Why buy a bike, when you can buy a whole bike shop?
"Buy a shop? Me?", you ask. Yes, you. That's the best advice that you can get when you are shopping for a bicycle. What it means is the difference between shops is greater than the difference between bike brands.
Our philosophy is that when you choose your bicycle, you should choose it based on the folks who will not only build your bicycle, but also those who will help you get comfortable on the bike, as well as provide service down the road as you need it.
We've written many articles through the years that better explain our philosophy if you care to dig deep.
Have you heard of us?
If you've heard of us, it's not because you saw us in an expensive magazine advertisement, or glossy magazine product review. Magazine ads and reviews take a lot of time and money, and don't improve a company's product or service. We use what's called a product focused business model. This simply means that we choose to focus our efforts (and money) on developing new products and improving our existing products. We also choose to work directly with our customers (no dealers or distributors). This provides us with direct, immediate feedback, and helps us improve our product in a more effective manner. Another plus for the customer is that our pricing can be extremely competitive, as there is no middle man.
If you've heard of us, we hope it's because someone you ran into along the way....a friend or an acquaintance perhaps....recommended our shop. (Many thanks to all of you who are getting the word out.)
We feel that a recommendation from a friend or acquaintance is much better than recommendation from a magazine. This is why we focus our efforts on making top-notch products, and satisfying our customers rather than 'getting press'.
Who are we?
As you look through our web site, you'll notice that we manufacture more than just bikes. You'll notice that we write software, manufacture highly specialized bicycle parts, and have made our own phenomenal adjustable fitting machine. All of these products were designed, engineered, and produced right here in our shop by people who have dedicated their lives to the bicycle business.
A lot of people are surprised when they learn that we are a small crew of people fitting, selling, manufacturing, and servicing bicycles all in one shop in Seattle's University District. The truth is, the talented people that work here do it because of their love for bicycles and our customers who ride them. Everyone here is a long-term employee with at least two years here. We have several employees who are approaching the 'decade' mark with the shop, and some who have been here even longer.
When you buy a bicycle from us, you're buying the whole shop. We promise to do our best to make that the best value of all!
Our philosophy is more than just this page. Visit our articles section of the site to read more in depth of our philosophies about bicycling, fit, and the industry in general.
