The Bicycle Wheel

I was taking my bicycle out of storage and decided to get it tuned up. Mark, the man at the counter, looked it over and recommended against it saying everything was in great shape. He just wanted to lubricate a few things, treat a little superficial rust on the brake calipers, and give everything a good lookover. I’d come prepared to spend a lot more, but he only wanted something like twenty two bucks for that work.
I decided to spend a bit more anyway and purchased a couple thorn-​proof inner tubes. When I came back to pick up the bike the next day, he had installed the inner tubes for me and not charged for that service either.
Mark was pretty enthused about the idea of another person getting back on the bike, and he chatted a bit about his decision to run the shop as a quality of life thing for himself. It seems like it’s more a mission than a business for him. He’s ex-​military and fun to talk to. I’m glad I found this shop.
The shop is back behind the Boot Barn, a little difficult to spot. But it’s a good location with plenty of parking. If you’re driving a bike in for service or buying a new bike rather than riding your existing bike in, that counts for something. Since you’re not downtown, there’s no need to feed the meters or drive around the block a few times.

Friendly and helpful staff. I brought my Jeep stroller to have tires/​tubes replaced/​repaired before our trip. Was done quickly and well. Will come back again if in need of bike or stroller tire repairs.

Mark is one of the most generous and thoughtful guys you will ever meet. He has repaired my bike on several occasions with consistently great friendly service. If you have any bike inquiries, come here. They will take care if you as if you were already a close friend.

when i purchased a bike off of Craigslist earlier this year I took it into the shop and had Mark give it a once over. because he took the time i purchased some lights from him at that time. recently I have been doing much more night riding and needed a better headlight. so i stopped in and spoke with Mark and he loaned me a few different lights over the course of a few weeks so I could see exactly how much light i needed before i made a purchase. today i took back the loaner light and purchased one from him. great shop and great service. will for sure be going back and doing business with again. honest, great prices and even better service.

Before I retired, I had several repairs, modifications, and tune ups done by Mark on my commuter bike. He always did a great job, that was done when promised, and at very reasonable rates. You can’t ask for more than that!

Great place to take your bike. They treat everyone the same. The owner is super nice and helpful. I went to all the bike shops around Chico and most were rude and not helpful. I go there for anything my bike needs.

The owner/​operator is truly a bike enthusiast! He will bend over backwards to help you, even if it means recommending something he does not carry. We have purchased 4 bikes for our 3 children here. He always takes time to review the bike with each one and talk about the responsibility of caring for and riding their bike safely.
My family has been to just about every bike shop in Chico. We have never been greeted and treated as fairly, politely and honestly as we were at The Bicycle Wheel. Other shops may have more selection, but The Bicycle Wheel is competitive with price, and is far superior with their service. There is even an incentive for kids with good grades to get a discount on parts/​accessories!

Great local shop. Mark is willing to help you out and will go the extra mile to make sure his customers are happy.

Mark is so great and really helped us out with our son’s BMX bike! He is extremely friendly, knowledgeable and helpful; and took the time to talk with us and be sure we understood everything — even though he had a few people in the shop. He definitely has a repeat customer with us!

I have had consistently awesome service from these folks. My boyfriend introduced me to the shop years ago. I’ve never purchased a bike from them, but I’ve purchased accessories and had both my road bike and mountain bike worked on by them. Unlike some of the other bike shops in town, these guys are honest, friendly, and don’t talk down to you if you’re not as knowledgeable about bikes.
Last time I was there, I brought my road bike in to have SPD pedals put on. Unfortunately they were cross-​threaded and they weren’t able to get both of the old pedals off. The owner called one of the other LBSs that had the proper machinery to get the second pedal off, told them I was on my way and didn’t charge me for any of the work they’d done, even when I insisted. That experience will keep me going back to this shop for service on my bikes.

I had never been to this shop, as it is on the other side of town from my work and home. A few months ago, I was seeking a headset reducer to put my 1 inch fork and stem on my fixed gear bike with a 1 ¹⁄₈ head tube. It is a cheap little spacer and not a single shop had it in stock. A few of my regular shops said they could order it and have it in a week. The owner of the bicycle wheel was a different story. He told me he could have it tomorrow and would just order it regardless if I needed it or not. He said if I didn’t find one elsewhere, that I could come in the next day and he’d have it for me. Awesome service! I was really pleased and his mechanic did a great job installing it for me. I was very impressed.

I bought a rim from this shop. At first the manager said he would sell me the front wheel with the tube and tire for $ 120. A couple weeks later I go back in to purchase this wheel and he told me it would be $ 140 for the front wheel only. I reminded him he said he would sell it all to me for $ 120 and he was very rude about it. Obviously did not remember telling me this. He ended up selling me the wheel for $ 120 and only the tire with it, he did not give me the tube. The wheel was very dirty, (it’s white) and looks like it has already been used. As I was purchasing this he made a comment to a co-​worker about how hard it is going to be now to sell only the back wheel. His overall manner was very rude, I might end up returning the wheel because I cannot get the dirt off. Will never shop here again.

I just needed a part, but didn’t know the specifics about the part that I needed. They had the part that I needed in stock, and also installed it for me for very cheap. They even stayed a little late to install it. While I was waiting, I heard the owner of the store talking to somebody that works nearby, that he apparently knows, and overheard him say that he was working even though he was supposed to be on vacation this week, now that’s dedication! I also heard the guy call somebody on the phone and say they left accidentally left a part off when their bike was in for service lately, and that he could bring it to them, and he did while I was there, that was pretty good.
Their prices seem pretty reasonable to me.

What a great place. They really do care about the customer.
My first experience there was a quick stop in before a ride to get an allen wrench (couldn’t find mine anywhere). I went in to this shop to get one and before ringing me up the guy behind the counter told me, they have these next door (harbor frieght) for $ 3 (his was ~$ 15). So I said thanks and did just that. He even told me the aisle they were in :) I thought to myself «Nice guy, must not be the owner.» (to steer me to another store).
I recently ordered a bike over the internet, and wanted it put together right so I remembered the week before and gave the Bicycle Wheel a call. To my surprise they said they could have it ready by the next day (Sunday) but a good chance it will be ready today. I was surprised and happy, nothing quite as bad as waiting to use something new.
I took my bike in, and was in the neighborhood a few hours later and stopped by to see how things were going. Someone had called in and things were busy so he hadn’t gotten to it yet. Then the owner, Mark said if I had a ride in the morning he’d work on it after hour. This made me feel a little odd because I didn’t want to inconvenience him on a Saturday night, but was assured it was no problem. I got a call around 7:30 that my bike was in. I went by and he gave me a great into to the different things, gave me some great advice and gave what I can only describe and genuinely great customer service. He even threw in an extra tube.
I now know where I’ll take all my repairs and purchase all my cycling gear. Give them a shot, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Seems like an overall nice shop, though quite small. The guy working there was really friendly and helpful, even though he wasn’t going to be making a sale off of us. I mean, my boyfriend was hoping to find a bike (we weren’t there just window shopping), but this shop doesn’t really carry any bikes for tall men so there was unfortunately nothing to buy or even test ride.
The guy was really helpful and gave a lot of advice on where we can possibly find a bike with the right frame size, told us how much we should expect to pay for the type of bike he was looking for, and said he could special order the right size bike, but didn’t recommend it because to order it meant we’d have to pay for it, which is dumb since you really need to test ride a bike first. Just a really friendly, helpful guy who genuinely likes bikes, I thought.
I guess my only gripe was he seemed a bit too eager to help out the father and son who came in a few minutes after us. On the one hand, I can sort of understand because he was the only one working and making them wait too long would have been rude, but on the other, it was even ruder to us to suddenly switch his attention to these new customers and immediately begin to help them when they’ve only been inside all of 30 seconds. I didn’t think we were entirely done talking, except apparently we were. :P
I would recommend this shop for the average sized person (no one over 6ft) who wants to buy a Raleigh, Diamondback, or Redline brand bike. You’ll get really good customer service as long as you’re the only one in the store, haha.