Griffin Cycle Shop

Griffin Cycle has always been a good shop for me. The first day I walked in there, I had just moved to Bethesda a week before. Having worked in a shop in Buffalo off and on for the past 10 years and really enjoyed my discount.......oh - as well as the camaraderie and friends I had made in the bike community; I decided that I would like to meet fellow cyclists in my new home and stopped in with my girlfriend one Sunday afternoon. I met the Sunday manager and a couple of employees and asked if they needed any more help on Sundays. It was April, a prime time for getting hired at a shop. They said, "Of Course! No one wants

to work on Sundays;" and I soon found out why. It was a mad house. Mostly families coming in with their 4 kids to buy bikes for the oldest ones and have the bikes they owned given a little Griffin love so they could be handed down. I had never worked in a shop like this before. So many people came in and said things like, "I need 3 bikes, can you have them ready by the time we come back from brunch?" I said of course and scurried them off to the back to make sure every bolt was tight and all the adjustments were proper. The owner of the sh op is Nick Griffin. He has worked there since his dad bought the shop in the very early 1970s. He's been through it all. The road bike boom. The mountain bike boom. The best thing that ever happened for casual riders though has been the birth of the hybrid. This shop does hybrids best. They have most sizes for most bikes made by Trek and Gary Fisher in stock in the 300 - 700 dollar range, and they pack them all into a shop that is 25 feet wide by 70 feet long, on display, right there for you to come in and pick out the one you want to take for a test ride. They have a women's specific section, an area with just kids bikes, and the most loyal group of high end road riding enthusiasts you will find anywhere. There are celebrities, or almost celebrities, that stop in there as well. I have sold Eunice Kennedy Shriver 3 bicycles for her grand-kids. I have done repairs to Paul Wolfowitz's bike. Linda Carter is known to frequent the shop as well. One thing I have always hated about most shops I have been to is the way the shop personnel treat the occasional customer. They have a "I'm holier then thou" attitude usually also found in music store employee/ guitar players. You will get none of this at Griffin. They are looking to help anyone who comes in enjoy riding a bicycle. They also enjoy a good brew. One night I was riding with the previous and the current shop manager, just fooling around hoping obstacles in Bethesda, riding balance beams, doing stair drops and practicing wheelies and after we went to the pizza place next door and enjoyed some BBQ Chicken pizza and some Sierra Nevada. Good Times, Good Friends. Nick, and the current manager, Bert also run a shop ride on Wednesday Nights at 7pm. They ride from Bethesda North into Potomac and then back into town. The move at a pace that keeps your interest, but don't drop you showing off their cycling prowess.....although they could if they wanted to. This shop is operated by people who know bicycles, know how to ride them, and know how to help other people enjoy their bicycle. Stop on in and say hi to Nick, Bert, and the Crew on Bethesda Ave Monday - Friday 11-7, Saturday 10-6 or Sunday 12-5. See my link on the right side of the blog to their website for more information.

words and photos by Ray Heinsman