in the original Turin Cooperative, including Yellow Jersey of Madison, and IIRC, Rainbow Jersey in Milwaukee, and a shop in Colorado (Denver or Boulder.) i don't remember what exactly happened to the old co-op, but i think the old hippie-anarcho-capitalist business model just faded away with the 70's. Egos and other such human foibles contributed to the many phases and failures and rebirths over the years. Eventually i guess they just ran out of airspeed altitude and options.
i had a love-hate thing going with that shop. i bought my first ten speed there in '72, and hung around on my days off learning by osmosis how to wrench while waiting for the container load of French bikes to arrive. At times the elitism of the shop rats was insufferable, and other times i got screaming deals from friends who worked there.
Like people, shops get born, they grow old, and they die. Sometimes they reincarnate, a Phoenix out of the ashes. i don't know what became of the old Turin, but i wish the New Turin well as also the Wheel and Sprocket and most of all the other shops around here with one notable exception in Chicago which i cannot mention online due to legal concerns.
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Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on
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I've bought a few bikes from Iron Cycles. Steve does an amazing job with the fit and listens to help get you in the right bike. He is incredibly knowledgeable. I go back there whenever I have a question and Ben and the rest of the peeps are great as well. Really happy with both Felt bikes - road and cx. I wish they carried women's clothing.
I bought from Rapid transit and I also really like them. Great accessories and Deb is fantastic. I love my Kona commuter. Deb also set me up with all of my locks.
As a woman, I love Turin and where they are taking that store - esp. for their choices in clothing. It's hard to find women's cycling attire and accessories that aren't pink, purple and covered in girly graphics. I don't know all the detail about the history of the name but what I do know is that the bikes they sell are gorgeous and the sales peeps are very helpful AND they carry really great shoes, clothing, etc. I can't walk past that store without going in. Tasty eye candy.
I also visited the Element in Oak Park and they too have taken the time to stock some great clothing and accessories for women.
Johnny Sprockets is also fantastic - for accessories, bikes, and gear in general. I bought my panniers from them and I'm very happy with my purchase.
We're pretty lucky to have lots of choices in Chicago. I have bought a few bikes in years past that did not suite me but that is probably as much my fault for not being an educated consumer. Do the research to figure out what you are looking for in a bike. Lots of great online resources and bike reviews.
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Permalink Reply by bk (aka: Dr. Mambohead) on
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hands down.. people... please.... The Cycle Garden!!!! Rumours persist of PBR as an acceptable form of payment...
Here is A Real Gem!
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Permalink Reply by Albany Park Al on
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The Lincoln Square-Albany Park area is getting amazingly stocked with bike shops. I've bought parts from On the Route at Lawrence/Lincoln, which is good, and now Turin is just a few blocks away.
My closest bike shop though is Iron Cycles, and from the first time I stopped in there looking for a small part (might have been a seatpost binder bolt!) they have been great. Their specialty is road and cyclocross bikes, but they seem to be knowledgeable about everything. My neighbor had bought a cheap hybrid bike at our neighborhood garage sale; it had steel rim wheels which were way out of true. At my suggestion he took it over there and not only did they true the wheels for something like $10, they told him it was a perfectly good tootle-round-the-hood bike and to enjoy it. Very few bike shops could resist the urge to 'upsell' a customer like that, but they did the right thing by him.
Smart Bike Parts is also good, bought lots of supplies from Eric.
Uptown is good for things like old parts (got just the right things for an old Raleigh Sturmey Archer 3 speed) and they have good mechanics, but as for bikes their specialty is urban transport, I wouldn't go there for a road bike.
Really, there are so many good shops around it's a matter of what you are looking for.
Working Bikes...hmm. Certainly not the place for a road bike! They have a charitable mission, so you want to say 'right on,' but I'm not so sure anymore. It seems to be the center of a certain bike-social scene for the volunteers, as seen in the many comments here. But in terms of actual bikes they sell (or parts) I am not convinced that they really provide a great value.
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Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on
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Roscoe Village Bikes has excellent service and the mechanics are friendly, too. I can't recommend them enough.
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Permalink Reply by youngmancycle on
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OK guys i think i need to clear things up here for discussion..... Im a teenager and i have a decent mountain bike but i want to get into road bikes, ive saved up a couple bucks and im going to head into the city and look for either a cheap road bike or a nice used one, just so i can get into the sport. I dont want an expensive bike, $700 is about my max and i thought i could save a couple bucks heading down to working bikes and getting an old used one for cheap and save the other money so if i really want to get into it. I also was going to check out smart bikes and boulevard just to check out their gear and see if they had any good deals.
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If you want to buy a used or even vintage road bike then get here and just start reading threads and learn about what is good, what is OK, and what to avoid. There is a lot of knowledge in those pages.
Lots of really nice HIGH-end steel-framed vintage bikes that are eminently upgradible to more modern components a little at a time for well within that price range.
But the number one piece of advice is know your size and get something that fits! The nicest bike, old or new, that doesn't fit is going to suck for you. Beyond knowing what stuff is and being able to recognize the quality older/used bikes, frames, and components the most important thing is knowing how to fit your own bike. Buying bike after bike that doesn't work out because it doesn't fit gets really old and will blow your budget worse than anything else.
This is one HUGE advantage of buying at an LBS. They'll be able to point you in the right direction as far as size is concerned as long as you are willing to listen to their advise on that subject (too many people aren't.)
youngmancycle said:OK guys i think i need to clear things up here for discussion..... Im a teenager and i have a decent mountain bike but i want to get into road bikes, ive saved up a couple bucks and im going to head into the city and look for either a cheap road bike or a nice used one, just so i can get into the sport. I dont want an expensive bike, $700 is about my max and i thought i could save a couple bucks heading down to working bikes and getting an old used one for cheap and save the other money so if i really want to get into it. I also was going to check out smart bikes and boulevard just to check out their gear and see if they had any good deals.
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Turin is Turin. If anything what has happened in the most recent transformation is that the outside money is gone and things are back to originality.
If I may dispense some inside dish that is also, IMO. good PR, Lee Katz, who is the man you see at the new, current Turin webpages, still frequently gets together with originals Gary Page and Dan Joseph early in the a.m. and they all go for a bike ride. Not a lot of other bike rides you can point to that have lasted 48 years. You will not find more originality in the retail world.
Unless perhaps you go to Madison and visit at Yellow Jersey. Andy Muzi runs the place now and he has been right there since the beginning. If you're nice and if you buy something he can tell you all about their days as a commune, a collective, a co-op, a worker's brigade and all of that.
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Youngmancycle
$700 is a respectable amount of change. If you were fluent in the ways of CL or ebay you could get a lot of bike for that money. If you prefer the safety of buying from a shop go to RRB in Kenilworth. Ron Boi has NOS made in Taiwan RRB frames in all sizes. Good handmade frames of Tange tubing. He can equip the frames any way you want. For $700 it will end up nice. He was a racer himself and has equipped and coached a lot of racers. Sometimes Ron is slow on the custom builds. Deal with it. He will never BS a rider. He's been doing this well over 40 years. He started as a teenager. He still coaches teenagers. Good advice from Ron is the best advice you'll ever get and it is basically free. "Fitting" is something he does in his sleep.
youngmancycle said:OK guys i think i need to clear things up here for discussion..... Im a teenager and i have a decent mountain bike but i want to get into road bikes, ive saved up a couple bucks and im going to head into the city and look for either a cheap road bike or a nice used one, just so i can get into the sport. I dont want an expensive bike, $700 is about my max and i thought i could save a couple bucks heading down to working bikes and getting an old used one for cheap and save the other money so if i really want to get into it. I also was going to check out smart bikes and boulevard just to check out their gear and see if they had any good deals.
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