As someone who generally shops at Nytro (just bought a new Caliente a few months ago), I need to find a comparable shop up here near LA since I live up here (family lives near SD, hence the frequent trips to my favorite toystore). Who has the best selection/service/etc? Who’s the best place for your tune-ups/bike work? How are the prices? How’s the turnaround time?
Thanks for your help!
Aren’t there any triathlete’s in/around LA on this board? Where do you recommend taking your bike for tuneups/etc? Thanks for your help!
…but I have plenty of friends up there in L.A. They seem to break down in this manner -
Triathletes who were cyclists before coming triathletes - usually still go to their LBS of choice (i.e. Helens, or that place in Pasedena that sells all the euro stuff 
Along the coast - most go or went to Tri-Zombies. I had them tune up a bike once after moving here. They did fine on the tuneup.
Triathletes who are “online” in various sites (including the Tri Lounge, Gordo’s site, or Crucible Fitness) - most make the drive to visit Hank at Edge (down here in O.C.). He has quite a contingent of people from L.A. and Riverside Counties as well.
I’m sure there are others, perhaps you may want to go to the L.A. Tri Club and ask them (with something like 10,000 members, they should probably be able to give you some recommendations
LA is a huge area.
For Orange County go to Edge - top notch service. You will not find a nicer, more honest guy than Hank. I have walked out of his store mad because he wouldn’t let me spend the wad of cash in my pocket. Says I don’t need a new wetsuit, the old one is still fine… what does he know?
I asked the same question a while back. The majority of responses indicated that Edge was the place to go. I took the advice and couldn’t have been more pleased with the service I got.
I didn’t post because you said you wanted to find another Nytro in LA. I don’t think there is a shop that can compare to Nytro in LA. I left LA two years ago but I used to take my work to Supergo when I needed it fast and Helen’s when I didn’t. Both did fine though neither was spectacular. Helen’s works on “bike shop time,” Supergo works on regular time (usually). I only brought my stuff to Helens because they were, for the most part, nice guys and they sponsored my then-tri club. I never took any work to TZ but they were nice guys too (and also sponsored their own tri team). I had friends who used them and I never heard anyone complain about their work.
Santa Monica has both a supergo and a helens. There’s another Helens in Westwood and I think another in Marina Del Rey. I think the Santa Monica Supergo is the only one in LA county but I might be wrong. I have no idea where to go if you don’t live on the westside.
I second the vote for Edge but if you live in LA you could build a bike from scratch in the time it would take to drive to Laguna Hills and back.
Pacific Tri and Running is a new shop that has recently opened in the valley.
Thanks everybody! I’ll give one of them a try… Maybe I’ll stop by Edge on my way down to SD one of these times. Still pretty far for a tuneup and the like though. Either way, seeing as how I live in Santa Clarita, there aren’t any tri shops too close that I’m aware of. Thanks again!