Return-Path: Received: from HOKUSAI.THEORY.CS.CMU.EDU by K.GP.CS.CMU.EDU; 16 May 89 13:16:04 EDT Date: 16 May 1989 13:14-EDT From: Allan.Heydon@HOKUSAI.THEORY.CS.CMU.EDU To: bovik@k Cc: dberk@a.gp.cs.cmu.edu Subject: bike buying advice Message-Id: I recently spent a fair amount of time buying a new bike, and I thought I'd pass on the knowledge I gained from the experience. I'm writing this about a month after I started the adventure, so please forgive any mistakes and/or lapses of memory (better yet, send corrections to Bovik!). Dina Berkowitz and I were shopping for our bikes together. Just so you have an idea as to what we were after, I was in the market for a racing bike, and she was in the market for a touring bike. We were both looking for high-quality performance bikes that would last a long time (between $500 and $700). If you're in the market for a moutain bike, you may want to do your own shopping around (although this may get you started); there may be some stores with mountain bikes that I don't even mention here. General Pointers ---------------- If you are new to cycling (and even if you aren't), you should first read the article I sent to Bovik called the "Bicycle Buyer's Bible" taken from *Women's Sport and Fitness* magazine. It will explain a lot of the terminology and options available to you. Also, *Bicycling* magazine puts out an issue around March that lists the new bikes on the market with their specs and retail prices. This is helpful in getting an idea of what's available and what to look for. The new year's models seem to come in around February through May, so you can get great deals on last years' models if you shop then. One of the salesmen even went so far as to say that getting an older year's model is almost invariably better because each year bike manufactures tend to cheapen various components, but raise the price slightly. I think this may be true to some extent, but it should be taken with a grain of salt. After all, indexed shifting, for example, only became standard a couple of years ago; buying the older model (without indexed shifting) would be a definite lose. There seems to be a lot of controversy regarding aluminum frame bikes. Some people told us they'd heard of aluminum frames breaking; yet none of the bike stores had ever had anyone bring back a damaged aluminum frame. There is also a diversity of opionion regarding the ride of an aluminum bike. Some say you feel beaten up after riding on an aluminum bike for a whole day; others say they're very rigid and absorb the shock better than chrome-moly (i.e. steele) bikes. People have different tastes. I suggest you test ride any bike you are considering buying for 20-30 minutes to get a feel for it's ride. In general, as the "Bicycle Buyer's Bible" article says, you get what you pay for. Generally speaking, more expensive bikes have a nicer component group (brakes, derailleurs, gear sets, etc.) and little extra features that make the bike much nicer to use and maintain. The most important thing, I think, is to *shop around*. You'll be surprised how much you can pick up going into just one store and asking questions. And then you'll be much better informed for all the other stores you go to. You'll see different things at each place, and you'll also be able to better gauge the competence of the salespeople and the kind of service they'll give your bike. The second most important thing is to do some test-rides. All the talk about which shifting system is better is academic if it feels uncomfortable to you. You may not need the high-performance componenents if the mid-range ones work fine on your test ride. And remember (this should probably go without saying): if you don't enjoy your bike (no matter how many features it has) you won't be inclined to ride it. Shopping Around Pittsburgh -------------------------- The bike business seems to be quite volatile. There's a lot of competition. For starters, the following bike stores that once existed around here are now defunct: The Bike Barn, The Bike Rack, Classic Cycles (merged with Ambridge Bike), Airport Schwinn (also merged with Ambridge). Also, Pittsburgh Pro Bicycles has moved further down Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill from its old location next door to the Giant Eagle. It is now across the street from the gas station at the corner of Murray and Beacon. Here then, are the stores I found around Pittsburgh, along with a little description of each. ============== Ambridge Bikes ============== 507 Merchant Street Hours: M-F: 10-8 Ambridge, PA Sat: 10-5 266-1111 Sun: 12-5 DIRECTIONS (~45 mins driving time): Get on the parkway (I-376) West. Cross Fort Pitt bridge and go through Fort Pitt tunnel. You are now on I-279 S. Turn off onto I-79 North (toward Erie). Take the first exit immediately after crossing the Ohio river (this will be the exit just *after* the Neville Island exit, I believe it's exit #19). At the end of the exit, bear right onto route 65 N. Stay straight until you see a sign that the red belt is joining your road from the right. Stay straight. After going under the *next* bridge, take a right at the first light. At the next light, turn left. The shop is on the right in about 1-1/2 blocks. This is the store where we both wound up getting our bikes. The inventory of racing, mountain, and low-end recreational bikes is *amazing* -- room after room of bicycles hanging everywhere. There inventory is partly so large because they got all the bikes when Classic Cycles and Airport Schwinn went under. I should say, however, that they carry mostly racing and mountain bikes; they had very few touring bikes and very few small-frame bikes (although they were happy to order a small touring bike for Dina). They also had the best prices of anyplace we shopped. The place is owned by two guys, and there are two other regular workers there. All four of these people were knowledgeable about bikes. They were also very helpful, and spent many hours with us, even keeping the store open past closing on a couple of occassions. I was able to spend as long as I wanted test-riding bikes; if you want to do that, just make sure to go at a time when they aren't busy (it's best to call ahead). After 30 days, they will re-tune your bike for free. There's an added bonus: when you buy a new bike from them, they give you a card which entitles you to 10% off all items in the store, 15% off clothing, and free flat fixes for one year. I should say that we did feel we were getting a sales pitch every now and then (especially from one of the owner's named Larry). But all in all, it was the most accommodating, friendly store we visited. ========================= Birmingham Bridge Bicycle ========================= 2210 E. Carson Hours: M,F: 10-6 Pittsburgh T-Th: 10-8 431-7171 Sat: 10-4 DIRECTIONS: Get on 5th Ave. headed toward downtown. Turn left onto the Birmingham bridge. The shop is just at the end of the bridge on the south side of Carson street. This is a small shop. The guy who owns it would much rather be out touring the countryside on his bike than servicing customers. He is an avid touring cyclist, and he seemed very willing to help anyone interested in touring by giving advice, etc.. That's a great feature if you're interested in touring, but having some racing and/or touring bikes in stock to look at would have been a nice feature as well! He said he had bikes on order, but the best he could do the day we were there was show us pictures in catalogues. There were about 15-20 moutain bikes in stock. ========================= Coraopolis Bike and Hobby ========================= 938 5th Ave. Hours: M-F: 10-8 Coraopolis Sat: 10-5 264-0982 Can you tell something from the name? This place mostly stocks low-end bikes (under $300). It's not the right place for you if you're looking for a nice bike that will last a while and won't weigh a ton. ======= Gatto's ======= 729 Allegheny River Boulevard Hours: M-Th: 10-8 Verona Fri: 10-5 826-1600 Sat: 10-4 DIRECTIONS: Get on 5th going away from downtown. Cross over Penn Ave. You are now on Washington Blvd. Stay straight on this until you come to a T near the river, and turn right (away from signs to the Highland Park bridge) onto Allegheny River Blvd. Stay straight until you reach Verona ("the spot that's more than a dot"). Gatto's is in the main block of the town on the right. SECOND LOCATION: 139 E 6th Ave Hours: M-Th: 10-8 Tarentum Fri: 10-5:30 224-0500 Sat: 10-4 DIRECTIONS: Cross the Highland Park bridge, and get on 28 N. Take Exit #14. Bear right at the end of the exit. Go straight thru the next light. Take a left at the next light. At the first stop sign, turn right and then park on the right. Basically, both stores seemed the same to me (they even have the same sales people working at both!). The inventory was on the order of 30-50 bikes at each place. I was not impressed by the salespeople, but I've heard that it's just a matter of which person you get. One guy was raving about a certain component group, and when I pressed him for what he was so impressed by about them, he replied that the packaging they were shipped in was really lovely! I chalked that up to getting the wrong guy, but then a different guy at the other store raved about how the most recent Cannondale "Black Lightening" was the best one they've come out with yet because they finally got the lettering on the components to be gold so as to match the lettering on the frame! I think I may have just had bad luck, but it makes you wonder how knowledgable these people really are. Their prices were also much higher than Ambridge Bike Shop ($85 more in some cases). ======================= Pittsburgh Pro Bicycles ======================= 2012 Murray Ave. Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh 521-BIKE I once had a bad experience at this store, and have been boycotting it ever since. Others I've spoken with have had bad experiences also. But it is a nice shop, and the location can't be beat. Dina got good service there, but ended up buying at Ambridge because Pgh Pro's price was substantially higher than what Ambridge could offer. They were very nice about letting her take test rides on the bikes she was choosing between. They stock a lot of Cannondales and Treks. If you visit this shop, Dina recommends you speak to Alan, the store's proprieter --- he's fairly knowledgable, has done some serious riding, and isn't as overbearing as some of the other sales people there. ============= T.R.M. Cycles ============= 3534 Washington Ave. Hours: M-F: 10-7 Mount Lebanon Sat: 10-4 343-6885 DIRECTIONS: This shop is just before the Haagen Dazs on Washington Ave. in the heart of Mount Lebanon. There are two ways to get there. The easiest is to go through the Liberty tubes and just stay straight the whole way. The second (and fastest) way is as follows. Take the Parkway (I-376) West through the Fort Pitt tunnel. Take the first exit. At the exit, the road curves sharply to the left and then forks; bear right at the fork. This is Banksville road. Go straight a ways. You'll pass a Burger King on your right. At the next light after that, get in the left lane and bear left at the fork. Go up the hill, and turn right at the first light onto Washington road. The bike store is about 4 blocks down on your left. This is a rather small shop that just opened. They carry mostly Trek, and Specialized racing/touring bikes (they also carry mountain bikes too, of course, and some lower-end recreational bikes). The guy who owns it is very nice, but I don't know anything about his technical competence because I visited this shop after I'd already bought my bike. But it's definitely worth checking out.