Looking for Good Women's Bike Shop in DC

[Zen]

Proteus 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.