Papillon Cycles

I got my first bike here a couple years ago. I had no idea what I was looking for, and the staff let me try a few different bikes. They also recommended to me that I look around at other shops before making a decision. I ended up going with a hybrid, and I ride it almost daily with no problems. They’ve done some repair work for me and helped me upgrade a few components on my now-​old bike, and they’re always helpful. This is a great shop for beginners and commuters, but the staff is experienced and knowledgeable and they have great gear. My long-​time cyclist friend was impressed by the collection of vintage cycle frames on display.

Very helpful staff willing to answer questions and make recommendations. Also very honest repair work. Would go out of my way to buy a bike here or have repairs done

I just got into biking and after reading the reviews decided to get my bike from Papillon Cycles. I’m glad I did so as the staff at Papillon has been nothing but helpful. They offer a free tune-​up/​maintenance/​check-​up something something after your first 10 hours of riding and that really helped as I had some issues with the bike that were quickly sorted out. I was also told you can bring it in whenever for such maintenance, but perhaps you should confirm that bit before making your purchase.

I’ve lived in Arlington for 10 years and have I’ve patroned Papillion cycles for just as long. So it is with a tinge of sadness I write this review, especially since I so throughly enjoyed the quality of service before the store’s expansion.
Yesterday, I needed some tubes to fix tires on two of my bikes. Since I was working from home, I planned to visit Papillion Cycles during my lunch break. After checking that they were opening at 10:30am, I drove over at noon to find the doors locked, the shop dog barking at me on the other side of the door, and a small clock sign informing me the shop would reopen in 30minutes. To kill time, I decide to walk up and down the Pike and see what changes have been made since my last visit. Fast forward to 12:40pm, and I’ve been standing at the shop entrance since 12:25pm. During my time waiting, I was not alone. 3 people riding on bikes stopped as well as a couple other people on foot, we were all hoping the doors would open. Then, just like me, they all left wondering why the shop wasn’t open during business hours.
With a sigh of disappointment, I resigned my self to having to drive over to Performance Bikes to get what I need and wondering if this will be a new level of service for this local bike shop.

Fantastic down to earth service – no attempt to up-​sell, just really friendly and helpful. Small-​medium sized selection of bikes, but from what I could tell they had bikes to suit everyone from the casual commuter (me) to the serious bike enthusiast. I live in Georgetown and there are many shops closer to me, but I am happy I made the longer trip out to Arlington to buy my bike at this shop and will certainly return when my bike needs service.

I had high hopes for this local bike shop given the strong reviews here but was disappointed by my first several interactions. I brought in a used road bike purchased online (which I had assembled myself) and asked to have it inspected and adjusted, since my knowledge of bike maintenance is limited. The mechanic called and recommended a standard tune up, which was $ 89, and told me it would take at least 3 weeks to complete! Both times I called the store to ask about the timing and to arrange a pick up date, the staff were unfriendly and very curt, responding with one-​word answers. Finally, when I picked the bike up, the maintenance staff simply looked at me without saying a word, and there was no information on what adjustments or fixes they made to the bike or what recommendations they might have (how worn are the tires and components, did the cables need tightening, what needed cleaning /​lube…).
Having just come from an auto shop with excellent customer service (and fast turnaround), my experience at Papillon unfortunately left me with a bad impression. I don’t know why I’d give up my bike for a month again for an unknown set of services.

The staff is super nice, friendly and helpfull. Good prices. Love that they have a doggy chilling in the store. Highly recommended! Excelente servicio y son super amables, buenos precios. Los Super recomiendo.

These guys are the best! They are knowledgeable, attentive and they can take care of your bike as if they were taking care of their own. I watched them treat every customer who came in with respect and outstanding attention. They will get my business for as long as I’m in Virginia

Felt at home with these guys. Took a bit to get a tune up but thats because they are in high demand. Highly recommend!

Rating the service for the repair shop: I was incredibly impressed with service received from the entire shop, but particularly Brian. He was helpful, shared knowledge, and did a great job replacing my crankset. Communication was great and the price was incredibly fair… I was so pleased, that I created a Unilocal account just to give this review.

Great customer service here! The people who work there are friendly, knowledgable, and most importantly honest. My bf and I brought some bikes over to have them look at it and see what repairs were needed. My bike was a cheap Walmart brand Roadmaster that was abandoned in our apartment building by previous owners so I claimed it. :P My bf’s bike was a nicer one, Trek, but same story — abandoned by an owner. We took it to Papillon Cycles to have it repaired. They told us our bikes just needed simple fine tuning and not much work done and quoted us about $ 50. Not bad! Mine was about $ 70 since I wanted both inner tubes of my tires to be replaced. It took about almost 3 weeks before we got it back because they were pretty backed up with a lot of work. We were in no rush. It’s been almost two months now and our bikes work just fine. We are happy we came here. We highly recommend this place if your bike needs repairing or if you’re shopping for a new bike. You won’t be disappointed!

I bought my bike here when I lived in Arlington. I recently moved to Columbia Heights and after much debating and looking up Unilocal reviews decided to lug my bike in a borrowed car all the way back to Papillon when I was having some problems filling my back tire. It was well worth it. I sat in on a free class about how to diagnose and resolve common problems with tires.
Bailey tightened my brakes and checked out my tires. He was extremely knowledgeable, very friendly, and completely down-​to-​earth, which made me quite relieved since I’m terrified of pretentious bike mechanics. My bike is my main means of transportation – not a huge passion in my life – I’m blissfully ignorant of how to fix it. I would have been mortified had I gone anywhere else as it turned out the problem was with my broken pump, not my tire, but the staff are really nice here, so I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all.
My tire check and brake tightening were free since I bought my bike there less than a year ago. I’d recommend this place to anyone.

I absolutely love this place for bike repairs. These guys definitely know what they are doing and are quick too. I dropped my bike off at another repair shop only a few miles away on a Saturday and was told it would be ready on Wednesday. I received a call from the shop on Wednesday informing me that they haven’t even started working on the bike and that the price to fix it has gone from $ 150 to $ 200, no thanks. I told them I would be picking up my bike and I headed straight to Papillon for a second opinion based on the reviews.
First let say that there is plenty of parking in the lot just a few steps away, which is hard to find in Arlington. We were greeted by the sweetest pup when we walked in and found someone that immediately took a look at my bike. I highly expected them to tell us that they would take a look at the bike and it would take a week to get it back. However, to my surprise the guy put it up on the stand and within 2 minutes he knew what was wrong with it. He said it would take 15 minutes to put a new wheel on it and it would be ready to go. While we waited a guy that was working on another bike explained what the problem was and why it happened. We were out of there in less than 15 minutes and it was $ 80 compared to $ 200.
I will definitely be back next time I have any problems with my bike. Thank you Papillon!

Had a flat tire on a bicycle. I was in and out within 10 minutes with a new tire and installment for under $ 50. Great visit.

Brian was amazing!!! SO happy we found this gem! You cannot go wrong with this bike shop!

My landlord got rid of a bunch of very old bikes which were left behind by previous tenants. I found this Free Spirit which was very old and in very bad shape (flat tires, rust, an old lock locking the rear wheel, etc.). I contacted several bicycle shops to see if they could come take a look at it and tell me whether it’s fixable.
Brian from Papillon Cycles responded to my email and said he’d come to my apartment building to check it out in exchange for $ 20. He came a few days later, gave me an estimate of how much they would charge me to fix it ($ 170 including new tires, new tubes, and general tune up). I agreed, gave him the $ 20, he left with the bike that night.
One week later, the bike was ready. I picked it up, paid the remainder of the bill as agreed and went home with a great working bicycle.
It turned out the b was from the late 60s according to Brian. I like old-​school anything and got myself a working bicycle for a total of $ 170.
Bottom line: very nice and honest people, charged me exactly what they said they would, fixed the bike in a timely manner.
Kudos to Brian for a job very well done.

Very nice local bike shop. Used them to do some work on my vintage bike and they did a nice job with good all round service. Would highly recommend.

It’s a damn shame it took me 5 years of living in DC before I found Papillon. This is the kind of bike store everyone wish they could find, where they do good work, prices are reasonable, and they never lie to you to make a sale.
I’ve had bad experiences at Revolution (hostile staff, crappy mechanics, decent mechanics who tell me things I know to be untrue and push me to buy a new bike), and haven’t been happy with any of the other bike shops I’d been to either (Big Wheel, Georgetown, a few others).
The mechanics here are nice, knowledgeable, patient, and if you can’t afford work they recommend (or just want to put it off) they don’t mind. They’ll let you know if you’re affecting your bicycle’s safety, but they don’t have the attitude that a lot of bike shops tend to pull. They even helped me fix a broken fender recently for free since I’d been coming in for other issues fairly regularly.
If you’re looking for any downsides:
*They usually have an adorable, friendly, chill dog in the store, but if you’re allergic I guess she could be a downside.
*I often get sucked into the interesting conversations the staff always seem to be having, so it takes longer to get out than I plan on.
*The shop is on the small side so selection of accessories is small (as of March 2013). However, they’re about to move to a shop next door which is about twice the size, which should help.
Even if I lived in NE DC or Maryland, I would come to Papillon whenever possible. They are that good.

Most reliable staff at a bike store in the NOVA area. I go in with my bike and Bailey (owner) always takes time to chat with me. He gives me a recommendation, for instance, if I’m worried about the tires, he tells me a few tips about what to look for to signal when tires need to be replaced.
A bike store where the owner (and staff) tells me what needs to be done – instead of merely trying to make me buy things I don’t need – is a rarity in the DC area.
This is a great local business :)

Friendly staff and a nice selection of bikes. My favorite part was the cute dog who greeted me!
Didn’t end up buying anything here because it was out of price range — if only bike shops had more new AND used bikes for sell. I realize Craigslist has kind of cornered that market, but honestly — we can’t all afford $ 500-​$ 600 bikes that will probably get stolen at some point. Alas, it’s a good shop!