Comments (2) Best Place to Get a Used Bike - 2010

Federal Bike Depot

Watch out for bicycle salesmen who wear ties. Or, really, anything besides a pair of beat-up jeans. Those clean-cut dudes will assume you can afford to peddle something that costs more than open-heart surgery. And they are as much fun to haggle with as a pot of boiled cabbage. To escape that snooty, yuppied-out bike scene, check out Federal Bike Depot, a nondescript white building with a seafoam-green overhang on a quiet North Beach street. These are bikes for the people, with secondhand rides that cost $100 to $250. The shop has a fine selection of mountain bikes and beach cruisers by brands such as Trek, Schwinn, and Diamondback. Every once in a while, you'll find a sweet deal on a vintage Raleigh. Nothing fancy — just decent bikes at fair prices. It's the jeans and T-shirts of the bike world.