bike shop recommendation

Hi All,

Any recommendations for a good bike shop, north of the river in Perth, who sell Giant and Avanti.

I have been to a few about the place and there seems to be a difference in knowledge and interest from the people working there. Sometimes I come away thinking that even a noob like me knows more then some of the sales staff.

Also, would you expect the person in the shop to do an accurate measurement to calculate the correct bike size you require, or is " you look like an x-large" good enough. Should I have this worked out before I go into the shop?

What are your experiences?

cheers

Right,
Firstly, unsure of a shop in your area, however I think you will be looking for two shops if you are looking at Avanti's and Giants.
It would be like going to the new car sales yard and asking if they stock Fords and Holden's!
I don't know about Aussie, but it would NEVER happen here!

Secondly, a good bike shop owner/ sales person should be experienced enough to tell you what size frame you need just by looking at you.
Just the same way a mechanic looks at a bold and knows what size socket to put on it.

There are only about 4 sizes anyway, and then they should be able to adjust the bike for you to fit while sitting on a measurement machine, or a wind trainer.
Once again they should be experienced enough to do this, and look for a shop that does it for FREE.

I'm not trying to put them out of business, but the difference in price might be the thing that seals the sale.

Most good LBS owners/ sales people should have a very keen interest in cycling, and usually have competed at least at national level.

After all as the saying goes, never trust a skinny chef.

thanks quickbuck,

actually we do have bike shops who sell a variety of bike makes and some who just sell "trek" or "giant".

Basically you are saying that a "good" bike shop should take the time to set you up properly before you take the bike out of the shop?

Yep, that is like saying Holden/ Daewoo, and Ford/ Mazda.

Yes, a good bike shop will set you up properly before setting off.
Notice K-mart doesn't.

Not that there is anything wrong with K-Mart, but IMHO they shouldn't sell stuff that requires after sales service like a bike.

A good LBS will set you up properly and recommend all the accessories you need.
Also give you free servicing for at least the first one in 6 weeks!
Mine gives 4 free servicing for the first year.

After all, that is why you are paying a little extra for the bike, as opposed to buying one off an importer.

For Felt and Giant (North or South of the River) I send my friends to Phil at Runners World in West Perth. Phil does the bike fit for each bike sold. Giant have some excellent specials this week.

For Avanti, I send then home to do their homework again.

For good second hand bikes look on the TriWA page.
http://www.triwa.org.au/bb/

__________________
Cheers,
George.

Never had a Giant pass me yet.

Your not the Felt/Giant rep are you George? (lol)

No, He lives on the other side of the line...

Edit: In reply to your PM, see: http://www.triwa.org.au/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1154

The 58cm Gordonson (below) would do the job nicely until the Dentist is satisfied...

__________________
Cheers,
George.

Once you take all of the chainstores/franchises out of the search : Bike Force , Fleet ,TBE, Rebel , Anakonda etc. then you can start looking for a decent bike & quality service. Remember with sky high rent , big stock & franchise fees it doesn't leave much money to employ good staff !!

Both Avanti & Giant have good website with dealer searches.

Cyclemania Charles ST N Perth

Georges bikeshop is pretty good
http://www.georgesbikeshop.com.au/

but I have found the best deals at
http://glenparker.com/

Cheers

Hi. Just wondering why you do not think Avanti worthy of consideration? Own 2006 vintage Avanti Pioneer and have not encountered any problems and really enjoy our riding..

When about to purchase the new bikes we went to several bike stores in our capital city looking for some kind of guidance and advice on what type would suit we novices. First bikeshop assistant was very knowledgeable and pointed out things to look for, and compared different bikes. No offer to try any though. At another bike shop (which is supposed to be the ants pants of stores) the owner greeted us and asked if he could help us. When we said what we were after 2 bikes he interrupted and said he was serving somebody else (can't think why on earth he even bothered to greet us in the first place) and fobbed us off to a young man who did not seem to be very confident or all that knowledgeable. Talking to him was hard work. He did get one bike down for us to sit on and ride for about 3 metres in a narrow aisle (while we tried to negotiate other bike wheels jutting out). At this point I was not interested in dealing with this shop. The third shop had wider aisles and we were able to do a very minimal test run. The assistant was knowledgeable and helpful with advice on size and type of riding the bikes were suitable for.

We bought Avanti because a) we were at least able to have a ride before we bought, b) the bikes felt good to ride, c) they had suspension on both the front forks and the seat stem, d) liked the colour better than the others (important to females), e) they were on special at the time, f) by that late stage of the day I was well and truly over checking out any more bikeshops!

P.S. We did our homework before going shopping and had many brochures, which we read, but they don't help very much when you are just getting back onto a bike after a long break. We are not into competitions, just into riding for health and enjoyment..

Nice one Laterider.

Don't know about you guys over the ditch, but my LBS let me take as many bikes for a road test as i wanted before I bought one.

Well, as I was fitted to each before testing, i narrowed it down to two before taking them for a spin.
Yes, this was in town and the first outing on a road bike.
There wasn't any traffic where their test track went, however it had some very average road surfaces to test the bikes.

Oh, and yes, I love my Avanti, it IS the best for the money.

I am actually going to purchase the Avanti Blade Comp as it meets all the criteria I am looking for in relation to equipment, price, ride etc.

I have been able to test ride bikes in some bike shop car parks as long as I give the salesperson my drivers license to hold. I wasn't "fitted" before the ride, just had the seat adjusted a bit.

It may be the case that when you put your money down that the fitting is done correctly?

Anyway you do seem to have some bike shops that offer good service in your area.

My partner and I both make the trek to Fleet Freo, even though we live in Mount Lawley (only partly for the 10% discount, Ward Cycles in Morley gave us 10% discount for buying over $200 of accessories). I've found the staff at Fleet Freo to be excellent salespeople. We've bought two bikes from them and both times they've taken the time to find out what sort of riding we want to do and found a good bike in the price range we were looking at and compared that bike to others to explain why they thought this was the right bike.

When I was looking for my mountain bike, we must have spent at least two hours in the store, talking and trying out bikes. No pressure and no drama. For a non-specialist bike shop, I can't recommend them highly enough.

Otherwise, Glen Parker in Nedlands are really pretty good too.