We'll Miss You Power Bikes 03/08/2010
 Any of you guys remember this picture? I got this from the cashier’s table in Power Bikes my Local Bike Shop (LBS) here in Makati City. I was one of the lucky ones to actually have been in the shot- I’m the one in yellow a little out of breath from climbing (and pushing) my way through Cardiac Trail and its dreaded three rocky inclines. Power Bikes first opened in Rockwell mall back in 2003 (or was it 02?). located by the escalator of the 2nd floor of the lifestyle section. They didn’t have a an actual store space yet so all their stuff was cordoned off in a section with its back to the escalators guard rail. Power Bikes had the latest and trickest bicycle parts you could ever want. My friends and I would hang out there, well just for the sake of hanging. Listening to the shop talk and shooting the breeze. It kind of funny that we had to keep quiet during the weekend Sunday Mass which was coincidentally right beside them. Their next door neighbor sold antiques, so there were a lot of eyebrows raised when Boyet and Ado the shop wrenches, would do a bunny hop or two near the pricey furniture for sale. Ate Ces and Anne would be by the counter always there to greet you by name. Assistant wrench Jake would also join the crew later on. Part owner and manager Ed was the best, down to earth and charismatic manager you could ask for. Hanging out with him was fun. Finally a shop owner who actually biked! I bought my first long travel fork (4 whopping inches woohoo!) from them with my first paycheck. My first fully suspended mountain bike- a Da Bomb Cherrybomb was purchased after much planning and saving and the sage advice of Ed. When they finally opened their actual shop in Rockwell drive, it was a dream come true. It became a sort of informal clubhouse for me and fellow bike nuts. Lots of tall tales and ride anecdotes were said on while seated on their couch. The airconditioning and the TV playing the latest MTB video was an added bonus. When I moved to my new job and still had no friends at work, I would just take my sandwich and have my lunch on that couch. Funny enough it wasn’t just me. People just came to spend some time with like minded individuals, poke around the stuff for sale and eyeball the bikes for repair. The lunch crowd was kind of interesting since it was hard to recognize the people you rode with the weekend before because they weren’t wearing their helmets and holding their bikes. Its only when they would wheel their bike in you would remember who it was. If you didnt know them you just called them pare and struck up a conversation anyway. We spent so much time there that we doubled as salespersons when things got busy, showing the newbies the proper seat height and what to look for in buying a new mountain bike. We would be thrilled when the wrenches Boyet and Ado weren’t in. this means we could borrow their work aprons and pretended we knew what were doing. Oh and the shop rides… back then downhill was where it was at. Weekends were spent in Tagaytay with the likes of high flying part owner John Marcelo on his v10, the always fun to be with Downhill Hogs, the husband and wife team of Andre and Ina, Joey Jimenes and his daughters- still in their single digit years, chain smoking Monica, Tricia who would declare out loud that she had just “boinked”, Big Kiko Ayuyao with multiple hydration bladders, Ronnie Rodrigo, Downhill Lolo Tony Tangga (Rest in peace buddy) the list goes on. The adventures were always awesome, crashing and screaming our way to Talisay via trails such as ridge 3 praying that you dont eat it in the rock garden section, and Pappys trail which had its hike-a-bike sections- the only time my trusty Specialized Hard Rock outshined the other bikes was when i had to carry it hahahhaa! Once, we even rode as part of a segment on the sports show GamePlan. After the celebratory fishballs and kwek-kwek (deep fried quail eggs) at the barrio at the end of the trail, we would stuff ourselves and our equipment in the back of a jeepney for the bumpy dusty ride back up. If you were smart you would keep your shin armor on so John’s shin burger pedals didn’t take a bite out of your legs. You would then get out in the parking lot at the trail head and promptly get cramps from not being able to stretch. Those were the days. I'm not going to get into what went wrong and how sad it is to lose such an pioneering institution in the Philippines. I'd rather say THANK YOU Power Bikes for the parts, the bikes, friendship, and the memories. You guys were always the template for what a good LBS (Local Bike Shop) is supposed to be. THANK YOU Ed THANK YOU John THANK YOU Ate Ces THANK YOU Anne THANK YOU Boyet THANK YOU Ado THANK YOU Jake Its been a blast. Godspeed on wherever your trails will take you. CommentsEfren Wed, 31 Mar 2010 3:01:16 am Yeah, end of an era :( Really miss the place, PB is usually the first shop I drop by on my usual Bisita De BikeShop runs :) I'll rally miss the people and the place... Thu, 01 Apr 2010 10:09:04 am Sad to hear that the shop is close. kuchi Wed, 12 May 2010 4:37:38 am i was in a taxi when i passed by PB. nagulat ako sa nakita ko, excited pa naman ako only to find out sarado na. been here maybe 4-5 times. i just bought spacers and a salsa bottle, pero what can i say, these guys will treat you like you can buy everything there. naka shorts or tsinelas ka man or mukha kang milyonaryo, it doesnt matter to them. sobrang accomodating ng mga staff ng PB. sup Wed, 12 May 2010 6:28:27 pm the shop that knew how to handle ss bikes. this is the shop where my bike was first built. boyet even used outboard bb plastic spacers for my spacers. those spacers were still in use until i got aluminum spacers. i never had problems with chainline, ever. Fri, 14 May 2010 4:04:42 pm It's sad to learn PB has closed shop. coby Mon, 17 May 2010 11:43:59 am Yeah. I miss powerbikes. It was an almost daily ritual from me after work on the way home, just to hang out and chill. This was where I had all my bikes washed and serviced. Marrielle Tue, 15 Jun 2010 8:40:58 pm Hi. I'm Marrielle from GMA7. We have a new fitness show at QTV called X-life! We will be feauring Power Bikes this July. Can you give me the contacts of your friends who ride power bikes.We will be featuring them in our show. It'll be much appreciated. Leave a Reply | AuthorJay dreams of being skinny but will always be that Clyde at heart. He has been mountainbiking since ummm.. well, lets just say his bike had a Girvin Flexstem and a neon pink Uni disc wheel. ArchivesJuly 2010 CategoriesAll |
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