Glad to see Tom D.'s Tri shop on the top of the podium of the Top 15 Tri Shops in IT magazine this month. BikeSports ranked first. Alphabetical or not…good job Tom D.!
Way to go Tom D. Very nice job! Sorry I have to follow Grogan with this as he is usually first to the line beofre me anyway.
Huge honor. Something to retire on. I will argue there are better shops than ours, and we so much room for improvement.
The additional 14 shops on the list are the best.
I can’t tell you how excited I was about this when I learned about it a couple months ago.
The only problem is, when you are #1, there is no place to go but down…
Scary.
All the same, huge honor. I haven’t seen it though. I’ve been too busy.
can you post the entire list?
I looked for the list on insidetriathlon.com
It isn’t up yet. I also haven’t seen the magazine yet either. I think it hit the newsstands on the 15th.
Tom, congrats…great job. What likely makes you the best is your constant willingness to learn and improve. You are always doing your market research and getting better with your offering. You also give out lots of free advice on gear and equipment, which is time consuming and has no “immediate payback”, but in the long run, it puts you on the top.
Dev
Bare in mind here, the position of our store as first in the list does not mean are the *best *of the fifteen. I think it is just a lucky fluke that we were the first one shown on the list. It doesn’t mean we are necessarily better than any of the others per se’
As a matter of fact, many of the other shops on the list are likely larger and better than we are. We are certainly one of the smallest, if not *the *smallest on the list, and there are an attendant set of limiting factors to that in and of itself.
That said, being recognized like this is really very cool. Very exciting. A little embarassing and probably very good for business. I appreciate.
Most importantly, these guys have made a pair of boots for us that will be very tough to keep filled. Huge responsibilty.
Tom, the point is that the businesses that stay on top of the market trends, offer exceptional customer service and are visionaries in the industry (with respect to what is coming next) are the ones that succeed, regardless of business/market segment and you seem to be doing just that.
Congrats…enjoy it the recognition !
The only problem is, when you are #1, there is no place to go but down…
BS TOM—when you are at the top, you set the standards 
you only go down if you WANT to go down. You wouldn’t be where you are if you didn’t hold true to your values, stick to your heart and your own high standards. Congratulations! No more sleep for you.
BTW–Just out of curiosity, who wrote this article?
BTW–Just out of curiosity, who wrote this article?
I think his name was **T. Demerly ** or someone like that
Tom D. & Bikesport fitted me 3 years ago and
I have never looked back or regretted it.
Fits like a glove. Now just have to get Tom D. to
figure out how to give me power like a Hemi.
I know its the engine and this winter a total
revamping for my 2006 attack plan at the races.
Don Empfield I think…or something like that…
Dan Empfield wrote it. Something that suprised me though…trisports.com wasn’t mentioned at all. They are a great store.
Tom,
Congratulations!
Job well done.
Keep up your fine efforts. And keep trying to improve.
I agree that trisports.com is a great online tri store. Do they also have a physical shop? Or are they mail order only?
I’m glad to see my LBS (GearWest) made it out on top, too!
Yes, TriSports.com IS a GREAT store, as others have mentioned. Fabulous customer service all the way around.
And yes, they have a physical store in Tucson, AZ. You can try on all the clothes, ride bikes, etc. They are continuing to expand.
And, they are terrific about sponsoring athletes and clubs.
Cheers.
That’s huge!
pythonic!
gigantesque!
I still have yet to see the damn magazine.
I was in agreement with the article to some degree. However there were a couple of shops on the list (and the honorable mention list in particular) that struck me as odd. One on the honorable mention list is near me and it is notorious for having terrible customer service and selection. Makes me wonder if Dan or the other writer has even been there…I guess the basis for selection was very scientific!