HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT coming to this shop. I'm much closer to a bike shop in Burbank but I read quite a few 5-Star reviews and decided to go out of my way to come to what I thought was a reputable, professional bike shop.
A couple of weeks ago, I brought in my beach cruiser, which was sitting in the garage for three years, to get their "tune-up" for which they charge $40 bucks. I thought that was fair for a professional bike shop to inspect it, lubricate what's necessary, make any recommendations, and confirm it would be safe to ride. After sitting for three years, both tires were deflated when I brought it in although I had no clue if the tires or inner tubes were roadworthy. That was part of the reason I brought it into the shop.
They called me a day later and said, "it's all done... you can pick it up" -and I did that afternoon. While picking it up I noticed two things: 1) they had wiped the frame down from some of the thick dust after sitting in the garage and 2) I noticed they inflated the tires. That's it. I also noticed all the other dust in the corners and on the wheels too as it looked as if it was wiped down haphazardly. I wasn't expecting them to wash my bike so no huge disappointment there although it looked worse after the wipe-down. But I didn't notice any fresh grease on the chain and I had no clue what they actually did as part of the "tune-up" nor did they say, "we looked at x, y, and z, and we inspected this, tightened that, and adjusted this" -nothing. They said nothing except, "your total is $40 dollars" and I paid it and left.
I went home and put my bike in the garage and didn't ride it until Saturday, which was three days after I picked it up. I rode up the block and immediately heard this mild rubbing, with each rotation. I looked down at the back wheel while cruising at low speed and saw that the back wheel wasn't aligned but off to one side where it was rubbing the frame slightly. Obviously, that was upsetting considering I just invested $40 bucks for a tune-up. However, I let it slide. I quickly rode it home, grabbed a wrench, loosened the nuts in the rear, aligned the wheel myself, and hopped back on and all was good.
After about three miles, the rear tire went flat pretty quickly. It wasn't a slow leak. It blew out while pedaling. I'm thankful it was the rear and not the front as the front could have caused me to crash. I pulled over into the nearby supermarket, locked it up at the bike rack, and called an Uber to catch a ride home. I hopped in my car to pick up my bike and head home. When I took the rear wheel off to inspect the tube, there was a huge tear. It had ripped wide open inside the tire. You can see that in the photos. In addition, the rubber tire was so brittle it fell apart as I pulled the inner tube out. I also noticed the front tire was inflated with the stem at an angle. It should be perfectly perpendicular to the wheel for safety -and so it doesn't cause a leak or blowout.
Long and short of this experience...if they did what I paid them for, they could have called and said, "hey, these tires are pretty brittle, you'd be taking a chance riding on them. We recommend getting some new ones and replacing the inner tubes while you're at it" and I would have gladly paid to have all that done. They simply received my bike on Tuesday, gave it a quick wipe down, inflated the tires, and called me to pick it up on Wednesday. That's not my idea of a professional, caring bike shop. Not to mention...they could have sold me some additional, and desperately needed, parts and services which is just good business -and you'd think that's exactly why they're in business.
I just ordered new tires, new liners, and new inner tubes so I can do what I would have gladly paid them to do. I feel the $40 bucks I spent at their bike shop was an outright rip-off. I'm embarrassed for these guys because I thought they were solid people based on all the great reviews. Again, this was a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT and a monumental waste of my time and money. Although I can do all this work myself, the whole reason I brought it in was that I was short on time. read more