atomship47

anyone know what's going on with the lbs in elgin, il?

i'm just curious for selfish reasons. good lbs are hard to find. i drive by a handful just to go to that one because i liked the people so much when i bought my bike. i hope i don't have to try to find a new lbs.

Kimbercop

Which lbs do you speak of, Mission Bay??

atomship47

yes.

bill was tight-lipped about what was going on. its really none of my business and i'm not trying to pry. however, that shop is one of my favorites. a good lbs is like finding a good doc or good mechanic. once you find one you trust, you don't want to go anywhere else. but, i do notice a huge difference in attitude/service depending upon who i'm dealing with there.

Psimet2001 

Last I head Bill had sold out his intrests to Arron. I'v never had any issues dealing with Arron, but others have said that they have. I personally don't care to deal with Bill too much. Then again I walk in asking for something specific and Bill usually doesn't know what it is, and Arron does.

FWIW....

CyLowe97

And I'm kind of the opposite of Psimet on this one. I like to go into a mom-and-pop shop and talk a bit of riding, which when he has time Bill will do, or when he was there John (the tall guy) was willing to do.

The atmosphere I get now is that if you aren't a racer or in there for something VERY specific that you are not worthy of good conversation. I can understand that if the place is slammed on a weekend, but not when I go in on a weekday and there is no one else in there. That is unfortunate.

Psimet mentioned a new shop down in St. Charles, Bicycle Heaven. It's small and I can see they are race oriented, but when I dropped in on a Tuesday the owner of the place was really happy to chat up the local scene. He asked my name, how I learned of the place (remembering who Psimet was), etc., and even though I didn't spend a dime, he thanked me (by name) and hoped I'd stop in again.

There are relatively lots of choices of shops in the Fox River valley, so I don't feel so bad skipping the place where I bought my bike if they choose to roll up the welcome mat for a non-racer.

Freedom of choice, yeah.

Rowdy

I haven't been a fan of Mission Bay for a long time. I remembered when they opened. My friend bought a Trek with a handshake and promise to make payments each week. That attitude of Bill's has long been gone.

I now try to give as much business as I can to Bob at Wheel Werks in Crystal Lake. I have actually been late to work a few times because I was shooting the **** with Bob and lost track of time. He puts zero pressure on you to buy anything out of his store.

Kimbercop

Another new shop in St. Charles is Sammy's Bikes. Corner of 1st and Prairie St. Ive been in and met Sammy and he's a nice guy, and has some really nice stuff hanging on the rack Colnago, Bianchi, and some other Italian stuff. Pretty high end shop.

Psimet2001 

+1 - Different products than one would really ever find in stock at an LBS. Nice differentiation. Worth a stop.

Blatz

I`ve gotten Attitude the few time I been to Mission Bay. Bikes Plus in Barrington gets my nod. Ask for Mike. Or Mikes Bikes in Paletine, ask for Norm

nietsmas

since we're talking bike shops, i'll plug Turin Bicycle in Evanston. I purchased my Moots there, but they also sell Independent Fabrication, Bianchi, Specialized, Cervelo, and of course, trek. They also have a nice selection of Assos, Craft, Pearl Izumi, and Sidi & Lake shoes. Apparently one of the owners of Turin is also an owner of Lake shores. Nice group of people, always willing to help, yet they'll let you just walk around if you want to. The sales manager, Chris Dimmick, did a pro fit for me when i was getting fit for the moots. he spent three hours with me making sure we had the exact frame size down and that everything would fit perfectly.

nietsmas

since it's much closer to me than Turin, i'm definitely going to check him out. it will be nice to not have to drive 1 hr. for little maintenance type stuff.

CyLowe97

Maybe he'll yell at me for suggesting this, but for little maintenance type stuff, send a PM to Psimet2001. He's a very competent wrench (he completely tore down and rebuilt my bike in the offseason) and I'm sure he'd love to work on the Moots. He accepts payment in beer, which is a bonus.

nietsmas

nice. i'll keep that in mind. Psimet, feel free to let me know if you aren't interested, I would completely understand.

JPW

I now try to give as much business as I can to Bob at Wheel Werks in Crystal Lake. I have actually been late to work a few times because I was shooting the **** with Bob and lost track of time. He puts zero pressure on you to buy anything out of his store.

I have been dealing with Bob Olsen for many years and would recommend Wheel Works to anybody. John Waterloo

atomship47

another lbs i liked was "the bike shop" in glenn ellyn.


ara (owner of bicycle heaven) had a kickazz full ultegra '06 blue hanging up there. pretty good price. had i seen that last february, i'd be riding it now!

no motor?

I'm not sure if Norm at Mikes bikes in Palatine is the guy who told me they'd
1) replace the bottom bracket for me for less than they charged me
2) do it in less time than it took them and
3) call when it was ready
or if he was the one that noticed something still wasn't done right and adjusted something before I picked it up after calling them and then waiting for them to quit passing the time with another customer; but the two of them convinced this returning rider that he was better off shopping elsewhere.

jbernaeyge

i preferre to go to the village pedaler in south elgin. the staff there is amazing

Kimbercop

??? Ive never been in there and met anyone who knew anything about road bikes. Its all mountain bike and bmx type kids hanging around/ working there. Unless something has changed recently that I'm not aware of..

atomship47

ditto. i talked to the manager once and asked him a few questions about the specialized tricross. he said he really didn't know but his lead tech would. however, she was at their other store that day.

he was a nice guy and all. he just couldn't answer some of my questions.

atomship47

btw, i was up at mission bay again last week. it appears that whatever was going on is behind them now. i'm going up tomorrow to test ride a cx bike.

Psimet2001 

Ahh, Carrie (probably spelled differently). She's the only one I have met there that knows anything outside of BMX.

She is kind, knowledgeable, and has wonderful customer service skills. That being said I have stumped her once or twice.

I still buy niche producs from there as needed. Some singlespeed stuff, Chariott Carrier trailer stuff for my son, Specialized Bar Phat tape, but that's it. They are a Giant dealer though so I think I'll pick up my son's Giant Little Tricycle there.

Nice people, but not roadies. I asked for a quote on some Campy hubs there once. I received some amazing looks. Perhaps I was speaking Fretalian.

atallen223

I'm super late, but is this place still around?

CyLowe97

Mission Bay? No. They moved from Elgin to Des Plaines(?) several years ago and then out of business.

atallen223

Darn, I like visiting bike shops and it would have been nice to have one near my house.

CyLowe97

Yeah, it was nice having Mission Bay in Elgin, but there are other shops as you ride around. A lot of them are on or near the Fox River bike path as you venture north (Bicycle Garage in E Dundee, Main Street Cycles in Carpentersville) or south (Mill Race in Geneva, Sammy's in St. Charles). Others like Village Pedaler off of Randall in S Elgin, Bicycle Heaven in Geneva, or Lucky Brake up in Crystal Lake.

Ride around the area, dig around on the net. Lots of good folks to help out.