Breakaway Bikes

I chose to sign up for their RPM classes in the winter of '08, and holy freaking cow did I improve! The coaches there, particular Rich and Joe, were simply outstanding, very knowledgeable, and I really felt like they weren't talking down to me. Some shops, particularly one out in Manayunk, has a similar sort of settup, but there it's all about stroking your ego. At Breakaway, they don't make pretensions. They treat you like an adult, but at the same time, you don't get lost in all the technical jargon--'watts this' and 'kilojoule-grams' that. And the mechanics Jonas and Shawn were always more than willing to help whenever I had a problem after class. They'd stay late, tighten my headset or adjust my shifting. They literally would drop what they were doing to change a flat that'd I'd gotten on the trainer. And they only charged for the tube. They were up to date on all the recent tech that I'd read about in cyclingnews when I'm supposed to be doing my day job. Shawn has to be about the friendliest guy I've ever met. And most of the time they did the small jobs pro bono, and always right away. They never once made me feel stupid, even though when it comes to mechanical workings of the bike, I certainly am that! Breakaway is just an absolutely fantastic shop. I've seen some crazy high end triathletes in there, and the shop is just as friendly to them as they are to the unkempt hipster on a rusted track bike from the 70s. There is *NO* pretension or favoritism or any of that. Yes, flat fixes are 15 bucks, but really that's only 10 dollars for service. I suspect rent is high there, and after all they (hopefully) pay their team a decent living wage during a freaking recession. I can't emphasize this enough. Breakaway Bikes is the NUMBER ONE shop in all of Philadelphia, period full stop.

Bicycle store located in Philadelphia, PA with great selection and service