Pedestrianization and its response
Metro says the pedestrianization of Mont-Royal is dividing the opinions of residents, some finding the bus detours inconvenient.
QMI emphasizes how some Wellington Street merchants dislike the pedestrianization of their street.
JaneyB 12:43 on 2020-06-24 Permalink
Wellington has far more people milling about now that it has been shut to cars. Yesterday, huge terraces opened so it’s really nice now.
Any merchant opposition to the pedestrianization is not thinking clearly: there is parking on all the perpendicular streets west of De l’Église, which is more than half of that strip. There are big ‘parking help’ signs too. If someone parks at the side street corner, there is no difference from parking at the corner on Wellington. Basically those merchants want parking directly in front of their business but…only one or two customers can ever do that, at best. For deliveries, two-thirds of businesses have back lanes. The excellent cycle shop mentioned, Atelier Wellington, is 50ft from a major artery (de l’Église) and a metro station and has a lane so not sure where the impediment is.
Mr.Chinaski 13:55 on 2020-06-24 Permalink
It’s also a block from the big concrete mult-story Ethel parking. You would be better going to Cycle Campus anyways instead of *his* gentrified store selling multi-thousand-dollar-bikes
Ian 22:05 on 2020-06-24 Permalink
After having had the same bike for a long, long time and find it increasingly falling apart, I am in the market for a new one. The big bike store I used to go to on Parc closed down some time ago, and while I like Kijiji in principle, I am worried about buying a stolen bike. I don’t have the budget for a lycra warrior bike but I don’t especially want to get a cheapo clunker from Canadian Tire. Can anyone here suggest a decent bike store with okay bikes under 500 bucks somewhere around the Mile- End area?
Kate 22:24 on 2020-06-24 Permalink
Ian, the last time I bought a new bike, a friend drove me to Cycle Paul in Pointe Claire village. They had a range of prices and seemed pretty together. But that means if you needed to get anything fixed while it’s on warranty, you’d have to schlep it back out there.
I can’t quite believe ABC is gone, but the one time I shopped there the salesguy was kind of rude to me, so I wasn’t keen on giving them my business.
Ian 22:28 on 2020-06-24 Permalink
I bought my last new bike at ABC and my last used bike at the used store on Bernard – both are now gone. ABC was full of the classic incredibly pretentious bike bro stereotype, I’m not surprised they were rude to you. They did have great prices, though.
I work in Ste Anne (when in-person teaching is a thing anyhow) so Pointe Claire isn’t that much of a schlep, I’ll check them out – thanks for the tp.
Kate 23:21 on 2020-06-24 Permalink
You might also have a look at what Dumoulin (Jean-Talon near the market) have got. I just had a look to see the top 5 bike shops on CultMTL’s best-of list, which are: 514 BMX, C&L Cycles, Bikurious, Recycle Cycle and Bicycles McW (which used to be McWhinnies).
Dhomas 04:54 on 2020-06-25 Permalink
I needed to buy a bike last year and looked at local bike shops because I really wanted to support them. But their prices were really high, much higher than my budget. I ended up hanging onto my own falling-apart bike until closer to the end of the season. The bike I settled on was a Louis Garneau that retailed for about 700$, but that was being liquidated at 380$ at Sports Expert. It was a previous year’s model and an unadvertised, in-store only price. If you don’t have a specific model in mind and can wait for clearance pricing toward the end of the season, this worked out pretty well for me. The only downside is that you’re “wasting” a couple of months of warranty as your bike will mostly only get used the next season (thankfully, LG bikes come with a lifetime warranty). Not sure if you can wait that long, though.
Ian 08:03 on 2020-06-25 Permalink
Actually this is what crossed my mind, to be honest. I would like a new (or decent used) bike for this year but I do know clearance sales mean good deals. I was kind of thinking about driving out to the Sport Chek in Cornwall as their prices seem much better than anything I’ve seen in Montreal, mostly because of sales – but their inventory like most bike stores is super low right now, too.
I will check around in Montreal first, though – thanks for the tips, everyone.
dwgs 09:02 on 2020-06-25 Permalink
Dhomas gives good advice. I live around the corner from McWhinnies and I literally go out of my way to shop elsewhere. My bike mechanic, who strikes me as a pretty ethical guy, recommends ReCycle.
Joey 09:42 on 2020-06-25 Permalink
@Ian my friend got a nice bike recently from at Tout Terrain in Outremont – maybe a little more than $500, but he was very pleased. Inventory is likely very low so deals will be hard to find. Velo Montreal on Rachel near the Big O had some promos in mid-April – check them out. In the hood there’s also Samir at Mon Velo on Parc facing Cocoa Local. He might have something secondhand and is a nice guy. Maybe you can trade yours in for some credit…
Mark 09:48 on 2020-06-25 Permalink
Since we’re on the topic, if anyone is in the Sud-Ouest, go to Bicycles Eddy. Helpful, friendly, knowledgeable, good prices, great service, and they’ve been around forever.
Marky 12:34 on 2020-06-25 Permalink
“I live around the corner from McWhinnies and I literally go out of my way to shop elsewhere.” – this opinion is valid. I’ve had nothing but terrible experiences with this business, avoid them at all cost.
+1 for Bicycles Eddy, Cycle Paul and Cycle Neron in Lachine (also in Montreal on Courcelles). I’ve purchased bikes & parts from all three and have had nothing but outstanding service and support.
Ian 16:17 on 2020-06-25 Permalink
I went to a few places in town but stock was super low… fortunately Vélo Urbain on Papineau had a decent hybrid in my size and price range. I went to écovélo and the told me they would be out of stock for three more weeks! Thanks again for all the suggestions.