Thursday, April 12, 2007

Shop-Boy

Vintage
As it pertains to wine, “vintage,” is used to describe a wine’s excellence and its origins (year and vineyard or district). It’s also the perfect word to describe Wine Country Bikes in Healdsburg, CA.

As most bike shops go, its hard to qualify it as such. There are no bikes for sales, merely rentals, and there’s no wrenching done (besides the occasional maintenance done on the rentals). So how does Wine Country Bikes find its way into a shop review?

Although it doesn’t have the services you’d expect from your daily shop, WCB certainly fulfills a niche for those visiting the area. The shop accommodates those who want to participate in their wine country experience, offering not only bikes and necessary equipment (like helmets), but also a variety of guided tours. It has rentals for the ambitious, Trek’s 5200 and Pilot, and for the recreational, Trek’s 7300 Hybrid and tandems (the latter might actually fall under the ambitious category for some). The shop also carries both men’s and women’s apparel, select equipment, and a line of functional cycling furniture (made from bike parts). Perhaps a more poignant moniker for this shop would be “bike station;” it gives you what you “need” (a bike, a changing area, showers, maps, and the discretion to purchase a souvenir of your trip) while leaving the “wanting” not to material things but to the experiences.

As such, it definitely passes Oude Granny’s “smell test” for a shop. As far as its owners, John and Heather Mastrianni, they are more than qualified (even more so than some who own traditional shops) to meet any of your biking needs. Their bios are directly from their website.

John spent 25 years in the bike business and held every job imaginable; from bike assembler to mechanic and service manager to shop owner. "When I wasn't selling and servicing bikes I was riding them: racing on the pro circuit, touring in Europe - I even spent a year working as a bike messenger in NYC."

Heather is the driving creative force behind Wine Country Bikes and "she's not afraid of color!" Since retiring from a professional cycling career, that included completing the Women's Tour de France three times and victories in major European and American races, her irrepressible energy has poured into her artwork and Wine Country Bikes. Step into our Touring Center and you'll be entering a 2500 sq. foot piece of art in the making.

Heather Between Her Totems

No comments:

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Shop-Boy

Vintage
As it pertains to wine, “vintage,” is used to describe a wine’s excellence and its origins (year and vineyard or district). It’s also the perfect word to describe Wine Country Bikes in Healdsburg, CA.

As most bike shops go, its hard to qualify it as such. There are no bikes for sales, merely rentals, and there’s no wrenching done (besides the occasional maintenance done on the rentals). So how does Wine Country Bikes find its way into a shop review?

Although it doesn’t have the services you’d expect from your daily shop, WCB certainly fulfills a niche for those visiting the area. The shop accommodates those who want to participate in their wine country experience, offering not only bikes and necessary equipment (like helmets), but also a variety of guided tours. It has rentals for the ambitious, Trek’s 5200 and Pilot, and for the recreational, Trek’s 7300 Hybrid and tandems (the latter might actually fall under the ambitious category for some). The shop also carries both men’s and women’s apparel, select equipment, and a line of functional cycling furniture (made from bike parts). Perhaps a more poignant moniker for this shop would be “bike station;” it gives you what you “need” (a bike, a changing area, showers, maps, and the discretion to purchase a souvenir of your trip) while leaving the “wanting” not to material things but to the experiences.

As such, it definitely passes Oude Granny’s “smell test” for a shop. As far as its owners, John and Heather Mastrianni, they are more than qualified (even more so than some who own traditional shops) to meet any of your biking needs. Their bios are directly from their website.

John spent 25 years in the bike business and held every job imaginable; from bike assembler to mechanic and service manager to shop owner. "When I wasn't selling and servicing bikes I was riding them: racing on the pro circuit, touring in Europe - I even spent a year working as a bike messenger in NYC."

Heather is the driving creative force behind Wine Country Bikes and "she's not afraid of color!" Since retiring from a professional cycling career, that included completing the Women's Tour de France three times and victories in major European and American races, her irrepressible energy has poured into her artwork and Wine Country Bikes. Step into our Touring Center and you'll be entering a 2500 sq. foot piece of art in the making.

Heather Between Her Totems

No comments: