VeloSport

1615 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94703

General impressions:

I felt good about walking into VeloSport. It sort of felt like home. And by home I mean bike shops in Madison, Wisconsin. I’ve noticed that shops around here tend to be super clean and neat–selling fancy parts and bikes, but none of the nitty gritty stuff you need to actually make them go. Or maybe they sell that stuff, but it’s hidden. You know, to keep up the shop’s image that you’ll never have to lube the chain of a bike you buy there.

Anyway, VeloSport is a real, down to earth bike shop. They have new and used bikes, as well as some frames you can build up yourself. They also had a great selection of tools, locks, and miscellaneous stuff like lube, degreaser, and other gooey things that can be used to make your bike run better. And not only did they have all this stuff, but they have Peter Rich–a brilliant man who will help you with whatever you need.

Peter Rich deserves some discussion. He was there when I went to visit, so of course I took a picture of him. Ok, a quick Bicycle Boulevards quiz. Ready?

Taking a picture of Peter Rich was necessary because:
A) he’s the owner of the shop
B) he seemed super helpful and chatted with me for quite a while–nice guy
C) he claims to have sold Gary Fisher his first bike, when the little guy was only 14
D) he was wearing some sweet suspenders
E) All of the above

The answer, of course, is E—I’m telling you, the man is some kind of amazing.

The Ratings:

Friendliness: 8.5/10

I have to say that at first I thought this was going to be an unfriendly interview/review. Peter made it clear that he put little stock into consumer reviews. I tried to explain that this wasn’t one of those kinds of reviews. This is no Yelp review. This is a thorough investigation of a cyclist’s shop options! I’m not interested in bashing a shop–just in determining its strengths and weaknesses and sharing them with the 2-wheeled masses. At any rate, he warmed right up to me, and spent a long time chatting about the various frames he had in. We also discussed the best places to mountain bike around here–which is important to me as a newcomer to the area. He also had on hand photocopies of a sheet called “common rides” or something along those lines. It had a few good road ride routes on it, so if you were new to the area or the sport, you could easily figure out how to get up and down the hills.

Equipment Knowledge: 8.5/10

Peter Rich knows the equipment. He even designed one of the frames that they sell at the store. I told you he was amazing. I asked a lot of questions about the empty spaces in his shop, and he told me that the commuter-type bikes were selling out to the point that it was hard to get more from the company (in this case Giant–one of the main brands VeloSport carries). We talked about the pros and cons of commuters, touring frames, speedy road frames, and local brands like Soma. He definitely knew his stuff.

Mechanical Knowledge: 7.5/10

I didn’t get a good feel for the staff and their mechanical knowledge while I was there. The shop has a decent sized workshop in the back, where there were a couple of guys working on bikes. They all seemed to be doing actual mechanic work, not simple stuff like adjusting seat heights. And because I know several people in the Berkeley Bike Club who trust this shop, I have a feeling their mechanical knowledge is pretty good (Also: the shop sponsors the BBC). My rating is a tad bit arbitrary because I didn’t actually have any work done or observe too much of it happening. Take it with a grain of salt.

Merchandise Selection: 9/10

The Merchandise selection was great. Need evidence? Check out this photo of the wall of tires. And get this—you can’t even see the entire wall in this photo. You can, however, see the Trusty Boyfriend doing his best impersonation of Vanna White (sans sparkly dress. He wouldn’t go for that one).

In addition to the tires, there was an abundance of books, tools, locks, clothing, saddle bags, helmets, and of course, bikes. And lots of these items were on sale–there were particularly good deals on clothing. A quick note though: there is currently a shortage of lower priced commuter bikes because they’ve been insanely popular–VeloSport is waiting on the bike companies for more.

Potential for Satisfaction:8.5/10

Peter Rich will not steer you wrong. He will interrogate you, and be sure that what you walk out of his shop with is the right thing for you. And another thing that’s key: there’s a wide enough selection that you’re bound to find what you need.

Total Rating: 8.4/10

Street Level Cycles
84 Bolivar Drive
Berkeley, CA 94710

General impressions:

Street Level Cycles is a unique shop. It’s part of the non-profit Waterside Workshops, which is located, as the name implies, at the waterside of Berkeley’s Aquatic Park. Waterside Workshops includes Street Level Cycles as well as Sew Your Own, and the Berkeley Boathouse. These three projects aim to strengthen the East Bay community by providing a place for people to work on projects.

Street Level Cycles is really an amazing place to work on a bike project, in my opinion. The shop offers more than just a place to do the work–it has a great selection of tools and a selection of miscellaneous parts that will blow your mind. And the parts are organized. They kept apologizing to me for the mess while I was there snapping photos, but I assured them that if what I was seeing was their version of a mess, then their version of not a mess would be a sight to behold. The filing cabinets you see here were all labeled, and all held a huge selection of whatever part their label said would be there. Everything from friction shifters to brake levers was available. And the cables. There were so many brake cables and shifter cables….and they had their own organizational system. They were hanging–so they wouldn’t get kinked up or tangled in a drawer. Brilliance.

What I liked most about the place though, was that it’s a non-profit that wants you to be able to do your own bike work. To have a sense of accomplishment when you ride your bike home, and to know that if anything goes wrong, you can fix it yourself. I think it’s a great community-building idea, and it supports sustainable transportation in a low-cost way. I wonder how many more people would ride bikes as their primary method of transportation if they knew they could learn to repair and maintain them themselves? And if they could acquire a decent bicycle for less money than they thought. One guy was so happy with his new ride, that he took a polaroid of it and insisted that it be displayed at the shop. I’ve included it here, for your perusal. You too could be this happy about a bike–if you built it at Street Level Cycles.

The Ratings:

Friendliness: 8.5/10

Street Level Cycles is a really friendly place. Not only the guys running the place, but also the people who were hanging out working on their bikes. It was easy to chat up most of them about their projects and get and give advice. It seemed like a truly fun place to hang out, and get your work done.

Equipment Knowledge: 8/10

Because Street Level Cycles is a non-profit, they get a lot of donation bikes and other various used parts. So it’s probably pretty hard for them to stay on top of what they have in the shop, right? Wrong. They were pretty well aware of what they had, and what was right or wrong with each frame, wheel, fork, or other important bike part.

Mechanical Knowledge: 9.5/10

I didn’t give them a ten because I can’t imagine what a ten would be…someone who knew everything about every piece of a bike…amazing. These guys are close though. They have to be. The shop allows anyone to come in, use the facility and the tools, and build or fix a bike. A fair share of those people don’t know exactly what they’re doing. But the guys at Street Level Cycles do know what they’re doing, and they’re willing to help.

Merchandise Selection: 7/10

Everything is used, and mostly in pieces. So you have to put it together, or get someone to put it together, in order to ride it. If you can do that, then your options are really close to limitless. But if not, well, then you’re out of luck. The shop does have some new items–lights, saddles, grips, baskets, and a few other miscellaneous things. They have seat covers that are made by Sew Your Own, a sister project that’s also part of the Waterside Workshops non-profit–those are a cool idea

Potential for Satisfaction: ?/10

I’m not going to rate this shop in this category, because your potential for satisfaction has solely to do with you building the bike. For most people, it’s pretty high. You pick each part with loving care, and install it with a gentle touch. Everyone is happy. Unless you don’t know what you’re doing and your crank falls off in the first mile. But like I said, that really depends on you. And really, I don’t think the guys at Street Level Cycles would let that happen to you.

Total Rating: 8.25/10

General Impressions:

Wrench Science is nothing at all like the last shop I reviewed (Recycle Bicycle)–in fact, it’s the complete opposite. You’ll find nothing used at Wrench Science. This shop is all about the newest, coolest bikes and the newest technology available. The shop is somewhat hidden on Murray Street, in a building that has a sign on the side. That building is behind a fence, and you really might only find this shop if you knew where to look. But then, this isn’t the kind of shop that relies on drop-in business from random passers-by.

This shop is where I dream that I might go when I die. It’s like cycling heaven. For real.

The bikes are shiny and new, they’re made by companies like Colnago and Pinarello, and they cost a small fortune. And I want every single one of them. Perhaps the coolest bike was the one pictured here, sandwiched between two totally normal (but also cool) frames. The frame isn’t solid! It’s some kind of crazy carbon-fiber woven thing that is just as sturdy (if not more so) than a regular frame, and because the frame isn’t one piece of metal, it tends to keep road vibration from travelling  up the frame to your body while you ride. Did I mention that it looks awesome?

Most of the bike frames are Wrench Science look awesome. They also probably perform awesomely–but you can’t really test ride them. They have a few demo bikes, but mostly it’s sort of like an exhibit of beautiful, unaffordable frames. Kind of like an art museum. I always want to bring the art home…but I’m always several thousand dollar short of the asking price.

The Ratings:

Friendliness: 8/10

The shop workers were more than happy to talk to me, even though it was pretty clear I wasn’t there to drop several thousand dollars on a bike. They were happy to discuss the equipment, to talk about their business,  and to let me take pictures. Plus–the shop had a dog! There’s nothing friendlier than a happy dog who runs up to you with a half-inflated soccer ball and wanting to play.

Equipment Knowledge: 9/10

Wow. These frames were high technology, high quality, and if you were planning to buy one (or even if you weren’t), you’d have lots of questions. I take the trusty boyfriend on these rating trips with me, because he know a ridiculous amount about bike technology, manufacturing, and quality. So he asked even more ridiculous questions than I did, and Tyler, the guy we were talking with, had answers to nearly all his questions, and was more than willing to find out anything he didn’t have an answer for. It also seemed that this guy knew about things he wasn’t selling–he was just that into bikes. We spent 45 minutes drilling this guy–and he knew his stuff.

Mechanical Knowledge: 6/10

I can’t rate the mechanical knowledge very accurately for this shop, so I’m giving what I think is a pretty neutral score that still accounts for the fact that they do build bikes.

There simply wasn’t a bunch of people there getting things fixed. The mechanic who was there when we were, Jose, was working on a bike in the back, but I didn’t get to see much first hand mechanical experience. It was clear, however, that the shop sold frames, and that they would build them up for you, if you were buying a bike. I have to assume if they’re building every bike they sell, they must be pretty familiar with mechanical stuff–at least on new bikes. Who knows if they can fix a rusty beater bike with wheels that aren’t true. This isn’t the shop for that, really, so we  may never find out.

Merchandise Selection: 5/10

The shop had beautiful bikes, but that was all they had. Expensive, new, fast bikes. If you weren’t there to spend thousands, you weren’t walking out with a bike. It also seemed that most of the frames were road frames, though I think I did see at least one full suspension mountain frame.

Potential for Satisfaction: 7.5/10

This is a tough category. You’d be buying the best bikes on the market if you bought from Wrench Science, and if you could afford that, you’d also be putting the best components on the bike. But there’s only about three demo bikes to test ride, so you don’t really know if you’ll love the frame you’re buying. I think you’d have to test drive the frame somewhere else, or simply know. For example, my road bike is a Colnago. I know that if I want a new bike, it will also be a Colnago, and I know what size I need. Much like a great pair of jeans, you know your brand and your size, and you stick with what works. At any rate, the guys at the shop seemed really reasonable. If you bought something you really didn’t like, I think they’d take it back within a reasonable amount of time. But the reality is that you wouldn’t make a purchase here unless you already knew what you wanted. So you’ll probably be satisfied.

Total Rating: 7.1/10

Recycle Bicycle
3121 Sacramento Street
Berkeley, CA 94702

General impressions:

I was originally pretty excited about the idea of a place called Recycle Bicycle–the concept of reusing, recycling, or repurposing anything makes me pretty happy. If a shop could be environmentally friendly, that was a good thing. But as it turns out, a shop that attempts to recycle isn’t quite as glorious as it sounds.

The idea behind the shop is that they buy used frames and then build them up with new or used parts (including gears, brakes, shifters, wheels, etc.). This is fine for some of the bikes. For example, there was a great old Schwinn townie style bike, in classic blue. It’s not a big deal for that bike to have used parts, and the shop was asking $249 for the bike. All things considered, it’s not a bad deal. Cost-wise, it was probably better than trying to buy a frame elswhere and build it yourself, especially if you consider the time and energy you’d have to put into finding parts.

On the flip side, however, there was a beautiful Soma road frame (it’s pictured here, to the right). The guy working at the shop (who also appeared to be an owner/manager) told me that they paid maybe $300-$400 for the frame. They then built it up with bottom of the line Shimano components and are asking $1200 for the bike. This is not a good deal. It was a nice frame, with not nice parts. If for some reason I was crazy enough to spend $1200 on this bike, I’d probably have replaced a bunch of the parts. They just didn’t mesh. Why put low quality parts on a relatively high quality frame? Perhaps to make a larger profit? That’s how it seemed to me.

The lesson I learned is that Recycle Bicycle is kind of hit or miss for buying whole bikes. The idea of building used bikes to sell is great–many people can’t afford new, or just want something oldish and cheapish to ride to BART or the store. But if you don’t take someone who knows bikes with you to the store, you might get ripped off a little bit. Depends. The Schwinn was not a terrible deal, but the Soma was. Like I said, hit or miss.

The Ratings:

Friendliness: 3.5/10

I have to rate the friendliness of this shop as kind of low. I’m generally a forgiving person, and don’t really like giving people bad reviews, but I felt sort of unwelcome when I walked into the shop. No one greeted me, no one asked if I had questions, or explained to me what the goal of the store was. And because it’s such a non-traditional kind of store, it would have really been nice to have some help. I ended up asking a price on a bike that was there for repair! There was no way for me to tell what was for sale and what wasn’t, and I’d have appreciated some help. They got friendlier after I told them I was doing a blog review of their shop. Then they were happy to chat, and to encourage me to promote their motto of “ride green.”

Equipment Knowledge: 3/10

The owner/manager didn’t really know anything about the bikes, and with such a wide variety of bikes and components, it’s almost impossible for the workers to know everything about every bike in the store. They said they have a great mechanic who actually builds the bikes and really knows his stuff, but I didn’t meet him.

Mechanical Knowledge: 5/10

It took one mechanic about 20 minutes to mess with a seat post and put a flashy red rear light on one girl’s bike. Another mechanic couldn’t get the fork off a bike, until my trusty boyfriend told him which nut to try tapping with a hammer. And then my boyfriend did a seat adjustment for a guy waiting in the mechanic line. There were about 5 people in the mechanic line at any given time, with issues (like seat adjustments) that should have been quick fixes. For some reason they weren’t. I give the mechanics a 5 because they had the right tools, and seemed like they knew their way around a bike for the most part, but boy were they slow.

Merchandise Selection: 7.5/10

This is one category that Recycle Bicycle does well in. They have road, mountain, and commuter type bikes. Older and newer, and a wide variety of price ranges. I mean, just look at all the bikes in the picture to the left! Dozens!They also sell some used parts and the usual new things like lights, grips, etc. They don’t have so much in the way of new bikes (they do get some overstock frames that are new), but what do you expect from a place called Recycle Bicycle?

Potential for Satisfaction: 9/10

Recycle Bicycle scores really well in the potential for satisfaction category. You’re allowed to bring your bike back and exchange it for another bike within 30 days, and you have a 90 day warranty on the bike in case it should fall apart. They also don’t have an incentive to sell one brand over another because they’re not making a commission from any particular company, and they don’t have quotas to meet. It seems like if you can get someone to help you, you can probably get honest advice. As long as it’s not the owner/manager guy. He told me himself that he “knew nothing about the bikes.”

Total Rating: 5.6/10