Dandy Bikes

Reviews 3

HO

Holly F

TERRIBLE, FRIGHTENING EXPERIENCE! I drove to Handy Bikes on 5th to meet my boyfriend who was taking his high quality Electra bike to have repaired for the 3rd time. He had taken it to the shady location on High Street to have cleaned and during this visit the repairman had adjusted his gears which was never requested. His gears have never worked the same and his bike makes loud, clanking sounds when switching into certain gears. He uses his bike daily to ride 20 miles back and forth to work. This was his 4th visit to Handy Bikes, so naturally he was expecting it to be resolved because Howie the owner had offered to take a look at the bike himself. This did not happen, the same unqualified mechanic (IMO) tried to "fix" the gears again. I waited outside while my boyfriend took his bike for a test ride with the owner who appeared to be frustrated that we were even there. After my boyfriend took his bike for a test ride, he came back to inform the owner that his gears were still messed up and he was not satisfied. The owner told my boyfriend to take his bike to Trek to have repaired, although Trek does not sell Electra bikes. The owner was cursing and pointing at my boyfriend in a extremely aggressive manner so I decided to get in between them to avoid a conflict. There were moments that I felt scared that the owner wanted to hit/push me by the way he was sneering at me and pushing his body close to mine. As he owner continued to criticize my boyfriends quality bike a mother and her son got out of their SUV with Kansas plates to walk into the store. My boyfriend then stated that he would not waste his money here at which point the owner pushed him while he was on his bike, holding his handle bars, defenseless. Fortunately, my boyfriend was strong enough to withstand his attempt at violence and did not get hurt badly. More importantly, he did not retaliate. It was at this moment we called the police to come to the store on 5th ave to file a police report. I attempted to go into the store to talk to the witnesses but the owner would not let me in and was telling me that no one in the store would side with us. Whats crazy is that the owner continued to walk outside to harass and curse at us while we waited for the police. He made the comment that he knows our name and address which I was immediately worried about his intentions to use the info. He made threats of being a lawyer and that he fixes all the bikes for the police so they would never be on our side. I was able to record a little bit of his ranting on my cell phone, particularly him telling my boyfriend "to prove it , you a$$@ole". As we waited for the police, the mother and son (key witnesses) came out with a brand new bike in less than 15 minutes that they never seemed to test ride. I asked the son if he would give a statement at which point he said that "they would rather not get involved" and proceeded to leave. Fortunately, I have their license plate number and make of car if needed. As our next group of cowardly witnesses left, we decided it was in our best interest to cancel the police dispatch and go because the police may just brush us off. What makes me upset is that my boyfriends bike is still messed up, he was not refunded his money, he was attacked by the owner of this business and quite frankly, I did not feel safe from this man either. We both work in professional, corporate environments and were shocked by the actions of the owner. We bought our Electra Amsterdam bikes at Bike Source where we have had them professionally and properly serviced in the past. I suggest avoiding Handy Bikes unless you are looking for a cheap bike, but be forewarned that the customer service is poor to say the least. AWFUL, SCARY EXPERIENCE!!!!!

BR

Brandon Van Der Heide

Ive purchased 3 bicycles and numerous parts here over the span of over a year now. The older gentleman who runs the shop is a straight shooter who is primarily interested in giving you great service and getting you on the road with a well-tuned bicycle. Last time I was in, he was selling a bike to someone else and was honest that the guy (who was trying to do a trade in on his old bike) that he could probably get at least $150 for that bike on craigslist while hed get less than half of that at his shop. An honest business person, for sure. I think that some of the reviews that claim that the older guy comes off as gruff may be true. Hes not in business to make you like him, but if youre patient with him hell sell you a great bike at a fair price. Dont come here looking for a top of the line, brand-spanking-new, $3000 bicycle. If you want to spend 3 grand on a bike, Im sure you can just go up the street to BikeSource, where theyll treat you great (if you spend a metric butt-load on a bike...if you want a good used bike, theyll treat you like youre from a third-world nation). However, if you just want a quality bicycle (most likely used) to get you around, good service, good advice on parts / accessories / etc, this is an excellent option. If I could, Id give the place 4.5 stars. Both of my bicycles had brake adjustment issues. Im not sure every one of the mechanics who work here are as good as the older guy. The issues required a pretty simple adjustment that I did myself (and Im no master bike mechanic) but they were things I would not have expected to to have been unfixed. So: When you do your test drive, keep an eye on the brake adjustment and if you need things to be readjusted before you buy, just ask.

JO

Joshua Miller

I ended up purchasing the groupon for their basic bike tune up a few months ago for my primary road bike. I had no issues with them except that the squeak from my headset was not corrected during the tune up. I mentioned this to the mechanic, who went ahead and took my bike and took care of the squeak right away. Due to the fact that they had done an alright job on my main road bike, I just recently took my backup bike in for this same basic bike tuneup. Today I got a call from the mechanic saying that the front wheel needed to be trued, which would cost me another $20. I mentioned to the mechanic that the last time I brought a bike in on the tune up, the mechanic trued my wheels under the cost of the groupon that I paid for. He mentioned that this should not have been done as they should have charged me more for it. I ended up calling Paradise Garage to find out how much they would charge for truing the front wheel, and mentioned that it would be anywhere from $12 to $18, depending on how bad it was. I called Handy Bikes back, asking if they would match pricing. They mentioned that the best they could do was the $18 that PG would charge if it was in very bad condition. This is the last time I do business with Handy Bikes. For one, the bikes they sell are junk, and they have the worst selection of accessories and other cycling equipment out of any shop Ive been to in Columbus. Id much rather pay PG $70 for a full tune up than Handy Bikes $25 for a hack job of a tune up in the future. They will not be getting any more of my money in the future.