Readers Pick Tam Bikes as Best Local Bike Shop

Since the owners of opened the shop on Miller Ave. in November 2009, they’ve hung their hats on being a bike shop for the whole family, from young to old and from novice to grease monkey.

While that’s helped them develop broad community support in Mill Valley – the shop took the top prize in this week’s in a loaded category that also included stalwarts and – it’s also had its share of pitfalls.

“We don’t send anybody away because their bike is too crappy,” co-owner Quoc Phan says with a laugh. “I wish we would sometimes, but we try to be helpful to everybody and every bike.”

Phan teamed with Bryce Kirk and Dan Satake to open Tam Bikes at 357 Miller. Phan had developed a following among local riders in his previous stint at Cycleworks in the same space, while Kirke had done so with his own Mount Tam Bikes, which was located downtown before a short stint at Tam Junction.

“It was just a natural thing to open a shop together and run with it,” Phan said. “We’re all just really passionate about riding and we want to get people riding themselves.”