Business & Tech

A Tale of Two Bike Shops

We asked our readers a simple question: Where's the best place to buy a bike in Rochester? The answers, it seems, tell the real story about bike shopping in our town.

It would take your average bicyclist about 20 minutes to ride from one bike shop to another in Rochester.

The two shops — and — are about 3 miles apart on Rochester Road. They both stock a variety of bikes, cater to families and serious bikers at the same time, and can fix or tune-up the bike you already own.

And they both have a following of loyal customers.

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This week, in our ongoing Readers' Choice series, we at Patch set out to find the best place to buy a bike in Rochester and Rochester Hills.

What we found was this: in a world of big box sports and recreation stores, the Rochester area really can support two independent bike sellers.

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'A fun business to be in'

KLM Fitness owner Frank Marciniak said his shop, which he opened in 1996 in Rochester Hills, appeals to everyone. "Some of the shops just sell the high-end bikes, but we try to have something for everyone," Marciniak said.

KLM sells mainly Giant brand bikes, and Marciniak said one thing that sets his shop apart from the bigger sports stores is that you have a chance to ride before you buy. KLM also has a location in Birmingham.

"The test ride is so important," Marciniak said. "Buying a bike is like buying shoes. You have to take the bike out and try it."

KLM has a large back parking lot that customers are invited to use to try out the bikes.

Marciniak said his shop's biggest competition isn't necessarily Rochester Bike Shop. Instead, he said it's those big box stores that are competing with independent bike shops like his for everyone's recreation dollars.

"This is a fun business to be in, because we get to sell something that people are going to use to be healthy," Marciniak said.

KLM is open seven days a week. Their adult bikes range in price from $350 to $11,000. They also carry helmets and other accessories.

Service and smiles

In the service department at downtown's Rochester Bike Shop, there's never a dull moment. Service tech Ron Catlin and shop owner Zac Barker work on bike after bike after bike. And they know exactly what they are doing.

"One thing that sets us apart is our service department," said owner Michelle Barker. "We pride ourselves in how quickly we can turn things around."

On Friday afternoon, Michelle Barker said she was promising people who dropped off their bikes would have them back by Monday, for example. They'll tune up or fix any bike, regardless of where or when it was purchased.

Rochester Bike Shop opened in 2002. Michelle Barker said the shop appeals mostly to families and to casual riders. They sell mainly Trek bikes.

Rich Armaly is one of six employees at the shop and he said he loves coming to work every day because he gets to sell what he loves.

Rochester Bike Shop is open seven days a week. Their adult bikes range in price from $300 to $4,000. They also carry helmets, clothing and other accessories.

So, which shop is the best?

In the beginning, we set out to declare a "Readers' Choice" for the best bike shop in town. In the end, we named both of these shops winners.

According to the "rules" of our unofficial contest, the winner of the poll, as determined by valid poll votes, counts for part of the competition. But even more important to the quest for the readers' best are the number of comments and reviews each place receives.

We pretty much couldn't count the poll votes themselves as valid (you see, we can tell at any given moment how many people are reading a story, and the traffic numbers didn't correspond with the 9,000 votes the poll mysteriously received in a matter of minutes just before the poll closed on Friday morning).

So we looked to the reviews and the comments, and we found they were exactly even.

"Rochester Bike Shop is the best hands down. They have a very diverse selection of bikes to choose from and help you pick one that fits you and your needs," wrote Patch reader Henry Carels.

"KLM has been my bike shop. The staff has been very helpful with purchasing a comfortable bike, finding the clothing I needed to enjoy the sport, finding trails and events, and countless words of wisdom and advice," wrote RochBiker.

So the readers have spoken: both shops are winners.

Check out all of our Readers' Choice winners. Also, visit Rochester Patch Places for more places to shop for bikes and sports equipment and to write a review. If you are a business, have you claimed your directory listing yet?  (and it's free!).


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