Bike Shop Recommendations: St. Louis

[Ana]

I am planning to travel to St. Louis sometime this summer and would like to test ride some frame while I'm there. I'm very curious about titanium and high-end steel frames and would love to test ride some! Unfortunately, the bike shops in my area do not have bikes in my size to test ride so I'm hoping that traveling to a different city will expand my options.

Any suggestions of places to go? I trust recommendations here and I see from my search that there are LOTS of bike shops in the city!

I will only be there 3-5 days but would consider renting a bike that fits me for the time I'm there (if the shop allows it...).

Thanks!

[TrekTheKaty]

We do have a lot of bike shops here. Do you have a manufacturer in mind? I'll give you a list of shops I'm familiar with, but you might want to call and see what they have in stock before you visit--to narrow it down. What part of town will you be staying in?

Tour of Missouri is Sept 7-13th, if you have your choice of dates.

Big Shark is a nationally ranked shop near Forest Park. I didn't find anything there for me, but their website is bigshark.com. They host a lot of local races and a bike team.

We also frequent Ghisallo in Chesterfield Valley. They host rides and seem to cater to higher-end bikes and triathletes. ghisallosports.com

We purchased our Trek street bikes from Momentum Cycles (there is also a Trek store on Manchester Rd.) They have several locations--one is on the Katy Trail in St. Charles. They definitely rent. (If you have time to bike part of the Katy--Defiance, MO is a good start. The Defiance bike shop also rents.

Then there is always Touring Cyclist (my husband bought my first hybrid there, and they host several local/international organized rides).

Alpine Shop is a fun stop. They have everything outdoors--don't know that they have what you want in bicycles--but stop by anyway. They host rock climbing classes, kayak classes, etc.

We also have an REI at the Galleria. Not a great selection of bikes, but fun selection of accessories.

[Ana]

I was hoping to ride one of the following brands:

Seven
Independent Fabrication
Litespeed
Lynskey
Waterford
Serotta

I found Maplewood Bicycle which has many of these brands so I might see how close it is to my destination. I am not sure in what part of St. Louis I will be staying.

I have already begun contacting the shops

Thanks!

[TrekTheKaty]

I've never been to Maplewood, but DH says his cycling buddy is a regular (likes the bike fitter). After checking out their website, I think I'll head over. Thanks

[uforgot]

If you are looking for those brands, Maplewood is the shop you need to go to. They have been in business a long time, and have a good reputation. I haven't purchased a bike there, but it seems like I always see them fitting someone, so they seem to be the go to shop for that. There is another shop that has Waterford and Heron, but I wasn't impressed and won't go back. Bike fit? He said that wasn't necessary, that people are too concerned about it and could you believe some people actually travel to the factory to get fit? What a waste of time according to the guy who was in the shop. Big surprise that I was the only customer in there.

Others that have been great are Big Shark, Trek bike store, and Alpine Shop. I've not been to Ghisallo, but Fastdogs recommends it.

Have a good trip and make sure you hit Maplewood for the Lynskys!

[silver]

I live three hours away and drove to St. Louis to buy my Cervelo. I bought it at Big Shark. They spent at leat 6 hours total fitting me. And I'm very happy. I paid the retail price but it was worth it for the fit.

I have a friend who has been fitted at both Big Shark and Maplewood and I think that he was more impressed with the computerized fitting techniques at Maplewood. Also, I don't remember seeing the brands that you mentioned at Big Shark.