Western Canada - The best LBS I have come across in Vancouver

Hello everyone,

I am wrting this as an independent consumer, who has been on the hunt for a road bike for more than 2 years now. First, I thought of getting a road bike after high school, but I took a year of, did some travelling and found that it just wasn't the right time.

Now, two years later I finally made the plunge and am now a proud owner of a Cannondale R1000.

Anyway, the reason why I am writing this post is that I think it's crucial that the LBS where you buy your bike is friendly, informative, and has good prices. I found all of the above at BSP (Bicycle Sports Pacific) Bikes.

Back in 2004, even when I was remotely considering buying a bike, they spent considerable time with me, giving me honest advice on the pros and cons of every brand, letting me try as many bikes as I wanted and even measuring me up for one. I remember walking away that day thinking, "I don't know what bike I'll eventually end up with, but do know that I'll end up buying it here."

With a few exceptions, that staff at BSP is always friendly, and willing to go out of their way to serve their customers. I found this especially true at their downtown location. In addition, they tend to have good prices, and they support local bike teams too (namely, Escape Velocity).

I guess what I am trying to say here is, before you decide to buy a bike, give BSP Bikes a try. They've been really good to me, and I wholeheartedly recommend them.

PS: Once again, I am not getting paid by anyone, I am just a satisfied customer, wanting to share his positive experiences.

Yeah, service is important.

Did you ever try SnowCovers. Down by Granville Island.

To be honest with you, I've ever even heard of it...

oh ok. Because I happen to know the owner. Nice guy. Not that I was trying to promote his business. :)

To be honest with you, I've ever even heard of it...

Pretty hard to miss. Ever been on the Burrard Street bridge?

I bought my Cannondale there.

La Bicycletta is great, the best buys are at Cheapskates, but my everyday LBS for the last 20 years has been Steveston Bikes.

New shop opened up on the north shore - Different Bikes. They did West Van last year and now just opened up North Van. Lots of Mtn bikes and are doing a fair bit of roadies as well. That's where I started going and the guys there are great.

#1 - Steveston Bikes
#2 - MOUNTAIN & BEACH BICYCLES! back when they used to be on Main/17th, and then on 2nd ave...sadly they are now retired. :(

Dream Cycles on Commercial Drive. Road, track, mtn, cruiser...know their stuff and no attitude to boot!

I live in the Kerrisdale area, and west point cycles is great; great bikes, great service:)

i'm going to add to my list:

- CheapSkates - BEST palce to find a dust covered Campy equiped road bike or obscure parts
- La Biciclettea - BEST road/track shop in BC. Custom wheel building.
- Mighty Riders! best singlespeed shop in town

New shop opened up on the north shore - Different Bikes. They did West Van last year and now just opened up North Van.
I wasn't so impressed with the North Van shop. Since I live very close I took my road bike to them for an overhaul knowing that my rear shifter was wearing out and most likely needed to be replaced. I expected that it might be hard to find a 7-spd shifter these days, but I asked them to see what they could do. A few days later they told me that they couldn't find one, and basically implied that my bike was now worthless and there was no point doing an overhaul even though the existing shifter still had some life left in it.

After picking up my bike I went home, spent 10 minutes on Google, found a shifter on BikeParts.com and ordered it up. It's being installed this week at Obsession, who were happy to help me get my old bike back into top shape. I suspect they'll be getting more business from me in the future.

Steveston Bikes just closed shop ater Christmas with no warning. Bummer, I received a gift certificate there for Christmas. I'm bummed Robby sold my mother-in-law that just before he closed without saying anything.

It re-opened a bit further down the road recently, but someone else is running it and it's not yet clear if he's going to honor the certificate. It'd be bad news if he didn't considering I've bought from there for 20 years and he'd lose my business if he doesn't.

I had an issue about finding a 7 cog cassette for my Cannondale. Some shops say they can't find any, but I'm pretty sure I can get them on-line. Maybe the shop wants to sell me a new wheel, de-railer and shifters because they only have 9 and 10 cog cassettes in stock.

I hope the new guy works out because it's much more convieniant to go down the street when somethings wrong than accross town.

Steveston Bikes moved to Ladner temporarily. They told me they will have a new location in Richmond, so I guess it's the same people running it.

I was there yesterday.

Saw the sign up a couple of weeks ago (bad sign - Steveston bike + Kayak established 2007!), went in yesterday, it's been open a week, new owner, new workers.

I have to go in soon and get this straightened out. Over 20 years of building a relationship, gone.

can any one give me a full list of bike shops around vancouver/richmond? The only ones i know of right now is WestPointCycles, and Cap's Bikes. all they carry mostly are trek, norco, and Kona. thanks

try this (http://www.superpages.ca/search/?stype=si&src=&what=bicycle&where=vancouver&x=0&y=0)

wow mkyy, thanks a lot, i never thoguht theyd have a compelte list on superpages, thanks

Ambleside Cycles in West van + Corsa in Squamish = ***

...I have to go in soon and get this straightened out. Over 20 years of building a relationship, gone.

Got it straight.

They'll honor the certificate, but it takes time to build up stock (especially the old stuff) and find good workers who're experienced (who'll work for cheap). The new space is limited and it's split with Kayak stuff.

There's another new shop closer to home who's owner I've known for 35 years. His son is running it. It's in a similar situation. I think I'll see how it is as well.

Better news is Cheapskates has lots of stock in now and I just bought a new pair of Shimano A525 pedals for $8!

http://www.bikepro.com/products/pedals/pedal_jpg/f1f_a525_sil_side.jpg

I wasn't so impressed with the North Van shop. Since I live very close I took my road bike to them for an overhaul knowing that my rear shifter was wearing out and most likely needed to be replaced. I expected that it might be hard to find a 7-spd shifter these days, but I asked them to see what they could do. A few days later they told me that they couldn't find one, and basically implied that my bike was now worthless and there was no point doing an overhaul even though the existing shifter still had some life left in it.

After picking up my bike I went home, spent 10 minutes on Google, found a shifter on BikeParts.com and ordered it up. It's being installed this week at Obsession, who were happy to help me get my old bike back into top shape. I suspect they'll be getting more business from me in the future.
Lately I've had a similar experience, but it depends on who you're dealing with. There's one guy I know that I haven't been too happy with - but a couple of others that treat me great. I think it's the same with any shop - it's the people you deal with, not so much the shop itself.

I have something to add to this post that has dampened my experience considerably.

I took my bike in to the shop in the spring for a regular 6 month check-up (cable tensioning, etc.). On my first ride after I picked it back up, I noticed that my seat was crooked. So, I went to adjust it, when I noticed that the carbon seat post was broken (no wonder, the post was tightened very tightly). Anyway, right away I realized that this must be something that they did a the shop. So, I go to the shop that did the BSP West Van and explain the situation. They admit that yes, they do always take out the seat post, but that there is no way one of their gutys would have broken it and so there is nothing they can do. They did, however, refer me to the downtown shop to their 'road cycling' manager.

So, I biked over, explained the situation to him, and he gave me this look of, "Well, then why did they send you to me?" I couldn't have agreed more... Anyway, after many phone calls to the West Van store and many minutes of me standing around gettig impatient, the manager told me to go to their North Van store where they have a similar seat post in stock. However, the replacement would be $30 more expensive, so I had to pay that difference. By this time, I just wanted a new seat post, regardless of the level of service I received, so I went to their North Van. store.

# of mistakes made by me: 0
# of km's wasted biking around from store to store to store: about 60
hours wasted getting all this sorted out: about 5
cost of replacing a part my LBS broke: $30
# of customers lost: 1

Ugh! Even just remembering this makes me so frustrated that I have little desire to go to BSP ever again!

Steveston Bikes just closed shop ater Christmas with no warning...It re-opened a bit further down the road...Over 20 years of building a relationship, gone.


I brought my bike in the new re-opened shop after talking with the workers (and one owner?) for 2 simple jobs I couldn't do because of a time situation.

When came back to get it, the work was good, but the mechanic decided what was on the work order just wasn't enough. He decided to do a bunch of other stuff too and the charge was far more than what I expected.

When I came in to pick it up I asked the person on staff that morning (already not a good sign - I talked to a different staff member initially, he relayed the GC info to the owner, when I received the message about the charge for the work, I talked to the mechanic who did the work) I asked her (that's 4 different people in a small shop - how many more workers do they have?) to look at the work order to show the work I asked to be done vs. what was done. The mechanic "assumed" he was to do more work than ordered, did it and charged me for it.

It all worked out. I got a reduction in price so I didn't have to pay more than I had expected, but wonder, if I go in for more work in the future and ask for say, a new head set, will they put on (and charge me for) new pedals, shifters and a saddle too?

the bike shop in abbotsford has a selection of older parts. is not great. but larger than i have seen in other places. also the mechanic has been wrenching for years and likes the older stuff too.

Wentings, Mission.

I have tried a lot of shops in the lower mainland over the last 15 years. Robson Cycle was a good one in the day. Cove was my favourite until they left the cove. But these days I'm finding Different Bikes (either location - I go to both) is really living up to the name. Mechanics are very good and usually do more than you ask and charge less than you think. Sales guys are no nonsense and the prices are always very fair. If I ran a bike shop this is how I would do it. Low attitude, high service, great products. Surprisingly rare.
Are they perfect, probably not. Best in town? Maybe.

I'd like to relay a mostly positive experience with La Bicicletta.

I have a folder, and in looking around for maintenance packages, La Bicicletta seemed to have the best deal for a very nice cleaning, truing, drivetrain adjustment, etc. ($65). I wasn't too aware then that the shop was basically roadie-centric. When I brought in the bike, they were courteous, and rather than grimacing at the unfamiliar machine they were curious about it (I think one of the guys has a Brompton). They used an inflexible noodle to replace my old one (one of the brake lines was cracked), and when I brought it back (it wouldn't fold that way), they cheerfully and quickly put the old flexi-noodle back on.

I have found since then that the brake line seems to have gotten shorter, complicating my fold a bit, but overall I was very impressed; in particular, many shops seem to regard folders as toys, but my bike gets over 100 km a week on it, in all conditions, getting me to work and anywhere I don't feel like taking transit (which is more and more nowadays with continual fare creep and service rot--thanks, Translink, for getting me fit and trim!).

Definitely a professional place.

Are you serious? You actually LIKE BSP? I bought my Cannondale Synapse 4 there a few years ago when I knew nothing about cycling (despite having ridden for many years). The staff there sure are friendly but by all appearances they are paid at least partially by commission which creates a conflict of interest. you want to buy a bike and they certainly want to sell you one but that doesn't mean you will ride away with the right one.

I am 6'8" tall and have a 103.5cm inseam this is exceptionally tall and frankly, they should have just shook their heads and said "we can't help you. Get a custom built bike" they didn't, however, and they proceded to use some of the most absurd methods of bike fit known. A good example is the use of my forearm as a measuring tool to determine the appropriate space between the head tube and the nose of the saddle. In case you didn't know, this method is about as useless as tits on a bull. Long story short, if you want to make sure your hard earned money is going towards a well-built and fitting machine, you have to learn from an unbiased source, the ins and outs of proper bike fit and what constitutes a good bike for your intended purpose. If you do what I did you will end up with a very pricy dust collector sitting in the corner or all kinds of aches and pains. Oh and if you really care about your bike don't go to BSP for repairs either, free with purchase or not, they are not careful with your stuff. On my last visit to the shop (in Downtown Vancouver) I brought my front wheel in to be trued. I am very insitent that my bike be in good condition and just finished a tirade about how the average auto mechanic can't be trusted and hence, I learned to fix cars when the mechanic on duty inadvertently crashed a Kabuki cab into my wheel! We are not amused!

If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself.

Anyone want to buy a Cannondale?

If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself.



+1

Best place to buy parts in the Lower Mainland: MEC on Broadway (the North Van shop is not well-stocked).
Best shops in Lower Mainland: Superchampion (fixed gear stuff, way better than Mighty Riders), Bike Doctor, Bicicletta.

Note: Except for Bike Doctor, where I wrenched for a few months while otherwise unemployed, I can't vouch for the service dept as I do all my own work. My bike only goes into a shop if it needs welding or brazing done to it!

Worst bike shop in Vancouver: Simon's. The guy at the front counter just assumes anyone who comes in knows nothing about bikes. Completely insufferable, and the two times I've gone in he has been completely useless. Too bad, since the shop is two blocks from where I work downtown.

Best place to buy a tandem in the Lower Mainland: Pedalsport in Chilliwack. Can you believe that? The only place you can find someone who knows anything about tandems and can sell you one is located way out in Chilliwack! Considering the growth of the tandem market in Seattle and Portland, and the very early phase of the tandem market in Vancouver, bike retailers in Vancouver are seriously asleep at the switch...

L.

Oh, and I also wanted to add to the list of best bike shops:

Jet Grrl's Bike Studio (on Adanac near Main). A one-person operation, but she treats you like an intelligent human being and she is a competent journeyman. Small shop, not really well-stocked, but she'll send you to where you can get the parts she doesn't stock.

L.

oops, repost.

Not sure about where to buy new bikes, since I never do it, but whenever I need stuff fixed on my current rides, I go to Our Community Bikes. The people there are great, and it's super cheap!

I just heard the building Cheapskates is located in, is going to be torn down so all the bike stuff is going to be moved to the 19th ave. store.

I'm glad Cheapskates will still be around but there is going to be a massive reduction in stock due to space, and that space is going to be shared with other consignment goods, so they'll stock bikes only in the summer and not the winter.

Bummer (sort of).

Oh, and I also wanted to add to the list of best bike shops:

Jet Grrl's Bike Studio (on Adanac near Main). A one-person operation, but she treats you like an intelligent human being and she is a competent journeyman. Small shop, not really well-stocked, but she'll send you to where you can get the parts she doesn't stock.

L.

Sorry if it seems like I am nit picking but Tracy's shop is actually named Jett Grrl Bike Studio, names aside two thumbs up for this LBS. The shop actually moved location this past week, no worries it is just two or three store fronts down the street now. Bigger location, so its all good.

Not sure about where to buy new bikes, since I never do it, but whenever I need stuff fixed on my current rides, I go to Our Community Bikes. The people there are great, and it's super cheap!


Can't say enough good things about "Our Community Bikes" on Main and 17. Non-profit so very cheap, great setup to let you use their tools and stands for $5/hr or with advice for $10/hr. "Bike Kitchen" out at UBC is similar setup.

Sorry if it seems like I am nit picking but Tracy's shop is actually named Jett Grrl Bike Studio, names aside two thumbs up for this LBS. The shop actually moved location this past week, no worries it is just two or three store fronts down the street now. Bigger location, so its all good.
Friggin' nit-picker:D.
Jett Grrl/Tracy is great; and very knowledgeable.
OCB (Our Community Bikes) for doityourselfers, and Rat Rod Bikers. -This place is Mecca for me.:thumb:
I can't say enough about the folks at Bikes on the Drive: They know their stuff. -The only knock is they are ALWAYS busy (but that's a good sign as far as their business goes).
MeC is best for acquiring new parts at a reasonable price(they are going to be opening a full-service shop at the Broadway location if I remember correctly).
Cambie Cycle is a good place to talk Recumbents...

Atomic Bike Shop on 6th ave, between Fir and Granville is a good one. Steve is a great mechanic and even better guy. I don't see him enough, as I currently work at a bike shop, so my time spent in bike shops outside of work hours tends to be very low, but it was my shop of choice for years, and I can't recommend him highly enough.

Dream Cycle on Commercial has been giving me nothing but hard times,
2 and a half months for a build...so far

2 years on, and I still haven't found a good replacement for my old shop that boarded up.

I've walked in 3 local shops but so far, none have been impressive.

If I didn't have a reasonable idea of how a bike works and the way a shop can help me, I'd be paying through the nose for work (and parts) I don't need.

I'm having an IRO Mark V frame, custom paint, assembled with pretty stock components, nothing out of the ordinary. My frame was in stock when I ordered the bike, and its been 2 and a half months and today found out that my frame has not even been painted yet, the only thing thats been assembled is my wheels.
But, myself being new to biking in general I don't know if this is ridiculous, or about normal for a bike build.
Thoughts?

I'm having an IRO Mark V frame, custom paint, assembled with pretty stock components, nothing out of the ordinary. My frame was in stock when I ordered the bike, and its been 2 and a half months and today found out that my frame has not even been painted yet, the only thing thats been assembled is my wheels.
But, myself being new to biking in general I don't know if this is ridiculous, or about normal for a bike build.
Thoughts?

Was the shop dealing with the painting, or were they ordering the frame as custom painted? From experience, sometimes bike companies can be pretty slow with things. I don't want to cut down those guys, because sometimes things take longer than expected for a variety of reasons, but yeah, 2.5 months is a pretty long time.

As a shop worker peon, I think that the biggest thing is communication. If you're starting to wonder about something taking a while or not being done or something like that and it's past the day when they said it would be done, try calling and diplomatically asking about it. Sometimes phone numbers get written down wrong, things get crazy busy, or sometimes messages unfortunately just don't get passed down the line. It's almost always better for both sides to call and get an update on how things are going than to let things get later and later and get more and more annoyed.

I'd be surprised if your woes with Dream Cycle were on the shop side, and not a supply-chain problem; they've always been very quick on work for my bikes, and the build (another IRO Mark V, as it happens) they did for me was done in less than a week.

Dream Cycle definitely came through in the end, absolutely love this build they did for me:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l2/blackhawkwar/BIKE.jpg

how about Cambie Cycles on Cambie and 17th in Vancouver, great all around recumbent store.

Dream Cycle definitely came through in the end, absolutely love this build they did for me:

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l2/blackhawkwar/BIKE.jpg

Nice setup; it looks good.

Hah, I'm pretty sure I recognize that alley.

Big thank you to Our Community Bikes (OCB), they took two minutes to adjust my rear derailer so that it is shifting smoothly. I changed out my cable and somehow didn't get the tension right. What took me an hour (half at home and half at OCB) to try to fix and FAILED they took care of easy peasy.

Great people, friendly and always more than happy to help and educate me (when they are not swamped). Even as they were fixing my bike for me they were teaching me.:thumb:

+1

Best place to buy parts in the Lower Mainland: MEC on Broadway (the North Van shop is not well-stocked).
Best shops in Lower Mainland: Superchampion (fixed gear stuff, way better than Mighty Riders), Bike Doctor, Bicicletta.

Note: Except for Bike Doctor, where I wrenched for a few months while otherwise unemployed, I can't vouch for the service dept as I do all my own work. My bike only goes into a shop if it needs welding or brazing done to it!

Worst bike shop in Vancouver: Simon's. The guy at the front counter just assumes anyone who comes in knows nothing about bikes. Completely insufferable, and the two times I've gone in he has been completely useless. Too bad, since the shop is two blocks from where I work downtown.

Best place to buy a tandem in the Lower Mainland: Pedalsport in Chilliwack. Can you believe that? The only place you can find someone who knows anything about tandems and can sell you one is located way out in Chilliwack! Considering the growth of the tandem market in Seattle and Portland, and the very early phase of the tandem market in Vancouver, bike retailers in Vancouver are seriously asleep at the switch...

L.

I give Bike Doctor on Broadway a thumbs down. I found a bike I wanted that was on their website, I called that store to make sure they had it in stock, guy said they did. I went there...it was not in stock. I was quite annoyed to have wasted my time by going there.

Went across the street to Sports Junkies and got a bike there instead. MEC is good for accessories/parts and they will install stuff for pretty cheap. Sports junkies will install things for free if you buy the items at Sports Junkies, which is awesome.

Experience Cycling in Pitt Meadows is good. The quoted me $20-$25 for wheel truing. But when I got the wheel back, they only charged me $15. Honest and friendly folks.
Caps' in the Tri-Cities have competitive pricing on parts. Not sure about service though.

Cap's are pretty good but the best one is in Coquitlam, they have the best service ever, some places took several days this place can do it quicker and they did a good job. I've done business with several LBS across lower mainland. On top of my list, I'd stay away from JUBILEE CYCLE in Burnaby...don't be fooled with their inexpensive locations, this place is REALLY EXPENSIVE! For service I had bad experience with Bike Doctor in Burnaby on Kingsway. They don't know how to fix discbrakes so dont bring your mtb there. Another good place is John Henry in North Van, they are very good with service and carries good selection.

I vote for Dream Cycle Darren and his crew have built me some killer wheels and quickly too, they've also patiently answered zillions of my inane questions and generally put up with me buzzing around their shop like an annoying fly, lol.

Also, Tracy at Jett Grrl on the Adanac bike route is a pro, she's worked on my custom Zinn race bike and got it tuned up like a Swiss watch. She's a big fan of quality, functional bikes but she'll work on anything, even electric bikes I believe :)

Both are great shops and both are honest people with lots of experience, go there now! ;)

I took my old rain bike into Rain City Bikes to rebuild it with a Nexus 8 hub because I heard they do these conversions and the shop specializes in utility bikes.

I couldn't be more pleased. Not only did they do a good job, they kept the cost in line. There were many small things that needed to be done and it could've been a killer price-wise, but it ended up being reasonable.

Now I live quite a distance away from this shop, but it's not far off the Canada Line, so that makes getting to it easier and I think I might make the effort to give this shop repeat business.