Comments on: Bicycle Shop Profile: Bicycle Sport Shop

By: Austin on Two Wheels’ Comprehensive list of Austin bike shops | Austin On Two Wheels

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 21:01:40 +0000

[...] 5. Bicycle Sport Shop- Central 517 S. Lamar Blvd. Austin, TX 78704 Phone: (512) 477-3472 Hours: Mon – Fri 10 am – 7 pm, Sat 9 am – 6 pm, Sun 11 am – 5 pm Brands: Co-Motion, Electra, Gary Fisher, Independent Fabrication, Salsa, Santa Cruz, Serotta, Specialized, Surly, Trek Click here for the shop review [...]

By: Tom Wald

Tom Wald — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 21:05:59 +0000

rocky thompson: I see your sarcasm. Hey, I don’t suppose you’ve lobbied the City of Austin to eliminate minimum car parking requirements in Austin, have you? I give you until spring 2012 to get it done.

Non-car customers spend extra money anytime they shop in Austin just so people who drive cars can park their cars. I would guess that the gross cost to provide car parking is greater than the portion of sales tax that goes to Capital Metro.

However, I assume that BSS would continue to want a parking lot of some size even if it weren’t required by law.

Re: Getting to BSS by bike. I’m glad that M1EK brought this up. I’ve always had an aversion to BSS that I have had a hard time placing. This is exactly it. Yes, I can ride my bike there, but man, what a hassle to travel the last few hundred feet.

By: M1EK

M1EK — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:43:58 +0000

Doug, it’s about the message it sends – to cyclists and non-cyclists alike.

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 04:04:00 +0000

Just turn your bike into McDonalds, cut through their parking lot, ride the sidewalk (backwards, granted, but it’s literally less than 10′) into the BSS lot. It’s not like it’s hard.

By: M1EK

M1EK — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:17:59 +0000

Jason, Lamar is not a good street for novice bikers – and I think a bike shop ought to be easy to get to for novice bikers, period. Barton Springs is now pretty friendly for beginners-to-intermediates; Lamar ain’t gonna ever be that way.

By: Rooster

Rooster — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:36:01 +0000

I love Bicycle Sport Shop. I would ride my bike through a brick wall to get there. Additionally, as a long time bike commuter if I had to wait for infrastructure to be built to determine where I went I would be in big trouble.

By: rocky thompson

rocky thompson — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:57:13 +0000

holy crap! that parking lot is packed. is there usually a line that long to get inside?

By: elliott

elliott — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:51:10 +0000

I’m usually coming from the east on Barton Springs. You’re right about the turn lane if coming from the north on Lamar or west on Barton Springs, but crossing the traffic to get to the turn lane is not pleasant and something I think a lot of people would rather avoid. From the south, I think you’ve gotta take the sidewalk at that point unless the traffic is moving slowly.

I guess the gripe is that although it can be done by bike, it is not exactly a bike friendly location like most of the other bike shops in town.

By: JasonATXBS

JasonATXBS — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:27:51 +0000

Is making a left turn from south bound Lamar really that difficult on bike at this spot of the street? I’ve done it more times than I can remember (since I’m typically coming from the north), and if I’m not mistaken there’s even a center turning lane to aid you.

By: elliott

elliott — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:36:23 +0000

I agree. the central shop is a difficult one to get to by bike (the north one is even worse on the 183 access road.) I usually have to cut through McDonald’s and ride the sidewalk which I hate to do. Oh well, it’s still a good shop.