When I lived in San Francisco, I spent a lot of time at Cyclepath (www.cyclepath.com) in San Mateo. It looks like Paul, the old owner, has moved on, but the shop is still alive and kicking. I bought my first tri bike there in '97, learned how to glue tubulars in the shop, and spent a lot of time just hanging around, talking about components, upcoming races, everything. I remember going in for a pre-IM tune up and seeing multiple bikes/people there for the same thing. They knew what they were doing.
-Drew