General Cycling Discussion - Portland bike shop reviews

Since moving to Portland 2 years ago I've been trying to find the shop I would most like to support with my purchases. Beyond the common and fairly accurate sentiments a lot of us have regarding bike shop employees being elitist snits, it turns out that there are a good handful of shops that do deserve me as a customer. Within these select establishments, I’ve found that different shops are valuable for different needs. For small, general items like lube or light mounting brackets, and also for used parts and general friendly bike chat, I much prefer the co-ops. For higher end products like saddles or cleats, there are some respectable choices of full service shops around. Here's the list from my experience so far here in town, from a combination of service and product. Feel free to add any others you may have experienced.

Favorites:

1. Bike and Hike
Actually only bike now, and no hike, they always seem to have in stock just what I need, and the people there are consistently friendly and laid back. Carry a nice line of bikes including Giant, Kona, and some higher end road bikes to drool over. Never pushy, and always up for just a friendly chat. They will accept my BTA membership card for discounts if I ask.

2. City Bikes Co-op
Extremely laid back people and lots of cool older bikes, I always feel great supporting this co-op. Discounts if you are a member of any food co-op in town.

3. River City
Free espresso. Great line of bikes. One of the fullest selections of accessories in town. Cute biker girl employees. Only thing is they are a bit on the expensive side, especially for clothes. Generally friendly, but can be a bit pushy on the sales end. Their mechanics have always been very helpful, even though it’s usually super busy back there.

4. Community Cycling Center
Much like City Bikes, these are people who are there because they believe in bicycling, and they want to help you get on a bike and enjoy it too. Cool community involvement.

5. Bike Gallery
A nice range of bikes including some gallery deserving high end bikes, and people have always been friendly with me. I don’t think they work on commission, which is cool. I guess there’s no reason for it to not be on the top of the list, other than it’s just not the place I feel like hanging out in. The atmosphere is just kinda stale, hence the name.

6. Sellwood Cycle Repair
Another fine Co-op style shop. Not a huge selection, but cool bike people and some nice used bikes and parts for cheap.


Least favorites:

1. Fat Tire Farm
They have the best selection of downhill and freeride bikes I’ve seen, but they are the epitome of mountain bike snobs. Occasionally I have to take my MTB in there because it’s the only place that has Rocky Mountain parts, but I don’t like giving my money to dudes that treat you like you aren't a mountain biker because you ride a cross country bike. A few of them have been alright with me before, I’ll give them that. They also have some great shop dogs. Oh, and they sponsor some cool MTB festivals like the Kranked 5 premier.

2. Bike Central Co-op
I don’t know if it was just a bad experience in there or what, but it just seemed like I didn’t belong. I got the snob vibe and haven’t returned. Maybe I’ll give it another try.

Missing from your list and worthy of consideration:

North Portland Bikeworks (3951 N Mississippi)
Bicycle Repair Collective (SE Belmont @ 45th)
Veloce Bicycles (SE Hawthorne @ 32nd Pl.)
Coventry Cycle Works (SE Hawthorne @ 20th)
Olson's (Forest Grove)
Bob's Bicycle Center (SE Division @ 110th)
Seven Corners (SE Division @ 21st)
Multnomah Bicycles (SW Capitol Hwy ~ Multnomah Village)

Personally, my favorite for parts, advice and hanging out is CityBikes. I can't tell you how much time I've spent in their back room getting greasy searching through their used parts for one project or another. I try to support all of the coops (CityBikes, Bicycle Repair Collective, Community Cycling Center, North Portland Bike Works and Bike Central). Maybe you didn't like the Bike Central Coop 'cause they have that single speed fixie messenger vibe? I think that's mostly attitude, and once you get beyond the attitude, they're as nice as anyone else...

Most of my recent new bike purchases have been through the Bike Gallery's downtown store. I like the Bike Gallery because they give a lot back to the cycling community in Portland with donations and support for the BTA, etc.

Special stuff: Veloce for being the local Breezer dealer; Olson's for carrying Phat Cycles choppers, Coventry for recumbents.

If your ever on the WA. side of the river check out
Bad Boyz Bicycles in Camas. It is a small one man shop but by far the best service I have ever had and if he doesn't have have a item in stock he will track it down and get it asap. There is a real laid back atmosphere and no pushy sales. Not like some other places in town. Have to agree with you on FTF very DH & FR oriented place but they usally have the MTB parts that other shops don't. But for good prices on MTB parts try Universal cycles by the airport just call first to make sure they have it in stock and put it aside with your name on it. Personally I will never shop at Bobs Bicycle Center again after a few bad experiences there.

For me my first stop is to go to Bike Gallery on Sandy. I guess it is because they are just so darn friendly and helpful there that whenever I have had a problem that they just put the bike up right away and fix it ASAP. Plus, there is this one counter guy that has the best legs....

Next time though I will be heading to a coop like city bikes or north portland bike works. Though I have do go down to River City to drool at some of the bikes, I don't really shop there. They seem to be snooty and if you aren't a racer or have the most expensive bike they sometimes ignore you. There repair area is way too small and they ignore you completely the couple times I tried there.

Now I really want to find a single speed, but I don't want to be a poseur.

The Sandy Bike Gallery totally botched a simple rack installation on the one new bike I bought from them. I ended up having to go back and get the parts they left out and doing the work myself. I have purchased several new bikes from the Downtown Bike Gallery, and used their repair shop, with better success.

I agree with your assessment of River City - they seem to be geared more towards 'car top' recreational cyclists with money to spend on fancy bikes, than towards the average urban cyclist.

Missing from your list and worthy of consideration:

North Portland Bikeworks (3951 N Mississippi)
Bicycle Repair Collective (SE Belmont @ 45th)
Veloce Bicycles (SE Hawthorne @ 32nd Pl.)
Coventry Cycle Works (SE Hawthorne @ 20th)
Olson's (Forest Grove)
Bob's Bicycle Center (SE Division @ 110th)
Seven Corners (SE Division @ 21st)
Multnomah Bicycles (SW Capitol Hwy ~ Multnomah Village)

Personally, my favorite for parts, advice and hanging out is CityBikes. I can't tell you how much time I've spent in their back room getting greasy searching through their used parts for one project or another. I try to support all of the coops (CityBikes, Bicycle Repair Collective, Community Cycling Center, North Portland Bike Works and Bike Central). Maybe you didn't like the Bike Central Coop 'cause they have that single speed fixie messenger vibe? I think that's mostly attitude, and once you get beyond the attitude, they're as nice as anyone else...

Most of my recent new bike purchases have been through the Bike Gallery's downtown store. I like the Bike Gallery because they give a lot back to the cycling community in Portland with donations and support for the BTA, etc.

Special stuff: Veloce for being the local Breezer dealer; Olson's for carrying Phat Cycles choppers, Coventry for recumbents.

Thanks, I guess I did leave a few good ones out. I did like the Veloce, they have some really cool bikes and the guy was super friendly to me. i have heard that N. Portland Bike Works is a great place, but haven't actually been there yet. I'll have to check it out. Bicycle repair collective seems like a good place, but I actually felt a little reverse descrimination there when I brought my mountain bike in there. They were helpful, but seemed to be anti-mountain bike. Again, maybe just a bad day there. Will have to check it out again for road bike parts. Another one I just thought of is Universal cycles on NE 80th. They do a lot of mail order stuff... I haven't been in there but have talked to the guy on the phone and he seems like a great guy and will match almost any price. You get the best of both worlds there- internet prices, but still supporting local business.

I do see what you guys mean about River City, I just think they have great stuff.

I also like to spend money at CityBikes whenever possible (like recent rainpants), but taking bikes there for service is too much of a drive (or ride).

For a recent overhaul of my used Bruce Gordon, I really liked the work and attitude at the Bike Gallery in Beaverton. Good, relaxed service, and good pricing as well. Super-busy shops (like at REI, and other shops), make me worried about over-sights. At Bike Gallery, it seemed like the mechanics really appreiciated the bike (used to sell them), and took their time with the rebuild.

When I bought our last two new bikes (the Trek 6700s), I found that I liked Kissler's Cyclery in Beaverton the best. The pricing at Bike Gallery and River City frightened me off, but the advice and pricing at Kissler's Cyclery was comforting, and my wife and I have both enjoyed the bikes. I've had mine for 18 months, and only now am I appreciating it's higher performance values.

For parts selection, though, I normally aim for Performance in Beaverton (like for a $35 XT rear derailleur I just picked up, marked-down helmets, kid's bikes, and tools, lubes, etc.). I had my front suspension fork replaced by them (after an unfortunate parking garage with bikes on roof incident), and they did a good job. I know it's a chain store, etc., but it's more convient that online buying, and the price is often right.

As for my next bike (one to two years from now), I'd love to order a custom-made Co-motion single through Bike Gallery. S&S coupled, of course. I haven't decided yet between the Expresso or the Nor'wester...

Don't miss the Bike Gallery's Warehouse sale, coming up in the next two months - great deals on loads of stuff; also, the Portland Bike Show should be happening w/in the next two months...

Randya, do you have dates for those events? If not, could you post or IM them when you do? Thanks

Haven't had a lot of experience with the shops in the area, but Weirs in St John's made a good first impression. It's a small shop, so not many frills, but very friendly. The only worker the first time I visited (brake problem) was one of the younger family members, I guess, probably 17 or 18. He helped fidget with it, let me use some of his tools, and gave me a replacement arm. I guess I should've tipped him. Anyway, bottom line is, they are very friendly and they're small enough I'm sure you can get to know the workers well if you were to frequent the place.

Copeland's bike shop - Yeah, I wouldn't classify them with LBS's either, but tubes are cheap there...

I will have to drop by the Bike Gallery someday. Stuff people have been saying about River City just confirms what others have said.

I don't go to POrtland often--if I need something that can't be obtained with out visiting a Big City bike store it's usually Tacoma's Spoke and Sprocket--but I have visited River City a couple of times and not found the snob vibe AT ALL--good friendly people, lots of selection, excellent book and magazine department, too.

The Bike Gallery Warehouse Clearance sale is going to be held March 31 - April 4. It's in a vacant warehouse at 1635 NE Sandy Blvd. See their web site for details:

http://bikegallery.com/site/

Thanks Randya

I've only been to 3 and appreciate the input on the others mentioned above.

I like River City - they are expensive for the little things but I've gotten more than my fair share of free advice from their wrenches. Plus, I got a good fit there. Bike Gallery on Sandy was helpful when I had a Trek specific issue. But the one place I keep finding myself at for accessories and stuff is...gasp!...Performance in Beaverton.

55/Rad

Well, I've got to add that I went to Bike Gallery downtown today, and had a great experience there. I was searching for sunglasses, and both employees that helped me were very friendly and easy going. I think the super nice Spring-like day probably helped every one in town's spirits, but I've got to give props to those folks. I didn't find the glasses I needed, and ended up going down to River City. I was treated really well there, too. The English felow is always in good spirits, and makes me feel welcome. All in all a great day at the bike shops. I did go to a sunglass specific store, Site for Sport Eyes, down on the waterfront. Please don't go there, the lady who owns it treated me like crap and refused to be helpful whatsoever. Makes me have a renewed respect for bike shops. Anyways, I ended up getting the Smith Empire glasses from River City, which seem to be great glasses.

Being fairly new to the Portland area - can somebody explain to me what these co-op shops are? Thanks in advance.

55/Rad

As for Citybikes coop, here's the web site:

http://www.citybikes.coop/info.html

Most of the info. you want is probably listed there. Don't know why it's not easily found on Google.

You can walk to the Annex from River City Cycles.

Veloce Bicycles (SE Hawthorne @ 32nd Pl.) is a great place the ownder really cares and won't push things. plus he has good prices on used high end bikes.
he sure helped me with my seat problem and stem/bar adjustment.
city bikes is not bad but I don't find much I need there. rose city bikes is pretty spendy but you get to see everything. they do have decent customer service but prices can be pretty high. My shop is close to them and bike and hike and city bikes.
conventry bikes is not bad but they seem to be gearing to more recombants now.

well, my info is old as i haven't lived in Portland since 2000...

River City is my favorite.

Bike Gallery is good but i agree with the description here: that they cater more to the "car-top recreational" bikers - i.e. rich couples who want to drop a few grand. as a racer you get less attention and as a utility cyclist even less. but their service is pretty good and they are friendly.

Fat Tire Farm - i like a lot of what they support in the bike scene, but i have to agree that they have an attitude and can be snobby about anything that's not "hip"...

City Bikes is cool although for most mountain bike parts i found them lacking, but for commuting and utility cycling the'yre great. i akes about generator lights for commuting in all the shops (Performance, FTF, River City, Bike Gallery, etc) and all said "oh, that's old technology - you want a hi-tech battery light" -- i already had a 20W Niterider and a 3W Cateye but wanted the RELIABILITY of a generator - and i found a Union generator at City Bikes! and for cheap too!

oh yeah, Performance is also good but for me it was a long ride all the way out west... and i don't like the suburban "shopping center" location

man, i miss stopping off at River City once a week after a ride to "browse" for new stuff...

I've only been living in Portland for ~6 months, but I have to plug Coventry Cycles on Hawthorne. First of all they carry Rivendells which shows they have good taste. I bought my Romulus from them, so part of it may be that I just like the bike so much that it rubs off on the shop. They've always been really helpful, and easy to talk to with no hint of attitude.

I've gotten a few things from River City and there's nothing wrong with the place, but it is a bit impersonal and can get to be quite a zoo on the weekends. It's pretty crazy how many shops there are in this city.

One shop worthy of mention that I haven't yet seen on this list is En Selle, a small, one-man shop in the John's Landing area of SW Portland. It's on Virginia St. Jack is a great guy, super friendly and a great wrench. It's a road-bike only shop. I've bought Campy parts from him and his prices seem to be compatible with mail-order. I had him build up my Eddy Merckx frame and there have been no problems with it whatsoever. He is out at Alpenrose on Thursday evenings in the summer, doing technical support for the trackies. It's worth it to stop in, if for no other reason to drool over the bikes. Last time I was there, he had a Merckx Carbon, built up with Campy Record w/carbon cranks and carbon rims!

Can't say enough about Veloce and Sellwood Cycle Repair too. Both great shops as well. Extremely helpful, quality mechanical work and fair pricing.

I can't stand most of the attitude at River City; their prices are outrageous, their sales staff is only occasionally friendly, mostly non-existent and their mechanics snub you. I asked for merely the mounting hardware to do a "custom" fender installation on my road bike (no fender clearances) and they suggested that I let them do it for $100 labor + cost of the fenders and it would be ready in 6 days. Ridiculous! I said I only needed a few dollars of metal and I could have it finished in time to ride the next day. They wouldn't give me the hardware because it was, "a custom job and we should really do it." Uh, yeah, right, whatever, see ya! I liked perusing their high end bike selection, but I'll never buy one so I'm not really missing anything by never setting foot in there again.

Although nearly as high-priced as River City, I like the sales staff at all of the Bike Gallery stores (they DID provide me the fender hardware after I immediately headed there after River City), and have had great experiences at the Beaverton store, some good at Sandy, but have had a few "mechanic snob" problems at the downtown store. For instance, after being directed to their mechanic by the sales staff, I ask for some help obtaining a replacement wheel (aero, low-spoke count, flashy color to match an existing wheel) and the guy suggests I just buy an Open Pro to match my temporary (one that he built that wouldn't stay true for months until I finally detensioned and started over at home) instead of what I asked for. When I reiterate that the Open Pro is temporary and I really want to match the flash of my existing set, they blow me off. When I attempt the same at the Beaverton store, we ended up ordering a rim they didn't stock and I built my own replacement after they verified I calculated correct spoke length and knew what I was doing. They LISTENED to what I wanted. They didn't even try to talk me out of doing it myself.

Like Gonesh, I also felt like I didn't belong at Bike Central during a recent visit to check into a fixed gear - they were evidently too cool for me.

I find Bike 'N Hike and Kissler's lacking for some reason. . . I'm not really sure why.

I like the prices of Performance and their sales staff/mechanics are unpresumptuous. Since I get no value from a built wheel at the downtown Bike Gallery, I now just buy the pre-built Open Pros at Performance and tension and true them myself for 1/2 the price.

I've also heard great things about Sellwood Cycle from a friend who just purchased a used fixed gear for a great price - and they even swap stuff out and credit you for any components removed if they do a conversion for you. I'll be visiting them myself shortly.

Hey, I was reading your earlier post about Portland bike shops. I just opened a retail shop today. While I've had a mail order business in Portland for 6 years we now have opened a retail location on Water Ave.

You will never get an attitude or the hard sell from us (only if you're nasty, maybe.)

Our address is
BicyclingHub.com Cycling Clothing Outlet
1028 SE Water Ave Suite 140
Portland, OR 97214

If you need directions call us at 503-234-9898

Haven't lived in PDX for a year or so. . .

My personal favorite was always Sellwood -- or as they may prefer to be known"What a bunch of jerks!"

Shopped Performance and Bike Gallery in Beaverton because they were only a block or so apart, so it was easy to compare prices and if one didn't have something, the other did.

I'm suprised though, that no one has mention the Recyclery. They're a good one, many obscure parts and it always seemed to me that they could cobble together a working bike from any combination of parts . . . maybe they're not around any more. . .

http://www.therecyclery.com/

A bike coop is a bunch of guys (and gals) that decide they're going to start a utopian business. Soon, one member of the coop gets tired of doing all of the work and he or she quits throwing the entire operation into a tail spin.

Wow, nice resurrection! Since this post was started over 3 years ago I'd like to add a few more:

Veloshop
Nice little shop downtown, run by a true racer and better yet a friendly vegan. Lots of nice parts and knowledge there. Also actually good prices which is surprising for a smaller shop.

Universal Cycles
They do a lot of internet mail order, so they have one of the largest stock supplies in town. Also as a result they also have some of the best prices in town. Everything from road to mountain bike, to cross.

Seven Corners
I don't go there too much, probably due to location mostly, but every time I have they have been really cool. The Team Beer racing team is out of there too.

And as a re-review I have got plenty of friendly vibes from Bike Central the last few years. They do specialize in track/fixed stuff, so their selection is fairly limited but if you're into that it is a nice place.
Also, Fat Tire Farm is still hit-or-miss. They have a few really good mechanics that are a pleasure to deal with, but sometimes I get some really nasty attitude from the salesmen.

And as a re-review I have got plenty of friendly vibes from Bike Central the last few years. They do specialize in track/fixed stuff, so their selection is fairly limited but if you're into that it is a nice place..I've had really quality experiences there, and I don't even have a track bike or fixed gear. They've always treated me exceptionally well, I could tell the mechanic and I were on the same page, and he's said to be the best mechanic in town, to boot.

Just want to echo votes for Sellwood, Citybikes, and River City. I've boughten bikes at the latter two and lots of parts at Sellwood (plus being anoying asking for advice at all three). I haven't really had awful experiences at any I've been to though. A little snobishness here and there, but notmuch.

Veloce is a cool place to go if you're loking for a higher end road or cross bike, or want something built up for you (so I've heard). They also always have some cool older bikes built up with modern parts. Never low end stuff, not like the good beaters you can find at Community Cycling Center or Citybikes.

I agree with most of these reviews, and suggest you check out few couple more:

Revolver (http://www.revolverbikes.com/) is on N. Interstate. They are the other Breezer dealer in town, but they seem to also do brisk business with Surly. The owner is a really nice guy. I wish I lived closer.

If you are looking for a simpler, non-fancy bike or are perhaps trying to steer a friend away from a Walmart bike, you'd do well to direct them to Seven Corners (http://www.7-corners.com/). Corey sells Surly, Soma, and other fancy stuff, but he also sells Raleigh and Jamis, as well as solid children's bikes. An adult can get a solid-quality, safe bike for $250-400 there. He's also a nice, down-to-earth guy. He's not a big business, but he does what he can for cycling advocacy. If Corey was a Breezer dealer, I'd have bought my bike from him in a heartbeat.

Check out Clever Cycles (http://clevercycles.com/) for Bakfietsen, Dutch bikes, Xtracycles, and Brompton folders. If you think there's very little to upright bike fitting, you'll be proven wrong by a 5 minute conversation with Todd. :) They're also carrying some really neat, obscure commuter gear and cycling clothes that don't look like "cycling clothes". You really want to visit them if you have children. I have never seen such a selection of children's cycling gear - ever.

Most of the bike co-ops and nonprofit shops that sell good, safe used bikes are located in the inner core of the city. Here's one (http://meticonbikes.com/) that's a little further out. I haven't visited Meticon yet, but I know they're connected with the Community Exchange Bike School (http://www.exchangecycletours.org/), so I'm thinking they must be on the up-and-up.

2nd-ing the shout out for the guys at Revolver. Those guys rock. :D