Ck Cycles

Outstanding full service shop. The customer service was great. The staff is knowledgeable and very capable of matching you with a bike. They even adjust the seat, etc to your height. I am a casual cyclist, and they did not try to over-​sell me. Exceptionally friendly and more than willing to answer as many questions as you have.

Im only a casual cyclist so i dont have a real need for the ultimate shop, but this would be my place if i did. Only been in a couple times but the customer service was excellent. These guys are real enthusiasts so they are very knowledgeable, as well as friendly. Will definitely be back when i need some more parts/​service.

Very good experience here. Dealt with friendly, knowledgeable and helpful staff while I was shopping for a new bike. Did not end up buying here but would have been comfortable doing so.

I would give them a 4.5 if I could.
I bought my first road bike ever here. I had gone to a few other cycling shops and with hearing I was interested in triathlons would immediately direct me to bikes beyond my understanding, skill level and price range.
Once I entered in CK Cycles I didn’t feel overwhelmed by the sales people, and was able to try about 5 or 6 different bikes on a trainer. He even took pictures of me on the bike so I would be able to see how I was sitting on them. I didn’t purchase a bike that day but I was bitten by the bug and was unafraid to make a purchase (unlike other places that intimidated me). They were extremely flexible when I try to negotiate a price since it was a floor model in 2012 and they were getting 2013’s in the shop soon and they were looking to get rid of it.
They even stored my bike in the winter for 4 months for free after I bought it.
Every time I go in there to buy things or a tune up, they recognize me and help me find what I need. I usually get a discount since they knew I purchased my bike there. (Pretty damn awesome!) Sometimes they don’t have things in stock but say they will order it for you if necessary.
Only thing I would say is tends to be much busier during the summer months I’ve realized, where I’ve had to wait a good 10 minutes to be taken care of. Also the hours are a little tough to get around but probably makes service better.

I was looking for a bicycle store easily accessible from the New Scotland area where I could buy hardware parts for attaching a rack to my bicycle. I bought my road bike online recently and it didn’t have eyelets for attaching anything, which I thought was going to be a problem but could be solved. I didn’t want a dinky seat post rack but one that could accommodate a German-​made Racktime rack capable of supporting 55 lbs. So I had the rack and the bike but no way of putting it on. I called up Downtube on Madison Avenue and they were very unhelpful, very unimaginative is I think the right way of putting it. Whatever part I needed would have to be special ordered, but I could do that myself via the internet! I just wanted to get the job done and be able to ride my bike to work the next morning. So I called up CK Cyclery and spoke to a teenager who told me they could help me out. I took my bike there after work, and the same very able and knowledgable teenager rummaged around in the shop area and found exactly what I needed. He attended to me in a very professional manner; I walked out not too long after walking in with exactly the few simple parts that I needed for $ 8, and was able to tinker around at home and get the rack attached simply and securely. This place is real, with real people working there who have the imagination to help a customer find what they need even if it isn’t readily apparent. That is the difference between a great neighborhood business and some corporate store similar to LL Bean or Dicks where if you can find what you want, great, but if it takes some real customer service and real thinking, forget it.
I didn’t give 5 stars because I did not go there to buy a bicycle, so this review doesn’t cover that kind of experience, which is maybe what people would use Unilocal for.

I spent the afternoon with my wife looking for a new bike for her. We went to 3 different bike shops. The service at the first two was awful. We walked into CK and expected more of the same. Boy was I wrong. The sales dude (Rojat?) was very friendly and actually knew the differences between the various models and brands. The prices were the same or better, the choices were definitely better, and the service/​experience was remarkably better. Don’t buy a bike anywhere else.

After buying a road bike on Craigslist, I dropped in to CK on a rather busy day to get some shoes, cleats and starter accessories. The first associate to help me wasn’t much of a salesman (or cyclist as far as I could tell), so I mostly used him to help me navigate the disorganized shoe section (items were not clearly priced).
But here is what impressed me. I mentioned that I had my new bike with me, and they said we could mount it on a trainer so that I could try the various shoe/​cleat/​pedal combinations. The owner (Jeff?) got involved and set me up with two different shoes, added a washer to give me some crank clearance, and also swapped out my quick release skewer, all while bopping back n forth to the phone, register and entertaining other customer and associate requests. He also put together a little starter bag of accessories for me and fixed it under my seat. Of course, at check out he only charged for the items, so the personalized shoe fitting was just in the name of good service, so I appreciated that.
I guess moral of the story is to work with the owner when possible, esp if you’re a cyclist. He has been with the business for many years, is very approachable (important for newbies like me) and as new owner seems personally committed to providing a positive shopping experience.

I believe in local bike shops. This is the bike shop closest to my neighborhood. I’ve given them a couple of chances. The first time, we were looking for help with buying a trailer to pull our toddlers on our bikes, and were really surprised at how rudely and dismissively we were treated.
This week I called to ask if they would consider doing a basic bike clinic for myself and some of my girlfriends. The surly kid on the phone put me on hold and then came back and told me «All of the bike shops are really busy right now and don’t have time to teach you how to fix your bike. I guess I could take your email…» to which I politely declined, looked up the information for The Down Tube in Albany, got a lovely young man on the phone who was more than willing to host a basic bike maintenance clinic for the 10 of us, for only $ 20 per person.
So maybe if you’re a hard core cyclist, this is your store. But as a casual bicyclist, looking for a local shop to service my and my family’s bikes, I’ve just not been remotely impressed with CK.