Not-to-be-missed bike shops in San Francisco

[wgp]

Headed out to SF for vacation and always like to check out great bike shops in destination cities. I know Above Category, of course, but wondered what other shops are worth visiting while there. I plan to check out the Rapha store too, BTW.

Thanks in advance -

Bill

[sg8357]

http://www.jitensha.com/

Jitensha Studio, the zen garden of bike shops.

http://www.jitensha.com/eng/aboutshop_e.html

[Muttleyone]

http://www.jitensha.com/

Jitensha Studio, the zen garden of bike shops.

http://www.jitensha.com/eng/aboutshop_e.html

Yeah, can you bring me back a Toei, please, 60cm? Thanks

Mutt

[PoppaWheelie]

Will you have a car?

Go have an ice cream in Sausalito and then hit Above Category in Mill Valley...unbelievable bike porn in that place....

[rePhil]

I like to visit shops as well. In addition to the others mentioned:

A Bicycle Odyssey in Sausalito http://www.bicycleodyssey.com/

The Bike Nook http://www.bikenook.com/thebikenook.html

[pdmtong]

If you are going over the GGB
- abovecategory (I like the thin crust pizza place around the corner)
- studio velo (http://www.studiovelomv.com/) in mill valley. SV has multiple IFs (XS, ti FLW, etc.) on the floor, a dedicated womens clothing boutique annex, and more rapha then you can imagine
- bicycle odessey in sausalito

forget Mike's unless you want to see the latest stuff from specialized.


Are you coming south of SF towards palo alto/stanford?

Palo Alto Bicycles (http://www.paloaltobicycles.com/), Velotech (http://www.velotechcycles.com/) (peg/parlee//colnago/pinarello) and A Street Bike Named Desire (http://www.studiovelomv.com/) are all within 0.5 mile of each other. the last one has some amazing city, electric, folding bikes - not the kind of things you see in a regular/high-end shop

[PoppaWheelie]

Indeed...actually, depending on your threshold for bike shop'ery, you could hit them all in a row...Bicycle Odessey, Studio Velo, Mikes and then Above Category. They're all within a few miles of one another...

[Kane]

Bicycle Odyssey in Sausalito for road.

If you want to rent a great mtn bike and go for a great mtn bike ride, try Fairfax Cyclery and go for a ride at Boyscout Camp of Tamarancho.

I you can travel, Santa Rosa is the home of Annadel State Park. This is the best place for a great ride on the mountain. but you will want to ride with full suspension. Try Mike's Bikes in Petaluma for a rental (and ask DJ really nice for a loaner).

Cheers

[roguedog]

Pdm, i'm surprised you didn't mention the rapha club.

ok i know it's a true bike shop.. but it is one of the few in the u.s..

i'll have to check out the streetcar name desire place one of these days. sounds intriguing.

[pdmtong]

Pdm, i'm surprised you didn't mention the rapha club.

ok i know it's a true bike shop.. but it is one of the few in the u.s..

i'll have to check out the streetcar name desire place one of these days. sounds intriguing.

The OP noted he had plans to visit the RCC so no need to mention again. BY+TW, it is the ONLY permanent RCC in the world. Coffee there is terrific

City Cycle in SF used to be drool central, but no more. The core came back as Bespoke, but that is a shop to transact at, not much to actually "see" (with all due respect to ari, stefan and aaron (all great guys)).

The Streetcar... is an AMAZING place; they have biks not seen anywhere else. All purpose built for city riding. And Dan, as the distributor of many, knows a lot about that genre. It's not a large, but it is tastefully packed and passionate in a way the high-end road shops are. if the OP goes there, get an artisian cupcake or burrito across the lane...plenty to do since essentially in downtown palo alto - stop by stanford to see the camnpus (a few blocks away) - see the "gates of hell" at the outdoor Rodin sculture garden (free)

[fogrider]

I like to visit shops as well. In addition to the others mentioned:

A Bicycle Odyssey in Sausalito http://www.bicycleodyssey.com/

The Bike Nook http://www.bikenook.com/thebikenook.html
+1 on these...also swing by D D cycles on Balboa at 42nd ave http://www.ddcycles.com/
mike has lots of cool stuff and will talk to you for hours!

I love the odyssey, lots of new and old bikes in an old school shop. if you're going to the nook, bring a wheel to be trued, len is an artist with a spoke wrench. the shop is small with lots of old stuff.

[tsutaoka]

if you're driving around...go visit bruce gordon too http://www.bgcycles.com/

[wgp]

Thanks to all for the guidance. We will NOT have a car until the last day in SF, and I will drag the family along as I visit Above Category on our way north. On foot, it sounds like maybe just the Rapha store while in SF.

Thanks pdmtong for the "warning" about Bespoke - they were on my list, but if there isn't much to actually see (on the floor), I may just skip them. They sound like a great shop, though.

[oldpotatoe]

Thanks to all for the guidance. We will NOT have a car until the last day in SF, and I will drag the family along as I visit Above Category on our way north. On foot, it sounds like maybe just the Rapha store while in SF.

Thanks pdmtong for the "warning" about Bespoke - they were on my list, but if there isn't much to actually see (on the floor), I may just skip them. They sound like a great shop, though.

Say hello from Peter at Vecchio's for me, to Chad at Above Catagory..known him for a while and tell him I'm still waiting for my 58cm Luigino....

[pdmtong]

I though about this more, regarding Bespoke. They have maybe 8-12 bikes on the floor. I recall a HSG, a Z5, a mudhoney a few weeks ago.... There is a reason to go there if they might have a particular bike you are looking for or want some in-depth knowledge on seven-serotta-parlee. It's just not the kind of place you show up at and expect to browse around for awhile.

On the other hand, AC has maybe two dozen peg frames hanging on the wall, a moots co-mooter and a RSL and various parlees built on display. so the wow factor comes in volumes (same with studio velo if you like IF). Those shops have more on the floor to look at.

We are lucky that we have a number of very high-end shops around here. so a lot of these lust-bikes are see-able in person. if that is not the case for you, don't forget your camera. :)

[wgp]

I will say hi Peter. I LOVED when I came to Vecchios a few years back - you have an amazing shop, and I have yet to see it topped. I suspect that AC will be on a par, minus the museum quality collection of "old stuff."