READERS' PICK: Ordinary doesn't really sell mountain bikes, but our readers must have tapped into the vibe that they'd like to. After six humble years on the avenue, peddling low-end new and used bikes, this scrappy store has ambitions to expand to a higher-end product line. Apparently, though, there are some local bike shop owners who spent a little too much time playing Monopoly as kids, and now they don't have the courage to free-wheel in the free-market system. We hope it catches up with them. In the meantime, however, the guys at Ordinary (one of whom is a competitive mountain biker) will fix or replace anything you thrash, smash, tweak, torque, blow out or merely want to upgrade.
READERS' POLL RUNNER-UP--TIE: Ajo Bikes, 3816 S. 12th Ave.; and Catalina Bike Shop, 2310 N. Campbell Ave. Located a wee distance from our usual midtown trajectory, Ajo Bikes is a full-service recreational and family cycling center, not to mention the closest shop to an actual mountain biking area (the Tucson Mountains) anywhere in our greater metropolis. At the other end of the spectrum is midtown Catalina Bikes, inconspicuously located between the Catalina theater and the busiest intersection in the city, the dreaded Campbell/Grant interchange. Catalina has sort of a feast or famine inventory cycle, but its outdoor line is Univega. Now, Univegas aren't the sexiest brand of mountain bike on the market, but we hear their welded aluminum frames and mongrel component sets are a safe, reliable alternative for fickle kids and pragmatic adults. You can walk away with a mid-level full-suspension package for a mere $600 (for the uninitiated, this is about half what a pro-level bike will set you back).
