Western Canada - Edmonton bike shops?

Just wondering what you guys have to say about Edmonton bike shops. I visited quite a few last year when I bought my road bike (Cannondale R700, 2006!). I got mine from Revolution Cycle. Highly recommended, great staff and service.

Just wondering what you guys have to say about Edmonton bike shops. I visited quite a few last year when I bought my road bike (Cannondale R700, 2006!). I got mine from Revolution Cycle. Highly recommended, great staff and service.
If you want quantity, go for united. easily the biggest inventory in Edmonton, but to be honest a bunch of losers. For extremely knowledgeable service and a smaller setting, I would highly recommend River Valley Cycle
http://www.unitedcycle.com/
http://www.rvcns.com/
any more guys?

I have always enjoyed shopping and getting my bike serviced at Red Bike.

i've been to most of the shops... depends on what you're looking for in Edmonton.

high end road stuff... pedal heads
red bike is by the university and has a very trendy feel to the shop with good guys in the service dept. river valley carries rocky mtn, kona while united has norco, trek, specialized... but 0_emissions is right... UC is a bunch of losers for the most part with a massive selection. i bought my bike there but it gets serviced everywhere else.

it seems like all the shops are hit and miss.
Red bike especially- if you talk to the older guy who (i think) owns the place, it's a really great experience. If you talk to the guy who is usually behind the counter, well, it's just not.
Also- pedalheads; last time i went there i was really unimpressed, but i wandered in today and i was very well taken care of.

Cranky's in st.albert is actually really surprisingly good. (surprising mostly because everything in st.albert is usually so terrible).

Hi! There are at least three or four bike store of note in Edmonton city. Revolution cycle seems to have all the stuff you could want, Hard Core on Whyte has the best wheel mechanic, Red Bike I don't know, but Belveder Sport has some of the best prices and lots of the right stuff. There's also Klondike Sports on 149 Street. When and if they stock things, the MEC on 124 Street is good for prices and their own clothing and packs and some bike gear cassettes. The city's best bike mechanic ever works there but he's no longer in the bike area. OK now that you know all of this stuff, you can enjoy just price shopping and comparing what's available. There are other shops in St. Albert etc., just look in the Yellow Pages.

Hi! For the worst bike experience do what I did. I bought a Raliegh Hybrid Sport from Canadian Tire. After installing a new computer, the magnet on the wheel would strike the pickup unit. So I didn't return to the seller, I took it to Hard Core and was assured my wheels were now and forever true. Cost me a buck but worth it.

My favourite shop is Bikeworks... the EBC shop.

I am of course a little biased since I volunteer there as a mechanic.

After that... the Hardcore is probably my favourite shop in the city although I never pay anyone to work on my bikes and just buy parts.

Belvedere has an experienced mechanic and some smoking deals on parts... they also stock older parts that you might not find anywhere else.

it seems like all the shops are hit and miss.
Red bike especially- if you talk to the older guy who (i think) owns the place, it's a really great experience. If you talk to the guy who is usually behind the counter, well, it's just not.
Also- pedalheads; last time i went there i was really unimpressed, but i wandered in today and i was very well taken care of.

Cranky's in st.albert is actually really surprisingly good. (surprising mostly because everything in st.albert is usually so terrible).

totally agree with that about redbike, the older grey haired guy is so helpful and easy to talk to, some of the other guys come off a bit snotty sometimes, like they dont care or want your business. Its still my favourite shop since they seem to have best parts and service for what I am usually looking for, other than that Hardcore had great service.

+1 on the Cranky's (i got my bike there)
+1 on MEC for the gear
+1 on United for good selection but staffed by loosers.

As a kid on the farm, I used to watch the bull pen and wondered why these unhappy animals were so confined. The cows weren't in danger but every other living thing was. The replies I see on poor bike shops in Edmonton, reminds me of those bad tempered animals. Try reading the "venting columns" in the Edmonton Journal and you've got a pretty good example of what bike lovers are like. For my part I'm just cheap. Good service and advice means getting a "cheap deal" no matter what I paid.

+1 on the Cranky's (i got my bike there)
+1 on MEC for the gear
+1 on United for good selection but staffed by loosers.

United is hit and miss, +1 on selection....but just stay away from getting bike serviced there.

Talk to the girls upstairs[at United], they know what is going on and don't talk your ear off.

a cautionary tale from united:

My wife took my wheel to have a spoke repaired at united. It cost $60 which seemed high to me but whatever. They returned the wheel sans skewer (quick release). However, they were good about finding me another one, free of course.

$60.00 for a spoke ?

My god.

I'd teach you how to do it for a small donation to the shop.

a cautionary tale from united:

...it cost $60...

My god, you may have got a whole new wheel.

Cranky's charged me $6 last summer. Pedalheads charged me $15 and trued both my wheels with same day service.

I'll go back to both.

+1 Bikeworks (EBC shop). Great staff, real bunch of bike lovers.

+1 Bikeworks (EBC shop). Great staff, real bunch of bike lovers.

We're total bike fiends here.

:D

Going through the list of posts I find that my experience is at odds with some of them. The folks at United Cycle - especially Jon O and Keith P - have always treated me with the utmost professionalism and respect. I cannot say the same for the "educated", narrow-minded elitest who runs Red Bike or any of his "I am too busy to look at your non-top-of-the-line, steal-me bike" mechanics. Perhaps I caught them on a bad day . . . except that it was not on a single day, and I had given them the benefit of my doubts. Oh well. Competition is a good thing.
:rolleyes:

Yeah, redbike is totally hit & miss. Either you get great personalized attention, or they act like you are interrupting them and should go away. Annoying to say the least.

Yeah, redbike is totally hit & miss. Either you get great personalized attention, or they act like you are interrupting them and should go away. Annoying to say the least.

Same experience for me at Redbike. I finally lost patience & just won't waste my time with them even though they are my closest LBS.

United is also hit & miss. Their parts dept is staffed by a group of young guys who try really hard & aren't embarrassed to admit that they don't always have the answer, plus they carry a huge inventory. However some, but not all, of the floor staff have a bit of an attitude. I have to bite my tongue to keep from saying that winning a local crit or coming in 787th at an ironman twelve years ago doesn't put them on a level with the TdF riders. Can't say too much about the service side, I do my own maintenance. My single experience with them was a good one though. About ten years ago, I showed up at their shop with a totally trashed tire after hitting some construction debris on Saskatchewan Drive. No cash or card with me, they replaced the tire while I waited on the promise I'd come back to pay them. When I did, the mechanic acted surprised & said he thought he'd never see me again. Which says even more about their willingness to do the work. It also taught me to always carry some cash & id.

Favourite shops are in order, Revolution Cycle, United, River Valley Cycles & Velocity. Also MEC for some parts & tools. Edmonton has a few more good shops. The important thing is to get to know the people in the shops you like & support them. Its a tough business. I haven't been to Bikeworks yet, no particular reason why, but I'll be checking them out this year. They sound like good people.

I bought my wife's bike at Velocity. They're a bit limited on brands, but the staff is great. That's the only bike I've ever bought, since mine was a gift from my parents 11 years ago.

I live next door to MEC, so it's pretty hard to beat that for convenience on gear.

And I've been finding that going to EBC's Bikeworks and actually learning a bit about my bike beats taking it to a shop and paying a mechanic for service anyday.

$60.00 for a spoke ?

My god.

I'd teach you how to do it for a small donation to the shop.



Hey Keith,

If we bring hubbys soon to be purchased bike into Bikeworks on a day you are volunteering can you help show us how to install fenders on his bike? Of course we need to figure out what kind to buy him but once we do we want to learn how to install these kinds of things ourselves:)


Fiona

Hey Keith,

If we bring hubbys soon to be purchased bike into Bikeworks on a day you are volunteering can you help show us how to install fenders on his bike? Of course we need to figure out what kind to buy him but once we do we want to learn how to install these kinds of things ourselves:)

Fiona

We are all about fenders here at the commuter's society as no proper bike goes without them.

Most folks here can help with the install and we now have a full time mechanic working Monday to Friday.

I am in every second week on Monday and Wednesday nights and will be in the week after next.

We are all about fenders here at the commuter's society as no proper bike goes without them.

Most folks here can help with the install and we now have a full time mechanic working Monday to Friday.

I am in every second week on Monday and Wednesday nights and will be in the week after next.

Awesome and thanks! Now comes the fun part..figuring out what kind we'll need:roflmao2:

Went to River Valley again last Saturday to buy a helmet. Maybe my expectations of retail are too inflated. Even though there were lots of staff I certainly was never approached once in the store and the staff didn`t even make eye contact or acknowlege my departure from the store.

I bought my bike (Kona Jake the Snake) fromRiver Valley in April and the front brake and front derailleur cables blew in well under a 1000km. Yes I should have checked them myself, but has anyone ever blown the front cables in the same week?

Will I go back? Yes probably, they carry good quality products and I have gotten very good service in the past. Next time I will tape $100 bills to my chest and be more direct in approaching the staff.

As for the helmet, I ordered it from pricepoint.com. Even with exchange shipping and duty I expect it to be less expensive and they shipped within two hours.

pedalhead roadworks is still my fav when I want to drop some cash. If you have a gear question just call them or email them. They have always been very helpful.

Went to River Valley again last Saturday to buy a helmet. Maybe my expectations of retail are too inflated. Even though there were lots of staff I certainly was never approached once in the store and the staff didn`t even make eye contact or acknowlege my departure from the store.

I bought my bike (Kona Jake the Snake) fromRiver Valley in April and the front brake and front derailleur cables blew in well under a 1000km. Yes I should have checked them myself, but has anyone ever blown the front cables in the same week?

Will I go back? Yes probably, they carry good quality products and I have gotten very good service in the past. Next time I will tape $100 bills to my chest and be more direct in approaching the staff.

As for the helmet, I ordered it from pricepoint.com. Even with exchange shipping and duty I expect it to be less expensive and they shipped within two hours.

pedalhead roadworks is still my fav when I want to drop some cash. If you have a gear question just call them or email them. They have always been very helpful.

River Valley is hit and miss; I've had the exact experience you've had, and I've had the complete opposite.

I will be at EBC this coming Monday night which will make for a long day... I have cut back the hours I am volunteering as I am in the process of getting my own little (repair) shop up and running on the north side.

I am hoping that one day, when someone asks about good bike shops in the city my little hole in the wall gets mentioned.

:)

I will be at EBC this coming Monday night which will make for a long day... I have cut back the hours I am volunteering as I am in the process of getting my own little (repair) shop up and running on the north side.

I am hoping that one day, when someone asks about good bike shops in the city my little hole in the wall gets mentioned.

:)

That would be awesome if you had one on the Northside:) I'd be there often

I am working by appointment now and working toward hanging out the shingle so if you need something just pm me.