Put a bike under the Christmas tree

The Christmas season is in full swing and Pahrump shoppers are looking for that special gift under the tree. If that gift is a bike, then see professional racer and bike tester Mark Tucsnak.

How can a professional bike racer/tester help you with that gift? Well, this person just happens to own the only bicycle store in the valley, called Bicycle Warehouse, at 3360 S. Blagg Road, which is open on weekdays from 2 p.m.-5 p.m.

Tucsnak is of the mindset that most people should get out in town and bike. He has been doing just that for the last 20 or so.

“You can use your bike in Pahrump for something,” he said. “Instead of going to the gym and lifting something up or walking on a treadmill why don’t you take your bike to the store and get some exercise and get some shopping done.”

“People would be a lot healthier if they did do this,” he added.

Tucsnak practices what he preaches.

“My daughter came to me and needed my truck and so I gave her my truck and now I go everywhere on my bike.”

That includes Las Vegas. When the highway was open to bikes he was seen going to Las Vegas every day. Of course, he does train for professional races and is a paid tester of bikes but he stresses he has no vehicle other than his bike.

For those people who want to shop in town by bike, he carries in his store packs that you can take with you to the store. He also carries a full line of racks and baskets. All the things needed so one can shop and then take home all the things you buy.

And for those who do shop on their bikes and are worried that their bikes might get taken, he carries a full line of bike locks from $5.95 on up.

He stocks OnGuard U-locks and cables, which ranks in the top eight locks you can buy for your bike. He said he sells one OnGuard U-lock that if your bike is stolen that company will give you $2,251 and that lock goes for $39.95.

“When I go to the store I use a U-lock and a chain,” he said. “I put two locks but you really don’t need it if you have nice stuff and so it’s way too much work to steal my bike.”

The store carries a full line of Raleigh bikes, which are top-of-the-line bikes and middle-of-the-road bikes.

One will see the latest bikes at Bicycle Warehouse and probably the best-made bikes in Pahrump from road bikes to cruisers.

The store carries the high-end bike but he has plenty of comfort bikes suitable for the terrain in this area.

“Now these bikes don’t come equipped with some desert off-road package,” he said. “All bikes are made for the everyday person and so if you want thorn-resistant tires you have to buy them. But my bikes that I sell are great bikes. Nowadays bike companies have to make a good bike or they go out of business.”

His best-selling mountain bike competes with Las Vegas prices he said. The Raleigh Talus Mountain Bike sells in Las Vegas for $599 and they sell it. This bike has the latest components on it. It has disc brakes, double-walled rims, hydroformed aluminum tubes and the shocks are Suntour shocks.

“For this price range this is awesome,” Tucsnak said. “They used water at high pressure to shape the tubes, which is just amazing.”

In Pahrump, their best selling bike is the comfort bike.

“The new ‘Gala’ Raleigh is a good, solid bike,” Tucsnak said. “We sell one that is $299, and in Las Vegas it’s $399.”

These comfort bikes he said are for getting around town and they don’t fall apart and some already come with a rack for shopping.

He said these bikes are constructed from hydroformed aluminum and some have a post shock, which is good for the bumps in the road. These bikes are cousins to the beach cruiser. Call them desert cruisers for lack of water.

Tucsnak stressed the comfort bikes “are nicer than the beach cruisers.” These bikes are built for comfort some have seven gears or they come with 21 gears and they have nice comfortable saddles. The bikes can be ridden off-road and on the pavement. Comfort bikes are also great for commuting he said.

Tucnak said if you need a bike and he does not have it in stock, he can order it and it will take a day to get to his store.

His store also carries all the bike accessories from pedals to tires.

For more information call 775- 751-1710.

-Contact sports editor Vern Hee at vhee@pvitmes.com