So, this review (so far) is based on my interactions with the Dutch Bike folks from afar. I first heard about them a while ago, in their activities importing awesome dutch bikes to the area. I then got a Groupon for a bike tune-up from them last week, and have been talking to them about solutions for outdoor bike storage (so we don't have to schlep our bikes up our stairs to our condo). Anyway, thus far, they rate highly due to their offering of Groupons, their quick and friendly email replies, their general awesomeness in importing and selling fun bikes, and overall promotion of a bike friendly city. I'll update this post once I actually visit the store (perhaps tomorrow?). Oh, and their hours (not so easily findable on a mobile browser): Monday - Friday : 9 am - 6 pm Saturday : 12 noon - 4 pm Sunday : closed read more

DBC City Bike Design - Photo by http://bit.ly/4EP5Zc Wendy Maeda, Boston Globe - Bikes Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

After spending the summer in Copenhagen and Amsterdam, I fell in love with the ubiquitous Gazelle and Batavus bikes that gracefully maneuvered the streets. After trying to actually ride one however, I soon realized that with my short little legs, and mediocre biking skills, I was never going to feel comfortable pedaling a tall Dutch Bike up the hills in my home of San Francisco. Coincidentally, my first stop back in the US was Boston, where I had heard they imported a variety of Dutch Bikes and decided to stop in. Although I was told that they were stepping away from their import business, Dan, the proprietor introduced me to a viable alternative in the Lady Swift Bike produced by DBC. Completely hand built, and custom tailored to your specs in New England (with most parts manufactured stateside), this bike is the perfect mix of great engineering and good design. As someone with a design and production background, I fully understand that the R&D that went into developing this bike is not easy to come by domestically, but that DBC has really accomplished something wonderful here. Dan was incredibly passionate about his bikes and the people behind it. After test riding, I absolutely knew why. I've spent a lot of time on bikes that weren't right for me, just because they usually aren't built to fit people like me. However, the Lady Swift was the smoothest, most balanced and comfortable ride I have ever had the pleasure of taking. For posterity's sake, my bike saavy boyfriend also test rode the bike and agreed wholeheartedly. The bikes start at $2500, and include a custom built frame, engineered and painted to your specs, beautiful rust proof components, and internal shifting mechanisms. The full specs can be found on their site, but all I can say is that the final product is one very nice bike, and in my opinion, a downright steal considering the custom fabrication that goes into the bikes. Dan needs $1500 up front to start the work, and has a lifetime guarantee on the bikes. If you aren't happy for whatever reason, send the bike back for your full money back. DBC would rather that you love your bike, than regret your purchase. Unfortunately I did not have that kind of extra scratch kicking around at the time (quitting your job and traveling for an entire summer kind of does that to you) but Dan has my specs on file and was fully understanding about me holding off until I did have the money to front. However, acquiring one of these fine bikes is at the top of my priorities list. From a business perspective, DBC is top rate, and my personal interaction with Dan was extremely positive. As a Bostonian, he was a very enthusiastic guy who genuinely loves his product and his city. He even went so far as to suggest places for us to visit while we were in town and gave us his card to call him if we needed any tips on where to eat. That all said, I can't review the quality of DBC's tune-ups or really ignore the elephant in the living room that is Chris P's review below, but quite frankly, I don't necessarily think that tune-ups would be their forte, nor give a crap why/how/if that incident happened and I don't think it is my, or anyone's business to be the judge of things that happen in a proprietor's personal life here. All I can really say is that I cannot wait to get my hands on one of these jaunty little rides. read more

Save your money and go to one of the near by shops! I came here because I purchased a Groupon and man that was a mistake. Well I guess it cost me 70 dollars (price of 2 groupons) to learn never to come to this shop again which was money well spent. When I went in I brought 2 bikes and the gentleman seemed nice but man did things add up quick. 45 for bar tape,20 to replace 2 tubes, 15 for a tube to be used as a "slap" guard. I decided against the tubes and came back within 5 minutes to say I had changed my mind about the bar tape, when I was walking out I did hear the mechanic whisper "you are going to regret that" Funny when I went to pick up the bike they put the bar tape on. (they did honor that it was there mistake) Also slow turn around the 2-3 days was more like 8 days but I called numerous times and was able to pick it up in 8. read more

Dan builds gorgeous bikes. GORGEOUS bikes. They also cost about what I'd probably pay for a used car, so I probably won't get one anytime soon, but one can dream. In any case, I still go here when my bike breaks when I'm near the office. Got a tune-up here on my knock-off Dutch bike from Poland and he did a great job. It took longer than expected so he gave me a loaner bike. (!!) It's like the guy understands that you need your bike to get around and going without for a day is unacceptable. (unlike some other shops that take a week for repairs :::Ferris, cough, cough:::) Riding away from the shop on the loaner some people asked me about the bike at the first red light I stopped at. Yeah, it was that nice. Other than that, minus points for closing earlier than stated times. (What's up with these bike shops?) read more

I literally just joined Yelp so I could write that Dan & his Dutch Bicycle Company are terrific. I got my bike tuned up at DBC a few months ago with the help of a Groupon, and was very happy with the service. However, I ride my bike, Harley, every day, and I recently wore out her cable, housing, and chain. I knew I should go back to Dan & Co. because I had a good experience earlier, but it is much further away from my apartment than...certain other, larger bike establishments. After getting a quote from a nearby shop that shall remain nameless, I called Dan to get his opinion. He was very warm and seemed concerned for what was best for me & Harley, versus what was best for the evil bike shops. He also mentioned a few things that made me ride my bike straight over to the buttcrack of Somerville the next day before work. The highlights: 1. I received a LOANER bike! Still pumped about that one. No deposit required, other than my own bike. 2. My repair was completed within six hours, versus the three to four days the other shop had quoted. 3. I saved over 50% in price, one big reason being the elimination of unnecessarily replacing the fully-functioning rear hub. 4. My purchase of a new chain includes a free adjustment. 5. Upon my initial hesitation I expressed about riding Harley over with a frayed cable, Dan graciously offered to have his mechanic come pick the bike up at my house in a day or two. 6. My work schedule was a bit crazy. Dan offered to meet me at the shop whenever was convenient for me, whether that would be 7 am or pm. He volunteered willingly, and truly sounded like he'd be glad to do it. 7. That being said, when I did go over on a break from work, he really respected the time-sensitivity of my visit to the shop. 8. Did I mention I got to ride a loaner bike?! read more

I'm going to come right out and admit that I was a little nervous about visiting this shop. After reading the other reviews, I got the impression that Dan was very talented but a little intense... and because I don't know a lot about bikes, despite commuting ~12mi every day, I was worried that he'd get annoyed with me. But I went anyway and had an AWESOME experience at DBC, and that's why I had to write this review. I needed a flat fixed at work and found myself at a loss: I live in Somerville and my usual shop is Hub Bicycle on Cambridge St., but clearly that wasn't an option. So I hopped on Yelp and found DBC, conveniently located near Dewey Square. Called first and Dan told me to come on in whenever. The shop's not hard to find; it's at the corner of Pearl and Purchase. Sign on the door. First impression: this is a heck of a bike shop. Tons of vintage bikes in various states of repair set up everywhere, even hanging on the walls. Very cool. Dan himself? He's awesome! Insanely knowledgeable, he's got bike form and function down to a science. He fixed my flat and replaced my tire for a mere $35 - a steal considering the speed and quality of service, plus the really useful tips that he gave me about repairing my ride's paint job on a dime. Trying to see it from the perspective of people on here who don't like Dan's "attitude", I think that it's just par for the course that when interacting with very informed, passionate, opinionated people, there's always a possibility of butting heads. But Dan, honestly, is a cool dude. I'll definitely be back if I need bike service while at work. Oh, and his ladies bike? F'n gorgeous. If I can ever afford it, it's MINE. read more

Got a great deal from Groupon: $35 for tuneup. Great service, my bike was as good as new! I got some great tips on how to maintain my bike and where to head out to ride. Would definitely go back! read more

i don't know if this qualifies as a business review. But if you care about the kind of people you spend your money with, you might be interested to know that tonight, I had to pull the owner of The Dutch Bicycle Company off of a young girl he attacked and was punching outside of the Stop N' Shop in East Somerville. I live in East Somerville near the business, and so knew of the company and it's owner Dan Sorger. When I came out of the Stop N' Shop to get my bike out of the rack, I recognized Sorger as he was unlocking his bike at the rack. He was talking with two high-school aged girls who were standing near the rack. I wasn't really paying much attention, but I overheard him say "Don't touch the bike!". A few spirited words were exchanged between the girls and the man, and I just figured that they knew one another and were kidding around with each other. When I looked up, suddenly, the owner of the Dutch Bicycle Company reared back and punched one of the girls in the face -completely unprovoked- and then lunged his full body and hands into her! Her friend screamed, and tried to jump in the middle of them. The girl who had been punched (must have been a Somerville girl, 'cuz Somerville girls got moxie) punched him back with both hands in kind of a half-defense/half-counter attack. And a full-on street brawl was on. But rather than being cool, this middle-aged (50ish) man double-downed and just kept going after her, throwing punches at her head and trying to get both hands around her face and upper body! It looked just like a street fight, except that it was a middle-aged man assaulting an underage girl! I jumped into the scrum of him attacking the girl, her fending him off, and her friend in the middle trying to separate the two. The friend kept yelling, "you don't hit a girl!, you don't hit a girl!". In the middle of it all, I pulled him off of the girl, and told the friend, 'you take care of her, I'll take care of him.' Then the girl who he attacked caught her breath (and her moxie) and lunged back over her friend and me trying to get at him, which broke the two of us up. Her friend pulled her back off, and I kept everyone separated again. In all of the confusion, I kept hearing the girls crying variations on 'why did you hit me?' / 'i didn't do anything!' / 'what kind of a man would hit a girl?'. I yelled at him 'yeah, what kind of man hits a girl?!' He pointed at his bike that was tied up next to mine at the rack, and yelled back, "That's a $4000 bicycle!" I responded, "A girl is worth more than a bike!". He then pointed his finger at the teenager he had just landed several hard punches to, and snarled, "Not that girl!" In the aftermath, the two girls were really rattled, but still had their wits about them. They weren't swearing or obnoxious or drunk or anything like that. The girl that Dan Sorger attacked was bleeding from her hand, and they went back inside the Stop N' Shop to report the incident and see about her hand. In the meantime, he got on his $4000 bicycle and sped off out of the Stop N' Shop parking lot. Like a lowlife coward. Who would hit a girl over a bike. The girls came back out a couple of minutes later, as the store had called a cab for them. They thanked me a ton -no problem- and then I split. I don't know if a police report was filed. I hope that one was. But I told the girls that if anyone was going to be looking for him, that his name is Dan Sorger and he is the owner of the Dutch Bicycle Company (or DBC). So I'm afraid that I can't tell you anything about Dutch bicycles. Though people here do seem to think they're great. But I can tell you that the owner, Dan Sorger is a lowlife. A lowlife coward who likes to hit girls. If you think that it's cool to have a guy like this doing business in your community, ask him to move near you. As for our community, we don't want anything to do with this sorry man or his business. read more

I have a problem with Dan, the owner. I approve of his principles, but I found him to be an angry and unsettled guy. He'll turn on you in an instant if you say the wrong thing. It's tough to make a living in the bike business, and it seems like it's gotten to him. His bikes are made by Ted Wojcik in NH, and they are fabulous. I was considering buying one someday, but I won't do business with DBC. I have no inside info, but here's my theory: The bikes are high-end and not selling well. The competition is selling Chinese-made bikes for 25% of the cost. DBC is doing Groupon and tune-ups to make ends meet. Their repair space is small, and rent is probably high. I feel sorry for Dan if he loses his life savings in this venture. I'd be on his side if he were at all reasonable, but he's not. read more

They certianly know their bikes which is pretty impressive. I brought in my 20+ year old Schwinn 10-speed & they were amazed that everything was original on the bike. I had no idea how special my bike was & that it was actually worth a little something. They are very passionate about what they do. I almost thought they would confiscate my bike if I didn't take good care of it. They are willing to stay open later if you tell them in advance which is nice. read more

Don't go there ! The worst shop in town. The owner Dan harasses customers! I dropped my bike there nicely, the next day I got a crazy phone call saying that he would put my bike on the street. The worst part is that he insulted me for no reason. I have never encountered a worse experience like this. I almost called the police, but I didn't want to descend to a demeaning level that DBC Bike is. It is not worth it to spend a single minute to deal with DBC. read more

Despite calling and checking website for hours, when I arrived at the store (which is generally inconspicuous and a little tricky to find) -- during posted business hours -- it was dark and locked. Once I did manage to drop my bike off for service, they told me it would be ready in 6 days -- that doesn't really match their motto of "The difficult we do immediately, the impossibly may take a few days." I was NOT offered a loaner bike. On the due date, no one called me to update me on the status of my bike. When I called the next morning (now a full week later, and after the time they said my bike would be ready), they spent some time looking for the ticket, only to tell me that it was being serviced now. Their estimate was that it would be ready by noon. I debated waiting for it (it is my primary form of transit,) but it's a good thing I didn't -- I received a call at 1:30 saying it was finally ready. When I arrived to pick it up, the woman reported that she noticed it wasn't perfectly tuned. While I appreciated her honesty, I did not appreciate having to wait for almost another 45 minutes while someone attempted to fix it up. Once I finally received my bike, Dan even commented he wasn't sure why the mechanics had left some things the way they had -- it's his business and even he was unhappy with the work! I ended up just taking my bike and fixing the rest by myself -- just because I didn't want to spend yet more time waiting while the folks at Dutch Bikes poked around. In short: Dutch Bicycles couldn't keep promises about time or quality. I would save time and energy and take it elsewhere next time. read more

I came in here through a Groupon for a $35 tune up (which I had been meaning to do forever) and was extremely happy with the results! My bike had noticeable wear and tear and minor things wrong with it that were fixed right up. Dan also put a new seat on, which I happily paid extra for (its a great seat!) I recommend DBC highly! read more

I assume the bad reviews are more based on them being so busy with tuneups right after groupon, and the thing is, yea, tubes are gonna cost you $20, this is a vehicle, you need to put money in every once and a while so that it runs right. I have only had great experience with DBC, I got my wheel stolen and called around and DBC was able to find me a wheel for $10, a tire for $25 and got it fixed that day, didn't harge for the tube or labor, and told me to come back in a few weeks so they could make sure the wheel was holding up, free of charge. A couple weeks later I brought my bike in for a tune up and explained that i needed it for monday to get to work: they gave me a loaner bike. mine was still done before sunday. i'm sorry a couple of you have had bad experiences, i can't imagine from what i know about those guys that this is the whole story though. read more

This place has treated me very well and impressed me with their service and knowledge. I came here with a Groupon. I love Groupon, but have sometimes felt a little bit treated like a second class customer when I present them, but here it was just the opposite. I received a great once over of my bike from the owner who talked with me for over a half an hour. He told me a lot about my bike (I bought it at a yard sale and he explained to me when/where it was from). He did offer to do a couple of extra things to my bike, but in a no-pressure "hey if you want" kind if way, and I declined After the tune up my bike rides so much better, I cannot even begin to explain the difference. It was so worth the money. In casual conversation with the guy he talked about how he both tunes up and repairs any bike, but also designs and builds his own bikes. I cannot recommend this place enough and encourage you to check them out with any biking needs and questions. read more

I bought a groupon for a $37 bike tune-up, took my bike into DBC City Bike, and then made the mistake of reading all the negative reviews on Yelp. I needn't have worried though, because my experience was quite positive. My well-used Trek 800 rode like a dream on the way home, no more squeaking brakes or popping gears when I cycle uphill. Dan also gave great advice about basic bike maintenance, theft prevention and getting a free colored-coded bike route map from the City of Boston. I'm giving the 4-star review only because I was told that I would be contacted later, the same day I dropped off my bike, a Wednesday, but I did not hear anything. I finally called on Saturday for an update and was told told my bike was ready. A phone call on their part would have been nice, but on the whole, I'm pleased with service I received. Now, I just need to save up for one of those fabulous Dutch bikes... read more

Avoid Dan (the owner) and the Dutch Bicycle Company. Like others here, I had a Groupon to use for a tuneup of a run-of-the-mill Trek hybrid. I had never heard of them before, but I figured I could give them a try. This was mid-September 2010. The store front is not easy to find from the curb, and when I arrived a giant flatbed truck was blocking almost the entire front entrance. Ok, whatever. Perhaps they don't rely on walk-in traffic. I dropped my ride with Dan, and he said it would be a few days. He took my information, handed me a receipt, and promised to call when it was ready. I told him it was no rush. After two weeks (I admit it had slipped my mind my bike was getting serviced), I called to check on the status of the work. After a brief check, he returned to say he had no record of my bike. I gave him my receipt number (lucky I kept the copy handy) and he went back to searching. After a few minutes, he tells me someone has already picked up that bike! He proceeds to tell me that perhaps I forgot I already picked it up (suuuure) or that a friend grabbed it for me. I asked if the person picking up presented any kind of identification. He claims his policy is to release bikes to people even if they have misplaced their receipts and don't have id. He swears that the person picking up asked for the bike by my full name (I don't have a common name). I asked why, if he had my phone number and email address on file, he didn't try and contact me when this was happening. Didn't this seem a touch fishy? "Hey man," he said, "don't get upset with me.". You did this! You smack of incompetence, and I have every right to be upset with you. To his credit, he promised not to leave me high and dry. He said he'd file a police report and start the process of making a claim on insurance. About one hour later, he calls me back to inform me that - lo and behold - he's found my bike! Turns out he had it in his garage all along. What about this person he "swears" came in and picked up the bike, asking for it by name? He didn't have an answer to that one. I picked up the bike the next morning, and he muttered an apology and mealymouthed something like "I did 800 orders this year, I was bound to mess one up". I guess that's his idea of customer service: incompetence, lies and then excuses. The actual work done appears ok, but I'm profoundly turned off by this horrible experience. There are plenty of other quality, reputable, friendly shops in the area. Please patronize those and avoid this place. read more

The guy that does the bicycle repairs is incompetent and unfriendly! There are two ways how the crank arm can be connected to the bottom bracket(there's actually even more, but they're not relevant) one way is a screw going into the axle of the bottom bracket, and the other is a nut screwed on the axle. I came today because my nut came of, leading to the crank arm to fall off. He thought it was a screw of which the head broke off and the leftover part still being in the axle. This proves his incompetence, but what really blew my mind away, was his reaction to my brutal mistake of telling him that he was wrong: He said he didn't need me to tell him how he should do his job, and that I should leave before he calls the cops. WTF??????? I didn't even have the time to prove him that he was wrong!! So he still believes that he's right! read more

Do not go there. I had a Groupon and the customer service was the worst. A simple tune is going to cost big time.

After being screwed around by local bicycle shops before (e.g. overpriced, bad advice), I had sworn off buying local and have stuck with the internet for most parts and the big box stores for parts I need ASAP. This place has changed my mind. The prices are fair, they have had the parts I needed and the guys who work there are friendly and approachable. I will be shopping here in the future. read more

The owner Dan is unreliable and rude. My mother-in-law called him to purchase a bike seat several weeks before Christmas. On 1/13/11 the promised seat wasn't delivered. He keep giving us the bike is in the mail routine. When my mother and law called him and told him either the seat was here by the end of the week or she was calling her credit card company he responded by calling her a b***h. read more

I had a terrible experience with them. We went because we got a Groupon, so we took our two old(er) bikes to them for an 18 point tune up. The man was nice and personable and stressed customer service. When I picked up the bikes, he again stressed customer satisfaction as their number one goal. However, we were not satisfied with the tune ups. I rode my bike around the block (literally) and the tire blew out. When we took it back, they claimed that I had ridden on the rim and caused damage. They said the tire was ready to blow, so they were not responsible for paying to have it fixed. However, checking the tires is one of the points on the 18 point tune up. I told them that clearly the tire had not been checked. Whereupon the (formally nice) man asked if I was calling him a liar. At that moment, I knew customer service was out the window. When we told them that we did not feel we should pay for the tire repair, the (formally nice) man threw our bike and told us to get out! This is one customer who was not satisfied. read more

Dan's bikes are an investment and an absolute joy to ride. I ride my bike every day in the city and after my last bike died, I took the plunge and bought one of his bikes that someone had returned - a seriously lucky break for me, especially since the bike was ready to go and was built for my exact height...it was still expensive but I saved a nice chunk of change as a result. And I can rationalize the expense because my bike is my car, so to speak: I ride everyday, unless there's a ton of snow on the ground or it's 15 degrees out. Yikes. Another bonus: Dan and his peeps are great mechanics, there's no attitude, and the service is incredibly responsive. You can bring your bike in anytime for adjustments. A DBC bike is built for life, and is designed for our crappy roads and weather, which can quickly destroy an otherwise sturdy bike if you ride frequently. If you can afford it, and you love to ride, I say go for it. A worthwhile investment. Also love the fact that it's designed and made right here in Boston and not in some factory overseas. Nice to support local manufacturing and local businesses. One thing to mention: Dan does not take credit cards. read more