Originally Posted by Pilotpip

Gary is a cool guy. I had a couple beers with him, Greg Herbold, and John Tomac at Interbike a few years ago. It was pretty humbling to be in the presence of the founders of the sport. I'd love to get out to Marin county and ride some of that, but our singletrack here in the midwest is pretty tough to beat and I've been out to the rockies for a number of vacations to ride.

I loved hearing stories about Repack Hill and how guys like Gary, Joe Breeze, and others took old Schwinn cruisers and just bombed down the fire road, that was crazy stuff. (It got the nickname of repack hill because you had to repack the bearings with grease after every run since the coaster brakes heated up and slung out the grease.)

You also have to take into account that when you're getting a bike from a shop you're getting the service that comes with it. Most shops will tune your bike up for free, and they're already professionally assembled. Plus there's the bennefit of supporting local small businesses.