# LBS's w/ Used Bikes in D.C. or Richmond



## lx93 (Jun 14, 2007)

Are there any LBS's in the D.C. or Richmond areas w/ a decent selection of used road bikes? (decent makes like Cannondale, Litespeed, Specialized, Orbea, Bianchi, etc.)

Please stick to the question- this is NOT a thread to debate the merits of new vs. used, etc.


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## djg (Nov 27, 2001)

I don't think I've been in any DC-area shop that has much of a selection in contemporary used bikes. College Park has quite a few used (and some NOS) frames hanging from the ceiling and certainly some used road bikes. Many of the shops seem to post sale notices on a bulletin boards and might have a few used bikes or frames -- either from employees or on consignment. It cannot hurt to call around to the usual suspects -- pro shop, spokes, revolution, city bikes, conte's, etc. -- to see if they have anything, but it's hard to think of a place where you're likely to see much of a used selection on the floor if you just drop by. A few places now seem to be using a standard web site that has a link to customer for sale ads -- it's easy enough to check these too. There's also the Potomac Pedalers classified list, the district list, etc.


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

While I hate to recommend College Park/Mt. Airy cycles, I think they have a link on the Mt. Airy website to their list of used bikes and NOS frames. I'll see if I can find it for you.

When I used to work at College Park 20+ years ago, I know Larry had a storage area off site from College Park where he kept a lot of used bikes and the shop's inventory. He only used the shop for display purposes and to work on bikes.

Edit:

Here is the link to the new/used bike website:

http://www.bike123.com/used_bikes/testused_bikeslist.php


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## lx93 (Jun 14, 2007)

Wow, that link certainly does have quite a selection- some of it kinda low-end, but enough good that it certainly seems worth checking out.

Does the LBS have a decent reputation?


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

Honestly, I despise the shop owner, but that is because I used to race and work for College Park Bicycles 20 years ago and he and I didn't get along. From the two summers I spent working in the shop and the two years I spent racing for the shop, it seems like he is a good business man. Heck, he is good enough to have moved away from the College Park area to the Lisbon area, keep the College Park shop running, and open another shop in Mt. Airy. Now, by good business man I mean that he will talk you into things that he has in stock and/or that he can upsell you on. Now, this was 20 years ago when he was much younger and probably much hungrier, so I have no idea what he is like now. Send them an e-mail if you are interested in a bike and see what they have to say. Me, I am thinking about contacting them about a NOS frame from 1984 that is an exact duplicate of my old racing frame. My old racing frame is beat up pretty bad and has a decent amount of rust on it, but I love that bike. Plus, he sold me a frame that was way too big for me back then, and still remains too big for me now as an adult. Wouldn't it have been better advice to sell me a frame that fit me when I was 14 and then tell my parents that we could swap it out in a couple of years for a couple hundred dollars if it didn't fit me anymore. To think that he even did a "fitting" by measuring my inseam and reach is utterly nuts. The reach is still correct for me after 22 years, but the frame size is way too big. It is a 54 and I ride a 51 now.


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## lx93 (Jun 14, 2007)

fabsroman said:


> he will talk you into things that he has in stock and/or that he can upsell you on. To think that he even did a "fitting" by measuring my inseam and reach is utterly nuts.


I've encountered that here in VB, too (being told that I could fit onto a 58cm bike even though I've been told by 4 other LBS's that I should be looking at 54-56cm).


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## davcruz (Oct 9, 2007)

There is a shop in Mechanicsville, VA called Pedal Power that has some decent used bikes from time to time. No website that I am aware of....

They are nice to deal with and I do a fair amount of business there.


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## lx93 (Jun 14, 2007)

Well, I'm headed up to N. VA on Saturday to look for a road bike w/ enough clearance to put fenders & a rack on, or a cyclocross bike which obviously will. Since I'm a socio-economically challenged college student, I'll be looking at used steeds.

Anyone care to nominate any other LBS's?


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