City Bikes Adams Morgan

Reviews 4

DA

david ryan

So If you get in a bike accident, dont go here to get your bike fixed. Chuck first thing he did was start to tell me I need a new derailer, my derailer was fine, just need to be cleaned up and oiled. Then he told me to fix the bike it would be $100 for the service and parts would be additional, I said ok. I leave and get a call the next day saying my bike is totaled, has a crack in the front and they are not going to fix it because they would be liable if I got hurt later,He then tells me that Specialized has a lifetime frame warranty and if I have a receipt from when I bought the bike They would get me a new frame. I call the bike Store in College Park Maryland where I bought it 20 years ago and they search their records(yeah they keep paper records so lots of luck I thought. I get a call back a few days later and they tell me that they cant find it, go figure.) So Bob at College Park Bicycles is very helpful and sorry they cant find it and tells me to call Specialized Customer Care and talk to them. I call and they tell me the warranty does not cover collisions, makes sense to me. I call City Bikes back and ask for a manger some young hot shot says Im a manger..and explains to me that oh well our bad sorry about not giving you the right info and wasting my time this week. So I said ok and went in to have a talk with the Manager of the store ( the old skinny guy) he was nice and felt bad about how everything transpired, he said he would take his brake pads off and his derailer and just charge me for the cable. So he wants to give me back my bike without putting my orignal derailer that I told them not to throw away back on. I find this totally unacceptable. First thing they should have checked for on such an old bike before was to see if it had any cracks in the frame because I told them how bad a wreck it was.... Lucky I was wearing my helmet.The otehr guy whos fault it was was in bad shape. With all that experince fixing bikes, the first thing Chuck wanted to do was sell me a derailer when he knew damn well that it just needed a cleaning, I even told him they dont make them like they used to and he agreeded. Always tell them to save your old parts and not to damage them when they are stripping them off the bike. So to make a long story short I am supposed to pick up my bike today and I will post again to see if they put my bike back together to my satisfaction. Hope they have my brake pads and put them back on after they take theirs off and sell them to someone else.They get one star because the old skinny guy felt sorry.

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A

A Private User

Several very displeasing things about this bike shop. First, the service department will try and sell you things you dont need. After hearing the same excuse from them several times "I cant do this without installing this, for your own safety" or "for safety reasons..." we need to sell you this or that unnecessary and overpriced part, I am beginning to think this is their scam. A good one though, making people think you are looking out for them, when you are really just looking out for your bottom line. CityBikes will always take your personal information for their database. I have given them my info several times, but whenever I have a problem, question, or want to return something they suddenly "have no record of me purchasing that here," and so they refuse to help me. The sales staff are generally good, except for one large black dude, who seems to have a smart-assed comment for every question, but never an answer that is very good. He knows little about even basic things like tubes. When I asked about goatheads in town he said "what are those!" When asked about slime for the tubes, he said "that stuff doesnt work." Wrong! Slime does work, and I will never ride without it because that would just be throwing my money away. CityBikes just WANTS you to get a flat so you have to come back and buy more tubes, which are grossly overpriced, and they wont guarantee against manufacturer defects. On the upside, they do have free air for you to use and are generous with their bike boxes if you are moving. They are convenient and have good hours. And the mechs are always willing to sell you a used part from their scrap pile, which is probably the only parts you will be able to afford here.

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A

A Private User

I guess I should preface this by saying this review is specific to their service department. Ive never bought a bike there, so their sales staff might be very pleasant. Head mechanic is, well, a d*ck quite frankly. Ive found from many years of servicing my own bikes that bike mechanics, in general, are an elitist group of people, but this dude (tall, old, long gray hair, goatee) brought it to a whole other level. Ive been there a few times since it is so close to my office, and one day as I was about to ride home, I noticed I had a flat tire. Having forgotten my hand pump, I strolled over to City Bikes to ask if I could quickly use one of their floor pumps to pump up my tire. I had to quite literally battle the old hairy mechanic to let me use one of the pumps. When I asked to use it, he gave me a bunch of crap about how bike shops are supposed to let customers use mechanic tools (uh, its a pump dude. Im not asking to walk into the back of your shop and use a hydraulic headset press or something like that). Then, after I told him I would pump up the tire right in front of him in about 30 seconds, he finally let me use it. As if that wasnt difficult enough, he made me pay $5 afterward. I thought he was joking when he asked me for it, and I couldnt believe the nerve. $5 to use bike shop air. I gave him $3 (all I had in my wallet at the time) and told him not to worry; thats the last time hed be seeing me. Ive said it in other reviews, bike shops in DC suck in general. But if you maintain your own bikes and need a couple questions answered, or are looking for the smallest shred of human compassion, avoid City Bikes at all costs.

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M

m miraglia

If youre already bitter about DC bike shops, this will just reinforce what youd expect: inflated prices, condescending and rude staff, and questionable service. They have a cute shop and cats, so you might want to give them the benefit of the doubt - but dont. Ive had a number of negative experiences here (why do I keep trying?), but my recent couple have confirmed that Ill never go back. 1. I experienced two very hard falls on a cross-country trip that bent my handlebar in. After talking to a few people and researching online, it was confirmed that I needed to replace the handlebar lest it fail on me in the future. I went in and asked them to replace it and the mechanic just jammed it back into place and said it would hold. Great. 2. My partner recently took his bike in for an estimate on some work. Upon receiving an extremely high estimate, he decided to take his bike elsewhere. Before we could pick the bike up, City Bikes performed the work anyway without our consent. After we complained and offered to pay a portion of the cost they forced on us, City Bikes management was rude, defensive, and insisted we pay the entire amount, acting like we were out to con them. Im sure some people have had satisfactory experiences here, but I think it is largely by the luck of who you talk to and Ive lost any trust I previously had for them. BicycleSPACE has served me well in the past and just moved into the neighborhood.

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