Day Two on the SoCal Bike Dealer Tour

By Rich Kelly, Filed Under Attendee News, Cycling, Exhibitor News, Industry News, Interbike, Photos, Rides

Setting out for day two of our tour of SoCal bike dealers, we made a friend. One of the best parts of road riding is running into other riders along the way and then spending the next few miles chatting. I forget this rider’s name, but when he heard we were all from the industry, he told us that he used to work for GT back in the day.

One constant at all but one shop we’ve visited so far is that fixed gear bikes are firmly entrenched in their shops. Most had a special section devoted to fixie gear, but even traditionally mountain bike focused shops like The Path in Tustin have seen fixie cultire become an important catgory and visible presence on the show floor as evidenced by the MKS and Nitto caps for sale.

Here’s part of The Path’s fixie parts and accessories section that was typical of most shops on out tour. And remember, this is Orange County - not New York, San Francisco or even LA. The fixed gear phenomenon has hit suburbia pretty hard.

Another common sight in our shops was colored Velocity wheels - a big seller.

The Path\ had a pretty awesome invengtory of Chris King componentry on display:

Marc Sani of Bicycle Retailer talking to The Path’s Tani Walling:

Santiago Cycling, just a few hundred yards away from The Path. Another true roadie oriented shop. He’s solely a Trek dealer and sought them out back in the 80’s since they were a USA made brand and still makes their high end bikes here.

Owner Robert Kahler, owner of Santiago Cycling. He’s in fatigues to commemorate Veteren’s Day. Thanks for your service, Robert! Robert is a former California state road race champ and national team member and his wife, Jill Koval, raced for the 7-11 women’s team.

A big part of Robert’s business is training. He has a huge fleet of Monark ergometers and wind trainers and rollers to lead classes of up to 50 riders in indoor training sessions that he calls “Torture Clinics”.

Lunch in downtown Orange at Watson’s Drug and Soda shop with the tour gang and John Pavlisin Jr., owner of Orange Cycle.

Arriving at Orange Cycle:

I have never seen more beach cruisers in one place than I saw today at Orange Cycle. Needless to say, an important category for this family-oriented shop.

Al from Orange Cycle educating us on the influences that are bringing suburban kids into the fixie scene. He pointed to music videos with the bikes, dj’s, Complex Magazine among other influences. He is amazed that kids will pay $100 for NJS-certified toe straps. Hate to sound like an old fart here, but seeing high school kids on fixies in my suburban San Diego neighborhood just floors me and I’m really curious where they are getting the vibe from.

In the back of Orange Cycle, there’s a semi-hidden room/lounge/office that is just unreal. These photos don’t do it justice. John P. Sr. served up some awesome espressos and some wine to our group in a the uber-posh room. Fully stocked kitchen, bar and lounge area made with fine wood and granite counters. You just wouldn’t expect something like this in a bike shop. Sort of remids me of the hidden kitchen in the Italian Pavilion at Interbike - if you know about it, they’ll serve you a fine pasta lunch.

Tyler James, tech guru with Pedro’s and Elysa from Giant enjoying Orange’s hospitality.

$Tyler James of Pedro\'s and Elysa Walk of Giant at Orange Cycle$

Throught the magic of Twitter and updates of our tour throughout the day, Steve Boehmke found out we had seen him in his truck while we were eating lunch. He called me and met up with us at Orange with his bike and gear to join us on the rest of our ride. In the photo below riding next to Steve is none other than Perry Kramer, former BMX pro and Hall of Famer. If you’ve ever heard of the classic PK Ripper model from SE Racing, Perry’s the “PK” in the name. I didn’t realize who he was until later in the day - just thought he was a really cool guy named Perry. He’s a sales rep for Giant here in SoCal and led us around Orange County today.

Here’s Chris Zigmont of Pedro’s, 2003 ABA Grand Nationals Champion next to his trophy at Fullerton Bicycles. You don’t see enough trophy’s like this anymore. Growing up it seemed like every pizza joint had a few on a shelf. All joking aside, Fullerton takes their BMX racing heritage and business very seriously and had more than one of these trophys on display at the shop.

$Chris Zigmont of Pedro\'s at Fullerton Bicycles$

Mike Franze, owner of Fullerton and Buena Park Bicycles. Great guy with a passion for the industry. He’s working with Giant on re-merchandising the store - obviously a big Giant dealer.

Just some quick comments from today since it’s late. Unfortunately, I’m back in the office for some meetings Wednesday and Thursday. I’ll be making a return to the tour on Friday. This has been a really insightful trip so far getting to know so many great dealers and learn about their businesses and where they see bike retail heading. More on some of what we’ve learned once I’m back and settled.

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