Puget Sound Bike Testing -- Favorite Stores?

[Starfish]

Hi Puget Sounders,

Do any of you have favorite bike shops to test ride at? I am slowly starting to look at bikes, and want to do a lot of test rides over the next 6-8 months.

When I test ride, I know that I tend to get distracted if I'm riding in a lot of traffic in a new neighborhood, and I also want to be able to test on hills and swoopy corners.

I'm familiar with Gregg's & the Downtown REI, and I'm not a huge fan of R&E. Other than that, I don't know a lot of Puget Sound bike stores. What are your favorite places to test bikes...for a real test ride, with hills, corners, and not gobs of urban traffic?

Edited to add: I can't remember the name of the shop, but it is on the BGT, near U-Village, and I had a terrible customer service experience there, so hesitate to go back.

[KnottedYet]

The one you're thinking of is TiCycles. They've been iffy for me, too, but better than Gregg's, certainly!

My favorite is Recycled Cycles www.recycledcycles.com on Boat Street. (south end of the UW, right on the water near the U bridge) They're on the Burke-Gilman, and I've taken bikes out for 10-15 mile test rides. They're cool about that. Funky and laid-back and they make no assumptions. (they won't treat you like a newbie, which is very nice, but if you need help you have to tell them) Great mechanics, they understand bike-love. They were working on one of my bikes, and I missed her. Went in just to see how things were going and they asked if I wanted them to bring the bike out so I could say hi to it. They understand! Skip, Andy, and Bennett are my favorite sales folks, and all the wrenches are great especially Paul.

My other favorite is Free Range Cycles in Fremont, also on the water and the Burke. Very tiny shop, TINY, funky, and also understand bike love. Very generous with test rides, too. www.freerangecycles.com They specialize in steel bikes and custom build-ups. Lots of Jamis, Surly, Soma, and the like.

[mimitabby]

Don't forget Elliott Bay Bikes, on western, right near Pike Place market. Not only do they have cool bikes and used bikes for sale, they have a veritable museum of antique and not so antique bikes EVERYWHERE.
And they are pretty nice to women (me, anyway)

[Starfish]

Thanks, guys. I'm kinda hoping to find some shops where I can try a lot of the bigger, brand bikes. I have a great LBS, but no stock on hand to test.

[mimitabby]

Gregg's greenlake has Trek, (and some other brands) REcycled Cycles has Raleigh, Elliott Bay has Bianchi.
There's REI, they have a whole line of bikes too.
I hope that helps.

[salsabike]

My husband got this email yesterday:


To: wet@phred.org
Subject: [WET] Ti Cycles Closing
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2007 04:08:04 +0000


>> hey WET List,
>> Ti Cycles is closing it's doors on 12/22. Weird. As a former employee, it
>> feels like a parent dying. You can never go back. Anyway, there will be fire
>> sale prices until then. Go in and make an offer on anything they still have.
>> My feel for the situation is they'll take any reasonable offer you make.
>> Address is:
>>
>> 2943 NE Blakeley St
>> Seattle
>> 206-522-7602
>>
>> Next to the Burke-Gilman Trail and behind University Village.
>>

[salsabike]

So now to answer your question, Starfish. I have done most of my test riding at Gregg's because they had the bikes I wanted to try (I had several specific models in mind) and because it's an easy neighborhood to find a reasonably clear ride route, and a hill, both of which I wanted. I did test ride at Elliott Bay but it's not a good neighborhood for an easy test ride route.

R&E let me take a bike home for several days to test ride it in various places and for a 20-30 mile ride. I really appreciated that a lot. But they don't have the variety.

[dex]

I liked Sammamish Valley Cycle over in Redmond when I was looking for a hybrid/commuter bike. Friendly, helpful, didn't care how long I took their bikes out. I wasn't shopping for road bikes at the time, but noticed that they had lots of them in the shop. Here's the list of brands from their web site: Litespeed, Serotta, Colnago, Bianchi, Cervelo, Scott, Marinoni, Parlee.

[Eden]

Center Cycles in Renton has Specialized, Giant and Kona to name a few
www.centercycle.com
customer service that can be described as interesting......
they gave me a great deal on my bike, they searched literally to the ends of the earth to get it for me (its one of only 9 made in my size!! and had to come from another shop in Australia), but they did keep looking at my husband when I was there the first time looking, they really did not seem to be taking me too seriously (until I came in 3rd in their sponsored race) and they tried to talk me into a bike that was a size bigger...

Bicycles West - www.bicycleswest.com has some big brands too, Specialized and Trek that I remember. They are quite close to Center Cycle so it would be easy to visit both (and Ikea too - which is right inbetween the two)

both have a pretty good inventory so it would be likely that you could ride some bikes in your size.

[mimitabby]

I did test ride at Elliott Bay but it's not a good neighborhood for an easy test ride route.

oh, man you're right about that! straight up and down AND cobblestones!!!

[KnottedYet]

I will be sad when TiCycles is gone, they are my #3 shop. Guess I'd better go shopping there now, before 12-22!

(all my shops are along the B-G. 21 years ago I bought a bike from yet another shop along the B-G, the one that's half burned down now. "Jack's Bicycle Center" or something like that maybe? Northeast of TiCycles.)

[Starfish]

This is very helpful. Thank you. Keep 'em coming, anyone else who reads this thread...

[malaholic]

If you spend any time on the Eastside, you could try Gerk's Alpine Hut in Redmond. They carry mostly Specialized though so might not be the best place to go for a variety of different test rides. They are on Leary Way, and if you can stand traffic for a few blocks along Leary you'll can meet up with either the 520 trail (a long steady hill), or the Sammamish River trail for the test rides.

Sammamish Valley Cycles, which someone had already mentioned, has a wide variety of bikes. You could hit the same trails to test ride, it would just be a little farther in traffic before you got there.

[auntiebobo]

It's a drive but Old Town Bicycles in Tacoma is a great shop. Specialized, Cannondale's - I'm not sure what else. The first time I went in the guy spent one hour with me just to size a bike for me on the trainer (it was pouring outside) and to talk me through my options. I went back and he spent another 1/2 hour adjusting the bike for my test ride. Lots of hills nearby and urban streets (you can also ride along the waterfront on Ruston Way) Technically the test rides are only supposed to be 20 minutes (which is a disadvantage) but I have a feeling if you asked for longer you'd get it. They have shops in Olympia and Gig Harbor too but I haven't been to those. I think the service and knowledge of their guys is great. If you go on a weekend ask for Tory.

[Trek420]

my local shop recommends www.cascadebicyclestudio.com and says next time I'm in the Seattle area I must drop in and tell them "Chris at Robinson Wheelworks in San Leandro (hi Chris) sent me".

They look rather high end, the owner's a former Seven employee. Chris says their service and fit is excellent. I don't know if their coffee is as good as his.