River City Bicycles

Category:	Bicycle Store
Address:	706 SE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Portland, OR 97214, USA
Phone:	+1 503-233-5973
Site:	rivercitybicycles.com
Rating:	4.3
Working:	10AM–7PM 10AM–7PM 10AM–7PM 10AM–7PM 10AM–7PM 10AM–5PM 12–5PM

Location

Photos 79

Reviews 7

Miriamo Coffeebean

I bought my bike there last year and have been very happy with it. I made an appointment 3.5 weeks in advance recently to bring my bike in for a tune up in preparation for a long touring trip I will be taking in August. I took it in on the Monday the 8th of June for my 9th of June appointment. We went over my bike, made a work order and I added a few things to what I wanted done including a front bike rack for panniers. Apparently the rack was not on site so they needed to order it. But, the bike would be ready by Thursday with or without the rack. I called on Friday wondering about my bike and it had yet to be touched. It was explained to me that the filing system had my bike in the "needing parts-on order" file so the repairs were waiting on a rack. I picked up my bike because I needed it to commute but was assured I would receive a call when the rack came in. It is now the 29th of June and I have yet to receive a phone call about my rack. I am not sure what the hang up is but as I have not paid for the rack, I plan to go elsewhere, at any number of stores around Portland. I just dont quite understand scheduling a tune up and not having it done because the bike doesnt have a rack and ordering a rack and never getting it in? Very strange customer service...thankfully there are plenty of options in Portland to meet my cycling needs.

A Private User

Im a cycling newbie and have had less than pleasant experiences recently at various bike shops dealing with clerks who assume that I dont know ANYTHING (I dont know much, but Ive done a little research) and act like they really dont want to deal with me. After listening to my purpose for buying a bike, invariably Im led to one bike with little explanation and then basically abandoned. I was beginning to think that this was just the way of bike shops, but fortunately this wasnt the case at River City Bicycles. Its a busy place, but someone made sure to ask if I needed help within a moment of coming in. I was given room to look around when I asked for it, and when I did finally request help, the guy was very knowledgeable, attentive, and showed much patience and friendliness in the face of my stupid newbie questions. He gave me a few options, explained the advantages, differences of each, and I appreciated the opportunity to take a few test rides. Will see how future service on my new bike goes, but I feel really good about my experience today! Prices seemed comparable to the other shops Id visited recently.

A Private User

I have been purchasing bicycles and parts here for at least 15 years. Complete bikes at great prices is really what they do best, though lately I have been building a couple bikes and the service staff has been very helpful in picking out components and tools. I do feel however that they do not always sell components at the best prices, and a salesman tried to sell me a component at a substantially higher price than quoted on the phone until I mentioned the price I was quoted. Perhaps they do a lot of business and feel no pressure to be competitive regarding component prices. For those of you looking for the best priced components, I would suggest a retail warehouse in N.W. Portland ( I feel it rude to mention their name here) with very good prices on components and a great website. As for the service department guys, they do seem helpful and very knowledgeable, but sometimes lazy. Bottom line: This is where to buy a complete bike, get excellent advice, but ask for a completive price before buying any accessory or components. All around they are still my favorite bike shop in Portland.

Cameron Simmons

The sales specialist at River City who I dealt with (Matt) was incredibly professional, helpful and patient. He was very knowledgeable in helping me make a great decision on a bike and was not pushing a sale at all but seemed genuinely interested in facilitating a pleasant experience at the store. Im a passionate mountain biker but not a bike guru and no one there was condescending. Customer Service was excellent, selection is excellent. My only recommendation is to CHECK PRICES ONLINE before you buy here as many of the accessories I bought for my new bike were initially overpriced. However, River City was very good about price matching. Examples: Crank Brothers Candy 3 pedals I found online for $85 on sale at performance bicycles(with a very quick search) and at River City they were listed at $125 but agreed to drop the price to $95 (could not do less than that). Every other accessory I bought they were willing to price match the lowest price I could find online. So bring your smart phone to the store and make sure you arent overpaying.

Daniel Miles

Two problems: (1) It took me six weeks to buy a bike. I called three times on the phone and asked them to order it. Each time whoever I spoke with said hed done it and each successive time, I learned that he hadnt. Finally I went to the shop, paid a deposit and stood at the counter while the employee ordered the bike. (2) The service department never does what I ask them to do. I just took it in because the head-set is grinding and I think its pitted. One of the service guys played with it for a minute, said he thought it was OK and then I asked him to hold on to it and take it apart to be sure. I got a call three days later from Michael who hed ridden it and it felt fine. I asked if hed taken it apart and he said he hadnt. I asked if he would please do that and he said hed call me when it was done. I understand that theyre the mechanics and Im not, and they may well be right that the work doesnt need to be done, but its my dime and I just want the service I ask for.

Brian J Ferry

I cant say enough good things about these guys. First of all, Im a downhill mountain-biker who stumbled into these guys shop when I first moved to Portland needing my Santa Cruz Bullit worked on. Theyve pretty much (them and Universal Cycles a little, also an awesome shop) maintained the bike for me over the last two years of hard DH riding (Whistler, Blackrock, Bend, Sandy, etc). The other day I took my bike in because a Sram X-9 shifter I had bought from them a month earlier was broken internally. Within 45 seconds of being in the store, one of the mechanics had the shifter off the bike and was starting to fix it (some spring had broke), because I told him I was really hoping to ride that day. They didnt even charge me. I thought that was an awesome gesture of good faith; most shops would have made me deal with Sram. Not River City. They straight up warrantied another companys part!

Paul Dixon

A lot of people have great things to say about River City..... Ive repeatedly tried them (for shoes, for a service, to buy a bike) and on all 3 occasions Ive came back less than impressed. I find the staff aloof and to be honest, not extremely knowledgeable (for my SIDI shoe purchase the girl didnt know about the Mega wide fitting). Their facilities arent up to much either - sure they have that riding track upstairs for size fitments, but you cant take a mountain bike out on a test ride (other than round the block). To be honest - I think thats the difference. As a road bike shop I think theyre probably great (70% of the bikes available are road bikes). Whilst they do have mountain bikes from Cannondale, Specialized, Fisher, Ibis - they just dont seem to have the knowledge behind them that youd get at Fat Tire Farm or Bike Gallery. I doubt Ill be back.