B&K Bicycle

I went into B&K bikes today for a bike rank these guys were really helpful and friendly. you could tell the owner and the folks working there were the real deal bike enthusiast. They really know their stuff.
Anyways the price was great and he installed in on my car for no extra charge. Answered all my questions.
Simply put this is the kind of place where you feel good about spending your money at.

I was on a cross country tour, but it was interrupted by a family emergency. I happened to be in Cleveland and found B & K Bicycle, Co. They boxed my bike for shipping. I took a flight home the next day and had a relative, who lives in Cleveland, Fedex the bike. I didn’t think about it again until I went to open my bike to reassemble it. I’ve heard horror stories about bikes being shipped, but as began taking the pieces out I realized that B & K Bicycles (namely Eric and an older gentleman) had gone above and beyond. Everything was wrapped with foam, zip tied tight, and lose pieces, such as pedals etc, were in their own special box and the box was double boxed. I was impressed by the effort and time put in knowing that I wasn’t going to be a repeat customer. I live in Providence, RI. Thanks B & K Bicycles for a great job and the price was amazing.

Pro: they had a lot of bikes.
Con: the little old man who worked there created one of the most awkward shopping experiences of my life. My partner wanted to browse and ended up riding a bike he wasn’t interested in, looking at a catalog, and watching a video online. At the store.

I can see why the 1 star reviews here may be accurate. I avoided buying a bike here precisely because I got the feeling that they wouldn’t be as nice post-​purchase. Here is why I thought that: I went in looking to test ride a Trek 7.3 fx. The owner Neil wasn’t in the shop as he had gone to Akron on business (?). So his mother, a sweet old lady, showed me some Trek fx’s and some Giant escapes. She was knowledgeable and helpful. She let me test ride them inside the shop (which btw, is grossly insufficient as I couldn’t test the gears). However, she said that this was just so I could get a feel for the bikes and that I could come back in when Neil was back in the shop so that I could do more extensive test rides. So far so good.
This is when the owner Neil called and asked to speak to me. He said: «The Trek 7.3 fx is my favorite bike. If you want that bike now, I can give you $ 50 off». This is great I thought. However, I had made it ample clear to his mother that I wanted to also test ride a Fuji before I could make a decision and I made it clear to him as well. He asked me what bike I was planning to test ride and I told him (a Fuji Absolute 1.4). He said «my offer only stands if you buy the bike RIGHT NOW before you step out of the shop».
I thanked him and thanked his mom (who didn’t look very pleased when she realized that I wasn’t taking the bait) and left. They basically asked me to buy the bike before I could even test the bike’s shifting performance (all they had to do was let me ride in their parking lot behind the shop). They also wanted to push me into buying a bike before I could test the bikes that I wanted. I HATE such pushy sales tactics. I understand that they want to get me to buy from them, however their cheap tactics, along with the fact that they hadn’t even let me properly test the bike that they wanted me to buy, was off putting.
This is exactly why I got the feeling that they wouldn’t be as friendly if I were to bring the bike back in for service. They also have this extremely weird sales pitch about the cheap kickstands that they put on all their bikes saying that no other bike shop does this and that this is somehow something special that they do for their customers. I don’t care for a $ 7 kickstand. I do care that they push their customers to buy a bike without giving them the chance to PROPERLY test a bike. The old lady even told me that only Neil could help me find a bike that fit properly (I am in between sizes, so I needed some help with that). The Trek that they let me ride for 50 ft inside their shop did not even have air in the tires!!! They somehow expected that to be a proper test ride. I don’t understand how they would think that having been in business for 70 years or more (according to the lady).
So in summary, they wanted me to buy a bike without helping me test it properly (without even putting air in the tires), without helping me get the right size and without letting me test all the bikes that I had planned. Based on their attitude on display, I am quite certain that post-​purchase care will be even worse (as attested to by the negative reviews here).
If there is one positive I have to say about them, it is about their prices. They seemed very fair. Some other local bike shops may charge you more. So you need to decide if you value customer service or your initial expense on a bike. I can see how some people may decide that the latter is more important. I however prefer a shop that can offer me moderately fair prices AND excellent customer care.
4 stars for Neil’s mom, 2 stars for the overall experience. Btw, I did buy a 2013 Trek 7.3 fx elsewhere.

Great bikes. Bad post-​purchase service. Last summer, my husband and I purchased 3 bikes for me and my son and daughter – 2 Giants and a Trek. For me, this was a major purchase after we bought accessories – around $ 1,500. The manager, and older gray-​haired man, was all sugar and spice when showing us bikes and taking our money. But afterwards he was like Mr. Hyde. I returned for a minor problem with my bike and he took an extremely long period of time to even acknowledge my presence. I understood that he was working with other customers, but an «I’ll be right with you» would have been nice. What’s worse, when he finally attended to me he was rude and brusque, as if I was wasting his time. I love cycling, but next time I need a bike, I’ll take my business elsewhere.

I went in looking for a hybrid bike, on the cheaper side (under $ 400). I was really pleased. A lady named Arlene helped me, and she showed me several bikes in my price range, and let me ride them in the store as much as I wanted. She was understanding when I said I wanted to shop around. I left to go to another nearby bike shop, where they told me I would be unable to get what I wanted in my price range, so I came back and bought a great bike.
Then, this little older lady (who opened the store 60 years ago!) gave me a lesson on shifting and cleaning the chain. Sooo sweet.
My one complaint is that the staff here seem to be a bit socially awkward. Especially Neil. He seemed skiddish and generally weird. They clearly aren’t focused on customer service, but they have a great product and really know their stuff, so that outweighs the service to me.
I’m very pleased with the bike I purchased, and was happy to support a local, family owned business.

I had one of the best experiences here. One of the owners helped me when I came in with my bicycle. He was very helpful and knowledgeable. His prices were fair and his service was fast. He informed me on cleveland bike laws and proper shifting techniques. I will forever be a B&K customer.

I have been to this shop twice so far. The first time I went there I needed new tires and new inner tubes. They finish the work in a reasonable amount of time and the service was great! The second time I went there, I got an used bike and I was told both inner tubes needed to be replaced. They checked the tires and told me only one inner tube needed to be replaced. While waiting, Neil showed me a more descent bike and let me ride it in the store; and he also showed me a lightest bike in the shop. But in no time he tried to push me to buy anything. And both time I was there, they offer to move the bike to my car; which was very nice! I highly recommend this shop for their friendly service, reasonable charge, and honest work ethic!

Very unhelpful! I needed a repair on a popular Schwinn model, and they refused to do it. Terrible service! I took it to another local shop, and it wasn’t a problem.