it’s socal’s inland empire i’m talking about, counting north orange county. that would be san dimas, brea, riverside, san berdo, and also eastern san gabriel valley.
the question is, where do you shop for bikes and bike stuff? please don’t tell me mail order, give me the LBS i’m not finding right now tha carries (and stocks) cervelo, felt, QR, softride, aegis, guru, litespeed sabers, wetsuits, etc., or any combination of the above.
Two Wheeler Dealer in Brea.
i have written about sam’s shop. it ought to be up there as of today. unfortunately, he isn’t quite all the way into triathlon, and he’s the first to admit it. but i think the market’s there for him if he decides to take the plunge (as my profile of his store indicates). if you’re a customer, why don’t you stop in, or give him a call, and nudge him?
I am a regular customer. I rarely talk to him about triathlon specific stuff. I just buy most of my bike stuff there and tri specific stuff I get elsewhere. But next time I am in I will definitely urge him on a little more.
…I’m interested to find out this info, too. I grew up in Claremont, and when I’m visiting the folks I’m eternally frustrated at the lack of even a decent running store. I’ve gotten spoiled living in San Francisco.
I live in Chino, but drove to Fountain Valley to buy a Cervello from Supergo. For my wetsuit, I drove to Los Alamitos to try on T1’s at Tri-Zone.com’s store. After I saved up for a couple months, I had my LBS (Incycle) special-order one for me. I’d love to have closer options.
I grew up in Claremont as well, salivating over bikes at Bud’s (LBS in town). It’s hard to believe you actually have to go to Supergo to buy a tri bike (yuck). With Inland Inferno going strong and the Bonelli Park tri series going on somebody needs to open a shop there.
in “part 2” of my review of inland empire shops, buds will be included. i remember when this was part of the bill mcready juggernaut of shops, including the unbelievably busy MDR bike shop in marina del rey. but then he opened bike tech in huntington beach and went head to head with a huge existing shop there, and they put each other out of business. now mcready owns santana tandems and is no longer in retail, to the best of my knowledge.
all that history aside, bud has never caught the triathlon bug.
When I was growing up, Bud himself used to ride up my street every week day morning about 6:30am. I loved that shop as a kid. Not much in the way of tri though for sure.
Dan,
I see/hear/know ALOT of them just go visit Hank @ Edge (in Laguna Hills - whom you have already written about and recently FIST certified). I think Hank might sponsor both the Orange County Tri Club and the Inland Inferno Tri Club. It still surprises me there isn’t a major tri dealer out that way, and that people drive this far to get to Hank…
…but then again, people used to drive from MN, KY, WI, IA, MI, IN to go visit Mission Bay in Elgin when it was the only option at the time.
What might eventually be nice on your site would be one of those maps with tri related shop locations on it (you could also highlight the FIST certified ones with a star or something). After all, we all know anyone online who wants to buy a tri bike usually gets referred to slowtwitch to learn all about “tri” while in the process 
Competetive Edge in Upland and Cucamonga. Richard’s in Garden Grove has some high end road stuff and some tri.
Larry
Dan,
Inland Inferno is sponsored by Incycle. They actually dabble in tri a little due to the sponsorship (they were carrying Desoto wetsuits for a time, I believe) but they are mainly a LBS and don’t carry more than a couple tri bikes on the floor (cannondales).
The people I have known who have gotten fits did so with Hank down at Edge or with the guys at Triathlete Zombies on the West Side. The Nytro/Roadrunner road trip double is also something I and others have done.
Hope this helps,
-Dave
Dan,
I know you are looking for someone that has everything in stock, but it’s been our experience that nobody carries everything. If your looking to save money and are willing to order locally, we can help you out. We just started a Tri company out of Moreno Valley. We don’t have a shop yet, but we are trying to get to that point. We currently carry Kestrel, Argon 18, TYR, Gu Gels, Pro Bar, Fuel Belt and just about anything bike related with regards to parts and gear. We also do custom jersey kits and sell replica tour kits. In most cases, if you don’t find something on our website just shoot us an email and tell us what your looking for and we will quote you a price. We are cheaper than anyone else. We are slowly building up stock, but we still order most things. We can have anything within 5 days. In most cases, we have it the next day or within 3. We are willing to meet most people to deliver parts and gear depending on location. If your interested check us out at http://www.thresholdcycle.com.
Good Luck.
Jeff
Threshold Cycle
Dan,
Cyclery USA out of Redlands stocks Cervelo’s and Trek Speed Concepts. I typically go there or Don’s Bikes for parts, etc. They have actually made a pretty big move into the triathlon industry and I hope it pays off for them.
The problem with tri shops in the Inland Empire is there really is not enough business to support having a complete stock of bikes. InCycle has quite a bit but most carry one or 2 bikes and they stay on the shelves for months. Many triathletes go to Nytro, Triathlon Lab, or one of the other big triathlon shops in Southern California.
Oops, I guess I have to look at the dates before I post it =\
you do realize this thread is 8 years old?
Incycle carries Cannondale, Specialized, and Cervelo, I believe.
Cyclery USA pulled what in my opinion was a douche move when they opened a shop in Rancho Cucamonga just a few stores down from Competitive Edge.
Yep, Bud’s had all the pro bike stuff. Bud was kind of cranky, but Bill McCready who owned it and Santana was a decent business man with all the cool stuff… Got my Tandem there, first pro bike there too. Now it is just a mediocre Trek shop.
Pro shops are hard to make money at unless you are handling all the lower end stuff too. Not sure of a tri shop in the area.