Stores/Bike Industry Archives - Road Cycling Blog

Allegro Cycling: Best Month Yet!

June is coming to a close and Allegro Elite Cycling is preparing to celebrate the BEST MONTH EVER of in it’s 2 year history.

I’ve been busy (if you can’t tell from how little I’m posting here) and can’t thank everyone enough. All the clients who have helped make this happen I count as friends – you are all credits to Portland’s cycling scene.

So, in light of the best month in my Allegro’s history – and since it is Friday – here’s a Friday Five of why you should work with Allegro Elite Cycling.

Help on your schedule. You are busy. How many bike shops have set hours and tell you when they will work with you and when they won’t? Yep – almost all of them.

Now, I do need to sleep sometime – so don’t make a habit of requesting the 2 a.m. slot for a bike fitting. But, honestly; if that is the only time that will work for you: I’ll be there (with a very, very large coffee in hand). Help at your location. Sometimes it is hard to load up the bike or bikes and take them to the bike shop. Let the shop come to you!

All my prices include pick up and delivery of your bicycle to your location. Home, work, church, amusement park, coffee shop (my favorite), wherever. I have done a Platinum Elite Fitting in a kitchen; a quick-tune in a living room; I have dropped by for small adjustments to the bike; and have installed training wheels in a client’s garage.

For more detailed and time intensive work I’ll pick the bike up when it is convenient for you and drop it off the same. The effort involved for you is minimal: as it should be – you have more important things to think about.

Of course you are welcome to drop your bike with me as well – whatever serves you best. Continue reading “Allegro Cycling: Best Month Yet!”

Bontrager InForm RL Saddle: First Impression

Something I didn’t mention in my Trek World report on Bontrager, which you’ll see more of in 2009 is Bontrager’s new saddle line. The first two models, R (Race) and RL (Race Lite) came out in the middle of the 2008 model year with the range-topping RXL (Race X Lite) coming out soon.

“So, what’s really new in saddles that Bontrager could have discovered…isn’t this really just the same song, second verse?”

At first look, you might think this. Bontrager’s been doing saddles for a while and not really settled on any one distinct, definitive technology or characteristic to make them truly unique. And now, just like a lot of other top saddle companies; they’re doing saddles in multiple widths – nothing new, right? Wrong.

The multiple widths is just a portion of what Bontrager has discovered in their research to make saddles more comfortable for more people. The other part of this is to have the correct arc to the saddle to support your sit bones, allow the proper amount of contact area, and then stay out of the way. So, each saddle does not only have a unique width and profile; but also a unique arc to the back portion of the seat. Ultimately, the idea is that a center cut-out section will not be necessary because you are sitting above the body of the saddle more; rather than on the body of the saddle. I’ll admit – I was intrigued.

So I got one. Truthfully; I was given one – at Trek World – after being measured by a Trek employee for the proper width; I was given a InForm RL saddle in trendy white with silver trim.

Now, some history. I’m a die-hard cut-out saddle rider. I currently own 4 Selle Italia cut-out saddles and have ridden somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 miles in great comfort on these saddles. The Flite Gel Flow has become my favorite saddle of all time and I’m a huge fan of that cut out. But when something comes along that claims to make the cut-out not necessary, my ears perk up and I get curious. So I have to test this out. Continue reading “Bontrager InForm RL Saddle: First Impression”

1/27/07 – More Buyer Beware

The internet is an amazing place which has presented us with new oportunities in many different areas of life and business – and created entirely new concepts that we weren’t familiar with even 5 years ago. I mean, who knew what a “blog” was in 2001?

But, as with most things in life; with new opportunity comes new responsibility. E-commerce, while it accounts for only a small percentage of all commerce in the United States (which is the little-known fact that the “dot-coms” don’t want you to know), is becoming an increasingly fertile platform for scam artists and fraud.

I’ve written on a couple of occasions about internet fraud in our industry; and in spite of increased effort by bicycle brands and distributors to police the exchange of their goods online and increased awareness by reputable retailers – internet fraud involving the sales of bicycles and bicycle-related goods is becoming more and more pervasive.

Just today I recieved an e-mail from someone who visited our store – doing due diligence – to research an advertised sale of a bike on e-bay. After visiting our store to get our opinion and then going home to do some further research, here’s what he told me via e-mail:

“I was the guy at your shop today asking about that Litespeed Tuscany. We were looking at the web site and questioning the legitimacy of the offer. It turns out that it was a hoax. Apparently these guys try to clean out your paypal account on ebay. I reported them to ebay security. I felt like [a jerk] being in your shop asking for information about another bike. You guys answered my questions with class. I have the bug to get a new bike and hope to do so through your shop soon. I’ll leave ebay alone.” Continue reading “1/27/07 – More Buyer Beware”