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Visit bike stores as a tourist in other cities/areas?


shootingstar

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If I'm in the neighbourhood, we have/ I will drop by a bike store in whatever area or city I am worldwide.  Just like seeing what type of bikes is offered locally, their local shirts, etc. To me, a bike shop is a familiar place --world-wide.

Rather interesting. I've been in bike stores in Copenhagen, Karlsruhle (Germany), Kyoto (Japan) and various shops on Seattle, Portland, Montreal, etc.  In a bike rental shop in Kyoto, it just seemed somewhat mickey mouse since it was a wierd mess of bikes and not in very good shape either. No doubt, there were better shops but we didn't have time to seek them out.

A work colleague was surprised that I liked visiting and browsing in bike shops. He didn't expect it from me....I'm not sure what type of impression I give to others. 

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Yes and I worked at an LBS and met people doing the same thing. I met a couple blokes from Australia who were riding across the US. They had started in NYC and rode to DC then headed Southwest with no real plan other than follow the main routes. They were riding the W&OD to Purcellville it didn’t know where to go from there. I wrote up a cue sheet on the spot that took them down Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Smoky Mountains. Told them to get to Nashville and ride the Natchez Trace to Mississippi then head west. Good luck and god bless. I hope they enjoyed their visit. That was close to 15 years ago. 

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2 hours ago, Philander Seabury said:

Same for me!  Stores mean spending money and that is anathema to me. :D 

I'm just curious what local bike store would carry. Sometimes there are local T-shirts, jerseys, etc. I rarely buy from a bike store when I'm an out of town visitor. Except when we were in Seattle.  I did buy some jerseys and sunglasses.

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3 hours ago, Zephyr said:

Not unless I am looking for something specific.  But then again I don't browse in any stores except wine stores and book stores 

Going into a European wine store is worthwhile since there is a lot that never gets exported.  We were in medieval-Rennaissance historic German town in Black Forest region. Right by the edge of the local cobblestoned market square, was the region's wine store.  There were so many German wine brands....never seen in Canadian wine stores at all. (section for German wines in any Canadian wine store is always very small).

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1 hour ago, sheep_herder said:

It closed due to owner's health issues, and the next nearest shop is 150 miles west. Remember we live in a small town.

Running a bike store is hard demanding business....my comments are based knowing a bike store owner (he owns/runs 3 shops) down the street in VAncouver.  And also from another independent bike store just 10 min. walk away. It's hard to retain knowledgeable staff, experienced bike mechanics, etc. Both shop owners knew dearie and they would talk biz, etc.

We also knew the owner who started up this Toronto bike store downtown in 1997 and is still running after he died. I knew Eugene also prior to his bike store launch, in various non-profit groups related to immigration and race relations.  Blog - Urbane Celebrates 25 Years! - Urbane Cyclist Co-op (ucycle.com)     He had a mechanical engineering degree and after awhile working in an engineering job, he left and started up this bike store at a time when cycling just in street clothes was still not widespread/a novelty at that time. 

 I also knew 1 of the other partners for that store, who was part of our women's cycling group in Toronto.  Now 1 of the store partners, is another woman I knew dimly long ago, who used to work as a bike courier in Toronto in early 1990's.

 

 

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41 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

Going into a European wine store is worthwhile since there

You don't have to leave the country..., with our stupid Provincial liquor import laws here there are wide varieties of wines in one Province you cannot get in the next one over.  There are wines we can get in Sask that we can't get in Alberta or BC.  

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9 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

Running a bike store is hard demanding business....my comments are based knowing a bike store owner (he owns/runs 3 shops) down the street in VAncouver.  And also from another independent bike store just 10 min. walk away. It's hard to retain knowledgeable staff, experienced bike mechanics, etc. Both shop owners knew dearie and they would talk biz, etc.

We also knew the owner who started up this Toronto bike store downtown in 1997 and is still running after he died. I knew Eugene also prior to his bike store launch, in various non-profit groups related to immigration and race relations.  Blog - Urbane Celebrates 25 Years! - Urbane Cyclist Co-op (ucycle.com)     He had a mechanical engineering degree and after awhile working in an engineering job, he left and started up this bike store at a time when cycling just in street clothes was still not widespread/a novelty at that time. 

 I also knew 1 of another partner for that store, who was part of our women's cycling group in Toronto.  Now 1 of the store partners, is another woman I knew dimly long ago, who used to work as a bike courier in Toronto in early 1990's.

 

 

My small town comment was more in response to your "folks would rather drive". He stayed busy, but getting parts and bikes in a timely fashion has become frustrating. As I said his health was the main factor in closing. Getting any parts is a challenge. We will be waiting 1-3 weeks to get a new ignition for the VW JETTA.

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21 minutes ago, Zephyr said:

You don't have to leave the country..., with our stupid Provincial liquor import laws here there are wide varieties of wines in one Province you cannot get in the next one over.  There are wines we can get in Sask that we can't get in Alberta or BC.  

Yes, I get the liquor laws in different provinces. It is noticeable going into LCBO stores in Ontario where of course they will display and promote Ontario wines, but not B.C. wines. Ontario wines are a bit cheaper than buying a bottle of B.C. wine in B.C. store.

What I meant, was the German wine store we went into, was truly mind-boggling in all sorts of German brands. well over a100 different brands. Some just small producers that can't afford cost of export,etc.

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1 hour ago, Parsnip Totin Jack said:

I know Mt Airy bikes; I’ve sent people there for specialty items. 

I spent so much time in there one day that Larry put me to work helping a customer dig through the boxes in the back to find the right bars for him.

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6 hours ago, MoseySusan said:

And we stayed in the 🌈 Davie Village 🌈area.

When I was in my teens, Davie Village was synonymous with street prostitution, in fact, my sister worked the streets there. .  Expo 86 cleaned it up a lot.  Expo also caused the massive influx of HK and Chinese to Vancouver. 

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2 hours ago, Wilbur said:

When I was in my teens, Davie Village was synonymous with street prostitution, in fact, my sister worked the streets there. .  Expo 86 cleaned it up a lot.  Expo also caused the massive influx of HK and Chinese to Vancouver. 

Just after 1986?  Remember this shitty event:   Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, in Beijing. Locals were killed for peaceful demonstrations.  My sister and I nixed any vacation plans we were discussing for China at that time.  She joined her boyfriend, now hubby, about 3 years later for vacation.

It's not over. That's why those with Canadian citizenship are moving back to Canada ..some more permanently..now.

Anyway to make this bike relevant, there photos of aftermath, crushed bikes, etc.

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