Return-Path: Received: from HOSTESS.GRAPHICS.CS.CMU.EDU by ux4.sp.cs.cmu.edu id aa05847; 11 Aug 98 10:40 EDT Date: Tue, 11 Aug 98 09:29:16 EDT From: Paul.Heckbert@HOSTESS.GRAPHICS.CS.CMU.EDU To: bovik@cs.cmu.edu Subject: bike shops My wife and I were recently shopping for a bike. Here are some notes: We visited Bike Line in Monroeville, Gatto at Penn and Braddock in the East End, and Ambridge Bike Shop in Ambridge. We were looking for a hybrid bike (not mountain, not racing -- something inbetween for occasional commuting or casual recreational riding on Pittsburgh streets and wide park trails). Gatto didn't have a large selection of hybrid bikes at moderate prices in our price/quality range ($300 to $400). Most of their hybrids were more expensive. Bike Line had a pretty good selection, and was closer to our home, so we ended up buying a Trek bike there. So far we've been happy with Bike Line. Ambridge Bike shop had the largest selection, and very helpful people, but we didn't end up buying a bike there because it's so far away. We bought a Yakima roof rack from them, however. We found the web pages created by John Greiner to be helpful in preparing for bike shopping: http://trfn.clpgh.org/wpw/pghbike/jdgindex.html Checking the frame size and the saddle-to-handlebar distance turned out to be important. Most salesmen aren't so careful to check that each bike you might think to test-ride is the right frame size and the right saddle position for your body. Consumer's Reports magazine was also helpful. The Carnegie Library has back issues and Buying Guides.