Bellingham - Recommend Bicycle Repair Shop?

[sean000]

I recently moved to Bellingham and I was wondering if anyone can recommend a good shop for an overhaul. I have a couple of really nice bikes in need of complete overhauls (one is my old lugged steel racing bike from the 80s). I'm good at keeping up with regular maintance and repairs myself... but I don't have the time, the tools, or the experience to do a complete overhaul.

The big shops seem to be Fairhaven Bike & Sport, Kulshan, and Jack's; but I don't know which place would be the best for wrenching and custom builds. Specific names would be great too... I want the best mechanic at the best shop!

Thanks!

[Corcis]

Jack's is the only one to avoid, from what I gather. I've been to Kulshan (bought my road bike there), Fanatik (a wheel, some tires, shoes and pedals) and Fairhaven (just got back from). Of them all, I'd give my props to Fairhaven for customer service. The owner just helped me price out and build an Xtracycle and the mechanic who built it was just as helpful at suggesting a couple unknown things. If you need all-mountain or downhill gear, Drop'n Zone on N State St is the only place I know of (but I haven't been to).

I guess for an 80s steel racing bike, I would avoid Fanatik (not to discredit them, but they are in the mountain side of things moreso than road). Steve at Fairhaven just put together my Xtracycle/Surly Instigator and it is great.

[ngateguy]

I 2nd Fairhaven I have dropped in there for ride day repairs and have never been disappointed.

[MillCreek]

Another vote for Fairhaven.

[sean000]

Fairhaven Bike & Ski happens to be the closest shop to my house, so I'll give them a try. Another friend recommended Kulshan, but only as a retailer. He has never had a repair done there.

Sean

[TommyL]

I've tried them all, and I can tell you that Fanatik Bike on State Street is almost always the cheapest. They may not have great customer service, and you may need to hunt somebody down and tell them what you need, but as long as you're not the clueless person who drops of their bike at REI and pays $100 to have it "tuned," it can be the way to go. I've had several experiences of shopping around for parts or service when Fanatik easily best out Kulshan and Fairhaven. If you can sacrfice the friendly salesperson there to greet you at the door, Fanatik is my reccomendation.

[TommyL]

I should have read the OP more carefully. I read the title and just got excited. I'm not sure Fanaik is the best mechanic at the best shop. I use them because they're the "get it done for the least cash" mechanics.

[sean000]

Thanks again for all the replies.

The more I think about it, the more I'm probably going to just do most of the work myself. I think my main bike can go a bit longer without headset or BB servicing, and I should be able to do the rest myself. We recently moved and are still unpacking, so I've just been a little crazy and short on time. The old racing bike definitely needs the headset replaced and the bottom bracket serviced or replaced... so maybe I'll take that one in to Fairhaven and see what they say. It's the closest bike shop to my house, so it would be good to get to know them.

Sean

Now if I could only find a couple of good used mountain bikes for my wife and me. I used to be quite the mountain biker, and had a high-end hardtail. When I lived in Washington, DC you couldn't mountain bike on unpaved trails. You had to drive your mountain bike out into Virginia or Maryland to go mountain biking, but I didn't have a car. So it has been 10 years since I last rode on real singletrack. Now I'm just itching to explore Galbraith and some of the other area trails. I can ride some trails on my Atlantis, but with the road tires and all it just isn't ideal. I wish I could get another hardtail with XT/XTR and a nice set of wheels, but unless I can find what I want used I'm going to have to be more budget-minded.

[Corcis]

If you're looking to do it yourself, there's The Hub/Bike Cooperative/Pedal Project off of North State St south of Holly. It's on the right-hand side and has weird hours and a website that's never update, but you can check them out if you're short on tools to DIY - I think you can pay a fee to borrow tools/workspace.

There's also the WWU Outdoor Center (at the bottom of the Viking Union, on Garden St) where students can do bike maintenance for a two dollar fee. I'm not sure if they let anyone do it and they may not have a headset press and facing tool, but it's worth a shot.

Another thing to note about Fairhaven: 5% of what you spend there comes back to you in the form of a gift certificate at some point in the year. (It is a specific month, but I forget which.)

[Mark Turner]

The Hub is a good place. I picked up some decent used parts for my old bike there earlier this spring. It's $5/hour for non-members to rent work space with pretty complete tools. They also have used bikes for sale. Worth checking out. Hours are posted on the door.

[sean000]

Thanks for the tip... I love the Hub's bicycle garden! I pass by it all the time, and I rode in the Alleycat scavenger hunt they hosted back in February. I forgot that they let you rent space and tools. I might give that a try if I get stuck on something.

[Corcis]

Thanks for the tip... I love the Hub's bicycle garden! I pass by it all the time, and I rode in the Alleycat scavenger hunt they hosted back in February. I forgot that they let you rent space and tools. I might give that a try if I get stuck on something.

How was the scavenger hunt? I didn't get to go - was out of town for a wedding. I hope they hold another one when I'm not busy.

[sean000]

How was the scavenger hunt? I didn't get to go - was out of town for a wedding. I hope they hold another one when I'm not busy.

They are planning to do more this Spring and Summer. The turnout was much greater than expected, so it was a huge success. It was cool that there were a lot of casual cyclists (even families) as well as the more hardcore variety. Definitely some nice bikes to look at. Some people were competitive about it, but most just had fun cruising around and completing the tasks. We didn't even get to a few of the tasks, because we got delayed at the Casa Que Pasa stop (beer and tequila were involved). The route was great... the tasks and items to collect took us up Eldridge to Carl Lobe Park, over to Cornwall Park, downtown, up to WWU, then down to Boulevard Park and back to the Hub. There was an after-party at the Hub too.

I'm looking forward to the next one.

Sean