Grove Street Bicycles

Reviews 3

AN

anthony wills

Ive heard lots of mixed reviews about grove street but I ignorantly believed that this charming little store on grove street couldnt be that bad. Lots of reviews say that theyre over priced so I was surprised when I found what I thought was an "affordable" lock and pedals. What they turned out to be was cheap. The lock rusted every time it was in the rain and I eventually had to cut it off after it became so rusted it wouldnt unlock. But I chalked it up to you get what you pay for. Then I had bicycle tragedy I came out to find someone had tried to steal my bike. They cracked the casing on my bike lock (luckily I had a good lock now) and both tires were flat. I only had one spare inner tube and couldnt find patches so I fixed one wheel and after fixing it noticed the tire was slashed I looked to see if the other was but couldnt tell when it was flat and didnt bother with taking it off to inspect it closely. I took it to the grove street and asked them to fix it. They put in a new inner tube. I walked my bike home and the next day it was flat again. It had a slow leak so I returned to grove street. For some reason it took the longest time for them to replace the inner tube. As I was waiting I spoke to another costumer who had a flat fixed, road the bike home and the tire was flat again. This time he insisted that they check the tire and bright as day was a tiny screw sticking out of it. Now it is possible that he re punctured his tire but it made me wonder if perhaps they just didnt inspect the tire. When my tire was finally done I was told that it had a pinch flat from wear on the inner tube that I had bought barely 24hrs earlier. I insisted that theres no way it could be from normal wear I had only walked my bike home once. As we were talking we both noticed a slash in the tire. I then came to the realization that the tire was slashed and over filling the tire made the slash cause the slow leak. I assumed they would replace the inner tube since the reason I got a flat was that they failed to inspect the tire.I was then told that the tire couldnt have been slashed when they first fixed it and that it must have been slashed after (although the 2nd inner tube was not slashed) Because of this they had to charge me for the 2nd inner tube since it was not their fault. I can almost forgive human error but the fact that they refuse to acknowledge their mistake and instead swear that an impossible feat took place is ridiculous. I was later told that that employee was no longer working there. However I was never given an apology or refund nor was the person who initially fixed my flat without checking the tire reprimanded (as far as I know) Grove street at one time had a monopoly on jersey city bike service so there was no other choice however theres james Vincent Bicycles (which I recommend) and jersey cycles and until grove street gets its act together I suggest you shop around!!

A

A Private User

Brought my bike to Grove Street Bicycles to have a few spokes and a flat repaired. Left it on a Wednesday and was told it would "probably be done by Thursday, but well say Friday just in case." Thursday rolls around, no call from GSB. Friday I call late afternoon. Mike, one of the owners, tells me he "cant find" my bike and that he needs to look for it and call me back. OK, then. Not a very good start to a relationship with your new customer. He calls back in a few minutes to tell me that he found it and theyll "start it in a little while." Remember folks, its just a flat and a couple spokes and I had left it there TWO DAYS earlier. Would they have even started it if I hadnt called? My crappy Walmart bike is obviously not a priority. I go later that day to pick up my bike. $20 later, I ride away, happy to have my bike back, flat and spokes fixed. Literally 5 minutes after I left the store, the same tire blows out. I bring it back and they insist I ran over something and tell me I need to pay again to have it fixed. Fine. Ill believe you. The problem is, however, when I got home and told a neighbor, she told me that the EXACT same thing happened to her just the week before; the tire that she had fixed at Grove Street Bicycles blew out within an hour of leaving the store. You be the judge, but I wonder how many others this "coincidence" happened to. They could easily set someone up for this by over-inflating their tires, especially when they know you are not comfortable fixing it yourself and that youll most likely bring it right back to them. The owners want you to think theyre here to "bring biking to the community," but obviously their priority is making money. As a beginning biker I felt taken advantage of in this store and dont think the self-described "high-end bike shop" is for me or for anyone who is just getting into the hobby. Since this experience, Ive gone to both James Vincent Bicycles locations (JC Heights and North Bergen) and was EXTREMELY pleased at the their kindness, on-the-spot- repairs and value. I highly recommend skipping Grove Street Bikes in favor of James Vincent. I also highly recommend learning how to change your own flats so you dont end up with people taking advantage of you in the first place. In all fairness, GSB says they offer a free flat fixing class which is something everyone should take advantage of and a great reason to visit them. What Grove Street Bikes nickel & dimed me for this time, though, they have lost from me ten-fold in the future.

JI

Jim W

I dont write bad reviews. I give uber drivers 5 stars even when they are terrible because I dont want to hurt their ability to earn an income but sometimes you have to let people know what you experience so they think hard before they spend their hard earned dollars on disappointment. I went to Grove Street because I had seen their ads and they seem like a good bike shop. When I arrived the staff were friendly and their pricing appeared transparent and fair. I have an old Specialized A1. Its a good bike but it isnt worth a ton. I ride when I can and I take the sport as seriously as I can with a limited budget. I care about the fit of my bike and put effort into getting it right. I had problems with my shifters so I took it in for a tune up. It started out as a $75.00 service pack 2 and after nearly two weeks of waiting and several phone calls I found myself agreeing to new shifters plus the service pack for approximately $275.00. That is a lot, especially considering my bike would sell for less than $500 dollars online. But I made the choice to invest in the bike because I figured it would be worth it. Time will tell. I rushed over to Grove street when I got the call that my bike was done. I paid for the service and was on my way. I made it less than a block when I realized that I could not shift through all the gears. Disappointed, I returned, and explained the problem. The friendly staff got to work and made adjustments for about half an hour. I sat, waited, and watched. All the while wondering what else they did not do or did poorly. The bike mechanic handed me my bike and I was on my way. I couldnt help but notice my bike still felt off. I quickly realized that my seat was way off, it had been raised significantly. Why?! Why would anyone raise the seat on a road bike knowing how important fit is and how hard riders work to get it right. I now have to tweak the bike and make adjustments to get it back where I need it. Im disappointed, Im not confident in the work, and I dont feel like much attention was paid.