When a shop I've previously publicly chided performs well, I must publicly speak well of it.
What a terrific, and exceptionally fairly priced piece of mechanic work was done on a bike belonging to someone on our ride today. He had the lack of grace to eject from his bike coming down Ash.
Scrapes to him; dings to one brake/shift lever; far worse than that to the other one. I'm here to report what a really superb piece of work was done by Andrew, a mechanic at Piermont Bikes. Were this same work done in the city, to a certainty, the bike owner would be told he would have to leave the bike overnight and the cost would be $50-$60.
Instead, Andrew responsively did an emergency repair permitting the rider to get home when he was otherwise looking at an $80 car bill.
The shop's charge: $10!
A tip of my helmet to Piermont Bikes and Andrew, the creative and resourceful mechanic.
A very kind word about Piermont Bikes from a surprising source.
I, too, have had a good experience with Piermont Bikes. During the winter months, I found myself 15 miles into a ride with a reluctant rear derailleur decided not to shift at all. I stopped into Piermont Bikes and the mechanic (I forgot his name) just applied a couple of sprays of lube, yanked on the cable a bit and bingo! Shifts smooth as silk ever since. No charge!
Same here, once to replace a screw that worked itself out of a Speedplay cleat. And another time it was just a cable tie to keep a Cat Eye sensor in place.
Both no charge.
Piermont Bikes did me well once also - fixed my shifting problem, did a road test in thr parking lot - no charge. And smiles too.
I always buy some gels there.
Richard, did the rider in question get his 10% NYCC discount? ;-P Just joking. Grand and gentlemanly of you to step up and praise Piermont Bikes!
I went in there once to get a new computer because the top part of my wire had cracked apart and wouldn't attach to the computer any more. After showing me a few models they said, you know we have a replacement wire that's specific for your computer in stock. I couldn't believe anyone would ever keep something like that in stock so I'd never even asked. They voluntarily gave up making a much larger sale and fixed my old computer on the cheap. That's a class operation!
That's the steepest grade of any in the immediate NY area he listed.
Since I like my bones, I no longer come down Ash. I go across on Hudson in front of the old library to the next downhill street (Bay?) which is not as steep.
If a cyclist loses control of his bike coming down Ash he will fly past the stop sign into moving traffic on Piermont's main drag. Ash should also be climbed with care.
BTW Joan is afraid to drive her CAR up or down Ash.
Was the road wet when your group member fell?
...the trip across 9w and up old mountain road?
don
I had some work done on my bike recently that required repair of my frame and technically should have been returned to Italy for warranty coverage.
Glen and his crew at Piermont Bike Shop did an awesome job of fixing it in-house and allowing me to avoid the hassle of sending it back to Italy.
I am completely unbiased about them, and in fact tend to be over-critical, but they gave me such great customer service such that I can only recommend shopping there.
Cudos to Glen and his crew, they treated me right long after the sale of the bike, when it matters most.
according to Hank so I don't think that includes those other roads
... and BTW Richard, I hope this doesn't mean you are on the verge of losing your sense of moral indignation...
...the base of ash, all the way to the fork at 9w, then a short jump over to old mountain road and up bradley/tweed (forget which) until you get to the boulder at the very top. i'd like to see the specs on that climb. ash is really just a warmup for old mountain road. ;-)
don
0.35 miles, 300' gain... hold onto your teeth... 16.2%... King of Rockland County!
Don, did you say you did it on your 48x16 fixed? No doubt you used to eat your meat raw.
...unless i was doing a very hilly ride like devil's kitchen (catskills) where i switched to 39x26 (heck, i even managed it in a 39x23 ONE year...it pays to perfect your track stand). now i ride with a 39x23 low - guess i'm getting old (and fat).
the person who showed me old mountain road explained something to me that i'd like to pass along...do NOT attempt old mountain road unless you get a good running start and/or are in great climbing shape. if a car comes down that road, you have a split second to react...and if you fall, you fall right into oncoming traffic (southbound 9w).
i always got to the top of ash already warm and i was able to time my run at old mountain road (make sure nobody was coming south on 9w and quickly glance up old mountain road for oncoming traffic). if i didn't see anyone coming in either, i'd sprint in the beginning in a 42x19, then when i begin to lose momentum, i'd shift down to 21 (thank you shimano for perfecting hyperglide shifting!).
don't even THINK about sitting down on old mountain road. if you try, your front whell will come off the ground. now that's steep.
back in my racing days i weighed 128-132. i used to eat my meat really fast - within seconds of it hitting the ground, before the carcass had time to cool. :-b
don (at 158)
I used the rain cancellations today as an excuse to drive my bike out to Piermont to leave it there for an overhaul. They are friendly and have always done good work for me - even correcting shoddy work done by some NYC shops.
I once got caught up there in some biblical sort of rain (animals were pairing up)... left my bike at Piermont for the tune it needed anyway, had a few drinks at one of the cafes and boarded the bus back to NY....
"I think it useful that we share information about shops that aren't so terrific as well as ones that are.
On my ride Saturday one of the riders, certainly no taller than 5'4"", spoke of Larry & Jeff's (the one on First Ave., an important distinction now that the shops are divorced from one another) selling her a custom made bike they fitted for her: a 57cm with 175mm cranks!
To my eye, the rider's inseam was within a normal range for that height. As the rider was a woman, I didn't measure her inseam. Well, OK, that's just a rhetorical flourish on my part: I wouldn't have made an inseam measurement even if it had been a man.
Yeah, the buyer is responsible for being an ignorant buyer; but it's also true at least some of the Upper Eastside shops prey on those who live in the area who have much more money than knowledge.
As it happens, in the case of this rider, she started to develop knee pain and that lead her to being informed.
"
There is no shop on first. Just Second and Third.
~CML
