Hermespan

Shopping for bicycle parts recently I was shocked by the bad vibes at several GVRD shops. Short story - some of the businesses have unhappy players (both management and staff). And this seems to be unique to bike shops. I do not notice it in other small retail shops here. It's really stressful. Why I don't know. It wasn't this way in Hanoi or Bangkok. Is it this way in USA right now? Maybe it has its origin in economic troubles, or because of fear (two bicyclists shot recently). Or because selling bike parts is labour intensive and employees and managers both feel they are being taken advantage of? Examples from Vancouver area...

My ratings are very subjective.

Caps New West: 4/5 good vibe, prices 2/5, service 3/5, stock 3/5. Proprietor is founder's son. He is full of knowledge and helpful. Large selection. Mechanic seemed like he was happy in his job. Hands-on manager who deals directly with customers. Nothing weird about staff. Very good parking. Native speaker staff. My only disappointments are shop location is a bit inconvenient for me (on Colombia Street near BOORMAN'S ARCHERY, another institution, prices are not the best. Plus the part I wanted had to be ordered, which I did so. But I got a duplicate, an identical much cheaper and in stock at JV - where I loath the proprietor. How can you win? Why did I even buy *anything* at Caps New West? The boss kindly called around to find me someone who would do custom work on a seat post. So, I felt obligated to spend some money in his store lest I be a time-waster. Do I want to go back? Maybe.

Second time in (after tire came in) I non-judgmentally told him about the same tire was so much cheaper at a competitor. He installed it free. But it's rubbing on brake now! Clearly I have to do a test run after any work at a bike shop before I leave the area.

Caps Westwood: 3.5/5 good vibes, prices 2/5, service 2.5/5, stock 3.5/5. My neighbourhood bike shop. Largest space, let me open packages and try stuf, nice staff. Customers have strong opinions on which branch of this established family business they prefer. Unfortunately they won't ship between stores. Do I want to go back? Yes.

Reckless,Vancouver: 3/5 good vibe, prices 3/5, service 2/5, stock 3/5. Despite multiple staff when I went in early evening it was very busy. People lined up. Mix of immigrant and local staff (as at JV). Very cramped store like in Taiwan. A bit tense in the air but no vibe of if the lights went out they would murder their boss and the world would be a better place for it. Someone already tried that here. A disgruntled employee was engaged in a *** battle with police a few months ago after trying to do so. Do I want to go back? No.

JV Bikes: 1/5 good vibe, prices 3.5/5, service 2/5, stock 4/5. They had what I wanted and at a reasonable price (one item was 30% cheaper than Caps, and they had it in stock). But the vibe was *horrible*. The senior staff at the bike shop side are both arrogant and unfriendly like Starbucks waiters. But at the repair shop side I was even more appalled. It appeared that the multiple mechanics are afraid of their rather rude Bulgarian (?) boss. The air was so tense. Fenando was very agreeable and did his best to help me but the boss was so verbally insulting and condescending to to his staff, I couldn't wait to get out of there. Do I want to go back? If I absolutely have to, and I probably will have to for my folding bike. I will keep looking for another Vancouver area who specializes in folding bikes.

Mountain Equipment Co-op: 5/5 good vibes, prices 5/5, service 4/5, stock 2/5. Very good value for parts, accessories and maintenance. Maybe prices *aren't* any cheaper but the fact that prices are posted impressed me. Knowledgeable staff and low cost intro bike courses. Not crowded. Do I want to go back? Yes, but it is unlikely they will have the niche market folding bike parts I need. Sense of community.

Walmart: 4/5 good vibes, prices 5/5, service 1/5, stock 1/5. I expected this hypermart to have disgruntled employees based on the way journalists talk about then. To my surprise the opposite is true - while staff usually know nothing about the products they sell, they are pleasant - if you can find anyone outside of electronics. Mostly low quality accessories but ocassionally I will find something where I say to myself, 'Wow , why should I pay three times the price at a bike shop, I can get a functional alternative here.' Do I want to go back? Maybe, if I am in the store shopping for other things already. Otherwise, this is NOT a destination

So, in conclusion I will go to one store for service, another for folding bike stuff and another because I like the female cashier. I don't like shopping and until there is a superstore for cyclists started I will try ordering online and therefore I will be another nail in the coffin of mom n' pop bike shops.

timvan_78

I've had the same problems, and don't think it has anything to do with fear. I think I have figured out the best places to go to avoid that kind of attitude/environment. I've had consistently good experience (environment-wise) at:
Dunbar Cycles and Bike Doctor (both near MEC, and more knowleadgeable).
MEC
Dizzy
Ride On (bmx)
Mighty Riders (only been in there 2x)
Reckless (the one on pine/3rd, not the one in yaletown where you went).

Then there are the co-ops: the hours are hit/miss due to their business model (non profit!!)
Bike Kitchen at UBC and Our Community Bikes at Main/16th. They won't have what you need in stock and they might not have niche (folder) expertise, but good people!

You should probably just go to Bike Dr.

auslo

I've had terrible experiences with mighty riders and MEC.

MEC didn't assemble my bike very well....everything was loose including the brake calipers, the bottom bracket was ungreased, just in general they did a **** job. I had to get another bike fit cause MEC gave me patellofemoral pain syndrome from their fit. Thanks MEC!

mighty riders are unbelievably ******y and try to rip you off. Over $2000 for an aluminum bike with 105, ya ****ing right! They also booked me for a bike fit without me asking for one, called me the next day saying I owe them for a session simply because I was curious about their store and walked in.

La bicicletta are very kind and knowledgable but everything there is so overpriced. 5k for ultegra bikes, again, ya ****ing right! I look forward to having their mechanics work on my bike though, to fix MECs disastrous assembly of it. The mechanics there seem top notch.

Bikes For All does consistently good work on my bikes.

Denman bike shop on 10th and main also do great work, great bunch of employees there.

bike doctor is also great and they seem to be the most well known aside from MEC

ive been to caps in new west once, they are helpful and friendly.


Overall Vancouver has great bike shops and coops, just expect some outrageous prices at a lot of them like mentioned above.

cvskates

I've had MEC work on my bikes lots and always had great service. They've become my go to bike store. Been into the Broadyway store probably 2 dozen times over the last couple years and never had a bad experience. Ordering from their website is great, too.

I've been in and out of most of the Vancouver bike stores, and the only place I've ever had a negative experience in Vancouver is Speed Theory. Maybe I got the exployee who was having a bad day, but I won't be back. Never run into someone who was less interested in selling me a bike.

elmore leonard

Taxes and rents are very high in Vancouver so prices are probably reflecting a little of these higher costs.
I find if you treat people right they usually respond in a positive manner. I have never had a bad experience at any of our local bike shops. if prices seem too high, and you do not need the bike shop service, there is always Amazon.ca were you get to talk to a computer that always responds with "what is your credit card number." It is also time consuming for returns and delivery.

timvan_78

dizzy is out of business.

Dave Cutter

Here in the American Midwest the guys and gals at the Local Bicycle Shops seem to all smiles and very cheery. Of course... some reek of the smell or burning weed too.

Don't worry about on-line sales being the death nail for LBS's. Existing cyclist can't fix the problem's of LBS's. They need growth and/or turn-over. Hopefully someone in the industry will find a dependable business model for bicycle shops.

I know the local nation chain (Performance) offers classes on bike repair, group rides on weekends, and even free spin classes right in the store.

Quickbeams

I haven't ridden a bike for a very long time, and just within the last few weeks started thinking about buying one. It's just been in the last couple of days that I actually got out to a few bike stores to "kick some tires" and take some test rides. I actually bought a bike today.

So while I'm not very experienced, I have to say that my shopping experience was nothing short of fantastic. I went to MEC (both in North Vancouver and Vancouver), the Giant Bike store on 4th Avenue, the Reckless Bike Shop on Fir Street, Cove Bikes in North Vancouver and finally bought from "Different Bikes" on Main Street in North Vancouver.

I didn't have a bad experience at any of them, but I will rate how I felt each one dealt with me. I didn't spend a lot of time at either MEC, but what I did find is that it was difficult to get service. Not sure why it took me so long to get service in North Vancouver when I went as it was not that busy, but when I went to MEC in Vancouver it was crazy busy so that is most likely why it took some time at that location. At each location though, when I did finally get a salesperson to help me they were knowledgeable and courteous.

The Giant Bike store was great. Very helpful and very knowledgeable.

The Reckless Bike shop was busy when I went in, but again the salespeople were courteous and went out of their way to help me.

I spent very little time at Cove Bikes in North Vancouver so I really can't say much either way about them. I have a friend who just put a down payment on a bike with them and so far he is very satisfied.

And today I bought my bike from Different Bikes in North Vancouver. They were great.

In fact the entire experience was great. I really didn't feel pressured at any of the shops and at both Giant Bikes and the Different Bike shop, I asked about a higher end model than I was originally looking at and in each case they told me they didn't think I needed it. In fact, at the end of the day today, I shook the fellows hand at the Different Bike shop and told him how much I appreciated the entire shopping experience and how I appreciated his honesty and not trying to "up sell me".

I'm not really sure what I expected when I started looking for a bike. I guess I expected the traditional used car kind of experience where you always have to be wary of being taken advantage of. I just never got that feeling at all while shopping for a bike. I really was very pleasantly surprised with how the entire process went.

Dan515

The Bike Dr on West Broadway is great. I've consistently had very informative feedback from the staff based on what I was looking for, and they even gave me tips on how to DIY if I wanted to get my own parts.

I've been to many other bike shops that would barely give you the time of day if you weren't there to buy a bike. Even then, they would often just rattle off the marketing pamphlet info. I remember years ago when I was considering turning my old mountain bike into a singlespeed, and the salesperson in the shop I went into (won't name which one) tried to sell me a completely new bike, even after I told him that I didn't want one. He didn't even offer a new hub & wheelset or whatever.

timvan_78

Name names!! Come on!

Tusky

Ace Cycles @ 3155 W Broadway. They have been there for over 50 years.

elmore leonard

In Greater Vancouver there are several "Cap's Cycles" which have been in business for over 80 years, great people to do business with, and they have a fantastic bicycle museum in their New Westminster Store. Well worth seeing.

Roadieonthetrac

Surprised you didn't mention two key stores in Vancouver. La Bicicletta on Broadway and Speed Theory on 4th Avenue. I have in the past 7 years purchased probably a total of 15 bikes between the two of them. Every shop and not only these will have at least one roadie type with a bad attitude, yet for the most part, they're not even an elite rider, just an attitude.

At the end of the day though, I put aside some of the issues, and get what I need. The vibe at La Bicicletta has changed, and I'm not sure for the better, so feel less inclined to go there. Speed Theory ownership recently changed, I got along really well with the previous owner., and their fit guy, Tom is the best there is here. I like the new Manager at Speed Theory now too, so good in that respect. They know me well there, so get good service. Many of the bike stores will have to up their game, as MEC is aggressive in bikes now, and Velofix take care of much of the maintenance work.

Having said all of the above, bike shops need to make HUGE changes in their customer service approach. HUGE.

tramptrade 

I am in White Rock and I really like Peninsula Cycles. Friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. They have become my go-to shop in this area.

By contrast, my one and only visit to South Surrey Cycles left me feeling very annoyed and completely dissatisfied after a single visit. I doubt I will ever go back. Condescending, rude, and completely unhelpful.

The 2 shops are just a couple blocks apart in distance, but miles apart in customer service.

Kaaate

Sidesaddle at Broadway and Victoria is a great shop with a focus on female bodied cyclists.

Bikes on the Drive is also a favourite shop of mine. They're across from Grandview park on commercial drive.

wunderkind

For products it's hard to beat MEC. Unless you want something really $pecific.
No problems with services although I am a DIY person. I avoid the Broadway location because it is so busy. Sometimes feels like the a busy McDondald's! Line-ups.... smells. Haha!
The new North Shore and Langley locations are wonderful. Good friendly staff, feels civilised and clean. Not crowded like Broadway. I drop by from time to time whenever I visit my parents who lives in Langley.

Caps franchises are ok. I've been to the one in Coquitlam and Maple Ridge.

Pitt Cycles in Pitt Meadows is a good place to go if you live in that area. Clean. Organized. Friendly owner. Price seems fair. I try to support LBS. But it is tough to beat MEC these days.