- ONLINE RETAILERS who service the tri-specfic community.
- F.I.S.T.-CERTIFIED tri bike fitters.
- CONTACT INFORMATION for the dealers below.
- GUIDELINES for these pages.
- INDEX of all retailer profiles.

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Cycles BiKyle This metro-Philly store has been around two-and-a-half decades, and is owned by Kyle, or perhaps we should say owned bi Kyle. Bike brands sold include Bianchi, Pinarello, Look and Felt for road, and for tri it's primarily Felt and QR, then Isaac and Look. Wetsuits: Quintana Roo. Apparel: Zoot, QR, Giordana, Assos. BiKyle sponsors a USCF team, Mainline Cycling, and they are split in their focus between USCF and triathlon. (Contact information for the above dealer).

Pros: Kyle's been there, doing his thing for a long time. He's got a lot of fit experience. After 8000 fits (Kyle's claim) the reasonable expectation is that Kyle has it down, though you can't pin him down to a fit philosophy that makes your own resulting position coordinates in any way predictable.

Cons: The complaints that seem to have traction are that Kyle is not the typically omnipresent, hands on, manager-owner, and that the staff can be viewed by some as prickly. Disflamer: these are frequent complaints, only occasionally valid, of pro shops in every town.

Cadence Cycling When you read the ABOUT US section on this shop's website you wonder why, when these guys blew into town, every other shop within 500 miles didn't just close their doors and flee. The principals have impressive resumes. Cadence is chief among the newer paradigm of facilities taking an organic approach to cycling: fitting, coaching, retail, performance center (lactate and VO2 testing, a 16-Computrainer-LAN training studio), all conspire to optimize your cycling experience. Triathlon is a key category to Cadence Cycling. (Contact information for the above dealer).

Pros: In 2004 Cadence took up 2500 retail feet and determined to do things professionally and expertly. The devil is in the execution, and it seems they have executed well based on all the Phillyphiles to whom we've listened. Friendly folks, by all accounts, many bikes to drool over, and its rare that high-drool-factor and friendly staff occur in the same locale. They've got a very nice retail space, good brands, and obvious attention to detail and excellence. The store carries Cervelo, Kuota, BMC, Cyfac. Apparel & wetsuits: Zoot, Orca, Blue Seventy. Apparel: Craft, Castelli, DeMarchi, Assos. Cadence is a well-run cycling megachurch. The only thing they lack is a singles group. Oh, and some people feel that the best thing Cadence has is it's Woody, the mechanic in back.

Cons: Coupla things. First, the facility bites off the mid-to-high-end sector. You'll want to ascertain in advance the full bill for a bike or service of significant size (if you live in a single-wide, Cadence might not be a thematic fit for you). Speaking of fit, this leads to the second point. Does its selection of bikes match its fit philosophy? They sell Cyfac and Cervelo, and these brands stand in diametric opposition when it comes to tri and TT geometries. While Cadence has been associated with the Cyfac Postural System, one of the managing partners made it clear that it has, "never relied on [the Cyfac Postural Mechanism] for the final word," and, "As for TT and tri fits, Cyfac and Cadence do not see eye-to-eye." That established, an organization this professional -- with this attention to detail -- would benefit by striking an obvious and unequivocal timed-race fit and geometry posture.

Elite Bicycles This is not a shop, per se, but a bicycle manufacturer headquartered in Philly. But it functions as a shop, if what you want is a tri bike fit and perhaps a new tri bike. Many folks swear by David Greenfield, the company owner, both as a fitter and as an all-around great guy. (Contact information for the above dealer).

Pros: David is F.I.S.T.-certified, and has a lot of fit experience. He's one of the few these days to whom a triathlete can go in charge of the whole vertical experience: it's your geometry, your frame materials, your construction, fork paint, parts, and the bike gets assembled there, fitted to you.

Cons: It's not a full service bike shop. If you want goggles or a floor pump, there are more appropriate options.

Breakaway Bikes is a shop that likes Scott Plasma. It's the best one for triathletes, according to at least one who sells them at Breakaway. They also sell Giant and Ridley, and Orca's wetsuits. Pearlizumi, Louis Garneau and Descent apparel. (Contact information for the above dealer).

Pros: Noted TT racer Joe Wentzell coaches triathletes out of the store, so there is a method and theme behind what the store advocates.

Cons: It's frankly a red flag when the store clearly advocates Scott's Plasma over Giant's Trinity Alliance, because they're at different price points, and they also employ geometries that would not work for the same rider. A more mature understanding of the tri bike market would dictate that such a statement never be made.

Keswick Cycle has two locations, both in metro Philly. One is in Glenside, PA, the other in Cherry Hill, NJ. The New Jersey store is slightly more tri specific, but both are certainly worthy of multisport patronage. Cherry Hill carries Cervelo, QR, Cannondale, and Specialized. Glenside doesn't carry Cervelo, because of its proximity to Cadence Cycling. On the other hand, Glenside carries Orbea, which Cherry Hill does not. Wetsuits: both stores carry Zoot and QR. Apparel: Zoot, Sugoi, and Descent. (Contact information for the above dealer).

Pros: Keswick Cycle is a top-100 retailer according to Bicycle Retailer and Industry news (BRAIN is the cycling biz bible). The tri specialist is Brian, a former triathlete and road racer who got out of the corporate world and is one of two partners owning both stores. He's a guy who followed his dream, and that's always a bonus. Each store has a fit studio, each with a Serotta Size Cycle.

Cons: There are two stores and, alas, only one Brian. Also, as noted, Cervelo is unavailable in Glenside. The Glenside store is probably in need of one more high-end carbon tri bike brand.

Bean's Bikes is West of Philly, and it seels Cannondale, Scott and Seven. This store is one of Seven's top sellers of custom bikes, and as one might guess is quite road oriented. (Contact information for the above dealer).

Pros: Notwithstanding a strong road and MTB orientation, the store does invite, and cater to, triathletes. They love Scott Plasmas. They don't sell wetsuits at-once, but will order from Profile Design its co-branded Aquaman. Sugoi, C'dale and Craft tri apparel is ordered on-site. It has a fit studio featuring a Serotta Size Cycle.

Cons: There are two kinds of stores: those that embrace the idea that Normann Stadler, Faris Al Sultan, Tim Deboom, Peter Reid and Torbjorn Sindballe ride positions that you can also ride; and those that don't. The body language of this store trends toward the latter. This is not a con, but a pro, if the store is correct. It is only a con if it is not.

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Cycle Sports sits north of Metro Philly, in the multisport-rich Doylestown area. Shop owner Eric is a triathlete himself, and has been for a decade -- he was a competitive swimmer growing up. This shop is the big Pearl Izumi dealer in the area. The wetsuit carried is Orca, and there's a selection of fins, goggles, and the stuff associated with a swimmer's needs.. (Contact information for the above dealer).

Pros: There are important brands here for a triathlete, chiefly Giant Scott, Cannondale. The fitters are Serotta-trained, and there's a fit studio with a Serotta Size Cycle on the premises. The shop is not wedded only or primarily to a bike's features and price, but to an athlete's approprite technique and training -- it cares about what triathletes do, and how they do it. Lots of tri-community involvement here, sponsoring events, including TTs, triathlons, open-water swims.

Cons: In a way, the shop is too service oriented for its own good. A newbie coming in for a tri bike may be pointed (correctly) to a road race bike, and may feel that his desire has been stymied. In short, this store has the right priorities, sometimes delivered through a less than effective narrative. The shop is a little thin on some of the strongest models offered by its flagship brands. A case in point is Giant's Trinity Alliance, one of the best tri bikes for '07 and not sufficiently represented in the store.

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Guy's Bicycle Shop is northeast of Philly, in the direction of Trenton. This is another BRAIN-100 retailer, meaning it's a very good all-around shop. Part of this has to do with its advocacy -- this is a cycling-community-aware store -- and also to the large volume the store sells. (Contact information for the above dealer).

Pros: Bob is the most tri-specific of the staff there. The store has its own multisport team. The team used to be Guy's Multisport (to go with Guy's road race, MTB, etc., teams), now it's Philadelphia Triathlon Club, but it's still closely associated with the shop. Brands are Felt, Scott, Cannondale, Trek. Apparel is Zoot, Sugoi, Descente, Nike, and of course the Philly Tri Club's sublimated kit, which is stocked in the store. About Scott bikes: this is a brand sold all over Eastern Pennsylvania. A lot of this has to do with one individual, Bart Passanante, who was a Guy's Bicycle Shop employee, got recruited to Cannondale by Scott Montgomery, and followed Montgomery to Scott USA. Bart is part of Scott's sales management, and he commands the respect associated with the loyalty of this brand in this part of the country.

Cons: The store carries no wetsuits. It is a very strong devotee of the Serotta system as regards road fitting. That's a good thing. But the same enthiastic attachment to a tri fit philosophy is not there, and that's not a good thing. This store sells Felt, for example, but does it understand Felt's new 2007 geometry? Will the fit Felt associates with its geometry find its way onto a newly-purchased Felt rolling out this shop's door? The answer to that question is a firm maybe. To be fair, you could level this criticism a lot of metro-Philadelphia's shops.

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High Road Cyclery has two locations, the bigger one in Wayne, the smaller in Doylestown (and which competes with Cycle Sports). The store carries Trek, Specialized, Kestrel and Guru. These last two brands are important, because you can't as often find them in this state. As regards Specialized, the lower-end bikes are more interesting than the higher-end, because the anticipated all-carbon S-Works frame isn't here as of this writing (May, '07). This makes Trek and Kestrel the go-to all-carbon brands, with the exception of the custom Gurus. (Contact information for the above dealer).

Pros: In a town with retailers largely afraid to stock wetsuits, this store boldly floors Blue Seventy and Zoot. High Road knits itself in with its own vibrant multisport club. And, of course, it offers some quality brands not frequently seen in this part of the country.

Cons: The store appears to be fazing Kestrel out. That's too bad, because it's got very few Equinox 9.5 and 9.9 bikes on the floor, and what is it going to offer triathletes between the aluminum-frame Specialized and the $7000 Guru Chrono? You can't sell from an empty shelf. The store should either floor the 9.5s, or floor Airfoil Pros, or throw its hands in the air and tell everyone to go buy a P2C or P3C from Cadence.