Jeff Backes
Active Member
A few days ago I stopped by the Motostrano bicycle shop in Redwood City, CA. I played the roll of an interested bicycle aware customer, here's my review.
Their shop is a standalone brick building in an older part of Redwood City. There are a few on street parking spots out front and a small triangular lot north of the store.
First impressions mean a lot in any retail business! The first thing I noticed walking in the front door was LOTS of inventory. They carry bikes from many manufactures. I saw Bulls, Cube, iZip, Felt, KTM, Mustache, Trio and Haibikes. Haibikes seems the most prevalent.
I was greeted quickly by Joe. We struck up a conversation about what kind of bike I was interested in. He asked me about the bikes I owned and with that and some other questions he recommended a Felt with all the features I had requested. We talked about hard-tail, full suspension, frame geometry, bikes stuff, bikes and more bike stuff.
When I mentioned that my Wife would be getting one as well but needed a much smaller bike, he was very quick to recommend that we get the same "drive system". He correctly pointed out that by purchasing both bikes from different manufactures, if they have the same "drive system" I could swap parts around if needed. We talked about Bosch and their dominance in the mid drive category.
We talked about commuting and he mentioned I should take into account that on some bikes the batteries can be charged both on and off the bike that way I could leave the bike locked up outside and still take the battery with me and charge it at my desk.
He knew all about the laws in the state of California and explained very quickly what category of bike could be used where. The longer we talked the more I was sure that this sales person really knew his stuff.
I asked about my "favorite" brand, Trek, and he said "We don't carry Trek or Specialized." He suggested that there is an exclusivity requirement for those two brands.
Another customer entered the store and a second sales person was right there to help out. It's so nice to see attention to customers.
I thanked him for his attention and he handed me his business card. Joe, nice work, great store!
All in all a pretty perfect retail experience.
jeff
Their shop is a standalone brick building in an older part of Redwood City. There are a few on street parking spots out front and a small triangular lot north of the store.
First impressions mean a lot in any retail business! The first thing I noticed walking in the front door was LOTS of inventory. They carry bikes from many manufactures. I saw Bulls, Cube, iZip, Felt, KTM, Mustache, Trio and Haibikes. Haibikes seems the most prevalent.
I was greeted quickly by Joe. We struck up a conversation about what kind of bike I was interested in. He asked me about the bikes I owned and with that and some other questions he recommended a Felt with all the features I had requested. We talked about hard-tail, full suspension, frame geometry, bikes stuff, bikes and more bike stuff.
When I mentioned that my Wife would be getting one as well but needed a much smaller bike, he was very quick to recommend that we get the same "drive system". He correctly pointed out that by purchasing both bikes from different manufactures, if they have the same "drive system" I could swap parts around if needed. We talked about Bosch and their dominance in the mid drive category.
We talked about commuting and he mentioned I should take into account that on some bikes the batteries can be charged both on and off the bike that way I could leave the bike locked up outside and still take the battery with me and charge it at my desk.
He knew all about the laws in the state of California and explained very quickly what category of bike could be used where. The longer we talked the more I was sure that this sales person really knew his stuff.
I asked about my "favorite" brand, Trek, and he said "We don't carry Trek or Specialized." He suggested that there is an exclusivity requirement for those two brands.
Another customer entered the store and a second sales person was right there to help out. It's so nice to see attention to customers.
I thanked him for his attention and he handed me his business card. Joe, nice work, great store!
All in all a pretty perfect retail experience.
jeff
