My friend’s mother is visiting from out-of-town. She’s from Maine. Inevitably, the question came up: Just how bike-friendly is Portland? Off the top of my head and on the spur of the moment, I named 21 bike shops. 21! That’s a lot of bike shops. It was pretty cool to think how many sweet bikes must be tooling around on the road these days, thanks to all these shops…

…but then today? Someone asked me to set a value on a bike that they were trying to sell. It was a department store special, and it was hard to break the bad news that it wasn’t worth much.

Folks, please stop and think before you go to a big box store to buy a bike. If you want a bike to ride and trash, then fine. But if you think you might like to integrate a bicycle into your lifestyle, you owe it to yourself to check out a reputable shop. You’ll find a bike within your budget that’s been built by skilled wrenches, and the whole experience will be so much more enjoyable. Then, everybody will ride, and Portland will be an even nicer city in which to bike. It will begin a beautiful circle.

Such is my request, and also an offer: don’t hesitate to hit up the comments with your bike questions. I will do my best to answer in a timely fashion. I’ve been in three shops in two years, and if I don’t know the answer, I know how to find it. Bring on your shocks, pegs, and sweet jumps.