Pro Bike + Run East End

Reviews 3

ST

Steve Janofsky

Ive had numerous experiences with Pro Bikes over my years in Pittsburgh - some have been decent, others have been pretty terrible. To their credit, the mechanics have been helpful and responsive - they have been great with small parts and advice when Im in a pinch, but otherwise Ive been disappointed. Most recently I called looking for a part for a damaged component. The person I spoke with told me they would do some research and call me back. I never heard from them. I spoke with another LBS who seemed more interested in talking with me on the phone, and with a few more questions we determined that they probably wouldnt be able to get my part and eBay was my best bet. This is far from the first or the worst, just an incident that convinced me I needed to share my opinion. When I first moved to Pittsburgh I brought my high end road bike there for service - I had a noisy SRAM Red Cassette and thought they could fix it since they deal frequently with racing components. Without looking at the bike for more than 30 seconds, they told me "this happens to these cassettes, you need a new one." I had 10-15k miles on it, so it sounded reasonable. I bought it and they returned my wheel with a new cassette. When the next one made the same noise after 2k miles, I said WTF and brought it back. Same reply from the same person. He apparently didnt remember me. I asked for a warranty. They said to call SRAM. I already had, and having had experience working in bike shops before, I thought they might have more pull with their rep or the SRAM corporate office. I was assured the manager would call and look into it for me (note: at my previous shop in Philly, this issue would have been resolved on the spot, a new part given to me, then the shop wouldve worked it out themselves). I reminded him over the phone twice and in person once and he apparently never made any effort. I finally bought the lockring tool, took the cassette off myself and discovered they hadnt put the proper spacer back on for my wheel when they put the new part on and the cassette was obviously wobbling. So now I had an overly worn cassette and a ruined cassette body on my wheel. I did the remainder of the work myself and didnt even bring it up with them. Admittedly, I didnt give them the opportunity to make it right, but at this point I was fairly disgusted with their lack of any kind of service. This was the most egregious of my experiences there but hardly unique. I could go on about lack of service and bad attitudes. I appreciate that they have so much high end stock - they are a great resource to see all of the latest technology and check out expensive accessories in person before buying them, but this should be the basic expectation of a nice bike shop. Excellent bike shops Ive frequented in the past all have comparable stock but will exert far more than minimal effort on the service side of the business. Maybe Pro Bikes does this for some folks, but thats hardly been my experience. Mine has been like others echoed around the web - if youre their buddy or you are there to spend a few thousand on a bike, theyll give you the time of day. Otherwise, youll have better luck elsewhere.

EA

Earl Laamanen

While Ive shopped here a few times in the past and the general clothing/retail experiences have been fine, this is the third time Ive walked in with a mechanical/parts problem and walked out very happy. Last winter I broke a seat bolt and went in hoping to find a spare so I could still ride to work the next day. It was very close to closing time but the mechanic took the time to look through a lot of bins for an M8 bolt of the right length but she couldnt find one. The sales guy went looking for spare stock and found an alternate seatpost and offered me a very good deal on it, so I changed the whole seatpost and was able to keep riding. In spring I did something stupid and ruined a stem cap while trying to eliminate some rattle in the front forks, and again they were helpful went digging around for a spare in the back and set up me. Yesterday I walked in looking for a spare wheel set for an older winter bike, and hadnt really done much homework on prices/compatibility. They mentioned they dont keep much in the way of MTB wheels in stock, but it wasnt busy so a bunch of them went looking in the storage room. They came back with a nice set of wheels that was a bit more expensive than I was planning to buy but it was the only 26" MTB wheels for disc brakes. I told them my price target and the sales guy spent time talking me through prices for warehouse stock that could be ordered in, but nothing quite as cheap as I was hoping. He ended up giving me a good deal on those wheels and as I was paying for them he asked if I had the tools to set up the wheels properly. I did not know about the disc adapter tool and didnt notice that there was no rim tape, so he installed the adapter and threw in a few rolls of rim tape along with instructions on putting the tape on correctly. It would have been really easy to let me walk out after the sale. I usually like to be more informed about what I am buying but I went in blind this time and I found the staff very helpful, in no way condescending about my ignorance, and Im happy with the deal I got.

ZA

Zachary Luettgen

My father and I visited Biketek last week with absolutely no serious bike knowledge; the last time we had purchased a bike was probably over a decade ago. When we walked in we were immediately impressed both by the size (they have three floors of stock, which I remember one of the employees citing as a problem with the store) and look (very attractive displays, a modern, open floor plan, and an overall well thought-out space) of the store, but had no idea where to start, so we approached the counter. We met with Johnny, a new but experienced member of the staff. He later told us he had just moved to Pittsburgh for family reasons but had previously worked at other bike stores elsewhere. He knew exactly how to help us, first by asking what our budget was for the bike and what I wanted to ride it for, then we took off. Johnny showed us three or four bikes and had me test ride each one. He was knowledgable about the features of each bike, its capabilities, proper riding and positioning techniques, he explained why he thought each one might be the match for me, and was incredibly straight-forward and honest about not only pricing but practically everything else. In the end we decided on a 2015 Giant Escape 3, which the store currently had out of stock. Johnny took the time to figure out how would be the best way to get me the bike, whether through a special order or by adding it to the next shipment the store was supposed to recieve. We ended up having to go with the special order, but Johnny was going to work out whether he had to apply the shipping fees or not. Overall, my "first bike" buying experience was amazing, largely in part to Johnny. Even if the rest of the staff is half as experienced as Johnny theyll be more than able to assist anyone who might come into their store. In the future, anything I need for the bike, whether maintenance or upgrade-wise, Ill be coming back to Biketek in Squirrel Hill. I suggest you do the same.