How many of you noticed, in the “Road to Kona 2005” distributed this month, that for all of the U.S.-based Ironman events, as well as for the Cal. 1/2 and the Florida 1/2, InsideOut Sports is listed as the “Best Bike Shop”? Isn’t this a huge slap in the face to local bike shops? My only experience with any of these races is Lake Placid, and I’d be hard-pressed to say that InsideOut provides better service than either Placid Planet or High Peaks. In fact, Placid Planet is open around the clock for the 2 or 3 days before the race, and if that’s not great service I don’t know what is. As for High Peaks, just a stone’s throw away from T-zone, they also provide terrific service. I suspect that there are also good/great bike shops in Madison, Coeur d’Alene, PCB, Oceanside, and Orlando, but Triathlete - for whatever nefarious reasons - doesn’t choose to mention them and support them. It is bad enough that InsideOut has a virtual monopoly at the expo of IMLP (better expos with more vendors are at Muncie, Eagelman, and Chicago), but Triathlete is only furthering this injustice but excluding any mention of the local bike shops. This seems very wrong to me.
That’s what you get when you become a sponsor and the “official bike shop” of Ironman.
Maybe, but what explains the situation at Eagleman and Buffalo Springs? Does InsideOut make the decision to not go to these races because the field is not big enough? Or do Bob Vigorito and the Greers make the decision to support, respectively, Cambridge Cycle and Sport and DFC Cylcles - as well as other vendors? Finally, I guess I can kind of understand the “official bike shop” concept, but why does Triathlete have to “buy into” and foster it? Are we really dealing with a manage a trois – Triathlete, InsideOut, IMNA?
Well, first off, Inside Out is an excellent operation, so that is likely to be either accurate or pretty close to accurate.
At our Ironman clinic we recommend using Inside Out’s assembly service on site since they have proven themselves with our own customers. They do a pretty nice job and have a lot of experience with Ironman bikes.
Also, they did pay something (I think… I don;t know for a fact) something to be official Ironman bike shop, so they paid for the press.
I think there is this assumption that critical reviews of products/services in magazines that sell advertising are objective. Quite obviously (or maybe not so obviously) they cannot be. What would an advertiser say if they cut them a high 5 figure check for advertising for a product and then four pages later the magazine published a review that was negative about the product? It would kill ad sales.
I’ve often wondered if magazines should just skip the equipment reviews altogether and leave that to the guys who don’t sell advertising.
Okay, but if Triathlete does NOT mention InsideOut as “Best Bike Shop”, is that a negative review? Is it even critical? I agree that InsideOut probably did a good job at IMLP and I’m sure they do so elsewhere, but they are not the end-all and be-all? Moreover, by not listing at least one other local bike shop, Triathlete is reducing options for customers. I’m sure that Placid Planet turned my bike around more quickly than InsideOut would’ve been able to do, given the volume of customers that pour through the InsideOut tent by the minute. InsideOut pays Triathlete good money for those ads - as does every other client. I don’t think that Triathlete should feel somehow beholden to InsideOut to relentlessly list them as “Best Bike Shop” for the IMNA events. Finally, Tom, wouldn’t you feel slightly miffed - or maybe extremely pissed - if there was an IM in your neck of the woods and Triathlete just went ahead and mentioned InsideOut as the best bike shop because of some perceived “scratch each other’s back” obligation??
Initially, I wasn’t going to respond to this… but it really bothered me.
The post sounds like it’s coming from another bike shop.
Have you ever actually been to Inside Out, or to one of their expo events? They are awesome. Go to their store in Cary- they have an endless pool for you to try wetsuits, tons of bikes and wheels, expert running shoe advice- I mean, how can it get much beter?
Also, at the expo events, I have not seen a better set-up. On-sire mechanics, great prices on equipment, what exactly is your gripe? Inside Out is a fantastic outfit that puts in a lot of hard work, puts in a lot of time for their customers, and for them to be called the ‘best bike shop’ at Ironman events is 100% accurate.
I have been to many IMNA events, and have seen lots of great local shops in the venue cities, but across the board, Inside Out is fantastic.
Ok, so there is a local shop that you like- does that mean you have to publicly bash Inside Out? These kind of posts really irritate me. Why don’t you take the time to go meet them- the Cardoso family is one of the nicest, most genuine group of people you will probably ever meet. Why don’t you just recommend your local shop to us next time without the negativity.
I honestly have no affiliation with them whatsoever, but I have driven over 120 miles ( several times) to go to their store in the past- because they are very knowledgeable, and give great, great customer service. They are not some big ‘nashbar’ juggernaut- this is a family business, and they have put in years and years of service to develop the business they have. Take the time to go meet them at your next event- introduce yourself to Cid, Jr., or his father Cid. Then you will understand.
Honestly, I don’t feel they are trying to muscle their way anywhere- Someone from a smaller shop feeling negative, bitter and angry because another shop, through lots of hard work, is somewhat successful? That is a mentality in every industry on earth, one of laziness and reactivity.
Are there other great bike shops out there? of course- but running a tri / bike store is really tough- the margins are not that big ( Tom D can prob chime in on that), the customers are tough, more and more people buy through internet auctions, and the stores that rise above the rest do it because they have a genuine care and grasp of their customers. Inside Out is a great example.
I agree. Every bike I’ve boguht in the last 7 or 8 years has been from Inside Out, back when they were just a storefront off the Beltline in Cary. Always friendly and helpful, and with good prices and selection. I live out of state and came into town to visit my family. They let me test ride some bikes and use the endless pool just to get a couple workouts in, knowing full well I wasn’t shopping for a new bike or wetsuit right then. They are a class organization.
I agree. Inside Out walks the walk.
A lot of dealers spend too much time worrying about other dealers rather than paying attention to running their own business. Their lack of success is always the fault of someone else, another dealer who is doing something they don’t agree with, blah, blah… They are always bitching about someone else.
They need to do what the guys at Nytro, Mission Bay, Inside Out and others have done and that is put their nose to the grindstone and work hard. Jim Felt of Felt bicycles said it best- “The harder you work the luckier you get.”
I don’t bemoan anyone thier success. I admire guys like Sid from Inside Out, Val and Bill from Mission Bay and Craig from Nytro. These guys don;t waste time sniping and pciking at other dealers. They are too busy to do that. There is a reason for that…
Inside Out does a great job. Bottom line. They earned the credit.
My goal with this thread was not to bash InsideOut so much as to bash Triathlete for not extending credit elsewhere, as well as bashing IMNA for allowing a monopoly at its expos. I’ve bought lots of stuff at expos from InsideOut, and it’s all fine. At an expo, though, I prefer to have options from which to choose. One example from IMLP comes to mind, and that’s gels - I believe that InsideOut only sold GU. I didn’t quite understand that. For people looking to get some last minute Hammer Gel or Carb-Boom! or something else, it just wasn’t there. Had there been another vendor, or two, or three, there would’ve been more variety. Isn’t that the point of an expo, for god’s sake? Otherwise, all we’re going to is a mobile store. That’s fine, but it’s not an expo.
Again, I am not bashing InsideOut, as they can sell whatever they want to sell. Yes, they seemed to handle the hordes really well, and yes, they also handled my needs well. But they RIGHT THERE at these races! Who can miss them? They do not need further “support” or advertising in Triathlete. Maybe once. Or twice. But SEVEN times in the same magazine, at seven different races? Doesn’t this seem a big fishy to you?
And Tom, you still didn’t answer my question - Wouldn’t you be at least mildly upset if you were the “home” bike shop at an IM venue and Triathlete decided to name the “big” guy instead of you? I can’t imagine you would just shrug that off (although what else could you do?).
Finally, I am not an LBS - never have been, never will be, never would want to be.
Inside Out paid for that endorsement. Also, they earned it.
Cid knows what he’s doing, that’s for sure. He gives back to the sport as much as he takes from it, I’d say.
Tony
Life’s too short to get all cranked up about something you read in Triathlete.
I am reminded of the saying, “believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.”
I thin kyou misunderstand the nature of Buffao Springs and Eagleman’s relationship with WTC.
WTC sells X number of slots to these races every year, no more no less. They are not under the WTC umbrella. On the other hand the florida half and hald ironman california are WTC events.
So it makes sense that inside out paid to be the official WTC bike sponsor. If inside out were to wish to become the official sponsor of Buffalo Springs or Eagleman it would be a separate relationship with two more organizations. Not to say it couldn’t or wouldn’t happen, just that there would need to be more deals in place, all the other races are part of one deal.
I am currently attending a bike clinic at the Cary InsideOut. I have learned a great deal in a short time and the shop is first class as well. The mechanic, Jimmy, who’s been working on bikes for 22 years, sure knows what he’s talking about. They have everything you need in close proximity, and I have been drooling over the Ceverlo offerings, as well as pondering whether to spring for a dip in the Endless Pool.
Brett
“Road to Kona 2005”
maybe i’ve got this wrong, but isn’t road to kona advertorial? i don’t mean that in a pejorative sense, i mean i think it actually is. kind of like a buyer’s guide where you have to buy in to be included.
maybe i’m wrong about that, but that’s what i seem to remember. i’m open to be corrected. assuming i’m right, then it’s not supposed to be objective.
The mechanic, Jimmy, who’s been working on bikes for 22 years, sure knows what he’s talking about.
Jimmy ROCKS! He’s one of the very reasons I go to Inside/Out. The staff there are always friendly. Awesome shop. I’d kill to have one closer and I’m just in Chapel Hill (but still, it’s a 40 minute drive one way to get there.) Last time I was in I was even begging them to open a shop in the CH area. 
But for what it’s worth, I understand bigskies point. I’ve always hated “Best of” remarks anyway. Invariably, someone says best burgar joint and it usually means the chic or hip place but doesn’t always mean the ‘best.’
I’d like to see more things that offer a variety of choices.
But again, InsideOut does live up to being a great.
I bought my first set of race wheels (Spinergy) from Inside/Out (mail order) back in '95. They handled everything seamlessly, and called me to make sure I got them and that I knew what I was doing on them They followed up about a month later to see if I was happy with the product, too.
Guys like Cid, Tom D. and a few others are what’s right about our sport. If they can make a few bucks with tie-ins, I don’t have a problem with it at all.
Tony
Don’t tell Cid or Beaman but the only reason I go to Inside Out is because of Jimmy. Sexiest bike mechanic in town 
Nobody else touches my Picanti.
Hey Tom D. I really like your site/writings and next time I am in Dearborn area I will stop by your shop and problably end up dropping a few dollars. I love good bike shops and the people that work there.
But on this one, I notice that you display a link to the slowtwitch site and the nice endorsement of your shop. Does this mean you paid for the endorsement? Or did you earn it or is it both?
I am also curious as to your response, asked above, but still unanswered by you, as to whether you would be miffed if you had your esteemed shop, essentially across the street from an IM venue and it didn’t even rate a mention as the “best” bike shop in the area.
FYI, a poster above mentioned High Peaks Cyclery (essentially across the street from the IMUSA venue entrance) and Placid Planet as great shops in Lake Placid. I couldn’t agree more. I think both local shops are open round the clock as the race approaches. I used both shops and Inside Out during IMUSA and all three offered great service. The good local shops deserve mention.
you just need to connect a couple of the dots to figure this one out.
John Duke = co-publisher and CEO of Triathlete Magazine
John Duke = co-owner of Multisports.com
Multisports.com = race directors and heavily involved with all of the IMNA events
I’m not saying there is anything wrong with this, you take care of your family first. It would be different if InsideOut wasn’t a good shop, but they are.