Where to Look to Find the Perfect Bike

Imagine you are standing at the edge of a cliff. At the base of this cliff are all your friends, two wheeled childhood memories, and beer...lots of beer. Behind you though, is certain death. Staring into the depths is so intimidating, maybe to some even down right terrifying but it is better than what lies behind, did I mention...certain death? You know you want what lies below but not how you get there from where you are with as little bodily injury as possible? I often imagine this is what it's like for someone walking into a bike shop for the first time.

Okay okay, maybe I am over exaggerating a tiny bit but I think we can all agree that specialty stores in any realm are extremely intimidating. For this blog post I tried to forget everything I've come to learn about bikes and start from scratch. In this day and age that usually means heading to the most reliable and honest source...the Internet. I wanted to really try and understand how real the struggle for a new cyclist.

What I found on the world wide web was nothing short of confusing. Cyclists, mechanics, and bike nerds unite to tell you what you need in one of two ways; either dumbing it down to vague categories and/or misleading information, or using terms and statistics that someone new to the riding world would have no chance in understanding. Don't get me wrong, I love that we can share so much information so easily, but all of this research kept pointing me to the same answer...find your local bike shop and ask them. I know this sounds like a shameless self promotion but hear me out.

First, we are humans so you don't need to figure out an impossible CAPTCHA to contact someone with a question. Second, we have a ton of knowledge first hand on what works best for all sorts of riding. We have been through the worst of the worst to help you avoid blisters, numb hands, and uncomfortable riding posture. Third, you are supporting a local business and involving yourself in the local community. By investing in that shop they can get a much more realistic and honest opinion of what the customers want and it gives us the opportunity to serve you! To find out your actual wants and needs, what you know and what you still want to know, where you see yourself riding this year and years down the road. Modern day media and resources promote a very "do it yourself" attitude and what I've learned in my own personal journey as a mechanic and cyclist is that I have needed every single persons help to get where I am now.

We not only get to have the chance to talk about fit and function of the bike, but we also get to talk about future goals, family, motivations and answer all the questions you could have spent hours online digging for. I have seen kids hug the sales people and couples walk out the door with huge smiles on their faces because they weren't just sold "a bike" they had an experience with a genuine person that wants to see them exploring their full potential. It is our job to help you find YOUR bike, to break down all those types and tire sizes and to give you confidence and knowledge to take with you.

Lastly I want to say that no one at a good bike shop wants to see someone riding a bike that makes them miserable. To us especially at Spoke-n-Sport we LOVE to see our customers LOVE the bike they choose, everything else comes second to that. So in the end this post isn't to share some secret formula to find "the perfect bike" but to remind you of all of your options when diving in. Yes there are brands upon brands and categories upon categories and that will probably never change, the point I am trying to make is that we don't want to watch you fall from the cliff, we want to jump right along with you.

XO Tuesday

It's Only the Beginning

Formal Introduction

I just want to start this off by thanking you for dropping by! I am so pumped to be able to share my passions with you on something we have in common. No matter the skill, consistency, or energy exerted, riding a bike is undoubtedly one of the best ways to rid the stresses of daily life and enjoy being alive (see calming image below)! My name is Tuesday Frankus, I have successfully survived 27 years on planet earth and I am one of three full-time Service Technicians at Spoke-n-Sport Bike Shop. I will warn you that there will most likely be an overuse of exclamation points during our time together, forgive me, I just get excited about the things I care for!

My Passions

Well let’s see, there are so many things that I love, but to name a few there is: hiking, running, camping, reading, writing, riding my bike (that’s a given) oh, and smiling...smiling’s my favorite. I love finding places around Sioux Falls that reflect beauty and peace (see image above). I also love pushing myself on long rides and getting lost on the rolling highways outside of our city.

I have a hilarious and beautiful family including my mom and dad, two sisters, and their adorable children.

I have lived in Sioux Falls 99.9% of my life, it has changed so much and it has been an adventure in itself watching the streets, community, and outlook of this city grow.

My Cycling Story

Two years ago I found myself on a new adventure. I was on my way to Park City Utah to spend a week in a house full of people I had never met before. Now at this point in my life I had really only been as far as Minneapolis Minnesota and I was unaware of the fact that seeing mountains for the first time will totally change the way a person does...well...life. I hiked up my first mountain, swam in my first glacial pool, but most importantly, hopped on my first road bike.

    To be honest, it was intimidating. Who wants to be that one person in the middle of a group of people that literally has no idea of how to ride a bike. Looking at this...contraption, well I had never seen anything like it up close in my life. The weird pedals, painful looking seat, skinny tires, and... shifters? Embarrassing I know, please hold off on the judgements. My punishment for being too nervous to say anything more than, “I think the seat is too high.” was climbing hills in high altitude in the same single excruciating gear. Needless to say after a few blocks it was very obvious that something was awry and those fantastic people stopped to check on me. I caved, humbled myself, and asked for help. That day was the beginning of what has been the best, most adventurous and challenging journey I have ever had the pleasure of embarking on.

My Spoke-n-Sport Story

Even with such a complicated start, I knew I needed to get a bike just like that one I rode. A friend of mine brought me to Spoke-n-Sport and with VERY little knowledge, I picked out my first road bike. Sadly, my dream of having the exact same bike was crushed to a pitiful pile when I saw the value of the bike I actually had been riding and what my “new hobby budget” could realistically afford. (Don’t fret, I will go into the details of choosing the best bike in my next post, today is just the foundation.) I received amazing service and was given room for my opinions and what I thought I knew I needed. Finally, after everything was said and done I had a wild hair to ask, “Do you guys happen to do apprenticeships?” The answer, in short, was no. I learned that there were summer positions open and was still given an application. In all actuality I was hoping for the part-time-retail-summer job that I had done so many times in the past and learn some awesome bike stuff by immersion, but oh boy was I wrong.

The Word “INVEST”

There are a few definitions of this word, but my favorite is this:

Invest - To provide or endow someone or something with (a particular quality or attribute).

I had my first interview with Chad Pickard over the phone. He asked me tons of questions and I knew I had to be clear in saying, I really don’t know anything, but I want to know everything! I went on in my typical Tuesday way rambling about sunshine and smiling and how much I love the freeing feeling of riding a bike. I mentioned I wanted to learn how to take care of my own and my dream was to restore my old cruiser and college “vehicle”. Without hesitation Chad said, “I want you to be a full time mechanic.” needless to say I was floored. I said, “Honestly it might be best for you to find someone with experience.” and to that he said, “You can’t teach passion.” I can’t help but smile when think of the faith someone else had in me to see enough potential to pay me to be a part of their personal business.

I have been working full time at Spoke-n-Sport for over a year now and honestly I don’t think I will ever reach a time that I will stop learning new things. The joy of this industry is that it is continuously growing and changing. So many things are just now becoming accessible to those that don’t might ride “professionally” but still want the feel and experience of a high quality ride, women are making HUGE strides in every realm and carving out their own identity, communities are taking advantage of  group rides and cycling events, and it is only getting better!

My Goal

So you made it this far! THANK YOU! I’ll get down to the nitty gritty here and let you get back to your day in peace. In this job I have learned first hand what it feels like to be thoroughly invested in. I have had the opportunity to be interviewed, in magazines, teach classes as well as go to them, and beyond everything else, I have been given the tools to invest back into our community. The feeling of sharing knowledge, experiences, laughs, and yes bikes has been such a privilege! I want to continue to reach out to our community through group rides (I will be posting some of my own shortly, check out our calendar!) one on one chats, and classes. This is only the beginning guys so I hope you’re not sick of me yet. My goal is to tear down whatever barriers that are keeping people from honestly just riding a bike. Also, I will let you in on a little secret, we are all still learning too! There are still questions that stump us as professionals, we still have to research and learn on our own, and I promise we are not scary people. Now my question to you is, what is keeping you from getting over here and starting your beginning? See you in my next post!

XO Tuesday