How To Buy Your Bike: The Process
1. Do Some Research
The first thing that you need to do is decide what kind of riding that you want to do. That will dictate your choice of bike (Road, Mountain, Hybrid, Comfort). Selecting by brand is not usually the best way to go and by doing so you’re admitting that style matters more to you than performance. Most bike shop brands make top quality products but what sets them apart is how they fit you and what technologies and features that each offers to better your riding experience. Most great bike brands have great websites too. Countless hours of drooling awaits you once you start looking around. Here’s the sites of the brands that we carry: SPECIALIZED, CANNONDALE, BMC, and IBIS
2. Meet Our Team
Drop by the store and meet the Spark Team. You’ll find us to be friendly and very helpful. No one works on commission so you can trust that their ultimate goal is to sell you the bike that works best for you, along with anything else that you may need like helmets, apparel, and accessories. Some members of the team are relatively new, but all participate in cycling, running, mountain biking, and/or triathlon. If you’re seeking to make a high-end purchase and wish to work with the guys who are there the majority of the time you should seek out Mike or Randall. It’s important to remember though that while some are more knowledgeable than others; every member of the Spark Team knows that Customer Service is our #1 Priority.
You can check out the Spark Team HERE
3. Establish Your Budget
Price will be a factor so you will need to establish a budget and look at bikes within your price range. For instance; if your budget is $1000 you should not be looking at full-suspension mountain bikes. Any that you find in that range will be extremely heavy and have low end components. However, for $1000 you can get a sweet hard tail with a nice component group!
We have bikes for every budget so don’t be turned off by the high-end bikes you see as you walk in. We have entry level mountain, road, hybrid, and comfort bikes as well. Plus we usually have some CLOSEOUT models leftover from last season!
Can you haggle over the price? Sorry but no. The only way that we can treat every customer fairly is to treat everyone the same. The price on the tag is the price that you pay. The good news is that our prices are always at the lowest allowed price that is authorized by the manufacturer.
4. Check Out Our Selection
To truly see everything that we have to offer you’ll need to stop by and see for yourself. We have over 100 bikes in stock at any given time and also have access to every model that our brands have ready to ship to our store at a moment’s notice. More important than the quantity is the quality. Spark only stocks top brands that deliver quality and value, there’s no junk here that will fall apart on you.
Once you’re in the shop we’ll show you around and help you find the right bike for you. You can test ride them outside in the parking lot and get a feel for as many models as you like. Even better; if you’re looking for something high-end and want to really ride it before you buy one; we have TEST BIKES for you to demo!
5. Review Our Programs
We offer an incredible amount of incentives to buy your bike from us. We appreciate your business in this tough economy so we created our CUSTOMER FIRST PROGRAMS. These programs offer incentives that you don’t get from our competitors, the biggest of which is our Free Service 4 Life Program. We’ll tune your bike up whenever it’s needed for FREE for LIFE. We also offer package deals on the accessories that you’ll need to help get you out there and ready to ride.
6. Pick Out Your Bike
Once you’ve decided that we’re the shop for you then all that’s left is picking out the perfect bike. You can trust our team to put you on the right size and get you set up properly. We’ll answer all of your questions and make sure that it has the correct seat height and that you understand anything that you’d like to know about it from proper shifting technique to how to take the front wheel off. When you leave our store you will be confident that you’ve made the right choice; both in the bike you’ve chosen and in the shop that you’ve chosen to purchase it from.
You can also help us to better prepare for your visit by filling out THIS
7. Get Out And Ride
Nothing is worse to us than new bike that ends up in the shed or the garage. You need to get out there and ride it. If you don’t have anyone to ride with you can check out our GROUP RIDE SCHEDULE. We have organized Road and Mountain Bike rides with multiple ability groups. No excuses, just ride.
