u/Joteepe

… but he’s not making it easy.

A small shop opened up in an adjacent neighborhood last year, which is really great since the previous neighborhood shop - an institution - closed a few years ago as the owner retired and moved out of state. This new shop is primarily repairs and accessories, with limited inventory of entry level/commuter bikes.

A few weeks ago, he announced he was moving storefronts to a larger space that’s even more convenient to me - right on my commute route! (Which I frequently do by bike this time of year.) I need a bunch of things for my new bike, so I was going to stop in once he opened to see what he had and stock up on some essentials.

Except … his hours are a mystery! He posted on his instagram (his only online presence) that he was open, but did not list hours. On my way home one night I spied he had a sign with hours saying he was only open til 6pm on Thursdays and Fridays. I generally work past 5:30, so I figured I’d wait til this week to stop by after work. However, as of this week, the sign with the hours is now gone!

I guess I can take a ride down on Saturday (it’s supposed to storm tomorrow and Friday, anyway, so I won’t be riding in), as I know he’s open Saturdays though I’ll be guessing as to opening time. (Should I go by the original hours sign I saw last week? I guess I have nothing else to go by!)

I’m just frustrated. I can get most of this stuff on Amazon but I would much rather support local. I just can’t support local if I don’t even know what your hours are! (And that goes double if you aren’t open late on weeknights.)

Hi all! My husband and I are riding Five Boro tomorrow. I got a new bike late last fall (Specialized Diverge E5), and we weren’t 100% certain on tube sizing for my tires/wheels when we were ordering extras to bring along for the ride tomorrow, so I planned to swing by my LBS this week and get some. Except … my LBS is super tiny and is only open til 6, and my work week was crazy and I didn’t leave on time any day this week.

We are headed out of town now (no time to detour there), so I’m hoping there is a vendor with tubes at the expo. Can anyone confirm this? Odds are I won’t need one and I know I can bring cash and purchase on the ride tomorrow in a pinch, but my preference would be to be prepared.

Separately, if no, can anyone drop a good LBS near midtown I can pop into if I need to? ☺️

Thanks all!