Which shop ???
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
Joined
·
637 Posts
What's the point of this thread?
Joined
·
1,395 Posts
Geez, it's not even close. Race Pace is a bike shop staffed and run by guys who like bikes. Performance is a large chain staffed by guys that need a job.nyfan78 said:
Never been to Race Pace, but Ive been to several Performance shops. I find performance good when I need something that other shops dont carry. Ive always had good luck with finding odd sized, or old vintage random things, or need something in a pinch, etc. I wouldnt ever buy a bike from them, or trust them for any service(or any shop for that matter), but if you need tubes, or something like that I think they are fine. Im with the other poster, they are staffed by folks that need jobs. I cant comment on Race Pace, but have heard good things about them.
Joined
·
111 Posts
I like race pace in ellicott city - good service nice employees really big selection. Capital Bikes in annapolis is awesme too, the guys in that shop were pretty cool and not just into making a buck but building a customer relationship.
one shop i personally will stay away from is the lutherville bike shop, i was talking to who i think was the head mechanic about a bike i was building, was looking to buy parts from them too. The guy tried to talk me out of the joy that is speccing and building your own bike and also told me that i shouldnt try to repair or tune it myself either, take it to them. He then went on to say that we dont repair our cars ourselves why should we repair our bikes. I dont disagree that sometimes the shop is the best place for a repair, but also how will we learn if we shell loot out to people whenever theres an issue. Youll thank yourself when youre deep on the trail and something goes wrong that you know how to fix it. Bottom line, lutherville bike shop, the closest shop to where i currently live is the last shop i will be going into.
one shop i personally will stay away from is the lutherville bike shop, i was talking to who i think was the head mechanic about a bike i was building, was looking to buy parts from them too. The guy tried to talk me out of the joy that is speccing and building your own bike and also told me that i shouldnt try to repair or tune it myself either, take it to them. He then went on to say that we dont repair our cars ourselves why should we repair our bikes. I dont disagree that sometimes the shop is the best place for a repair, but also how will we learn if we shell loot out to people whenever theres an issue. Youll thank yourself when youre deep on the trail and something goes wrong that you know how to fix it. Bottom line, lutherville bike shop, the closest shop to where i currently live is the last shop i will be going into.
Joined
·
560 Posts
Family Bike in Crofton gets my number one vote. Race Pace and Princeton are good too. I avoid all Bike Doctors, especially the one in Crofton. Had horrible customer service there, and had a mechanic tell me it was "impossible" to rebuild one of my rear hubs and I needed to buy a new one that he then proceeded to tell me they can order for me for twice what I would pay online. Family Bike let me rummage through their spare hub parts bin, and I had my hub rebuilt an hour later.
Joined
·
425 Posts
Race Pace is a very big shop, I was impressed the first time I went there. However, when I brought in my bike to have Ride On cables properly installed, they clobbered me over the price! I would never go there for maintenance because of that. I'm a Specialized guy, so my vote goes to Capital Bikes in Annapolis, or Princeton in Columbia. Princeton was great when it came to installing a stem I bought from them, and bars I got elsewhere. No charge to install!
Joined
·
90 Posts
Race Pace has a real nice selection of bikes. They aren't afraid to stock the higher end stuff.
What really impressed me was their customer service. I bought an 07 Caliber from them and it turned out to have a defective Manitou front fork. It was clearly a warranty situation. Instead of having me wait while they sorted the problem out, they took the fork off of another Caliber and bolted it up and had me out on the trails in a couple of days. The mechanic told me "you bought a new bike, you should be out riding it, not waiting for Manitou to send you new forks".
Great service!!
What really impressed me was their customer service. I bought an 07 Caliber from them and it turned out to have a defective Manitou front fork. It was clearly a warranty situation. Instead of having me wait while they sorted the problem out, they took the fork off of another Caliber and bolted it up and had me out on the trails in a couple of days. The mechanic told me "you bought a new bike, you should be out riding it, not waiting for Manitou to send you new forks".
Great service!!
Joined
·
1,396 Posts
That shop deserves my bidness. :thumbsup:FisherCaliber said:
A lot of the MD shops don't have anything.Race Pace is great! The Ellicot City location has treated me well and since the Baltimore shop has opened ive been going there pretty often for whatever i need. Being a small business owner myself i know the importance of supporting a local small business(though they have grown to 5 giant locations) and feel the customer service at these types of places is usually a better experience than a chain/ big name place. Ben, Seth, and Spencer along with the other fellas who i havent caught the name of yet are all super helpful!
for instance....
i wanted to ride something serious this past sunday morning. I had plans to meet a group of friends @ Potap early in the AM. I hadnt ridden my MTB in weeks! Well the last time i rode i apparently broke my rear derailluer which i didnt notice until late saturday night. As you can image, i was in panic mode! Calling friends, trying to figure out how to fix it/ borrow a bike, whatever i had to do! Well it turns out the X9 is not serviceable so i was SOL on that. I went to race pace(baltimore) and waited out front for them to open in hopes of them having a sram 2x10 RD of any sort. Spencer rides up(about 20 minutes before they actually open) and sees me sitting out front. He goes in, turns on a couple lights and then comes right out to see what i needed. I explained the situation and he seemed unsure of their inventory of SRAM RDs, but looked around anyway. They didnt have any in stock on the shelf(the Baltimore store is still sorting out inventory as it has just opened). He said he would take one off a bike they had on the showroom floor if we had to so that i could get to the trail before the rain hits. He grabbed an X9 RD out of a build kit box and we had it installed, setup and me walking out the door within 25 minutes!!!! I made it to Potap and got my MUCH NEEDED fix of riding for a couple hours.
Thats pretty unbeatable customer service right there.
for instance....
i wanted to ride something serious this past sunday morning. I had plans to meet a group of friends @ Potap early in the AM. I hadnt ridden my MTB in weeks! Well the last time i rode i apparently broke my rear derailluer which i didnt notice until late saturday night. As you can image, i was in panic mode! Calling friends, trying to figure out how to fix it/ borrow a bike, whatever i had to do! Well it turns out the X9 is not serviceable so i was SOL on that. I went to race pace(baltimore) and waited out front for them to open in hopes of them having a sram 2x10 RD of any sort. Spencer rides up(about 20 minutes before they actually open) and sees me sitting out front. He goes in, turns on a couple lights and then comes right out to see what i needed. I explained the situation and he seemed unsure of their inventory of SRAM RDs, but looked around anyway. They didnt have any in stock on the shelf(the Baltimore store is still sorting out inventory as it has just opened). He said he would take one off a bike they had on the showroom floor if we had to so that i could get to the trail before the rain hits. He grabbed an X9 RD out of a build kit box and we had it installed, setup and me walking out the door within 25 minutes!!!! I made it to Potap and got my MUCH NEEDED fix of riding for a couple hours.
Thats pretty unbeatable customer service right there.
Joined
·
1,396 Posts
Wish they would open a shop in Fredneck, right on Hamburg Rd. :thumbsup:
They is just a bit far east for me.
They is just a bit far east for me.
Joined
·
85 Posts
My vote goes for Family Bike in Crofton. However, I went to Race Pace in Columbia a couple weeks ago and I was very pleased. I even purchased a CK headset from them. However, if I need any bike maintenance or repairs done I go to Family Bike in Crofton.
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
Join the discussion
