Avoid them if possibile
I live about 3 blocks from the shop, have for the last 8 years, and while I have gone in there
to look at some stuff (I'll give them credit for having a great stock of high end stuff), I have been in there plenty of times, and I'll tell you that it's not shop that I like to give my money to, for the most part they have no knowledge of bikes, nor do they really care about the customer at all, yes if you go in there flashing 5K+ they will be friendly, but otherwise they just give you the cold shoulder, of course I understand that it's a business and they are there to make money, but I would rather support a shop that has guys that ride, and care about the sport somewhat.
After hearing this from lot's of people that I ride with, and getting the cold shoulder every time that I went in there to buy small things, Last year when I was in the market for a new ride, I decided to give them another shot, but when I went in and spoke to the guy, he was talking such crap, it was obvious to me that he just didn't know much about bikes, so I took my money elsewhere. then just two weeks ago at a business meeting this guy that knows I ride, comes up to me and asks if I know that shop on 5th ave (ra). turns out that he lives up the street, he went in there looking to buy a hybrid (yeah only $500 not $5000) and the treated him like he was a bum that just walked in off the street, needless to say he bought his bike elsewhere.
So... while I will give them credit for having a great amount of cool stuff in stock, I would suggest you take your hard earned $$ to someone that values your business and knows
a thing or tow about riding a bike.
If you live in NY there are some other nice shops, and if you are going mail order, well then, there are so many good ones to choose from.
sbindra said:
My experience is similar to the others. I bought a TCR Composite 2 there in September 2004. I have been there several times since and have bought some other items so they know recognize me.
It is a business like transaction. Salesman will spend time with you but the assumption on their part is definately that you should know what you want and what you are doing. As someone said above, they are not there to coddle you. I do not know if they sell lower end bikes but on the high end, they really have everything. Maybe the attitude is that a guy dropping a few thousand on a bike has probably already done some research. It is surely not a place where you can expect a salesman to spend an hour with you so you can figure out what you might want. Some might construe this as not being friendly but the attitude appears to be that the shop is there to sell stuff so the staff only spends time with people they think will actually buy.