BIKE FRIDAY
Commute & Travel bikes at Chain Reaction!
(Redwood City location only)
This
may be one of our better-kept secrets- we have been selling USA-made Bike
Friday folding bikes for over two years!
From the inexpensive Model T
at $1399 (shown below, ready-to-ride and folded) to custom Pocket Rockets
that rival the performance and price of the very best "normal" road bikes,
we can get you going.
The Pocket Rocket Kevin's
holding in the picture folds up into a standard suitcase to avoid high
airline fees and make for easy packing and carrying, on planes, trains or
in cars. It's proven its capabilities on
110-mile loops from Redwood City to Santa Cruz, and more recently, on the
uber-challenging Col du Glandon/Galibier 100 mile ride with over 13,000ft
of climbing. Could one of these do the Death Ride? You bet!
It shows perhaps the most important things that we, as cyclists, can
do. Passing the torch to a new generation, showing others that
cycling is a timeless, wonderful thing.
Ultimately, I hope it's what Chain Reaction will be known for.
--Mike--
09/17/07-
SHE FINALLY DID IT. Maybe 3
or 4 years after threatening to ride up Old LaHonda, my daughter
Becky, whom some of you have met in our Redwood City store, made it
up the hill with her friend (and fellow co-worker) Emily. It might
not have been the fastest trip up the hill, and certainly not the
easiest, but they got there. I told Becky to plan on two hours for
the ride (hot-shot cyclists can do it in just over 15 minutes) and
to stop every half-mile or so, the idea being to make it manageable.
And 2 hours is just about how long it did take them, after which
they did the lunch-at-Alice's ritual that I used to do with Kevin
(Becky's younger brother).
Some credit goes to Emily (on the left in the photo), her
very good friend who was encouraging her all the way. Emily's been a
bit more active in outdoor activities than Becky, but perhaps that's
about to change. I don't expect to see Becky climbing Haleakala any
time soon, but hey, it's a great start!
Why Buy Your Next Bike from
Chain Reaction? We thought you'd never ask! From
our expertise in helping you select the right bike, get it properly fit, a
dedication to your bike that goes on for years... a whole lot of things.
Cruising this website will give you a good
idea of what we're about and how we treat our customers, but better yet,
come into one of our stores, talk with our staff and maybe take a bike or
two out for a test ride.
One thing's certain. You'll discover that we really like bikes!
Finally
bikes built just for women, with shorter top
tubes, women-friendly saddles & ride positioning, ultralight aluminum
frames a more! Road & Mountain
Bikes! Great prices, too.
If you're 5'10"
or shorter, chances are you've never had a bike that really fit
well. No more!
And now, the wait is over for the ultimate
women's bike- completely-redesigned Madone, available in 3 models now starting at
$1899.99 ($200 less than from 2010!). Many other great women's road bikes starting at just $629.99.
Remember
your first time up Old LaHonda?
October 9th 2006 we decided to
throw something pretty tough at Kevin- Old LaHonda Road. Probably
the prettiest and least-traveled (by cars) route to the top of the
Skyline (above Woodside), a twisty, tree-covered 3.75-mile climb of
around 1100ft or so. (More)
What's missing is You!
Your
TREK Project One Madone, first on the beach in Maui, and later
that same day at 10,023' atop Haleakala. Every ride is an adventure
with a TREK Madone!
Now, two years later, I still have great
memories of that ride.
Road
Bike Rides! This website is known for
them, from our extremely challenging Sonora
Pass ride to the easy-going Bicycle Sundays on Canada
Road. Check here for an
overview of the many road rides on our website!
Mountain Bike & Family Rides!
We've got Arastradero Preserve and
Waterdog Lake, both offering beginning to intermediate
challenges, and Bayfront Park,
Waddell Creek and Bicycle Sundays
for great family outings!
TREK-
The largest manufacturer of high-quality Road, Mountain & Hybrid bikes in
the world…most made in the USA! TREKs are widely regarded as being the best
engineered bikes anywhere, and their designs, instead of being trendy, are timeless and
functional. As a result, they hold their value better than any other bike line we know of,
which is an obvious indication of their desirability!
Gary Fisher-
From the man many say helped invent the
mountain bike come many unique & innovative designs. Very cool stuff, truly different
from the rest.
Bontrager-
A great line of components, from
cutting-edge carbon wheels to the most-durable high-quality stems,
handlebars & cranks on the market.
Please note that
we cannot sell bikes through the "mail" or
Internet due to a combination of various aspects of our dealer agreements and the fact
that bikes really should be purchased locally to ensure proper fitting and follow-up
servicing.
What Chain Reaction is known for-
Apparel-
We offer a tremendous selection of apparel for men &
women. Pearl Izumi, Sugoi, Primalwear, Bontrager, TREK, Shebeest,
Hind, Castelli & more. Great prices, too!
Accessories-
One-stop shopping is a reality at
Chain Reaction. We have a larger selection of locks, pumps, tools, lubes, cassettes, tires
& wheels than just about anyplace else.
Service-
Our
expert staff knows what's what, and won't try and bluff their way through if they don't.
It's easy enough with an experienced staff like ours to find an answer to just about any
question!
Road bikes-[Editors note- this piece was first written in 1996, before road
bikes became "popular." A bit of a joke to us, since they always
were big at Chain Reaction!] Yes,
road bikes. While most other shops have very few, 50%+ of the bikes Chain
Reaction sells are road bikes. This puts us in very elite company, which, to us, seems
very strange. We live in an exceptional area for road bikes! No matter where you live in
the bay area, chances are high that a 20-minute bike ride will get you away from the city
and into the country. Unfortunately, one of the things that's always held back road bikes has
been a snobbish attitude among employees at those shops that do sell road bikes. This is
really unfortunate. We've gone to great lengths to make road bikes as accessible as
possible, and fit each and every one to the individual using the New England Cycling
Academy's Fit-Kit. People who never believed they could be comfortable on a road bike are
frequently amazed at how easily they can survive that first metric century!
Prices-There's no reason to go anyplace
other than Chain Reaction! We work hard to try and ensure the best pricing possible for our customers, as well as keeping
things in stock. One of the big inside jokes in the bike industry is that it's easy to
advertise a really low price on something if you never have it in stock; we won't do that.
In fact, we sell merchandise to the employees of a national chain just down
the street (but we won't name names!).
Chain Reaction sells bicycles & accessories
from Trek, Gary Fisher, BikeFriday,Shimano, Pearl Izumi, Continental, Descente,
Sidi, Giro, Blackburn, Speedplay, Oakley, Saris, NiteRider, Bontrager,
Torelli, Look, DeFeet, Rock N Roll, Hammer, Cytomax,
Powerbar, Fox, Clif
Bar, CamelBak, Chris King, Profile Design, Craft, X-Lab and many more!
This
may be one of our better-kept secrets- we have been selling USA-made Bike
Friday folding bikes for over two years!
09/17/07-
SHE FINALLY DID IT. 
Finally
bikes built just for women, with shorter top
tubes, women-friendly saddles & ride positioning, ultralight aluminum
frames a more! 
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