Category: | Bicycle Store |
Address: | 6828 Olney Laytonsville Rd, Laytonsville, MD 20882, USA |
Phone: | +1 301-963-1273 |
Site: | jrabs.com |
Rating: | 5 |
Working: | 8AM–5PM 8AM–8PM 8AM–5PM 8AM–8PM 8AM–5PM 10AM–4PM Closed |
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Josh Jacobs
Travis and his team are just fantastic! JRABs provides the kind of service that a good shop should but most don’t even approach. It starts when I walk in and I’m greeted by name. They know me, and they know my bikes. They provide great customer service – always very communicative, letting me know what’s going on, where a part is, when a repair is done. But it’s more than that. These guys are on. They treat you right, they fix your ride promptly and they do things the right way. And they’re fair. They don’t immediately go to the high dollar sale and will point out alternatives. And while I’ve always been satisfied by the repairs and how they treat my bikes, I’ve often been pleasantly surprised. Sometimes they do something quickly and inexpensively, rather than writing up a ticket, keeping my bike and charging me for a more expensive repair. Recently, I broke a spoke on a wheel with somewhat unique spokes that are pretty rare. I planned to leave it while they ordered a new spoke and had it delivered. Travis looked up the cost online and it was $200 for a set of spokes. I only needed one, so he called the distributor to see if we could just get one. The right guy wasn’t there, so we had to wait to call back. After a few minutes, Travis asked me to hold on and went into the back room. After some digging, he came back smiling, held up the spoke to the wheel and said “Guess what?” Then, not only did he actually have a spoke, he then replaced the broken one, trued the wheel and gave it back to me. I was riding it that afternoon. And that’s not a unique experience. A day or two later, I returned as my other bike was making noises that made me think my BB or rear hub had an issue. Chris took the bike to the back, checked the bottom bracket and didn’t find anything. He was just about to tell me I’d need to leave it so he had more time when he checked the rear derailleur. He then noticed the pulleys were totally caked up, cleaned them up, lubed the chain and the noise was gone. When I then asked if he could check the headset while I was there, he discovered it was loose and adjusted that, too. Travis and his team have always done right by me and taken great care of my rides. I’m willing to drive 20 minutes more to take my bikes to them than shops closer to me. They’re that good.
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A Private User
My wife and I were in the market for new bicycles. We were doing a great deal of research and decided on the type of bike, being an endurance road bike. Her research led her to wanting to try the Bianchi Infinitivo. After several visits to different stores in DC that carry Bianchi bikes, we found only one on the showroom. The other stores we went to, were not up to par with the brand of the bike, but we were hopeful and kept looking for the right store leading us to Just Riding Along Bicycle Shop. I made a call to JRABS and spoke with Travis. I was trying to get a feel for the shop as it was a fair distance from DC. I asked him about the bike and a few other questions about it in general. After the call, I wrote to my wife and I told her I think we have found the right shop. We drove up that weekend and we were glad we did. My wife’s experience was incredible. Travis and team worked with her on fine tuning the bike and her requirements to put the bike together just the way she wanted it to be. There were some extensive changes to include changing from Ultegra to Chorus and they were more than willing to work with us to get what she wanted, even better yet, she didn’t end up with two gruppos after the change and they were more than fair on the exchange and making the swap. I was on the fence about Bianchi, it was on my list, but I really wanted to see some of the other bikes in the same class, but after her experience, I was moved to purchase a Bianchi from them as well. The service and flexibility in configurations of the bike are second to none in DC. Again their flexibility and quality of service I found hard to beat. We picked up our bikes last weekend. The time that Travis spent with us fitting us on our bikes and just spending time with us about the fit and ensuring our happiness with the set up was amazing. That type of fitting usually comes with a fee from the premier shops in DC. There it is included in the purchase of the bike and seemed to be just a part of the customer experience and cultural of the shop at JRABS. I am very glad that we are new customers of JRABS and cannot begin to spread the word fast enough. I believe it is the best Bianchi dealer in the DC area and it is well worth the trip.
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Andrew Hayes
Its been a little over a month since I took my new Bianchi Infinito home. Ive only waited this long to write a review because I wanted to make sure that my bike fit was on... Thats a poor excuse, but its true. A couple of years ago I crashed my steel XL Boron Bianchi. I had that bicycle for 10 years. I had no road bike after the crash so I threw together a bike with an aluminum frame and components cobbled from that steel Bianchi. I had been saving since then to find a bicycle dealer to replace my crashed Bianchi. You probably can see a theme there. I searched the internet and the closest bicycle shop that sold Bianchi frames was JRABS. I read the reviews and searched the website for a long while. I finally gave Travis a call and set up a fitting. Travis was great. We talked about bicycle frames, components, etc. He was gracious with his time and answered all of my questions. He offered advice when needed and his opinion of some of the components I had thought to go with. Long story short, Travis was right on with everything. The bicycle is way beyond what I had hoped for. It rides great, its stable, Im very comfortable on it. Ive also stopped by JRABS a couple of times and Travis (and his crew) have been awesome answering other questions that came up after riding my new bicycle. Anyone who asks me about my bike hears about JRABS. Travis threw in a cap when I picked up my bicycle (along with water bottles) and I wear that cap every ride. Many thanks Travis and you will always have my business. Now if I could just get my wife to OK another new bike...
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Matt Birnbaum
The Just Riding Along Bicycle Shop is a treasure for bicyclists in the Washington, DC area. Even though I live in Glover Park within Washington, DC, I have no problem in traveling up to Laytonsville to provide my business at this place. The reasons for this are simple: (1) Quality. Travis (the owner) and John (his assistant) are outstanding mechanics. They use high quality products. (2) Reliability. I have had them work on my bike and those of my partner. They have not let us down. They get work done promptly. If they are backed up, they will tell you so and give you an accurate estimate of when the work will get done. That said, these folks work long hours as needed in keeping satisfied customers. (3) Honesty/Integrity. In my experience, there are too many bike shops in the DC region that more than nickel and dime you for repairs and parts. If you are a loyal customer, you basically play Russian Roulette. These shops will either do the work for free or will charge you a slew for basic maintenance stuff. Travis and John at Just Riding Along do not play this game in any way. (3) Cost/Economy. This place is more than a bargain. Its great work at a great price. Note: if accessibility is an issue, they will travel and pick up/return your bike for you. I personally prefer to go to the place myself to show them what is wrong and then to test out the bike after the repairs on the fantastic roads just outside the shop in the Ag Preserve.