Lakewood Cyclery

Ben is the man, period. I lived in Lakewood for years then moved to Sunset Beach. Why do I drive this far for bike repairs? I drive this far for several reasons: Ben is a professional, he does excellent work, doesn’t over charge, it’s a small business, and I just like the guy. Cash only; not a problem for adults who are smart enough to carry cash for this exact reason. If you need some bullshit storefront with overpriced rent which actually drives up the cost of repairs then go to LB Cyclery and pay triple for the same work…

This is a review of the bike I got and Ben who runs the shop.
So I was on Unilocal looking around for a place to get a road bike. I went to a couple of other places that just sold your normal fixies and maybe had a few used bike but I couldn’t find one I liked. So I found Lakewood Cyclery so I go there and when I walked in its a museum of old bikes and some newer bikes. So I’m looking around Ben shows me a few bikes. They were too big for me though. So I wonder around and then I spot it… I spot a old schwinn sitting there like a light in a dark room. My eyes twinkle and I ask him about it and he says a older guy brought it in the day before and he traded it for a new bike. And you can tell this bike was just sitting in a garage for like 20 years. The tires were dry rotted and it needed some work but I didn’t care. I’m familiar with bikes as I’ve rode bmx bikes since I was 5 and I’m 28 now so I had confidence I could fix it up again to be rideable. So Im looking at it and Oh man what a beauty and I’m super stokes. I check the size and it’s perfect for me. I asked him if he’s willing g to sell it. He says yeah sure I will sell it to you and it tells me a price and the price was right. Oh man was it. Then I learned he’s cash only which I didn’t have the money on me and I told him I want that bike and that it was meant for me and that I’d be back the next day to buy it.
So the next day I show up at 12ish and Bens go the bike on his stand and he fixed it up for me and put the tape on the bars for me. It was like my birthday. So he was showing me all the stuff he did and and put the tape on, cleaned the gears. What a awesome bike. He was telling me about how the older schwinns bikes had weird tire sizing and says you can order them for cheap online. He says I have 2 but I charge a little more because those are the only ones I have. I know he’s giving me a good deal so I say I’ll just buy it from you. Plus I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to ride it now. So he’s putting the tires on for me and I’m talking to him. He’s a good dude and has a love for bikes. He’s been selling bikes for 30 plus years. I mean look at the shop. that should be obvious.
After a while he gets the tires on and I have a smile from ear to ear. So I get it and take it for a ride and it’s awesome. Works perfectly and I love it. I bought it about 2 months ago before writing this review and I ride it pretty much everyday and it’s still perfect.
I remember when I was leaving with it Ben said be careful with that bike. People will steal it. Especially with it having all of the original parts like it does. I said don’t worry I’ll take good care of it.
Look for the people who went here expecting a clean shop with a bunch of fancy bikes this won’t be the place for you. Now if you’re like me and love older vintage bikes go here and look at what he’s got. He’s got huge piles of vintage bikes.

I’m not one to write reviews, but I have to after my experience. I took my Scott mountain bike there for a simple adjustment of the front derailer. He wanted to clean up the bike as well and quoted me $ 50. I needed the bike done for the next day so I agreed to the ridiculous price. He wasn’t feeling good well because he had taken his blood pressure medication and wanted to keep it over night. I told him it needed to be done by 3pm and he agreed. I asked for a ticket or something that proved I left the bike with him because it is a rather expensive bike. He didn’t have anything but a business card. I left it, got home. 30mon later he called to tell me it was done and he didn’t want to leave a bike this expensive in his shop over night. I go to pick it up, he had cleaned the rear cassette as well as the bike itself. He said that whoever adjusted the front derailer last had set it wrong. I told him that I had done that to make it through a race after I crashed and knocked it out of adjustment. And that I had only done that to get to the end of the race. I talked with him for a few minutes then handed him the $ 50 and asked for a receipt. He said it was taped to the bike. I found the piece of paper with the price written on it and his signature. I took the bike for a spin and the front derailer was still not working properly. I took it back to him. He put it on the rack and this is where the bad got worse. He starts making adjustments and couldn’t get anything to work right without something rubbing. He asked for the manual which I don’t have because I bought the bike used. I asked for only $ 20 back out of $ 50 which is more than reasonable, but I was trying to be respectful of the old man in his little Shop. He argued with me that he had spent a lot of time on it and «fixed» it. He disappeared into the back. When he came back he said he was closing and I had to go. I politely said that it was ridiculous and I could see why people had given him bad reviews (this had come up in our earlier conversation). He reluctantly gave me $ 10 back. I immediately took the bike to my normal shop. Long beach cyclery. They had to make many adjustments, but on 20 min time they had it working perfect again. They would have charged me $ 15, but didn’t because we talked about doing some other work in the next couple of weeks. I gave them $ 10 the the $ 10 I had got back from the guy at Lakewood and thanked them.
If you have a beach cruiser or walmart bike Lakewood cyclery might be the place for you if you want to be overcharged. Go to long beach cyclery and you will be happy.

I went in there to get air in my tires and the old Asian gentleman was being a total Dick. I was being patient and waiting til he was done with the two customers before me. Then when he was free to help me I asked for air. He then directed me to the back where he has his air pump. During which he said I was bothering him and that I should have known he was too busy and under stress. For context the customer before me had got him upset because he didn’t know what he was talking about when it came to bike parts. That’s no reason to get upset with another customer though. He was being so rude and when I was done he said next time go somewhere else. Go to jax bike shop instead. Way to treat your patrons.

The place looks like a junk yard. I can overlook that at businesses that actually make am effort to help customers. They don’t take debit cards so I left; I couldn’t even buy some pads for my hand brakes.
Off to Long Beach Cyclery.

I am a total newby when it comes to bicycles (cycling as I was told to say). Any how I picked up and old 1983 Schwinn LeTour with a bent rim and flat tires. I though it was gonna cost a pretty penny to get everything fixed but got a killer deal on the work.
They are a down to earth no nonsense shop and I will be going there for all my «cycling» needs.

I’m new to biking and received help right as they were about to close. The owner and another gentleman helped me understand the complexities of bicycles in a way that has inspired me to further this endeavor.

Lakewood Cyclery is awesome! I have been coming here for years to get basic bicycle tune ups and Ben has not disappointed me yet.
The place is a little messy when you walk in but I feel like it gives the place a feeling of an old school repair shop. At first I thought of it to be a junkyard of where old bikes go to retire. HA!
Aside from that, I usually just drop my bike off and depending on the time of day, Ben will either tell you pick it up later that same day or the next. Thousands of miles later, I still come here!

I can see why some people don’t like this shop but Ben did right by me. He fixed a severly bent back rim from my 1970’s Schwinn 5 speed for $ 15. The rim works fine and I am back on the road.

Absolutely AWFULL. How can this guy still be in business. He worked on two vintage Schwinn’s for me and never repaired the problem. I paid $ 100.00 cash as agreed the first time I picked them up they weren’t fixed not at all! The exact same problem as when I brought them in. He told me to leave them and he would have them repaired… Both 3 speed bikes would not stay in second gear…(I understand this is common for Sturmy Archer vintage 3 speeds… You have to get the cables to have the correct tension.) I brought my bikes there in March came back 2 times both times the problem was not fixed…
Finlay July 1^st I went back for the 3^rd time as I needed them working or not for a Vintage Bike ride on July 4^th. That’s right he had the bikes for over 3 months… I was steaming!!! Get this! I parked my truck at the Jack In The Box behind his shop walked around to the front door and Saw Ben the owner and only employee standing in front of the Thirsty Isle beer bar next door talking with one of the drinkers and smoking a cigarette… My bikes were 6 feet from the front door… These bikes are worth over $ 500.00 each… I grabbed the first one walked it out to my truck and had time to come back for the second. I was off with my bikes and he had no clue what ever happened to them. This could happen to you and worse your bike could be stolen from this unsafe place.
I left a few things out as the review would be too long but trust me he offered no refund and insulted me the whole way as though It was all my fault. I had these repaired for just $ 60.00 for both in 48 hours at THE BIKE STAND in Long Beach… Turns out they both needed new cables $ 12.00 each… He ripped me off and never called me to let me know my Bikes got ripped off. Trust me he has no cameras to see it was me who took the bikes… This BUM dose not have enough money to buy camera and wouldn’t be able to operate it if he had one.

I’m giving Ben, the shop owner, 5 stars because I got what I expected in a timely manner. I broke 3 spokes & the rim needed to be trued. Ben had the time to do it the same day. My bike works great & the cost was moderate.

i went today and explained that this tire flat was just fixed and it lasted 2 days. He went off on me and told me it might only last 1 day. I was disturbed by his answer and told him so. He told me he was 78 and been doing this for 40 years, and I told him I was 71 and had been working across the street for 48 years. Tit fot Tat.
Maybe his day started bad, because I was in there 10 minutes after he opened.
We had words and he put a new tube in immediately, Enough said, but trust me I won’t be back…

Be careful, something seems off here. Admittedly, I know only basics about bikes: I know the parts, mostly how they work and how to do very minor maintenance. I took my Dad’s old bike for a complete overhaul early last spring. It needed a lot of work: broken spoke, rusty chain, needed new dérailleur, wheels needed to be trued and new inner tubes and tires installed. It had been sitting in the garage for 25 years.
We took it to a nearby chain bike store and they wanted 320 $ for basically all new components. They told me that the sentimental value of the bike made it worth fixing for that much, but otherwise, it would be better to just get a new bike. It was a very nice bike in its day. I being a frugal person, decided to take to to Lakewood Cyclery to get a comparison appraisal. $ 100.
Ben was up front that all parts would be used, but that was fine with me, because I was trying to save some money. Ben was very nice, obviously knows a lot about bikes, and actually insisted that we go compare the price he offered to another shop before he would even take our bike to fix! We already had so we were sold.
Here’s the problem: He had the bike for almost a week and I had to call him to pick it up, which would be fine if it had been properly fixed, as it was a lot of repair work. About ten miles of riding into the new bike, the chain slipped off the back sprocket and got jammed between the wheel and the cog set. I walked the mile extra home. It was extremely difficult to get the chain unstuck. I had to unlink one of the links and play tug of war with the bike wedged behind a pole to get the chain out. I then put the chain back together and put it back on my bike. But it no longer shifted correctly and the bracket that held the crankset to the down tube was misaligned. So I decided to take the bike back to Ben who had guaranteed his work. He fixed it and it worked fine after that. I wouldn’t say «like new» but it worked.
But: Here I am 9 months later, the back wheel is totally misaligned. It is very easy to see the wobble. I haven’t ridden it more than 300 miles as I bought a new bike a month after having this one restored (which I have ridden 2000 miles or so). I’m no expert but that shouldn’t happen right?
I’m still giving him three stars for his guaranteed work and the fact that he was upfront about using used parts and answered all of my questions about what was wrong with it. I could go back there and get it fixed on the cheap again, now I’m just wishing now I had gone to the other shop and gotten all new parts, new wheels etc. for the 320 $. All of the cable would have been replaced too which only some of it was with Ben.
I think this shop is better for those that need quick fixes for cheap because they absolutely can’t afford to go somewhere else or for basic maintenance. If you need your parts replaced, just get new parts. Why replace old with old?

Once you get over the fact that the shop is a complete mess. the service was pretty good. Got my trek Marlin tuned and it was done in 3 hours. I was fearful at first to leave the bike But it turned out great. Plus at only $ 35, well they charged me $ 40 because of all the mud they had to clean, it was great. Good place for old parts and a quick tune up.

This bike shop saved me a fortune on a bike that I thought couldn’t be repaired. The owner fixed it like new and I recommend this place for any of your bike needs!

I’ve been neglecting to write reviews for a while, but I’m logging back in just for this place. The owner was super helpful, and even though I just had a minor issue, he inspected it right away and fixed it on the spot. You can tell that he’s been doing this for a long time, and while his shop is a bit cluttered and what he would call a «junk shop», you can tell he cares about what he does. I’ve lived in Berkeley, home of bicycles galore and an anti-​car community, and bike shops there could often be snooty and just plain expensive. I know a few shops around here that just carry beach cruisers and mountain bikes — they charge an arm and a leg for parts and a tune up. This guy is genuine and prices are great.
I prize genuine customer service — not customer-is-always-right-but-we’ll-take-your-wallet customer service. If you care about your bike then you wouldn’t mind him telling you that you should know how to do something simple — he’ll still gladly do it for you if you prefer an experienced hand doing the work right the first time. I’ll be coming back here for the rest of my bike issues.

I came to Ben because I had a fixie project but didn’t know where to start. So I brought in the frame and piece by piece Ben helped me decide what to get, WHY to get it, and then ultimately he installed it PROPERLY on my bike. Lakewood cyclery is the PERFECT place for anyone to bring in a bike to get fixed in almost any way, shape, or form. Although all the other reviews probably warned you already, I’ll warn you again: DO NOT COME HERE LOOKING FOR A NEW BIKE. Lakewood cyclery is a shop that FIXES bikes and occasionally sells used bikes.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND anyone who owns a bike to take it to Ben at Lakewood cyclery, he WILL take care of you and your bike for only a few bucks and that’s a FACT!

My bike was in horrible condition. Chain was slipping on the cassette, wheels needed to be trued, rear dérailleur was knocking on the spokes, chain was rubbing the front dérailleur. So I needed a tune up.
Took my specialized road bike to JAX and they charged 180 dollars. (are you kidding?) went to California cycle sport. uh didn’t get the customer service like I used to. Came here and finally met the famous Ben. First off, I got his full attention. Even before I could get that stubborn wooden door to open. He saw my bike and it got nothing but complements. Picked it up within 2 hours. Bike runs very smooth, chain, cassettes, cranks, derailleurs, frame and wheel sets were all fixed, clean and lubricated. He says he’s old school when it comes to fixing, so you know he’s been in the business for a while. 30 dollars he says. 30! Thats less than a tank of gas!
He didn’t try to sell me anything I didn’t need like tubes or that stupid fix a flat green gel like JAX did when they knew I had on some Armadillo tires. I’d have to say he gives out the BEST customer service you’ll get at any bike shop. PERIOD!
Thanks Ben!

So, I’d been putting off getting my bike fixed for quite a while… too long! I Unilocaled good bike repair places, and stumbled upon Lakewood Cyclery. I was looking for a cheap, yet good quality place to give my Schwinn a mini face-​lift.
Ta-​da! I came here, and LOVED the service I received. I explained what was wrong with my bike, and got it fixed for only $ 5! The owner knew exactly what he was doing. He rolled my bike away, fixed my chain, and even took the liberty of straightening my handle bars and adding air to my tires!
When you walk into the shop, you may be overwhelmed by the piles of bikes and parts; but these are his treasures!
Be sure to bring cash for payment. The owner does not accept any cards, because it’s a pretty old school shop. I didn’t have any cash on me, but he was trusting enough to let me leave to go get some cash down the street. Talk about great service!
I’ll definitely be back to keep my bike in good shape.

Nice.