I thought I'd write a blog while I digest my breakfast before I head out on the trails...so here goes...
I often visit my boyfriend and fellow cyclist in his hometown on the weekends. In his hometown is a little hunting supply/bike shop. Suffice it to say that they do a better business in hunting than in bikes. However, they do have a really cool little ancillary general store that sells just about any kind of candy you could want (in bulk supplies). But I digress. This 'bike' shop is really one of a kind. I feel, for historical purposes, that I should write down my experiences of going into this shop.
I'll get right to the point. First, brand new mountain bikes (as in never used) from the mid to late 90s are still for sale in this place. Case in point, there is a Pre-Wal-Mart Mongoose full suspension bike hanging on the wall for some poor sap who is naive enough to dole out the dollars for this thing. It was a pretty nice bike in its day. It has pretty good componentry and a nice aluminum frame. The best feature of this bike is the Rockshox Judy suspension fork! I recall that when I got my Trek 6000 in '98, the Judy was one of the higher end forks available (my bike had a Rockshox Jett...which was the cheapest fork they made at the time). As the years went by (and before they stopped making the Judy), the Judy became Rockshox's low end fork. Therefore, the Mongoose has to be from the mid to late 90s. The real kicker: they're still trying to sell it for $2100! I kid you not!...and that is with 25% off the original price. What a steal!
Secondly, just a couple of years ago when my boyfriend and I went to browse this place (we go in there every now and again to see what has stayed and what has left), they had a whole line up of Peugot (the company that makes cars) and Ross bicycles. All of these antiquated but never used bikes were all in a row propped up by their kick-stands. They're gone now....I wonder what they did with them?
Third, they also dabble in selling used bikes. Most of these bikes are old Huffys and the like. They're trying to off these bikes for about 50-60 dollars a pop. I've seen the same bikes for sale in the newspaper for about 15-20 dollars. I'm not sure what they're trying to pull here...but to put the icing on the cake, some of these said bikes are still caked in dried mud! hahaha!!! If you're going to ask for 50 dollars for a rusty old Huffy, at least clean it up a bit. I would equate riding one of these bikes to attempting to grocery shop with a rusty cart that has one wheel that sticks and just won't go in a straight line...it just doesn't work!!
Fourth, these guys sell some pretty hot biking accessories. I think their hottest sale items are their helmets. These are those old school helmets that make you look like the mushroom-head guy from the Mario Brothers video games. Also, they have for sale some pretty stylish saddles. The same white saddle has been there since I was first introduced to this store (and probably for years before that). I almost want to buy it and put in on my mountain bike because then I'd be truly unique..haha. They are also still trying to sell those old school BMX bike saddles that are hard plastic with holes in them (if you can picture what I mean).
There are a lot more treasures laying around this place and I'm sure they'll be there for years to come (but with unchanging prices). However, the greatest thing about this shop is the cycling expertise of it's owners. My boyfriend got his first road bike from this place (I think it was a Ross). First of all, it was 2 sizes to big for him. Second of all, they told him that the brake release was actually like an E-brake for a car. They mounted them in such a way that when you closed the releases, the brakes would fully clamp shut on the wheels. They claimed that the purpose of these brake releases was to prevent the bike from rolling away when you 'park' it on a hill!
Luckily, a real bike shop came to town (who heads a bike club where I met my boyfriend) not too long after he got his oversized road bike and properly fit him with a much better Bianchi (and told him what the real purpose was for the brake releases).
Don't get me wrong, I love going into this shop just to check out the stuff they have for sale. There are a lot of cool things for the collector of old school cycling stuff, but they've got to drop the prices if they ever expect to sell any of it.
Bottom line: This is the best bike shop ever. Ever.
P.S. Did you know that Huffy makes carbon-fiber mountain bikes? Check it out: http://www.technicabicycles.com/