Good bicycle shop / mechanic in the GTA.
 

My wife has a friend who is looking to buy a Raleigh 3 speed and is looking for a shop or a competent mechanic that will welcome her and not try and sell her a different bicycle.

She also has some profound health issues and not a lot of money to spare.

I was thinking that Bike Pirates might be a good place...

Sorry for the late reply but if Bike Pirates doesn't work out, try Urbane Cycles on John Street. They cater to the everyday cyclist and it is a workers cooperative if that helps sway your decision.

Hoop Driver also apparently deals in practical city bikes like 3-speeds.

Would highly recommend the mechanic at bike depot. Friendly, knowledgeable and very experienced.

Kijiji has lots of Raleighs. Prices are very low at this time of year.

I've had good luck at Urbane, but they're currently closed and moving to College/Spadina from John St. I also have had good luck with Gears. The only one I wasn't super happy with was Duke's, but it might have been a one off.

Hey there 65'er. Not sure if this helps but here is some experience I had with bike pirates. Was at a MECfest (MEC.ca) which involved a lot of other bike shops offering free tuneups at thier make shift canopy stalls. Went for a look over tune up and was directed to a free stall which happened to a Bike Pirate stall. The guy there seemed to help a bit but also wanted you to work on the bike as well. AFAIK from some chat with other bike users Bike Pirates is not a place that will do all the work for you. You have to come in and be prepared to meet them half way and get your hands dirty. They will help you about half way AFAIK.Never been to thier DIY shop but that is just some of my chats with others and my personal experience from the outdoor event.

The guy Tom that worked on my bike was IIRC a wrench at Cyclepath (forgot which location) locally when I was talking to him. Now the guy never worked on the newer V brakes from 1998ish as I recall him looking at it a bit while working on it. Not to say all the Bike Pirate members are pre-1998 knowledge.

Been to Urbane Cycle before. Friendly people at the time I was there. Just went in for some info on locks and a peek at thier mechanic dept and people seems relaxed and not pressuring you to buy while looking at stuff. Heck I was there like last 10-20mins too which most times stores would be pressuring you to buy or get out but they were chill there. As Blakcloud mentioned Urbane is a co-op as well as dealing with the average Joe/Jane so probably why there are more relaxed knowing not all the time people are buying or have the money for a full fix and want just 'quick fix'.

Hope that helps