Pine Mountain Sports in the Mill District of Bend. "In the Mill District" is a nice way of saying "In the redeveloped sprawlishness that was once some sort of industrial use, but is now considered as a planning utopia because of its bike lanes and roundabouts." You could tattoo roundabouts on an elephants ass and planners would brainlessly hump the poor beast into submission.
Needs to be said that the operation here is also home to Cog Wild mountain bike tours. Woo.
The shop has a very 'Local Bar-B-Q chain' look about it on the outside. Were it not for the row of rentals parked out front, I'd be tempted to walk in and ask for the pork and ribs platter.
And of course...as I pointed out earlier in my post about Bend, at this shop they have "Pigs" parked right out front in the lot.
Inside it looked like a shop. I could be anywhere in the states standing here and looking around. Bend? Jacksonville? -
Apopka?
But redemption comes in the form of two dressed Titus full suspension jobs, sitting front and center and ready to roll...were any pot-puffing hemp-weavers so inclined to dust off their truastafarian checkbooks.
But redemption comes in the form of two dressed Titus full suspension jobs, sitting front and center and ready to roll...were any pot-puffing hemp-weavers so inclined to dust off their truastafarian checkbooks. -
Matching Crank Brothers headsets and wheels abound.
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Ring it up...one bargain plate chicken basket and a large french fry please...oh wait. Wrong store!
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Persons Employed Therein!
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-3 Crusties! There were two pierced and tattooed dudes parading around in the repair area, and I was not nearly cool enough to garner their attention. Which is OK I guess...I wouldn't want to talk to me either. The girl behind the counter was genuinely concerned that I took pictures though...something about wearing an EWR t-shirt and toting a camera maybe? Or perhaps they had an evil Trek sales rep that stalked them on a regular basis and ratted them out if they deviated from the Waterloo Company Line.
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Stuff!
-3 Crusties! There were two pierced and tattooed dudes parading around in the repair area, and I was not nearly cool enough to garner their attention. Which is OK I guess...I wouldn't want to talk to me either. The girl behind the counter was genuinely concerned that I took pictures though...something about wearing an EWR t-shirt and toting a camera maybe? Or perhaps they had an evil Trek sales rep that stalked them on a regular basis and ratted them out if they deviated from the Waterloo Company Line.-
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Stuff!
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-3 More Crusta-dilly Poobahs! They had bike stuff for sale. I'm not so sure I can say more than that. The place had tubes and helmets and crap, but I'm not sure I could tell you what they were, or even where they were in the store. *yawn!*
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Bikes!
-3 More Crusta-dilly Poobahs! They had bike stuff for sale. I'm not so sure I can say more than that. The place had tubes and helmets and crap, but I'm not sure I could tell you what they were, or even where they were in the store. *yawn!*-
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Bikes!
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- 4 Toasted Titus Ticklers! (?) Hey, what can I say. I'm not super uber-sweaty fan of Titus bikes, but hats off to stocking quite a few, and dressing them with some expensive goodies to boot. I'm not buying that overprices Crank Brothers crap, but somebody will, I'm sure. Hey, its BLUE!
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Merchandising!
Merchandising!
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-2 Flamers! The big snore again. Somebody read a lot of industry magazines and trade show publications about how to stock and merchandise a bike shop, and in the process they set the place up so that somebody like me, who's been in a billion different shops over the years, and who spends way too much money on bike crap, just walks in and rotates his face about the place once or twice and then walks out with only a "Bend OR" sticker and a receipt for the $2 sale. Be inventive people. Cyclists LOVE to spend money.
Ambiance!
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-3 Toasted Tots! The joint had a nice high ceiling and lots of light, and the wood floors were very clean and warm, but up and above the basic canvass there wasn't much going on. This shop could fold, and reopen as a Gap with very little effort, and that's not good.
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Overall Rating!
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-an even-steven 3 Toasted Tots! Not a shlecky score, but not a home run either. This place has the right idea...and it's parked out front in the parking lot, painted in a faded patina-rich red and white two tone scheme and slathered with stickers that just screams 'hip healthy outdoor bike culture'. Transplant THAT vibe INSIDE and you've got a winner.
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255 SW Century Dr.
Bend, Oregon 97702
541-385-8080
541-385-8080
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Stay Tuned...One More Shop to go, and then it's a goodbye to Oregon!
2 comments:
Those are FSA headsets, not Crank Bros.
You are correct, of course. Says so right on the headset. That's what I get for writing the review up almost two months after I was there! I had myself convinced that the colors on the headset spacers were the Iodine headsets, and I neglected to maximize the pictures to check. Oh well...for the last shop, I'll actually look at my pictures more closely and make sure I know what the hell I'm talking about!
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