There are no real bike shops anywhere around me, and I have no desire to take my cervelo with zipp disc, rotors, etc, etc, into a campus bike shop that works on commuter bikes all day. I know I’m probably being snobby and paranoid, but I know the people at these shops, and don’t trust their ability a lot of the time. Are there mechanics around the ironman village the couple of days before the race to do little gear/brake tweaks? I don’t need much done, I just can’t seem to get the 10 speed shifting dialed in. Is this a reasonable thing to have done in the village?
talking about MOO right? If so just make an appointment with Inside out people who will be stationed at race HQ. Or call one of the number of high end stores around Madison
if Insideout is there (a US IM) they usually have a booth with some mechanics doing builds on bikes shipped to them, but make an appointment or you’ll be waiting in line for awhile.
The best place is in fact right in the transition area itself…Inside Out Sports. It’s a full service shop, selling and maintaining everything, and will have a tent right across from the large Ironman swag tent.
They definitely know their stuff, they’re an official Cervelo dealer, they sell and maintain Zipp wheels, and the location can’t be beat!
if you want alternatives to Inside out (there is no reason to use anyone else but if you do) try Crono Metro (very high end store) and there is also another store really close to race hq, they are the official store for IM Moo, name escapes me right now, its right on the water about 5mins from the race hq. We had to get work done on the wife’s bike as it got damaged in transit, they were really helpful.
Try Machinery Row bicycles, it’s literally right next to Monona Terrace (on the left side if you’re facing the water). From what I saw there, they seemed like a well-run shop.
I’ll second the Atkins Bike Shop suggestion and throw in the fact that since it’s in Verona, you won’t have 2500 other athletes fighting for time and space.