i am about 3 hours from all three so one is not necessarily any better than the other for me. i don’t go to austin that much but since i have heard that austin is a big biking town i included it in the list.
i am looking to buy my first tri bike (and first bike ever–not EVER, i had a bike up till i was 14 but that was 17 years ago) this summer or fall and was wondering what your opinion was on the stores. who sells low level/entry bikes? who does bike fitting and are they any good at it? and so on.
i want a real tri bike not a road bike with bars on it.
anyone’s opinion that has any experience with a store in these areas would be greatly appreciated.
Austin Tri Cyclist in Austin will have a great selectin and Don (even with his bad attitude, just giving him crap I am not serious) and his staff are very knowledgable. Hell I spent $270 dollars in there yesterday. Why is it when I can go a year with out spending much then two weeks before Ironman I spent a fortune.
I would recommend Austin Tri Cyclist in Austin. Even though the owner doesn’t want me there, it sounds like a pretty good shop… oh wait, that was a joke!
Athough I’ve never been to the shop in Austin I’d probably head in that direction, sinc I can vouch for the fact there are no “tri-specific” shops in the Dallas area. There are a couple of great bike shops with smaller sections dedicated to triathlons, most of them are large bike shops. The two biggest ones up here are Richardson Bike Mart, and Plano Cycle and Fitness.
Bike Mart is HUGE and made pretty famous by Lance. Plano C&F is a great shop that just added a bunch of shop area, and several of the guys who work there are near pro level triathletes (sub 4:20 1/2 IM’s), and really know what they’re talking about. I tend to shop online for most of my tri-gear, but will head to Plano C&F for everything else.
They seem to be focused mainly on road bikes but have a few tri bikes as well, and a lot of tri accessories, wetsuits, tri suits, etc.
Austinites: Right now they also have a few couches set up in front of a large screen TV to watch OLN coverage of the tour. Ozone bikes is doing the same thing but it’s in their parking lot. Central Market has 2 screens up (oh, and you can buy and drink beer on their patio, but they’re not allowed to open it for you, so bring a bottle opener (my multi tool did the trick)).
BSS isn’t a triathlon specific shop. Rumor has it that they do carry tri bikes, but they don’t have as much experience with tri bikes and triathlons as Austin Tricyclist or Jack & Adams does.
Houston: Inner Loop - Planetary Cyclists (not tri specific but Adam has been in business for 20+ years, will be happy to sell you anything from a $500 Giant OCR 3 up to a custom Merlin Ti) Inner Loop - Bike Sport (good tri knowledgeable staff but you will spend some money) North side of town - Bike Lane (not tri specific but the owner also knows bikes) Hans Schnieder - Purest, custom Builder located in Huntsville (25+ years building custom frames and don’t even think about Alu, Carbon, or Ti with Hans - as I think he pays royalties on the “Steel is Real” slogan)
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I’d recommend you stop by the main Richardson Bike Mart store. Although they aren’t a tri specific shop they usually have 30 to 40 tri bikes on the floor. RBM carries Cervelo, Lightspeed, QR, Trek, and Griffen. They usually have bikes from each manufacturer at the various pricepoints in stock. It’s a good place to compare what the major manufacturers have to offer. I’ve bought a road and tri bike from them. Been very happy with their service and support. Good luck with your search. John L