Way to go Tom D. Very nice job! Sorry I have to follow Grogan with this as he is usually first to the line beofre me anyway.

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Lee Zohlman, Lead Coach/President
BodyZen Multi Sport Coaching
http://www.bodyzen.com

Huge honor. Something to retire on. I will argue there are better shops than ours, and we so much room for improvement.

The additional 14 shops on the list are the best.

I can't tell you how excited I was about this when I learned about it a couple months ago.

The only problem is, when you are #1, there is no place to go but down....

Scary.

All the same, huge honor. I haven't seen it though. I've been too busy.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

   

can you post the entire list?

I looked for the list on insidetriathlon.com

It isn't up yet. I also haven't seen the magazine yet either. I think it hit the newsstands on the 15th.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Tom, congrats...great job. What likely makes you the best is your constant willingness to learn and improve. You are always doing your market research and getting better with your offering. You also give out lots of free advice on gear and equipment, which is time consuming and has no "immediate payback", but in the long run, it puts you on the top.

Dev

Bare in mind here, the position of our store as first in the list does not mean are the best of the fifteen. I think it is just a lucky fluke that we were the first one shown on the list. It doesn't mean we are necessarily better than any of the others per se'

As a matter of fact, many of the other shops on the list are likely larger and better than we are. We are certainly one of the smallest, if not the smallest on the list, and there are an attendant set of limiting factors to that in and of itself.

That said, being recognized like this is really very cool. Very exciting. A little embarassing and probably very good for business. I appreciate.

Most importantly, these guys have made a pair of boots for us that will be very tough to keep filled. Huge responsibilty.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Tom, the point is that the businesses that stay on top of the market trends, offer exceptional customer service and are visionaries in the industry (with respect to what is coming next) are the ones that succeed, regardless of business/market segment and you seem to be doing just that.

Congrats...enjoy it the recognition !

The only problem is, when you are #1, there is no place to go but down....

BS TOM---when you are at the top, you set the standards :-) you only go down if you WANT to go down. You wouldn't be where you are if you didn't hold true to your values, stick to your heart and your own high standards. Congratulations! No more sleep for you.

BTW--Just out of curiosity, who wrote this article?

I think his name was T. Demerly or someone like that :)

Tom D. & Bikesport fitted me 3 years ago and
I have never looked back or regretted it.

Fits like a glove. Now just have to get Tom D. to
figure out how to give me power like a Hemi.

I know its the engine and this winter a total
revamping for my 2006 attack plan at the races.

Don Empfield I think...or something like that..

Dan Empfield wrote it. Something that suprised me though....trisports.com wasn't mentioned at all. They are a great store.

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------------------------------------------------------------
Matt
NSDQ!

Tom,

Congratulations!

Job well done.

Keep up your fine efforts. And keep trying to improve.

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Ben Cline


Better to aspire to Greatness and fail, than to not challenge one's self at all, and succeed.

I agree that trisports.com is a great online tri store. Do they also have a physical shop? Or are they mail order only?

I'm glad to see my LBS (GearWest) made it out on top, too!

Yes, TriSports.com IS a GREAT store, as others have mentioned. Fabulous customer service all the way around.

And yes, they have a physical store in Tucson, AZ. You can try on all the clothes, ride bikes, etc. They are continuing to expand.

And, they are terrific about sponsoring athletes and clubs.

Cheers.

That's huge!

pythonic!

gigantesque!

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_________________________________
I'll be what I am
A solitary man

I still have yet to see the damn magazine.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I was in agreement with the article to some degree. However there were a couple of shops on the list (and the honorable mention list in particular) that struck me as odd. One on the honorable mention list is near me and it is notorious for having terrible customer service and selection. Makes me wonder if Dan or the other writer has even been there......I guess the basis for selection was very scientific!

Exactly. Don't get me wrong- I so appreciate the positive publicity and more significantly- the acknowledgement. There have been times during the last 23 years when I have literally sat here at the end of a brutal day with tears running down my cheeks thinking, "I should go back to doing something easier.... like fighting wars." And of course we all have our tough days at work- that is why we are paid for it, because sometimes everyone's job is tough and frustrating and we fall short of our own and our customer's expectations.

My store is a perfect example. One of our (many) problems is inconsistency. If a guy walks in here and I am on my period and throwing my toys over something being late or some girl issue then you are likely to expereince a totally different Tom Demerly than me on a more normal day.

One of the better decisions I have made is to surround me with a crew of highly capable, very moderately tempered men that are all much better educated (U of M engineering for Seth and Ian, Swarthmore economics for Sheen Yen, Head of I.T. for a multi-million dollar extrusion company and a career elite level racer for Mike Aderhold, Master's Degree from Eastern in Industrial Education for Mark Trzeciak, Materials Engineering at Western or U of M for Superdave) than I. These guys offset my incindiary temperment and lack of formal education.

Invariably, when something about our store sucks (and it sometimes does), it is my responsibility. When something goes right (video fitting, fully integrated network of computers in the store with our fit system, our website, our fit data storage and comparison protocol, our merchandising, our fit forms....) it has been the handy-work of men better than I, the guys who work for me and continuously make our business look good.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Tom,

Have you ever had someone come in and ask for a bearing that's "this big"? And when you asked them what part of the bike it was for, he said quite matter of factly, that it wasn't for a bike it was for his weather vane?

Didn't think so. The grass is always greener my man. Keep up the good work.

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"....No longer easy on the eyes but these wrinkles masterfully dusguise the youthful boy below."~Death Cab for Cutie

http://www.a1cyclery.com

Thank you- You too My Friend. I heard nothing but good things about your operation. Five Stars *****.



"In our little industry, we have to stick together..." Dan Empfield.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com