Looking to get a tri bike later this year and was wondering if anyone in the Philly area has had any experience with Bikyle, a bike/tri shop in Bryn Mawr, PA? According to their website they seem to take the right approach - fit first and they carry a good array of bikes including Felts which I’m leaning towards provided they fit. They don’t list a particular “fit system” such as FIST or Serotta, but the guy is supposed to have a lot of experience. Any feedback on your experience there would be great! Thanks in advance.
Do a search on bikyles, i remember a lot of posts regarding that store. I happen to live in Bryn Mawr and i do not shop there (take that for what its worth). There was also a pretty negative thread about that store on this site a few months back which was subsequently removed. Since Dan doesnt seem to want negative information about Kyles on this forum i wont go into details except for saying that most of the criticism centered around Kyles staff and not Kyle. Kyle himself posts here and posted to that thread to say that he has eliminated some of the bad staff.
I bought a bike from Kyle and Kyle himself fitted me. It wasnt a bad experience but i ended up with a bad bike, fair enough, my fault. I went in there for my second bike cash in hand and ended up buying from High Roads down the street. Granted, Kyle wasnt there at the time so i cannot again blame him and he has stated that he has resolved the problem with the staff.
Lastly, i will say that Guys in Feasterville sells felts and has always had outstanding staff and has always gone out of their way to help me. My only advice is to make sure you are 100% comfortable with where you buy your bike since its unlikely that you’ll only need them until you purchase it.
I bought from there, wish I hadn’t. Overwhelmingly negative experience.
There used to be a bunch of threads about this; at one point slowman had taken them down. some may be back.
basically, no one likes that store. kyle is nice, but his employees seem to view their primary requirements as 1)keeping you from talking to kyle, and 2)insulting you.
talk to people in the industry, they’ll say good things about the store. that’s cause they aren’t customers there.
There are a number of good fitters but the best for tri fits in the area is David @ Elite. Although I may be biased having worked with him, he is more up to date on tri fits then anyone.
Kyle is good but I’m not sure he has studied as much on the tri fitting as much as the road.
Cadence in Manayunk in the city is excellent, Guys in Feasterville is also very dedicated to the tri market. High Road in Wayne is also good. I’m sure I’m missing a few shops.
Joe from Breakaway is also excellent. He does fits and coaching upstairs.
Kestrel and Fuji are here in North East Philly and although we don’t sell direct to consumers, I’m happy to help you with any questions you have even if you don’t end up with either brand.
Hope that helps.
I did a training camp in Girona a few years back and ended up riding much of the week with a group from BiKyle. You couldn’t encounter a cockier, less friendly group if you went looking for one. For a bunch of B-grade cyclists they had A-grade egos.
On the same trip ironically, I met Joe Wentzell, owner of Breakaway Bikes in Philadelphia, and his crowd was the diametric opposite of the BiKyle crowd. I’m not from Philly so haven’t utilized either of their stores, but based on my short experience with Joe and BiKyle, my first stop would certainly be Breakaway Bikes.
I agree with you, kny, Breakaway is also a great store with knowledgeable and friendly staff. They also have a very good fitness and coaching program.
Thanks for the feedback! I did a search and turned a few additional opinions - all the same. I really like High Roads but I’m kinda stuck on Felts in my head and they don’t carry’em. Unfortunately, the place I got my Felt road bike doesn’t deal with tri stuff so I’m afraid to order from them. I’ll check out Guy’s and see if I can open my mind to bikes other than Felts! Definitely agree that I’d be “buying” the shop not just the bike.
Thanks for the feedback. I’ve heard lots of good things about Elite and did a search that turned up all positive comments. I really like my Felt road bike so I wanted to go that way for a tri bike, but maybe I’ll have to open my mind and consider other options. Does David at Elite do fittings for other brands or just his own? Thanks for your help offer as well, may take you up on it after I do a bit more homework!
David does retro fittings. Actually, he refitted me on the Cervelo I’d bought from Kyle. A year later I bought a custom Razor Carbon. There are many good reasons to buy from Elite; a search on ST will demonstrate that. Bottom line, when you buy from David you’re starting a long term relationship with a founding owner of a bike fitting and manufacturing company. For instance, Saturday afternoon David rechecked my position to see if my leg length discrepancy still exists and installed new aero bars. If you buy a Felt, will you have access to the guy who designed and built it? I don’t know the answer to that, but I place huge value on being able to call David and ask questions about my bike. He also shows up at local races to provide free tune ups for Elite owners. Some things to consider when shopping for a bike… Feel free to PM me.
I think David at Elite knows indeed quite a bit about tri bikes etc and can of course help you.
But I also think Bikyle is a great shop too and I have never had a bad experience there at all. I actually lived in the Philly area for 10 years, on the Main Line somewhat close to that shop.
H
+1 on Elite. He has his own brand for sale, but he’s VERY open to trying to make your current bike fit. I know nothing about Bikyle, but I would be suprised if they were more thorough than the folks at Elite.