Bicycle Shop

This is the bicycle shop next to the pub. They were really cool inside. The sales guy helping me showed me some Trek and Specialized. Apparently there is a new tax incentive in Ireland and depending on your tax bracket, the government will reimburse up to 51% of a new bicycle purchase. Hot damn! I love this country.

Actually I went in to see if they could get this cool German bicycle from a company called Bergamont but they had never heard of it. They did sell bikes made in Spain, (Orbea.) They looked pretty cool. Loads of colors and big fat aluminum tubes that weighted slightly less than spider silk. The prices were shockingly reasonable too. When I asked the price of the most expensive bike—the one at the end of the row of this long row of fancy bikes—the salesman was actually embarrassed to admit the bike cost 469 euro. I'm afraid at that point I raised my eyebrows. He thought I was shocked to hear it cost so much. Actually I was shocked that it cost so little! I'm used to walking into places like Winning Wheels in Pacific Grove and seeing price tags in the 2000's on Colnago frames alone. Or for that matter, waltzing into Rivendell in Walnut Creek where bikes start in the 3000's and have names like Bombadil and Legolas and thinking, “That's pretty reasonable.”

Those Spanish bikes at J. Stagg are looking pretty good right now. Did I mention how much I love this country?

[By the way, thanks to the sales staff at J. Stagg for being so cool. There is something universal about a good bike shop.]