SEATTLE, WA (BRAIN) — The chilly third and final day of BRAIN's Dealer Tour of Seattle started and ended in a shroud of fog, giving us a true taste of late fall in the Pacific Northwest.
On the day's agenda once again were five distinctly different shops, which covered the spectrum from family and commuter to used and tri, showing off the impressive diversity of Seattle's cycling community.
The crew rolled out of our hotel base on south Lake Union and rode north on a mixture of paths and surface streets toward Green Lake Park, Seattle's largest city park. A scenic ride around Green Lake's south shore led us to Gregg's Cycles. Established in 1932, with three current locations and a staff of 130 at the height of the season, Gregg's is a fixture in the Seattle cycling scene.
Next on the crew's radar was Ride Bicycles, a largely commuter-focused shop a short pedal down the street. Good things come in small packages — this store may be tiny, but it's a highly organized and efficient mecca for the bike commuter.
Hopping on the Burke Gilman Trail, a paved path that spans nearly 30 miles of the city, the tour rolled back to Fremont through the University district to Cascade Bicycle Studio, located just adjacent to the bike path. Recently relocated to its new space this shop has made a name for itself not just for high-end and custom bicycles, but also because its co-owners Zac Daab and Terry Buchanan put on the second largest 'cross series in the world, the MFG, which will have its season finale on Nov. 10.
After lunch at a Belgian-inspired pub with more than 65 beers on tap, riders sampled the local brew from one of hundreds of coffee shops in Seattle. Coffee in hand, the group checked out Hub and Bespoke. Not your standard IBD, this boutique has gear, clothing and accessories for the commuter, with nary a bike, mechanic or component in sight.
As the first dedicated tri shop on the Seattle Dealer Tour, Speedy Reedy did not disappoint. From ultra-cushioned shoes for ultra-runners to a full selection of wetsuits, this store caters to the sprint-tri curious to the Ironman enthusiast, and everything in between.
The crew wrapped up the day with a visit to Recycled Cycles, located just across the street from newly constructed University of Washington dorms, which provide the store with a constant supply of customers. This store is a veritable mecca for bike geeks with bins stuffed with parts and components, and there are also plenty of bargains for starving college students and professors in the used bike department.
With a celebratory toast of cans of Rainier beer provided by Recycled Cycles at happy hour, in honor of Rainier Day, the return of the iconic big red 'R' to the old Rainier brewery and the end of the BRAIN Dealer Tour Seattle, that's a wrap!
For the full coverage of the tour, please check out the December 1 issue of Bicycle Retailer.
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Ride Bicycles owner Christian Bourdrez gets a lot out of a modest space at his transit-focused shop. With a storefront of just 450 square feet, he has to make sure that what he stocks moves out the door quickly. That means carefully selecting product and reordering every two or three days to keep the shelves lined. Bike lines include Surly, Public, Raleigh, Torker and Xtracycle cargo rigs—all aimed at commuters, street riders and “grocery getters,” said Bourdrez. His average bike sale comes in around $900, but add-ons like fenders, panniers, lights and mirrors typically tack on an additional $150 to $250 in product and labor. -
Gregg’s Cycle is a Seattle landmark with the same original Greenlake location for 80 years. In 2007 Gregg’s tore down 40 percent of the building and remodeled the service area to include a separate service entrance and multiple counters for customers walking in the door. The new design has improved efficiency on sunny spring days when lines used to be out the door. -
Much of Gregg's has 18-foot ceilings, allowing storage of many hundred built bikes. -
Ride Bicycles owner Christian Bourdrez gets a lot out of a modest space at his transit-focused shop. With a storefront of just 450 square feet, he has to make sure that what he stocks moves out the door quickly. That means carefully selecting product and reordering every two or three days to keep the shelves lined. Bike lines include Surly, Public, Raleigh, Torker and Xtracycle cargo rigs—all aimed at commuters, street riders and “grocery getters,” said Bourdrez. His average bike sale comes in around $900, but add-ons like fenders, panniers, lights and mirrors typically tack on an additional $150 to $250 in product and labor. -
Cascade Bicycle Studio stocks some sweet custom road bikes from Seven, mountain bikes from BMC and has a pair of Shinola city bikes on display. -
Speedy Reedy co-owner Brooke Sillers said the tri' market has softened a bit in recent years, perhaps because of the economy. Average bike prices have come down and the store has considered other areas for growth, including stocking a handful of hard-to-find ultra-distance running shoes. -
The high-end aero tri bike and helmets are still dream equipment for many multi-sport warriors. -
Sillers said it's been surprisingly easy to deal with running shoe suppliers, even with the store's relatively narrow selection compared to running speciality stores. -
Our tour brought us across the Fremont Bridge several times this week. Each time, we triggered this bike counter, which starts at zero each morning. -
Founded in 1994, Recycled Cycles made its name in secondhand bikes—both figuratively and literally—but new bikes from suppliers Raleigh, Kona and Surly now outpace used bike sales 3 to 1. Same goes for sales of new parts versus used parts. Many of the used bikes Recycled sells come from students at the University of Washington, located across the street, who are either leaving the Seattle area after graduation or are just headed home for summer break, said co-owner Steve Donahue. -
Recycled Cycles' official shop dog, Max
