Vitesse Cycle Shop

Went in during the last day of Trek Fest «sale» and they were really busy. But they had my new bike built before the closed so they could get me the promo offer. Very friendly.

Live in Chicago and was in the area last weekend.
Decided to stop in to learn more about Trek and compare it to Giant models that I have been looking at. We acknowledged right away by a guy whom I can’t remember his name (works in the service shop). He was very knowledgeable on everything in the store and was straight forward. I felt like he was truly trying to help me find the best bicycle for my needs.
Will be back in the next month to purchase a new Trek 7.4 FX Disc and a few extras!
Thanks for a great visit.

Great shop! Excellent selection, helpful staff, great location. This business has been here for 39 years, a mainstay of the local fitness community.

Great shop they can help with all your Trek Nike needs. Great place to outfit your family with bikes and safety gear.

Absolutely AMAZING customer service every time I walk in to Vitesse! It doesn’t matter if I spend $ 5 or $ 500 there, they will treat me the same. (This is extremely important to me considering I am on a budget… The same way I did not choose to go into a sorority in college is the same reason why I don’t like to buy people to like me– or feel that I have to drop lots of money at a store in order to receive exceptional customer service. Even if I just need to go in to get a simple quick fix like air in my tires or adding a water bottle cage, for example, Vitesse will take care of me no matter what and no matter how much money I spend in their store.) Vitesse truly enjoys helping people, especially people who enjoy cycling too! It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or intermediate level, they love to chat with you about the sport and about the products they offer to help you enjoy the sport as best as you can! I wish I would have purchased my bicycle from them! I honestly cannot say enough good things about Vitesse (and I wish I could rate with more stars)!!! Please, if you are in the area (or even from afar), check out Vitesse. Their customer service alone should be the reason you give up on shopping where you used to shop and begin shopping with them… I know that was the case for me!!! Thank you, Vitesse, for being so humble and for making me feel right at home!!! :)

I really wanted to like Vitesse during the 4 years I went to school in the area. I could have gone to Bloomington Cycle Fitness which was much closer to me, but the guys there are even cockier and think they are part of omegapharmaquickstep or something. The owner of Vitesse is a great guy, but some of his employees really stained my memory of this place.
Lots of the Vitesse guys are quite nice, but 50% of the time, it took a while for someone to help me out. Some employees need to be trained to ask more questions and not shove information into customers’ throats. I wanted ferrules. The employee went and got me cables and crimps too and insisted that I buy them too. «Oh you’ll NEED them.»
Lastly, there is one mechanic, bearded with a hat, and maybe with red hair, that must have a 29″ wheel shoved up his bottom bracket. He is so unfriendly and definitely wishes to be seen as a tough guy. He has walked away mid-​conversation from me a few times. The worst was when he fixed a fork for me and handed it to me. I put my hand on it and then he refused to let go and then condescendingly told me how to set it up. Really? What the hell. You can make a point without being absurd. I am honestly writing this review at this time because I remembered this bad memory of him. His persona? «What the hell are you doing in my bike shop.»
In the end, I did a lot of shopping at Vitesse. However, it was out of necessity. I don’t like going the amazon route and prefer supporting the LBS, but poor customer service drove me away from this place quite a few times. They have a lot of potential, but need to step-​up their game.

I was having Vitesse build up a Felt F3 frameset including wheels.
One thing everyone should do when going into a bike shop is to listen. There are no absolutes in cycling equipment, no single, best way for anything. You really have to do what’s best for you, your budget and goals. There is no such thing as perfection, but there is excellence and you can readily attain that.
I wanted the build to be Italian components and they were very helpful. I was ready to order a Campagnolo Athena Group and they just could have placed the order and taken the money. Yet, Andre called the next day and explained that the crankset had one issue that may be a concern for me. I decided he was right and for less than a hundred dollars, upgraded to the Campagnolo Chorus crankset, while keeping with the rest of the original group. That was sound advice that prevented a serious problem.
I was able to have an extended discussion with their wheelbuilder, Adam, who also advised on the crankset. He built up a wheel set with Campy Record hubs, Mavic Open Pro rims and Sapim spokes that were splendid when completed. I was thinking Mavic CXP 33 rims and Adam explained that it was an excellent choice, yet for my riding the Open Pro’s may be better. I concluded he was right. They were also good about ordering the Selle Italia saddle and Cinelli bars (Neo Morphe: amazing bars), seat post and stem.
Back to my comment on listening. I would often ask what the staff used and got some good ideas. One of the best was to use Vittoria Rubino tires, also a special order. Again, listening can bring you to great outcomes you were not expecting.
Concluding, nothing on the bike was an item they had on the shelf. All custom ordered, assembled and built. This is not an easy task, yet since we worked cooperatively and didn’t rush things, it all came together. I dare say they even had fun with it. There were a couple of hiccups and a couple of delays, yet, they were fair with me and vice versa. It all has to do with reasonable expectations and a calm mind. Lastly, I found the component pricing very competitive and the price for the build and wheel construction very sensible.
The build was exactly as I had asked and the bike rode perfectly from the first push of a pedal.
I recommend that if you walk into Vitesse, which has been in business for decades, you’ll have a similar experience.

Grew up going here and every time I had dealings with the owner, Mr. Koos (who is now mayor of Normal), he was a jerk. One time one of his repair guys was showing me something on my bike (that I bought from them) and Koos came back and scolded him in front of me for not putting me on a ticket (i.e. helping me for free). Another time he was unwilling to trade in the clip-​in pedals that came on a bike (I wanted regular, non-​clip pedals) for anything close to the value of the pedals. He has always been unfriendly and rude. Will never spend another penny here.

We went to all three bikes stores in Bloomington Normal and ended up getting bikes here. Overall we had the best service at Bloomington Cycle and Fitness and thought we were going to go with their Specialized bikes but Vitesse got the bike in I was wanting to ride and finished off there.
Ultimately the ride was a little better and it overall looked like a nicer bike. Vitesse was helpful in getting bike sizes we needed and called us right away when they got the other bike in. I would of given them five stars but they lack a tad on their customer service. Bloomington Cycle and Fitness was going to give us 10% off our bikes because we are a cash customer. Vitesse did not want to give anything off. Finally they gave us a small savings off each bike and then the sales guy was like you guys still want kick stands right??? Of course they do not come with the deal and that will be an additional $ 9 per bike. It is not about the $ 18 dollars, it is just about giving a small discount and then adding $ 18 back on. Then he said my bike was «special» and it needed a $ 30 kickstand. Our two bikes are pretty much identical but one mens and one womens so they take the same $ 9 kickstands. Overall a good experience.

Vitesse is connected to Often Running, making it an easy one-​stop-​shop for your running/​cycling needs. The employees are knowledgeable and helpful. They don’t carry a large stock, but they will give you free tune-​ups on any bike that you purchase from their store. They have an annual tent sale in late summer/​early fall. If you need accessories, a new bike, or work done on your current bike, you should check this place out!