East Side Pedal Pushers is a small new/used bike, accesories and service shop located at East Fifth and Onion in Austin's East Side. Hence the name.
Before I ever moved to Austin I started to get interested in multi-sport. Duathlon is running and cycling in a single race. Triathlon adds swimming. However with the many hills, trails and dirt roads of PA I couldn't commit to a road bike. No matter the clear advantange of 700 tyres and light frames, I bought a 26 inch wheel 21 speed Diamonback mountainbike. With their easy geometry I figured it would make a decent commuter as well.
I road many miles on and off road. Many, I thought, until I moved to Austin. Even riding on-road only (occasional trail ride, but Lady Bird Lake isn't exactly MOAB) I put a ton of miles on that bike when I got to Austin. For my overall mileage before the little guy came apart, I estimate at least 1000 in PA, 500 in Austin pre-bike computer, and once I finally got the bike computer, 1300 confirmed for a total in the 3k range. Not bad for a 1.5 year-old bike. With all the pavement-miles my wheels held up well, the frame and suspension are fine, but constant shifting in traffic took its toll.
I replaced the rear dérailleur myself for 30 dollars only to have the shifter go a few weeks later. I took the bike to Bicycle Sports Shop (south) and as kindly as possible they told me that the bike wasn't worth fixing. So I took it to East Side Pedal Pushers.
I explained to the staff that I didn't feel the front derailleur had much left in it, the shifters were both junked, etc etc, can you make it a one speed?
Totally! Without trying to just sell me a new bike or talk down on mine, they showed me what they needed to do. I had two spokes broken on my last wheel and it wasn't true anymore (out of round). They also needed to set up a new drive-train for me.
The repair order broke down as:
New rear wheel, heavier duty because I like to jump curbs.
Rear Tire & tube
Freewheel and cog.
New Chain (old one was much more than 100% used)
some other odds and ends
and labor.
For a bike I paid 300 dollars and rode the wheels off of I was reluctanct to spend money on keeping it running, but I figured it's 600 dollars for a bike that would hold up better, 300 for a another one to last 2800 miles (unless they have found a way to make the cheapy components even cheaper), or get this job done and pay my bill, $160 for parts and labor.
When they first released the bike to me it was having a 'skip' in the chain every few rotations under heavy torque (when starting). I was afraid that climbing hills it would have issues. They test rode it again and agree to take it back. The next day all the kinks were gone and my project was done.
I reserved judgement on whether or not the price was worth it until I'd put the bike through it's paces.
After commuting to and from work a few trips on the 3 lane section of East Riverside near Ben White I noticed with the gear ration they gave me that I spin out at about 22 MPH but can sustain 24 MPH for several minutes without a head or side wind. Now that the bike is lighter holding a top speed is cake! With all the gears, shifters, 7 speed cassett, cables etc, I could get to 24 and hold it under a lot of pressure, arriving at Congress and riverside breathless and sweaty. My simpler bike leave me much fresher.
Then, South Congress. Climbing hills with less weight is nice, but without the gears it gets pretty dicey. The ratio they give me was a guess that they eyeballed without weighing me, weighing the bike, putting me on a power meter, testing my v02 max etc... Their guesstimation turned out perfect. 22-24 MPH on straights and hill climbing at 13 MPH. It's not easy to climb without gears, but I'm still passing all of the people who have them.
I've also taken the bike for spins around Lady Bird and my only complaint is getting stuck behind runners on a hill and having to dismount since low speeds can't be held like when I had 7 rear gears to play with. It's a trade off, I get to work on my cyclocross run.
In the end I think to myself, for $300 over 2800 miles I got my money's worth for a cheap bike and for $160 with the technical expertise of East Side Pedal Pusher I'll probably take the bike many more miles than I did before. Less weight equals less brake and tire wear further decreasing the price of ownership.
The price per mile for that bike probably came out to 20 cents consider I spent at least the bikes original asking price in new tires, lights, accesories. Considering most of the accesories get used on my other bikes (helmet, lights, locks, cables) it may be more like 15 cents per mile. Consider a Toyota Yaris is coming in at $0.39 per mile. If you have a Chevy Silverado, gas alone puts the price per mile over my bike before you pay insurance or buy giant tires.
Based on the way East Side salvaged my old cheap bike without talking down on it or trying to persuade me to think 'new bike', I believe they tend to get these economic concepts better than some of the other Austin bike shops that are just out for a buck. More than that, they just plain 'get' bikes.
When trying to justify to whether I found this little custom job to be worth the money I ask myself, for $160 on a brand new bike with the same abilities as mine, is it worth it? Hands down. And at that price the market actually doesn't have anything to offer anyway.
Bottom line, East Side are genuine, they're legit, I'm satisfied with my new/old bike, they took the time and attention to make sure of it. For service work, I wont hesitate to use East Side again.
