Cycling Claremont: Jax...

The business occupying the pretty cool looking older building pictured is Jax Bicycle Center, the one full-service bike shop located within the Claremont city limits. They have a prime location in the Village, and directly across the street from the Claremont Depot. Those of you from the local area know this as the location of Bud's Bike Shop, until the business was sold to Jax in 2006. The name Jax has long been familiar to me due to their involvement in the SoCal racing scene during the 1990s, but until they took over ownership here, I had never had experience with any of their shops (there are eight Jax Centers throughout the Southland). Because I race with a club from a rival shop I do not frequent Jax as often as I otherwise might; but don't let that stop you. My past experience with the shop and the employees has always been amenable - they have been friendly, quick and, most importantly, helpful. Even when I have been in full team kit, either stopping into the shop (which has always seemed a bit awkward), or seeing one of their employees on the street, they have been willing to give me a moment of their time.

One way or the other, people tend to have some strong opinions about Jax, and I am not going to get into that here. If you visit you can form your own opinion. Jax is an exclusive dealer of Trek bicycles, and that would be my one knock against them; I do like a shop that has a wide selection to choose from, to test and compare. That said, Trek is a respectable manufacturer, and if a new Trek is what you are interested in, then this would be the place to go. Of course it is not all about the new bikes, you can also find components and parts, clothing and accessories. They have also expanded beyond the Trek line, offering Gary Fisher road, mountain and hybrid bikes, as well as Electra and Nirve cruisers, and MirraCo BMX bikes.

A note of interest: When the shop was reconstituted, and Jax held their grand reopening, they threw a great party with food, a raffle, grab bags, and then topped it off with a question and answer session and autograph signing with George Hincapie, who, of course, was riding for a Trek sponsored team at the time. The store came in with a bang and seems to be aging respectably.