Best Bike Shop '98

Best Bike Shop--TIE

Full Cycle
3232 E. Speedway Blvd.
Ordinary Bike Shop
741 N. Fourth Ave.

READERS' PICK: Full Cycle is just what the name implies: a full-service shop, with a full stock of mountain- and road-bike frames (of the former, Trek is the main brand sold here), parts, safety gear, clothing and more. And they have a full-on friendly sales staff out front, and fully trained shop techs in the back. It's always a pleasure to stop in Full Cycle, whether you're just starting out on two wheels, upgrading your gear, or making a quick sweep of the bulletin board for shop rides, super deals on used stuff, or other news from the cycling community.

The free air, dispensed from a long, coiled hose hanging outside the door of the Ordinary Bike Shop, is the novice's first clue that this place is anything but ordinary. The tiny storefront is jammed with bicycles both new and vintage--mountain bikes, road racers and urban cruisers--and the walls are stocked with the most essential merchandise. Unlike other, larger shops around Tucson, Ordinary Bikes doesn't overwhelm the ordinary cyclist with hundreds of seemingly identical mountain bikes; neither is it a shop so tailored to the needs of the serious enthusiast that the average cyclist feels out of place. Ordinary Bikes is a neighborhood shop with a friendly staff as ready to patch a blowout as to overhaul your Basso. And they have terrific deals on some classic vintage cycles.

READERS' POLL RUNNER-UP: Racer's Edge, 2623 N. Campbell Ave., has been a stalwart presence on busy Campbell Avenue for years. It's the place to go if you want the latest technology that Diamondback, Giant and Cannondale have to offer. They've also got a full-service shop behind every bike, and if there's anything you lack that they don't stock (unlikely), they'll order it for you.

1997 Winner: Fair Wheel Bikes
1996 Winner: Full Cycle
1995 Winner: Fair Wheel Bikes