Mark was so helpful and knowledgeable regarding grandson's bikes. Great work putting on training wheels and putting together the balance bike. Highly recommend them. read more

They have been working on my bike for years. I've never been disappointed. they are by San Antonio College now just so you know.

50+ years ago (early 1970's), I bought my French Gitane bike here. I happened to come across the shop's name today & looked them up. I am very happy to find them still in business! Brought back happy memories, and I still remember the awesome customer service they provided me. (I know I'm a little late leaving a review, but there was no internet, no computers or cell phones, and no Yelp back then, only word-of-mouth recommendations LOL! I'm glad to see they survived the challenges in the past few years of street construction and closures in downtown SA. I remember seeing an article related to those challenges and the owner's struggles to remain open back then. The Charles A James Bicycle shop is a part of San Antonio history! I hope they are around for many more years! read more

Two heavy electric bikes with big tires. Both with flats.. brought it in and a few hours later all done. He did such a great job and very professional. This guy deserves all your business:) read more

I love this place! I came in late on a Saturday to have my brakes fixed and the freewheel changed out and he immediately said "yes." Getting my old freewheel off was hard, but he did it, and the bike rides great! The brakes stop perfect too. He was really nice. I will definitely go back in the future. read more

This shop has some great character, one of the oldest small bike shops in the area. Unfortunately, they let me down this week. I took in my bike for a tune-up on a Wednesday. I was told it would be ready on Friday. When I arrived Saturday morning, my bike had not been touched. Very frustrating. With the chaos of my military job, I haven't had a real day off in months. That morning I was supposed to be riding with my boyfriend before the day got hot. We had to wait for the shop employee to find my bike, then do all the work. Upon return later that day, I was still charged full price, and no apology for the delay. It ruined plans and left a lot to be desired in the experience. This shop left a very sour taste. Would not recommend and will not be going back. And FYSA: Military discount on parts, but not labor/service. read more

Bad customer service walked in the bike shop not even a hi. Just needed to get quick flat repair got turned down told me had to leave it for a day for a quick patch up. Shitty service. read more

Wow! The employees are extremely kind, patient, and humble. Definitely a different, more pleasant vibe than other bike shops around SA. Had to get a new tube and tire for my bike's wheel and they walked me through their method of putting everything on the rim and answered all my questions. Prices are fair and quality is great. Definitely making this my go-to bike shop from now on. read more

Took 3 bicycles here for varying degrees of service needs, from new assembly to old bike maintenance. Each time service staff were a varying degree of rude/ not helpful. For routine maintenance on bike 2 they were 2 days late and didn't even oil the chain until asked. Prices were not as quoted, and requested and accepted services were not completed. Sad foe the oldest shop in town, but can't recommend. read more

A gaggle of us were riding on a trail this past Saturday morning near Our Lady of the Lake. The trail near that point was rough with cracks, pieces of glass and such. Well, our recumbent rider suffered a flat. Ugh! His tube had three pin holes in it and his rim was bent from a hard jarring he had encountered on the uneven trail. One of us who actually had a tube repair kit kindly patched the tube and after awhile we were again on our way. Long story short, within a miles distance, the tube began to lose air while on Guadalupe street headed for downtown. We sent our main contingent of riders going on towards breakfast while my buddy and I pedaled towards the only bicycle shop we know of downtown. Eventually, all the air in the front tire was gone and my friend had to walk to prevent damage to the tire and rim. My recumbent rider friend walked the remaining distance to Charles A James shop while my offer of pedaling while steering his bicycle alongside mine was accepted. Once I reached the shop, it only took a few minutes before the rim of my friend's front wheel was straight and true thanks to the mechanic at the oldest bicycle shop in town. He slapped another tube on it and it was waiting for my pedestrian friend when he arrived after traversing the distance from Guadalupe street to North Main. They are friendly, good bicycle mechanics and are willing to work on older bicycles. Their prices are fair and the fellow who did the repairs also fixed my bicycle pump which I somehow messed up by rearranging the parts inside of the pump some time ago. It turns out that my portable hand pump is equipped to work on both presta and schrader valves without any adjustment of the pump internal workings. So, what did I learn? Charles A James does a fine job on repairing bicycles and can help challenged tinkerers with their failed projects! Who comes here? Downtowners, bicycle enthusiasts, high end and low end bicycle owners. They've been around for a long time because they do good work and are friendly. Give them a try! read more

Prompt. Responsive. Affordable. Good quality service. They took care of my vintage 'department store bike' as they would any other, newer, far more expensive model. I like the old-school, downtown-of-yore vibe of the place, which is an added bonus. It's one of the few remaining businesses on this block of Main Ave. With all the surrounding development, I fear its days there may be numbered. I hope I'm wrong. read more

Three visits to this downtown bike shop, THREE negative experiences (with staff). Three strikes and you're out as they say. The cute diorama of a miniature bike shop in the window is worth a stop for but I'll never walk in this bike shop's door again. read more

Great employee!!! First I went to 2 other bicycle repair shops before I came here. Please see my other reviews of other shops. They being Charles closed at 5 on Saturday but the eployee waited for me. He diagnosed the problem within 2 minutes of being inside the shop and said he'll fix it at a reasonable rate. I've been to the shop before when the father owned it and all I can say is he is the best there was the best there is the best there will ever be. The only shop you need to go to. Enough said. read more

My bike chain fell off and I couldn't put it back on. I stopped in without an appointment. The bike mechanic fixed it in an instant. Thank you! read more

I began shopping here in 1983, bought my first Mongoose Mountain bike for $500. It rode smooth like a Mercedes. I have shopped here ever since. I have had repairs done here also. They are kind, fair in prices, and offer excellent quality in goods, service and craftsmanship in repairs. They recently moved two doors south of the original corner location, but still easy to find, easy to park and a comfortable indoor area. Look for modern bike products here as well as the antiques from the original store, i.e. the cash register. The staff may be busy, but they're very happy people and therefore always offer friendly and helpful service. (Sometimes, large highly commercialized bike shops can be intimidating with too large of a selection, prejudiced service toward novice riders, and expensive service repair prices, thus making these large biking shops undesirable experiences). I purchased a bike at a pawn shop and asked Charles Bike shop about it, and he informed me that I had found a very nice Italian racer. I felt that their honesty and genuineness to be a strong comfort and welcome to a shop with warm character and high integrity. read more

These guys fixed my flat tire and gave my bike a quick tune-up in less than 15 minutes! I was back on my bike in no time :-)

Let's talk about the tune-ups done at this shop. You guys fixed absolutely nothing on my bike, made it worse than what it was and charged me $100 where these same services are done for $24.99. If in-fact you do a tune-up you would have caught your own mistakes and noticed Matt, put an 8 speed chain on a 9 speed. Which was causing horrible shifts on the cassette and one-time caused the chain to pop off on the front derailleur. Took back in because you guys provide an excellent 30 day warranty. Still did notice the chain was an 8 speed and there is nothing wrong with my shifters as suggested by the expert mechanics who work there. Finally, I had enough! Took my bike to a reputable bike shop in San Antonio, they noticed right away the chain in-fact was not the right chain, the hanger was bent (probably done in your attempt to correct the issue), and my there is nothing wrong with my shifters. Since then I have made several purchases at your competitor where they don't give you back your bike NOT fixed and don't excessively charge an outrageous amount of money for work never completed. Thanks for showing me a pleasant experience with excellent customer satisfaction! read more

Got a flat down town and the guys at this bike shop were helpful and quick to get me back on the road!

This is the place to go if you want it fixed right the first time. They've been in business over 90 years! The old vintage bikes they've restored are just beautiful. I understand they will also assemble and adjust bikes you buy at discount stores or online at a very reasonable rate. Yes. I am a happy customer! read more

ive been a customer of charles james since back in the the early 70s ...particularly of henry.........i used to go to tech high school on main ave and would walk that stretch everyday past the bike shop... and i bought a black peugeot road bike from henryl....that was 40years ago! henry was the friendliest kinda guy he gave me a extra set of reflectors that i wanted but i was short a dollar or two! anyway the main st store i have many memories of and him.sometimes i would come in to visit him after school and just check out the bikes and he was always ok with that.....and he would offer me a coke! thats customer service that i havent seen in any other bike shop! read more

Interesting this bike shop has only 5 star reviews posted. It was this fact that caused me to try them out for the 1st time. I have never been treated so disrespectfully by any business! They misplaced my kickstand and then accused me of not having one on it when I brought it in. Instead of acknowledging the oversight and replacing it immediately, I was told to leave the shop and take it up with the owner at some later date. The problem may be that repaired bikes are left out on the sidewalk, chained to a rack, rather than kept in the shop. Anyone can come by and remove items...I don't know. Additionally, it had two flat tires when I brought it in, and still had a flat tire when I came in to pick it up (after calling to ask if it was ready). They said this happens all the time? It had to be repaired while I waited, for additional cost, of course. I refused to take my bike back home until the missing kickstand and now wheel imbalance issues were resolved. Hank, the owner, did respond, after I wrote an email, and found a replacement kickstand at no charge, but only after I had to produce the home security video picture of me loading the bike to go to the shop showing the kickstand was on it. This experience was way too stressful and took three trips to the shop for a simple bike tune-up...and I still have a wheel out of balance that was ok when I brought it in. I'm still looking for a reliable shop to keep my bikes safe and in working order. read more