good tri shop, storefront and online, anybody know why Patrick sold? If you look at website new owner seems pretty committed.
have not used shop since owner change, how is new shop running?
I was in to get something mon. or tues.? and saw the same faces.Alex the manager is still there.
In the last two weeks they really bent over backwards to find some stuff for me and get it too me. (I really hate that I’m going to have to send the most expensive item back, but I do a lot of business with them. Maybe they won’t mind.) It’s early in the new game, but it seems like the same All3Sports I’ve known and loved.
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The new owner is VERY committed…and has some deep pockets backing her. She is a friend of a very good friend.
Patrick is hanging around for awhile longer to help her get it up to speed…
They are planning some pretty cool stuff.
Maxximus, Do you know if she plans on getting someone who is FIST certified? This is one of the biggest problems with the shop. I know Patrick is but I have never been in the store and seen him do a fitting.
Matt was pretty good at fittings but he left.
Its hard to believe that in Atlanta you cannot go and get fitted(FIST) properly for a tri bike.
Rex
That I do not know…
Its hard to believe that in Atlanta you cannot go and get fitted(FIST) properly for a tri bike.
I have heard great things about All3Sports. They have been leaders in online triathlon retailing. I hope that under the new ownership that the business continues to do well. However, what I have found a bit strange is that in the Atlanta area with it’s very large population that All3Sports is just about the only good tri-shop in the area. In a metropolitan area of this size with this many triathletes, their should be several other options. Where else are Atlanta area triathletes shopping?
I think in the next month or so you should see a FIST certified fitter there in addition to Patrick, if all keeps working out. It’ll be very good and bring All3 up a notch I think combined with the new owner who seems to have some really good ideas.
All3Sports is about the only place to shop in Atlanta. It is a great shop, they just lack a FIST fitter. They have always treated me very well!
Rex
That is great news! I plan on getting a new bike early summer and the closet FIST fitter was Bike Fitter in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl.
Rex
Other than typical Bike shops that carry some Tri-Bikes, I don’t think there is anything.
All3Sports pretty much has a great location (even though it is randomly in an office park). They are in Roswell, just south of Alpharetta, just north of Sandy Springs and a 10-15 minute drive North from Buckhead once you get to 400. Those are the more affluent areas & it is really easy to get to.
I think a store intown around Buckhead could work, or just outside of Buckhead up 75 so you can get the people in Buckhead & it is closer to the Cobb County folks.
If I thought I could run a store & wasn’t a young 20 something still trying to make my way in the world I think another one would work.
I was in the store this morning and bought a 2009 P2. I walk out spend a lot less on the SRAM Red-equipped bike than I though I was going to. The staff (Bill) is jumping through some hoops to get a pair of Speedplay Zeros for me by the end of the week so that I can fit the bike and get it on the road this weekend. So far so good.
I talked to the the staff about Newtons, and they are considering becoming a Newton dealer next year. Right now City Sports is the only store in the city that is carrying Newtons. Tri stores have a hard time competing with pure running stores when it comes to shoes. Stores like All3Sports have to identify specialty products for triathletes, i.e., those items that pure runners, cyclists, etc aren’t really rushing out to purchase. Newton seems a good fit for All3.
-eric
There’s a new shop in Stone Mountain, TriYourBest. They just opened this fall.
I have had the same concerns as well. I shop at All3Sports all the time and like the staff. Bill knows what he is talking about and always seems to give prudent advice. The rest of the staff can be hit or miss. The fact that they don’t have a real fitter and more importantly an actual fit bike just shows that they have not been historically committed to their local buyers. I think that is very unfortunate. I’m in the market for a bike right now and frankly I would love to buy it locally if I felt the higher service level and free fit would justify the cost. They carry all of the bikes I’m interested in but instead of buying from them I’m going to fly into a dealer a thousand miles away to make my purchase to insure that I get a good fit. I figure the money I save in taxes will off set what I spend on the trip.
Slowman pointed out in another post on this topic the fact that All3Sports is primarily an Internet retailer and do this very well. I just see no reason why they wouldn’t expand their fit offering given the size of the Atlanta market. They could easily attract a nationally recognized fitter to their shop if they made the committment to invest heavily in this area. It might be nice to have a full fledged Retul set up here.
Let me know how the flying into the dealer works out and which one. I might give them a try this summer.
Rex
TriYourBest (www.triyourbest.net) looks interesting. Their website says that they have two FIST certified fitters on staff. They seem to carry a pretty limited selection of brands and of course no Cervelo since All3Sports owns that monopoly in the area (which is the main reason there aren’t any other good tri shops around). I’ll have to make a trip over and see what their storefront is like and inquire about their fitters.
The fact that they don’t have a real fitter and more importantly an actual fit bike just shows that they have not been historically committed to their local buyers. I think that is very unfortunate. I’m in the market for a bike right now and frankly I would love to buy it locally if I felt the higher service level and free fit would justify the cost. They carry all of the bikes I’m interested in but instead of buying from them I’m going to fly into a dealer a thousand miles away to make my purchase to insure that I get a good fit.
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I laugh when I read shit like this…hilarious.
I laugh when I read shit like this…hilarious.
Me too. When I think about the number of times Slowman and Dr. Coggan have gotten into it over fit issues, it should be pretty clear that it’s not an exact science. Having said that, there are some basic fit principles that pretty much anyone can get a handle on with a little internet and Slowtwitch research. Just because a retailer doesn’t have a FIST certified fitter doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t know how to do a bike fitting. I’ll bet All3Sports has done hundreds (if not thousands) of them. Search the internet and you’ll find all kinds of “professional” fitters. To dis a retailer because they don’t subscribe to the religion of one of them doesn’t seem right to me.
Over the last few weeks I’ve been polling some folks who I know have had “professional” fittings to see if they’re still riding in the configuration that resulted from it. Everyone has changed something. A few have changed quite a number of things because it didn’t feel right to them or they weren’t getting the results they were after. This polling includes at least one who’s been Wobblenaught fit, one who’s been FISTed and one who’s had a session with John Cobb. It’s just an informal poll, but I think it’s interesting.
Honestly, I actually DO think you get valuable input when you post a position photo here on Slowtwitch. You have to learn whose input is worthwhile and wade through all the BS posts, but if you’re a newbie, you’ll learn some valuable things from doing it. If nothing else, you’ll learn how thick your skin is. 
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All3sports does an excellent job of fitting bicycles. F.I.S.T. is a great method and process for bike fitting, however, it isn’t the Holy Grail. I have seen plenty of fits that came from F.I.S.T. certified fitters that were beyond horrible. Fitting is an art form that cannot be mastered by merely filling in the blanks. There are some great fitters out there, certified and not, it is your job as an athlete/consumer to find out who is competent.
If I lived anywhere near ATL I would not hesitate to be fit by Patrick. I definitely wouldn’t fly away to get the same product.
Its hard to believe that in Atlanta you cannot go and get fitted(FIST) properly for a tri bike.
Rex
wow. that is some pretty serious marketing you’ve bought into that has you convinced that a ‘fist fitting’ is the only ‘proper’ fit for a tri bike.