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Hi there...
Random question for the day.... if your city/town had a bike shop dedicated to commuter biking - what would you expect in that shop as basic requirements ? And what you would you like to see in a Commuter bike shop ? Anyone have a LBS that exceeds expecations ??
Thanks in advance
:)
Hmmm...
No takers yet? Ok, I'll give it a shot. It seems that most bike shops out here are geared one of three ways. Road with some MTB, MTB with some road, and kids/bmx with a nod to 'commuting' (if at all). Most are the first two. Then there is the sporting goods store with low end stuff. No place to go to see a good selection of commuting/touring, or the accessories. I have actually thought about what it would take to open a store with commuting and touring bikes and stuff, with a smattering of MTB and road thrown in.
When I went off to the LBSs here looking for 32~35c folding commuting tires (wire bead is so hard to remove to fix a flat) none had anything. I ordered online. One Trek store had Trek racks and panniers. Most the others had one or two racks, nothing to speak of for panniers, and a few had front baskets for Electra type bikes. No one had steel commuters, just the typical aluminum comfort bikes that you could put racks on.
Ended up buying a steel commuter at REI. Bought tires online. Bought the Revelate rackless rear bag online. Found the tubes (Slime light 35c) at REI. Only thing bought at the bike store? Pedals. So accessories, some of the nicer racks, commuting and touring panniers, folding tires, Slime tubes in commuting tire sizes, maybe some of the commuting handlebars and rackless bags. Maybe some Soma, Salsa or Surly bikes. Heck just finding the tires would be a good start.
There are some shops in the Boston area that cater more towards commuters and have some of the accessories you describe. They are mostly in the city, though.
My expectations of a good commuter bike shop/store since my cycling includes riding for transportation for past 2 decades:
*decent selection of strong bike racks to accommodate a variety of bike geometries and carrying heavy weight (meaning over 30-40 lbs.), including folding bikes, cargo bikes
*wide selection of bike panniers, of different sizes and colours, configurations
*decent selection of bike baskets (though I don't use them/have one)
*inventory should include wide variety of hybrids, cargo bikes, folding bikes
*wide range of gloves for all season cyclists and cycling shoes that don't require clipless pedals
*local bike maps, local books on cycling routes, etc.
*wide variety of helmets
*wide selection of cycling glasses including clear glasses...at reasonable prices. Not $200.00 per pair. I'm sorry I can't spend that kind of dough for 1 pr.
Vancouver has about 2 shops that fit that criteria. Toronto has at least 1-2. Calgary...gettin' there but there's not 1 store I can pinpoint exactly for all the stuff I need.
By the way, I don't consider a beach bicycle, a commuting bicycle even though others would. It looks like an uncomfortable ride beyond 15-20 km. around town, especially for hills.
I agree with all of the above (hybrids, cargo bikes, racks, panniers, lights, tires, etc.) and would also love to see good commuting clothing. Like understated bike helmets, pants that aren't spandex but still don't get caught in the chain (oooh- chainguards!), jackets that cover my behind when I'm leaning over with my hands on the handlebars....stuff like that.
It would be great to have gear and wisdom... but not too much wisdom -- as in, oh, a shop catering to militant vehicular cyclists (or militant anything). An important question would be whether the town already had commuting cyclists and/or a commuting cyclist community. If there were a fair number of commuting cyclists then perhaps a shop could help foment a vibrant community (granted, sometimes the line between "vibrant" and "militant" depends ;))