L! B! S! What you really want? RIDE! OR! DIE!
The unfortunate truth is that local bike shops often have a hard time competing with the pricing / selection offered on the internet and often you can order something online and have it to your door within a week whereas shops need time to get full orders together which sometimes leave you waiting unexpectedly long. Even shops with the best of intentions are often at the mercy of their distributors so sometimes ordering online is your best bet if you need something specific in a hurry – however, there is no substitute for solid advice / technical support from an experienced wrench and supporting your local bike shop will help support the local economy and in many cases allow your peers to continue to do what they love for a living.
I occasionally get friends and other folks looking to get into the fixed game (or the bike game in general) asking what shops in the city carry fixed / single speed stuff and where they should go so here is a small list of the shops that I frequent, some of what they carry and why you should show them some love. I most certainly buy a lot of bike stuff online but when I can, I support my local bike shops because they support us and keep us on the road every day.
Urbane @ Queen & John
Say what you will about Urbane but they are one of the best stocked shops in the city and their large, central location makes them a regular visit.
What they carry: What don’t they carry? In the parts department there is a huge selection of components – high end, mid range and entry level. They have experienced wheel builders on staff and carry a wide selection of rims & hubs to choose from. In terms of complete (fixed/ss) bikes they carry Bianchi (Pista, Pista Concept, Freemont) KHS (Flite 100), Urbanite (house brand) amongst others.
Why you should go there: I always forget her name but the lady at the cash is one of the nicest people you could ever hope to be greeted by when walking into a shop and most of the staff is extremely knowledgeable and helpful – mostly in the parts department. The real reason to go to Urbane, though, besides the nice lady and the co-operative business model is that they are one of, if not the best stocked shop(s) in the city and have a huge selection of bikes & especially components. I buy a lot of parts from Urbane.
With that said, in the parts / repairs department the standard “bike shop attitude†sometimes prevails – although since going in there more often my service experience has been better than it has been in the past. On the sales side, I’ve had salespeople there tell me that the Bianchi Freemont is a “track bike†which it clearly isn’t – having “track ends†doesn’t make a bike a “track bike.†A fixed gear bicycle is not a track bike by definition and I’d expect a sales person to know the difference between a fixed gear cyclocross bike & a track bike.
Cavern Cycles @ Queen & Jarvis
Cavern is a moderately small shop so if you’re looking for the largest selection in the city you won’t find it here but I’m confident that if you really needed something, Keith would track it down for you.
What they carry: In terms of brands, I know they carry IRO but I only know that because of personal interest – beyond that I’m not sure what brands Keith carries but the shop is always packed with a good assortment of new and used bikes which you can trust to be road-worthy.
Why you should go there: Keith is a friendly and knowledgeable guy who runs an honest shop who will give you fair prices and quality service every time. Keith is active is the bicycle community (both online and in real life) and from my limited interaction with him, he’s a stand up guy who is well deserving of our support.
Curbside Cycle @ Bloor & Bathurst
I became much more familiar with the shop when they hosted a good fixed group ride a few months ago which was a lot of fun. I met Chad and Robin that night – both of which I am now proud to call friends, or at least good acquaintances. The shop downstairs is pretty sweet and they have an additional gallery / shop upstairs which features a lot more classic bikes and components.
What they carry: They don’t carry a lot in terms of complete fg/ss bikes (Lemond Filmore) but they do carry some nice components (MKS, Sugino, EAI, KMC, Dura Ace, Surly, etc.) and also carry Chrome & Freitag bags which aren’t all that easily found in the city.
Why you should go there: Lots of good products / fairly reasonable prices /solid guys.
La Carrera @ Harbord & Spadina
I first poked my head into La Carrera many years ago when they were at their Harbord & Bathurst location. I was much more into Mountain Bikes at the time and they are a pretty much road / track specific shop so I never paid much more attention until this year when they moved / revamped the shop. I’ve been in a few times and given that most of what they carry is fairly high end and I don’t usually have fairly high end budgets, I haven’t been able to give them much business.
I did go in there looking for pedals not too long ago and Nadir offered up a pretty sweet used set of Deore XT MTB Pedals (which I love) in exchange for a Latté. It’s that kind of gesture that ensures that when I grow up and trade in my Mark V for an Orbea Orca with full discovery kit that I’ll go to la Carerra to buy it.
What they carry: Cinelli (Vigorelli), Eddie Merckx, KHS (Flite 100), and a decent selection of high end parts. For the most part, Nadir carries higher end stuff (Think $450 Paul cranks) but does also get some more reasonable stuff like the KHS…
Bikes on Wheels @ Augusta & College
To be honest, I haven’t spent much time in the shop, haven’t bought a lot there and don’t know much about them.
What they carry: In addition to a reasonable selection of components they carry Fuji (Track, Track Pro), IRO (Mark V, Angus, Jamie Roy), Jamis (Sputnik), Masi (Speciale Fixed), and more. They have a lot to offer in the $500-$700 price range and have also built up some used fixed / single speed conversions for sale.
Why you should go there: I only know one staff member (Mo) who seems really nice but beyond that, I don’t know much about the shop other than they have a pretty good selection of affordable fg/ss bikes. Is that not reason enough to at least check it out?
High Park Cycle @ High Park
Going here is an adventure – the guy that runs the place is fucking nuts! His reputation precedes him and I knew before I stepped foot in the shop that I was about to receive a lesson in hilarity. When you go in on a weekend he tells you to come back on a “working day†– am I mistaken or is it not a “working day†if your shop is open and you are working? I must be confused. If you ask for a Shimano Ultegra 600 stem he’ll tell you “I have Cinelli – Shimano don’t make†– they obviously do. If you go and look around the shop he’ll tell you to get out because “EVERYONE IS GOING TO GET MAD!†– Who is going to get mad? Oh, that’s right… EVERYONE!
What they carry: HPC usually has a good selection of older road / track stuff… The guy is very knowledgeable about older euro road / track stuff but like I said, he’s certifiably crazy so he’ll probably tell you to go away and come back another day even if you are there cash in hand and ready to buy. There are some gems to be had here; you just have to convince him to sell them to you!
Why you should go there: Because it’s hilarious.
There are a couple other shops that carry some stuff: Dukes on Queen (Steelwool), The Bike Shop on Queen (Giant Bowery, Alpha Mercury), etc. but those listed above are the ones that I go to most often and like the most because of the product available, staff knowledge and quality of service.
Aug 16, 2007 @ 12:17:18
Great read Matt. I totally agree with every point made, The lady at Urbane is so nice she makes up for the sometimes ridiculous snobbery that one encounters in the back of the shop. That said, they do have a great selection and a couple of the sales staff there are hassle-free for sure.
I’ll add to the La Carerra post that it’s the BEST place in the city to have your wheels built up, Nick’s wheels have now lived through at least two head-on collisions, maybe it’s luck but I’m convinced Nestor builds the sturdiest wheels in the city.
HPC is, as you pointed out, an experience to say the least. Jon Bucco is the crustiest man alive, but he knows his stuff, perhaps too well. “this part was 100 dollar when it come out, so… I sell to you for 100 dollar” – a 30 year old part. If he had the wherewithall to clean that place up, it could be a museum. A few visits there though and you sort of get past his communist-block personality and he’ll take the time to show you some stuff. Or just tell him you’re Czech… I’ve heard this works wonders.
Don’t forget Cycletherapy on the east end! Great people and fair prices.
A Few Good Shops « 51% Motherfucker, 49% Sonofabitch
Aug 16, 2007 @ 12:23:07
[...] Read it! <–Clicker [...]
Aug 16, 2007 @ 13:16:05
i like urbane, despite the complaints, being called darling and sweetheart by the cash lady is rad … dudes in the back seem more flustered by being busy than anything else, when i’m in and they’re just standing around, they seem to take the time to help out and show options. they definitely have times of being insanely busy, so its gotta be rough for a lot of the people in the back. that location is a blessing and a curse.
Aug 16, 2007 @ 15:11:56
My qualm is not necessarily with Urbane as it is with a couple of their staff members. Actually, now that i think of it..its with one of their staff members. The lady at the cash is quite charming and a couple of their sales guys have come through for me in a crunch. However, on principle, I will not support that shop as long as they continue to employ a hack job mechanic that spews disinformation at the rate that a horse shits. Additionally, Duane, you are just an arrogant know it all who has no concept in treating your customers with common courtesy.
The best thing about La C is that Nadir is straight up with customers about his ‘premium’. For instance, he told Ben one time that his wheel building cost is by no means the cheapest in the city, but i challenge anyone to find a better wheel builder than Nestor. Two head on collisions and I ride like a jerk…wheel is as true as the day it was built. I also like that La C is really involved with building a community.
I second Cycletherapy. Mike is super knowledgeable about fixed gears and he’s really trying to cary more high-end track parts. They’ve got decent prices and the staff generally is always pleasant.
Jon Bucco is a weird dude. I think if you can get past him being crazy and you have a solid 8 hrs of your day to look for parts, he can be bearable. I mean, hell. I did get some cinelli bars and a Phillipe stem off of him for $75 all in.
Has anyone been to Racer Sportif? i think we should check them out sometime.
Aug 16, 2007 @ 15:15:13
Re: Racer Sportif. Have you seen the CL posts about them over the last couple weeks? sounds like the worst of the worst…
Aug 16, 2007 @ 15:34:59
Re: Racer Sportif…
All the suspicions and conjecture were confirmed by a very reliable source last night… hahaha, “you shake his hand and you need to check how many fingers you have left…” classic.
Aug 16, 2007 @ 22:00:08
Thanks for the kind words about the shop, Matt. We always try to care of our customers, especially our friends.
With the exception of my own whop, my fave is Wheels of Bloor. They really only represent the mid to high end market, but the stuff they carry is carefully chosen, high quality, and at reasonably competitive prices. It’s a narrow little shop, and it’s a bit of a ride out there, but the sweet customer service makes it worth it. Worth going and chatting up the guys there.
Aug 19, 2007 @ 16:38:21
Yeah.. I agree with everything said as well. I’m a most frequent customer of Cavern and Cycle Therapy just because I gotta support my bros. Curbside guys are great.. love the gallery! Nadir is on the level, and the shop is great for bike pr0n (plus he’s on my commute).
A couple other places to mention.. not really the type of place where I’ve done much business beyond buying the occasional tube/etc, but Derek @ The Bike Joint is a super down to earth guy as well. And for more bike pr0n, a visit to La Bicicletta is in order (BMC, Colnago, Look, Time, Pinnarello, Ridley, Empella, etc). Lorne/Tovi there are good guys too, from my experience.
Urbane has a huge selection of parts, but I’ve gotten the ‘tude there a few times and they also put the wrong length crank bolts on my fixie (!?).
Living For The City » Fixated x HPC x Reebok
Nov 12, 2007 @ 14:12:54
[...] High Park Cycle is one of the most successful and celebrated independent bicycle stores in the country? Really? This may be true if you ask anyone that has never actually stepped foot in High Park Cycle. I mean, I’ll go there because the dude usually has some very nice stuff to look at (if he’ll let you look at it) but the guy is so hilariously difficult to deal with that this becomes the primary reason for any visit; ½ Bike Porn – ½ Comic Relief. [...]
Feb 16, 2008 @ 15:19:17
I made my first visit to HPC a year or so back, and immediately came home to tell my wife that I had “discovered” a gem of a store that had wonderful old stuff, and the prices seemed to be decent. Very excited, to say the least. Well, with each visit Jan’s true character would emerge…just absolutely head-scratching stuff, but also unintentional comedy of the highest order. I pass him two to three times per year on the road (we commute from the same area) and his behaviour on the road is also funny…one of those guys who can’t stand to be passed and will jump the queue at a light to take his rightful place up front…only to be passed all over again. He finally lost my business when he tried to sell me a $2 tube for $9.