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I need some advice from chicago

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I need some advice from chicago

Old 04-25-05, 09:09 AM
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I need some advice from chicago

I am going to be in chicago doing some work next week, and am looking to get a new pair of shoes. I live down south in Champaign, and none of our shops have any kind of selection to speak of. Having mail ordered my last couple pairs with sketchy results in the fit department, I was hoping some of you could recommend some shops that are reputable and have a decent selection.

Thanks.
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Old 04-25-05, 09:10 AM
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What part of the city are you going to be doing work in? Do you know the neighborhood or street?
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Old 04-25-05, 09:13 AM
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I am going to be working at Argonne. However I will probably be staying in Logan Square.
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Old 04-25-05, 10:04 AM
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in order of selection
https://www.performancebike.com/
https://www.highergearchicago.com/
https://www.rapidtransitcycles.com/
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Old 04-25-05, 10:19 AM
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If you're going to be at Argonne in the south suburbs, are you going to bring a mountain bike? The area surrounding that place has some of the best trails in the Chicagoland area which you might already know.

In my opinion, the Performance shop at Halsted and Diversey has the best selection in town where you can just sit and try on different pairs. They usually have a full size run in most pairs from what I have seen.

You'll probably also be pretty close to Higher Gear; I don't remember their shoe selection but stickerguy sez they got 'em.
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Old 04-25-05, 10:49 AM
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YO YO, CHECK OUT GET A GRIP IF YPUR LOOKING FOR ANYTHING ITALIAN.
HUGE SELECTION
https://www.getagripcycles.com/index.html
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Old 04-25-05, 10:49 AM
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no idea what kind of shoes you're looking for. higher gear has about
10 different styles to choose from. Shimano, SIDI, Canari...(I think)

jeff
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Old 04-25-05, 12:45 PM
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The guys at Get a Grip are very knowledgeable, friendly, professional, etc. It's not too far from Logan Square, about 2 -3 miles due north. Give them a call.

Good luck.

Joel
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Old 04-25-05, 12:50 PM
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Rapid Transit usually has a wide variety od Sidis in stock.
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Old 04-25-05, 01:23 PM
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To answer the question. I don't really know what kind of shoes I want. Hence the desire for a decent selection. I have had shimanos and adidas in the past and never really been happy with the fit. All I am really concerned with is a decent recessed cleat, and nothing to amazingly ugly... a little bit ugly is simply to be expected.

Also, I was planning on bringing my road bike... I had heard there were good trails around, but nothing off road specific.

-Erik
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Old 04-25-05, 04:12 PM
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I would try Performance first then. I got a pair of Sidis there that are MTB shoes and recessed. They are not the kind you can wear off the bike without looking like you just got off of a bike. But they have other shoes there that look more like regular shoes, too.

There's a crushed limestone trail that surrounds Argonne that's great for a mountain bike or a road bike. However, on my map, it's not clear if the trail goes all the way around Argonne or if it becomes a dirt trail at some point. The map i have is color coded for the type of trail and it looks like the color of the trail changes from blue to green. So... turn around if you have to.



Pick up the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation map while you are in town. there are a lot of great trails in that area; as well as the lake front.
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Old 04-25-05, 04:26 PM
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I would try on Sidis at Performance and then buy them on line through Performance, using one of their on line coupons. They usually list one here: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=99489

I did this and saved some money. I got myself some Sidis and they f-ing rock. Like absntr says, sex for the feet.
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Old 04-26-05, 05:50 AM
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chicagoland bicycle

www.cbike.com
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Old 04-26-05, 03:59 PM
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Originally Posted by back2fixie
chicagoland bicycle

www.cbike.com
That's basically in my hood, good shop. If you want NICE road stuff, this is the place to go.
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Old 04-26-05, 08:10 PM
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SOuth suburbs? Argonne is due west! Two miles West of me, and i am due west.

Anyways, yeah Argonne is good stuff, lot of good trails for the MTBs and lots of forest preserves near by for the Road.

Argonne is a pretty neat place, had an opportunity to take a tour some years ago? Watch is the nature fo your business there?
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Old 04-26-05, 09:38 PM
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yea skip the headache and just drop the cash on sidis.. you wont regret it
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Old 04-27-05, 01:53 AM
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I am a graduate student in physics down at University of Illinois. There happens to be a group up at argonne that does similar work to us, so I am going up there for a bit to work with them. Primarily because they have a proceedure that we can't seem to get down properly.

More topically, I think I will give the sidi's a go. Primarily I just want to try some stuff on to make sure I actually get a decent fit. Living in Champaign, we just don't have the shop with selection enough to make that a viable possibility.

On to another point. I have come to accept at this point that decent cycling shoes are going to look like cycling shoes. That doesn't really bother me. I just want something I can walk reasonably well in and don't look AMAZINGLY ugly.
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Old 05-03-05, 08:55 PM
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I just wanted to thank everyone who answered this thread. I checked out rapid transit, unfortunately higher gear was closed on Tuesday. I ended up getting a great deal on a pair of Sidis that were mislabeled and had no box at performance.

Oh, and btw, whoever it is that owns that Soma with the pink phil hubs, you must be very very proud.
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