Looking for Good Women's Bike Shop in DC

[juliemcd]

Greetings...have been out of riding for several years, but am in the market to purchase a entry level road bike--new or used. I live in Washington, DC, and have been visiting area cycling stores and am really frustrated. Many of the stores I have visited I feel pressured in to buying a $3,000 bike and the clerks are rude. I'm continuously made to feel bad because I can't afford such a bike, certainly when I'm just getting in to riding road bikes.
Please HELP!!

[Zen]

Proteus (http://www.proteusbicycles.com/)comes highly recommended.
what stores gave you the stink eye?

[juliemcd]

is that the name of a store?

[Zen]

Click on 'proteus'

[Geonz]

Gosh and golly, that's the shop where in, oh, 1991, my mother picked up a Schwinn 5-speed Collegiate for $95 and put it under the Christmas tree for me, 'cause I'd just moved to Richmond VA and said "it's flat enough to ride a bike here!" (It wasn't called Proteus then.)

And that's what started this addiction...

[juliemcd]

I had an awful experience at a bike store in Rockville, right on Rockville Pike...I think the name was Performance Bikes? A teenager waited on me and acted like I was a total burden on him, and he point blank told me I was foolish for trying to spend $2k on everything. I went in to Hudson Trail in Rockville also and had a similar experience, even worse the clerk was throwing around a lot of terms that I wasn't familiar with, and was very condescending when I asked her to explain the basics. I was in Georgetown Bike Shop yesterday and couldn't get anyone to help me, so I just walked out.
Am I missing something, or is this typical in bike shops? Please understand, I don't expect nor want any one to kiss my butt, but I am planning on making a purchase. I just want some honest assistance and guidance.

[aicabsolut]

Bicycle Pro Shop (specialized, colnago, cannondale, scott, etc.) (Georgetown)
Revolution Cycles (trek, trek, and more trek) (several locations)
City Bikes (better specialized selection and a few others) (Chevy Chase is better than Adams Morgan IMO for non-messenger types)
The Bicycle Place
Capitol Hill Bikes
ummm...what's that new-ish bike shop downtown?


When I was looking for my first road bike, no one pressured me into a high end bike. In fact, I had to convince them that I wanted something I could race sooner rather than later, but that I only had so much to spend and I didn't want something too over my head. If anything, a few places kept pointing me towards really entry level at first. Go in saying you want some information on bikes and that you want to test ride some. Sure, some of the staff can be hard to find and rude. I felt that was the case with BPS the first time I went in. Now that I'm on a team they sponsor, they are sooo nice to me :). I really felt that I got the best treatment at Revolution and City Bikes, though I didn't try all of the shops on the list I gave. If anything, I think they go out of their way to be extra nice to women. At the same time, they didn't push a WSD bike on me when I said that I found them uncomfortable.

[juliemcd]

Wow...you obviously have had a much better experience than I have had...Bicycle Pro Shop in Georgetown was a shop I went in to yesterday and didn't have any luck.

[Possegal]

If you had kept going up the Pike you would have hit Revolution. That's where I do a lot of my shopping and where I got my Trek. I never felt pressure to go to a more expensive bike either. They've been very helpful. Some folks more than others, of course. Folks here recommended Proteus to me as well and I plan to go check them out, but Revolution is convenient to me. Performance is OK for buying supplies and such, but I've never found them very helpful.

[Kalidurga]

Hi Julie,
I don't know how far you're willing to drive, but check out this thread (http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=20060) from the Mid-Atlantic section of the forum for info on a women's-oriented bike shop in Ellicott City, MD (north of Columbia).

And I would definitely recommend avoiding Performance Bike for anything except picking stuff up on sale. Regina calls them the "Evil Empire" ;)

[juliemcd]

Wow...that's great. I would definitely travel there. Thanks everyone!!

[tulip]

Please try out Proteus in College Park, Maryland. It's only 4 miles from the DC-MD line, only 8 miles from Logan Circle. Jill DiMauro is the owner and she is fantastic. You might want to call ahead to arrange to go when she is there (which is almost every day).

Zen already gave their website address.

If you are in DC, go out Rhode Island Avenue/Route 1 all the way to the store. It's on the right in a green building with PROTEUS painted really big on the wall. You can't miss it. If you get to I-495 and Ikea, you've gone too far by a half mile or so.

[juliemcd]

I'll definitely check out Proteus--sounds like it's a good excuse to go to Ikea also.

[tripinky]

Hi Julie,

I have spent the past few weeks shopping for my first road bike. The last bike that I had was a pink 10-speed that my dad put together for me back in grade school. So, needless to say, I was going in to this process with virtually no knowledge of what I should be looking for. I too visited the bike shop on Rockville Pike (Revolution Cycles) and was extremely turned off by the sales person there. There was a nice bike that was a great deal, but I refused to buy from them just because of the salesperson. She really pressured me to make a decision that day, when I had made it very clear to her that I was new to this and that I was just shopping around and it was the first bike shop that I had stepped foot in. So, moving on... I went to Performance just to check it out. I walked out about 2 min after I walked in. Enough said. I went to Spokes in Vienna (they have several other locations in NoVa). My friend had a better experience there, and although my experience wasn't bad, I just wish that they were more interested in helping me (in their defense, I did go on a Sunday and they were pretty busy). One thing that was nice is that the W&OD trail is right behind their shop, so you can get a better test ride (as compared to spinning around in a parking lot). Their website is www.spokesetc.com. I've also been to Conte's in Ballston. It's a nice shop and they were good to explain things to me, but they tend to cater to the higher-end bikes. They do have used bikes for sale though, and the service seems to be quite good. Their website is www.contebikes.com. A couple of other shops that I haven't been to, but have heard decent things about are Capitol Hill Bikes (www.capitolhillbikes.com) and the Bike Rack (www.bikerackdc.com).

The bike shop that I've liked the best (and am probably buying from) is All-American Bikes up in Damascus, MD. It's about 20-25mins from Rockville. The guys really know their stuff and have spent a lot of time with me explaining things and making sure that I get the best bike for me (whether it's from them or not). Over the course of 3 visits, they've spent at least 6-7 hours with me and have never pressured me to buy a bike from them. They don't have the biggest selection on site, but the service and support is 200% of what I got from the other shops. I highly recommend paying them a visit...if even just to learn more about how to buy a road bike. Their website is www.aabikes.com.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

[Kalidurga]

I forgot to mention it, Julie, but definitely check out the rest of the Mid-Atlantic section of the TE forum. There are a good number of us who post there regularly and plan rides together. We'd love to have you join us.

[F8th637]

Julie, welcome to TE and all us wonderful Mid-Atlantic chics!

I know I'm going to beat a dead horse here but I highly recommend Proteus too. I bought my first bike last year, a hybrid, from Performance here in VA and sold it to Zen (another Mid-Atlantic TE'er) when I discovered it was too small for me. I then went back to Proteus (that's where I found out my bike was too small for me) and got my new bike which I feel is so perfect for me. I'd probably check Capitol Hill and City Bikes. I had a hard time finding like THE shop for me and Proteus is kinda far for me and I make the haul there because I feel it is worth it. :D

[juliemcd]

Thanks F8th637! I live right around the corner from Capitol Hill Bikes, and I actually did have a good experience there. I'm going to check out Proteus...it's really not that far from me.
Honestly, the Performance experience was just as bad as shopping at Best Buy.

[Geonz]

Wow...you obviously have had a much better experience than I have had...Bicycle Pro Shop in Georgetown was a shop I went in to yesterday and didn't have any luck.

Get on over to PG COunty ;) (attempting to squelch my parochialism here ;) )

[aicabsolut]

Some of my friends race for Capitol Hill's team. They have some nice stuff. And demo wheels! Not at all convenient for me, but I'm thinking of hitting them up soon for stuff BPS won't give me much discount on.

[HillSlugger]

I had a great experience buying my Specialized Sequoia at City Bikes in Chevy Chase. I also had a great experience buying my Jamis Coda at Proteus. Performance should definitely be avoided for buying bikes unless you absolutely know what you want and need no help/advice from the sales people.

[KnottedYet]

Performance is pretty much a self-serve buyer-beware kind of thing. I rescued a woman who was being poorly advised about bike fit at Performance. The clerk wasn't happy with me, but the woman was. I'm probably on a Naughty List somewhere at Performance headquarters. "Banned In All 50 States." ;)

[Zen]

oh, so that's your photo on the wall :D

[F8th637]

LOL, I think I saw it too there, Zen. :D

I've learned my lesson buying a bike from Performance the hard way. I will now only go there for cheap gear.