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| - I was startled awake one morning with the thought " My family needs and *wants* bicycles". So I packed up the kids and wife and off we went in search of bicycles. This turned out to be quite an adventure, similar to a midlife crises.
I used to commute to work on a bicycle, about 30 years ago. Wow have things changed!! There used to be only 3 kinds of bikes back then, I am glad that things have advanced. The selection now days is great. I had quite the sticker shock though. Back in the day 150.00 bought a Campy 10spd. I know that is what I rode to work. Now days it will only by you a piece of beef, like a standing rib roast.
We started at the closest place to our house. I was under the impression that we were targets, about to get ripped off. My look at the price tags!! We did spend about 1 hour there. Not much customer service there. We got very short answers to any questions we asked. My wife and I both felt that we where brushed off. Even though we were about to by two bikes and a trailer, with all the accessories. I now knew this was going to take more than one day. So we went back home and talked about this. We decided that we were going to put bicycling back in to our family life.
The next morning we went to the bike barn. Not much help there, We had a hard time just getting some one to look our way. I will say that the prices where less by about 50.00 for the exact same brands and models than the first place we went to. Then we went to Tempe to look there. The help was quite a bit more help full and the prices where a lot cheaper. About 100.00 less than the first place we went to, for the same models. At that point we had spent about 5 hours combined, between looking and travel. We decided to give it one more try in the morning. That day we went to Ehrhardt's Schwinn. right away we saw that the prices where lower for the same brands and models that every one else had. We were quickly greeted when we came in. We did browse for a few minuets, just to verify what I noticed when we first walked in. Their prices really are less, not just on a few models.
I did let some one know that I had a few questions. He readily dropped what he was doing and come over to help. I wanted to find out what the difference was between two different models. He got them out, fully explained the difference and had me road test both of them. Then he did the same for my wife. While the other employee kept my two year old entertained with bells and horns. After looking at 4 bikes we found that we could actually upgrade a model. Their prices made a better bike more affordable. We ended up buying two bikes a trailer for two kids and all the accessories (locks, racks, water bottles, ect...).
What it boils down to: The place with the fairest price, a good selection, courteous and knowledgeable help got the big sale!!!
Thank You Everybody at Ehrhardt's.
Since then we have been on many a ride and having a great time, Out of the car. We even ride our bikes out for lunch or dinner. The kids love it, maybe you have seen us at one of the parks around town.
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