Bike Works

Dave is a knowledgable business owner who treats all of his customers with the same great service. When he was working on my bike (chain snapped), he Even stopped to help inflate the soccer ball to some kids in the neighborhood. Now, this had nothing to do with the service I received. It DOES speak to the type of man Dave is and the type of small business owners that are missing in a city filled with regentrified service offerings without a care in the world for their local community.

I want to like Bike Works. Tremendous reputation and clearly an enormous contributor to the NYC bike community. Great website too. However, I’ve had two jobs done here and while the first (spoke replacement) went fine, I’ve been unhappy with the second job (hub overhaul and repair).
As others mentioned here pros are affordability and expertise of the mechanics. My biggest criticism is managing of expectations by the mechanics – both in terms of the work they are able to do (said they could repair my internal hub, ended up disassembling it and weren’t able to put it back together, meaning I had to buy a new hb) and time frame in which they can complete the work (said it would be done in 1 – 2 days, ended up getting it back 7 days later).
Customer service can deteriorate if the shop is busy. I don’t mind this much as this isn’t the shop’s selling point and the space doesn’t allow for great customer service.

Dave at Bike Works did an excellent job when he reassembled our two bikes and this for $ 35 each, less than half the price of the cheapest offer we got. Although he is at quite a distance from us, we will return there if need anything for our bikes in the future.

I have a bike with an old frame that I like so I try to preserve it. I don’t like when parts that need to be repaired don’t match the bike. Whatever I do there, tune-​up or repairs, I’ve always liked my bike better than when I left it.

These guys are pretty good. They know their stuff when it comes to bike repairs. As an avid biker, I’d definitely recommend these guys.

Avid bike rider. Came here after reading reviews on Unilocal.I came an hour before they were closing to get parts for my bike as well as get it serviced. The staff helped me make changes to my bike within that time and pleasantly. Everything is priced well and they have loads of products to trick out your bike.

I had an excellent experience with this shop. Had an old steel frame with some chipped off paint and a little rust. Bike Works removed the rust, touched up the paint (with a good match), and added a frame sealer to help prevent rust on the inside of the frame. Reasonable price, easy to work with, done on time. Very happy that this shop was recommended to me by a friend. A real find for this sort of paint work.

Bike works is not just a bike shop. its a holy place for bicycle worship. Having Dave work on your bike is like seeing the village shaman or being blessed by the pope.

Have had good experiences here since this shop was recommended (very highly) about a year ago. Haven’t had any major work, just little stuff here and there. I won’t say the staff are falling all over themselves to chit-​chat, but they’re fair, they’re nice, and I never get even a whiff of anything uncool.

Worked with Dave and his mechanics to spec a steel Soma Smoothie ES, with Campy Veloce. They were great, bike is phenomenal, excellent pricing (under $ 2k for a custom-​ish steel rocket) and service has been good too.

Needed to change my bike’s tube fast. Charged $ 13.01. I could have changed the tube myself, but was short on time. There are other locations that charge a bit less for changing a tube, but you’re just paying for the labor pretty much.
Place is pretty cramped and small waiting area. The store seem to be cluttered with a lot of stuff everywhere but at the same time organized.
Service was pretty quick and mechanics seem pretty knowledgeable but also lazy at the same time. The person at the front, who was also the mechanic who helped me didn’t seem to like their line of work. When I first asked to get my tube fixed, I could see after he turned around, he left off a slight sighhhh. It was the middle of the day too, if it was the end of the day and they were closing up shop, I would understand… but cmon, midday. Maybe he was having an off day, but I would not try to come back here unless it’s a life and death bike situation.

Went there yesterday 15 mins prior to closing to get a flat changed and have a new seat I bought somewhere else put on. I was planning to just drop it off and pick it up in a day or so but they changed the tire and the seat (free of charge) right then & there! I was out in 10 mins and it only cost me $ 15 bucks. Very friendly/​effecient people. Couldn’t be happier & will definelty go back to them.

Literally the only place I’ll take my bike for repairs in NYC. They are fast, inexpensive, honest and have no attitude. It’s always about half of what Bicycle Habitat quotes, and they do better work.

Dave and company have really taken care of me over the years.
I met them first when my vintage Colnago had the Quick Release Skewers stolen they had C-​record skewers in stock and I was able to ride my bike out the door.
They built my Nagasawa for me. It’s the pink one in the archive. I just brought them the frame and my parts and they put them together. Super happy they seem to always have the vintage parts I need in stock. When I crashed, I thought I destroyed my rear hub. It was just a bent axle and broken cups. They had the parts and fixed my wheel while I waited.
They are always very reasonable about repair costs. If you have a vintage bike or a quick repair you should give them a visit.

Although slightly claustrophobic, this is a pretty good bike shop for small repairs and most purchases.
I had stopped in here many times for quick flat tire fixings and minor purchases. I always had good experiences and always felt pretty strongly about this shop.
In fact, if I had been writing this review a few months ago, I would have been giving them 5 stars and singing their praises.
Unfortunately, my most recent experience with Bike Works was horrible, and has left a bad taste in my mouth. I will most likely never go back there again.
Here’s the story: I had an old SE Draft that had gotten pretty beaten up aesthetically. I wanted to get the frame painted, build custom wheels, and give all the parts a ‘once-​over’. After two «consultation» type visits to the shop, I decided that these guys were going to be my best bet for what I needed. I had asked the owner a good day that I could come in, pick out all the specific parts and colors, drop off the bike and finalize all details of this rather expensive procedure that I was committing to. All I wanted was for someone to sit down with me for half an hour and make sure that I was going to be getting done to my bike exactly what I had been dreaming of.
When I arrived on the date and time that the owner had suggested, it was like pulling teeth just trying to get someone’s full undivided attention. I’d start talking to them about what I wanted, then another customer would come in the store, and suddenly I was put on the back burner. This would happen over and over again. I had made it very clear that I was trying to pull the trigger on this transaction on this given day, and that I had all the CASH on my person to pay in full at that time.
Now, if you were a business owner, any business, and a polite person came into your store with $ 700 cash, don’t you think you’d at least give them your undivided attention for a half hour or so and get them on their way?
Seriously, I sat their for about 2 – 3 hours that day. At no point did I feel like I was being taken care of properly. After finally picking out the color I wanted my frame painted, and the wheelset I wanted, I had arranged with them a few other particulars including completely redoing my brakes, and giving each component on my bike a cleaning and tune-​up. I left with a very clear image in my head of what my bike would be like when it was complete, and I was told it would take about 2 weeks.
Then I waited, and waited, and waited.
Over three weeks later, I finally stopped into Bike Works to see what the deal was. My bike frame was sitting there painted, but they apparently couldn’t find the rims that I had wanted. WTF? I had been spending $ 5 a day commuting to work, while my bike sat in the shop disassembled? They couldn’t have called me, oh, I don’t know, 3 weeks ago to let me know that they couldn’t get the rims I wanted?!?
I will note that the paint job came out beautiful. I hated this experience, but I will still recommend them for frame painting (if you are patient).
I ended up settling on a lower quality, all black wheelset that they had lying around the shop that day, just so I could get my damn bike back already. I am currently unhappy with the wheels, and I’m pissed that they put me in a spot where I was forced to settle on something I didn’t want. After spending all that money, I want to sell the wheels and get something different.
Also, the way that the owner spoke about all the prices and my total led me to believe that they included tax. He straight up said «your grand total will be.» and then to my surprise on the day of pick-​up, that amount somehow did not include tax?!?
Furthermore, they lost my seat-​post clamp and replaced it with the cheapest one available, and didn’t say a word to me about it.
All the other things that I had asked them to do to my bike, not even close to done! The brakes were untouched (they gave it back to me with dead brake pads and frayed brake wires). I had asked for a colored brake cable– totally disregarded. I had told them that it was OK to charge me whatever they needed to for a complete overhaul of each part on my bike– totally disregarded. They charged me the base price for disassembly and re-​assmbly after the painting, and thats it.
Overall, this experience ruined my opinion of Bike Works and I feel disrespected.

Finally dusted off my bike and was searching around for the best places to get a tune up and was so thankful about finding this place (especially when so many places quoted $ 70 – 100).
They quoted me $ 35 over the phone and stuck to it, even saying there’s a possibility for an even lower rate. I’m semi-​versed in bike terminology, but they had no qualms about walking me through and explaining what they wanted to fix (loose headset). In fact, they fixed the headset w/​o an additional charge!
Also, they took down my number and called me when they were done — which was only 2 hours after I dropped it off!
Short of bringing my bike back to my front door, cooking me dinner, and doing my taxes, the customer service was supreme. Will definitely be a repeat customer and recommend to others.

I purchased a vintage Raleigh road bike from Bike Works when they were still located next to Hells Angles HQ. They converted it to a single speed, serviced, and repaired this bike exclusively throughout the years. This machine lived on the streets and took it’s fair share of poundings.
In 2002, I took the bike with me on tour and towards the end of the run, it was pretty beat up and needed some TLC. I had it boxed up in Texas and shipped it to them so it would be ready for me when I came home. Admittedly, a good 30 days or so had passed before I was able to make it home and pick up the bike but when I showed up, they pretended to not have any idea what I was talking about. They didn’t have the bike and would not admit to having received it. I knew at that moment that something was wrong since they would not even admit to knowing the bike and barely acknowledged me as a long-​time customer. I was crushed. I had a feeling that someone saw it in the shop and made an offer on it that they couldn’t refuse. I didn’t have any tracking information or anything like that so in that moment, I just had to shrug and try to forget about it.
Two years later I saw someone riding my long-​lost bike through Soho and I flagged the guy down. It still had mismatched forks from when the originals got severely bent and Bike Works replaced them. I showed him a tiny Print Club picture of my face with the words «congratulations» on it stuck on the seat tube up under the top tube. The rider confirmed that he had purchased it from Bike Works. He said he would help me sort it out with them but the phone number he gave me to contact him didn’t work (can’t blame the guy for not wanting anything to do with it).
This was a long time ago and I’m sure that the staff at Bike Works are fine mechanics and this is why I am giving them two stars, but they did a cruddy thing by selling my bike to someone else and then not having the nerve to own up to the mistake.

While I am not going to question anyone’s bad experience, I am surprised by how many there are. I’ve been coming to this shop for about four years, and before I go any further, yes, I wrench on my own bikes. I have the Campagnolo Tool Kit (the one that comes in the fancy wood box) and I build my own bike frames (from scratch, I’m talking raw tubes, lugs„ and a lot of fire), so I absolutely know my way around a bike.
Bike Works, for me, is paradise. Sometimes I run into a bind on a project, I need a special part that is hard to find, or I need some advice on the setup of an older component. Bike Works has the solutions to all of my problems and more. They also carry a dizzying array of new and unusual parts to make any bike look sharp and ride great. But even for someone who isn’t a dork like me, trying to find that rare shade of Benotto bar tape to match his purple lugged steel frame, I still think Bike Works is a good place to go. I have friends who are much less knowledgeable than I who have nothing but praise this humble shop. I have other friends, who work at different bike shops in the city, that rely on this place to do the work they don’t know how to do. This place is a NYC treasure, I haven’t found another shop that’s quite like it.

I have good news and bad news.
The good news is that this place charges very reasonable rates for repair. I brought them a brand new bike-​in-​a-​box and had them assemble it for 30% less than everyone else.
The bad is that I found my bike doing scary, dangerous things when riding once these guys worked on it. Chain coming off 20, 30 times in a few hours. Terrifying when you’re in NY traffic.
I’m not a mechanic, so I go back to the store. They note that a bolt is MISSING in the chainring. I’m surprised, since it’s a brand-​new bike and isn’t a cheap one either. I also def didn’t notice the bolt missing when I looked at the bike.
I ask them to shift the seat angle slightly, repair the now-​bent chain (after 6 hours of total use) and put the bolt back in.
No problems for about 2 days. Everything works great. Then one day, I find that suddenly my seat has kicked almost COMPLETELY LOOSE and is rattling all over, in every angle and direction. It is 95% detached from the post! Why?! Flipped the seat over and found out that– get this– a bolt was missing.
Uh-​huh. Interesting.
So I go back to the store, only to find that they’re closed. The gate is down.
Now, since there was some heavy snow, I understand it may take everyone a while to get back to work.
So I went back the next day. And the next. And the next.
For four days now, these guys are nowhere to be found. Calling them yields no message regarding their disappearance: just the standard «we’re open from _​_​_​to _​_​_​_​». And my brand-​new, somewhat-​high-​end bike is unrideable, because I’m scared there are more problems to be found– AND I want them to fix what they’ve done. (ie. I don’t want to take a wrench to it myself in case I mess it up).
Two major (dangerous) problems in a row in less than a week, on a bike that DID NOT HAVE PROBLEMS going in, and now they’ve disappeared for close to a week. Would YOU patronize a place like that?
They SEEM like they mean well. The people are nice and seem like they know what they’re doing. But now I know better.
Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Since I understand that Unilocal has a genuine impact on businesses now, I have to give these guys a review, if only to help balance out the totally unreasonable reviews before me.
I’ve been racing for the last 6 years in NYC, and these are far and away the best mechanics in the city. There are many great mechanics here, but these are my first choice. Arone and Dave (head mechanic and owner, respectively), have absolutely never let me down once — and I have been in many binds on their watch. They’ve always been really honest and helpful, zero attitude, just a huge dorky love for bikes and anyone else willing to play along. They charge fairly and share way more of their time and knowledge than necessary.
Basically, they are everything you would ever want in a bike store, and I challenge anyone to come up with a more well-​rounded shop in the city.
I’ve changed hugely as a rider over the years in the city: starting out trying to look like I knew what I was doing when I had no idea, all the way through till now, where I’m finally competing in big races and, here and there, picking up some cash for it. Dave and Arone’s attitude towards me, however, has never changed, and they’ve been around for all of it. That’s a pretty special disposition. They were always cool, from day one, and because of them I’ve never been afraid to learn or ask a question. I can think of few teachers who have the same ability, regardless of their field. How about you?
I can think of two instances that really sealed the deal for me on these guys:
One, I scored cheap last-​minute plane tickets to SF for a race, and needed my bike boxed while I packed and flew out the door. I gave them a call, asked if they had time to do it that same morning (which is a totally desperate and unreasonable thing to ask ANY shop), and at first they said «man, we’re really busy». I figured as much. Then they asked where I was going so fast, so I explained, and they told me that if I could bring the bike in in an hour, they’d have it done before 2. I’d called at noon! That is awesome!!! Furthermore, they did the best bike boxing job of any I’ve ever had, meanwhile completely under the gun and going well out of their way for no reason. No upcharge, no attitude, no nothing, just shared excitement.
Two: the one and only time I ever had Bikeworks screw up, I had to have some repairs done having been hit by a car, and though they said I could pick it up at the end of the day, when I swung around to get it, no one had touched it. Having been there a million times before and only having them be quick and amazing, I was a little surprised and bummed out, but I tried not to show it. They were closing the gate at this point, getting ready to go home, and when Dave realized what had happened, he REOPENED and stayed for half an hour to finish the job. I was so grateful that I bought him beer.
I know that sounds like it is from a 50’s infomercial, but it’s true.
The best work anyone has ever done on my bike has been from Bikeworks. They smoothest my wheels have ever felt has been after they trued them, the best fit I ever found on a bike is when they helped me size it. They kick ass, and damned be anyone arguing.
I hope that set the record straight. Best effing shop for miles.