B & G Cyclery

Great family owned store. i have bought several bike’s form here since the early 80’s.they always treat you good. fit you to the bike and makes sure it’s all perfect for you. Very friendly family that know what they’re doing with bikes. This is really the only place i would buy a bike from in the area.

Awsome place! Great and honest service. Very helpful staff and knowledgable

I was in the area visiting family and looking for a gift for my nephew. I of course Unilocaled stores in the area and found them. Who does anything without Unilocal!
Although I didn’t purchase anything that day, I did receive very helpful service.
I plan on purchasing a gift for my nephew from them as the occasion nears, they have even been really helpful with all my questions via email. Its hard buying a great gift so many miles away!

I was skeptical about going here after I saw the reviews. I happened to be in the area and stopped in. Though I only needed a couple of accessories to prep my bike for the coming season, I found them to be friendly and knowledgeable!

Family has bought several bikes here over the years and we have never once had a bad experience. I’ve had things repaired when I simply didn’t have time to do it myself, bought components, I honestly don’t see where these bad reviews come from. I’ve been going here since I was eight back in 1997 for an idea of how long I’ve been a customer. If I need something RIGHT NOW this is my place to go.

Shopping by reviews is something which I hold to a high standard when trying to find a place to do business with. That is the first step to getting me in the door and it didn’t start out good from the beginning.
It only goes to show that if other people had a bad experience most likely you will to. I learned that the hard way! My wife was doing me a favor by stopping into B & G and saw some bikes that I might be interested in. When she called to tell me that the store had some bikes I went to Google right away to find out what the reviews where of this place. Seeing is that it was only rated with 2.5 stars I was skeptical but thought if I had passed by I would go in and take a look.
I expect prompt service from store employees and that is probably the ONLY nice thing to say about this place. It went down hill from there. As I began to look at the selection of bikes which was decent, I was not in any position to buy that day as I had just started to look around.
I was asked questions about the style of biking I like to do and what I’m currently using so I could tell that they had knowledge of the products. The owner… I think Cindy is her name but I can’t remember informed me they had a bike coming in that was being discontinued but there was one coming into the store. The reason this bike appealed to me was due to the trigger shifters rather than the grip shifters which is what I have used for years.
I was interested so she took down my information. When I got up to the counter the questions extended beyond just a name and number which kind rubbed me the wrong way but after providing all my information she said that will be 506 and change for the bike.
I said… wait what? she said 506 for the bike. My response, «Why do I have to pay for the bike now?» which she was quick to say, «custom ordered bikes need to be paid in full before we order them.»
An employee behind the counter, mind you, said «but he didn’t custom order the bike you already had it on order!»
At this point her husband comes up and has a very desturbed look on his face, almost as if he was about to drop a load in his pants. He turns and asks me, «Do you want the bike, how far do you live and can you get her the day it comes in?»
I’m now on the defensive as you can imagine because it’s just mind boggling to me that someone thinks I will pay for something I didn’t order. AND the fact it was 500+ dollars no thanks!
I took my business elsewhere to a place that actually cares about the customers!
I received a phone call 3 weeks later from B & G when the owner says, «your bike is ready for pickup, do you still want it?»
My reply «absolutely not, your customer service is horrible and I’ve already told everyone I know to avoid your shop at all costs»
We exchanged some words and she was eager to tell me that she lost sales on the bike for two months since she was holding it for me! Yeah of course you did, you expect people to pay for something before they get it when THEY DIDN’T SPECIAL ORDER IT TO BEGIN WITH!
I told her I thought it was ridiculous that she would expect me to pay for something in advanced especially a bike when I’m looking around.
If your looking for a new bike, service or any bicycle related products, avoid at all costs! If there was a way to give a zero star rating it would have replaced the 1 star but that is the only way to give a review and keep customers informed

Took my bike over to B&G this spring for a long-​overdue tune-​up. The owner greeted me promptly, determined what I needed, and quickly provided an estimate of cost… along with sharing (and explaining!) her recommendations for new tires my bike needed. Like I said: «overdue». We agreed on work to be done and I was given a «Will be ready by…» date.
I picked up my ready-​to-​ride (and nicely cleaned) bike on the day I was promised, with no «Oh by the way…» surprises on the invoice. Had my sweet ride back in shape, and B&G had another satisfied customer!
Definitely appreciated the extensive brochure and information displays too!
The owner IS a bit «matter-​of-​fact», and direct in speaking, which is apparently «off-​putting» to some customers used to being fawned-​over elsewhere, whereas I greatly appreciated getting right to what I needed to know. YMMV.
Tempted at first to go 4-​stars due to an out-​of-​date website, but figured that service was the most important part of the experience, and for THAT I was completely satisfied.

No stars. Unilocal forces you to add at least one. Horrible customer service. The lady made it seem like I was bothering her by walking into her store. I didn’t even get a chance to look around since the response that I received from my first question was very short and so cold. I was planning on making a purchase but ended up walking right out. I’d rather take my money elsewhere. I’m not sure how/​why these people are still in business. Will never go back.

They never even asked if I wanted to buy a bike, so I walked out. I gave 1 star as courtesy. Went back, in hopes that the bad reviews would have at least changed their ways. Well, guess not, the lady still acts obnoxious and does not know anything about bikes. Just wondering why I have to give this place a star, when they don’t deserve one.

Ya I will say, bad bad bad service. The owner, yes the owner, when asked a basic question by a customer responded with the look of disgust. As if he had shit on his upper lip and was taking one big wiff. Wow, that not the way you treat a customer.
BTW, the customer was asking if the bikes in back were also for sale.

This shop is 5 minutes up the road from, but i refuse to go there, Owners and employees are very unhelpful, with an exception for Matt the mechanic he is great knowledgeable guy, but they hide him in the back and don’t let you speak with him. Very small selection and over priced.
I would take your business elsewhere.

Matt the mechanic set up my race bike to perfection. Dialed in all the way.

Last year we had purchased a bike for my daughters 8^th grade graduation, she had been eyeing this bike for months beforehand, and would not let us pass the shop without making us slow down to look at it through the window, she was in love! Needless to say she was absolutely thrilled when we surprised her with it the night of graduation. Nothing made her happier as when she was riding, she has a serious passion for it.
This becomes part of my review because of the unfortunate happenings a few months later. The bike was stolen and my daughter was completely heartbroken. A few months after that we had spotted the thief, riding her bike and chased him down, and then called the police, only to find out that the serial numbers were not a match, although we knew it was hers, we couldn’t prove it. The officer threw it in the trunk and drove off… I honestly have never seen my daughter so hurt, she was devasted… the bike was taken from her once again. Our last hope was to talk to the staff at B & G to see if there was anything else that we could do. Everyone there was very sympathetic and spent a very good amount of time looking up serial numbers, calling previous customers that had purchased the same style bike, and explaining our situation while requesting a confirmation of their serial numbers.
Come to find out that the numbers on her bike had been altered and my daughter was given her bike back, which she insists on keeping right next to her bed at night lol
Bottom line is B & G went above and beyond what I had expected of them, they understood our situation and did everything they could to assist in the safe return of my daughters most prized posession and that meant the world to us, and more so to her.
All businesses should treat their customers on such a personal level because those are the types of businesses that everyone wants to experience.

I really don’t understand the other reviews. This shop is unbelievable we came here to buy my wife a bike because or good friends bought their whole family bikes here. When we walked in they spent a lot of time and patience with us. They were also less money for the same bike than any other shop. They stand behind all of their products and services. I even brought my bike in for a tune-​up. I would say that this is the type of shop I like since it is family run and they really are focused on their customers.

I’m giving them two stars because they have a decent selection of accessories/​components, they had lots of kids’ bikes, and the saleswoman was attentive even though I walked in 20 minutes before closing time.
Unfortunately, everything else about my experience was not confidence-​inspiring. The sales technique, instead of actually trying to help me find the right bike, was focused on 1) badmouthing brands other than Trek, 2) badmouthing other bike shops in the area, 3) lying about sales tax rates in other towns. In that order. Only after we got through these three speeches did we move toward actually finding out what I was looking for in a bike and fitting me for a frame.
I was disconcerted that the only fitting she did was standing height over the top tube. She didn’t bother to ask how my riding posture on the pedals was, or inquire about my reach to the handlebars. This bothers me because there’s a lot more to ride comfort and efficiency than where the crossbar lands in your crotch.
Lastly, their pricing wasn’t very competitive.
I shopped five bike stores in total, and I wasn’t wowed by any of them. However, I will say that of the four OTHER shops, none of them trashed another store or another bike brand, and all of them spent all their time on finding the right bike for me. B&G is the only store that made a point of trash talking. As it turned out, Libertyville Cyclery (George Garner Cyclery) had the right bike for me in stock, so that’s where I put down my dollars. The most helpful sales person by far, though, was at Village CycleSports in Arlington Heights.
For the record, I bought a Specialized Sirrus Sport, which basically made every other hybrid/​road bike I looked at feel like a toy.

Someone PLEASE tell me there is another cycle shop in this area. I have to say that B&G gets the award for the WORST service for any business in the chain o’ lakes area.
I’ve gone there many times – even bought my Trek mountain bike there because they are so close to my house and I can walk home if I drop off my bike. But every time I’ve had to have the bike serviced they’ve treated me like they’re doing me a favor taking my money.
A year or so ago I had to guilt them into finally taking the time to fix a shoddy job they’d done on my bike a few months before. And when I came in to pick the bike up the woman wouldn’t give me a straight answer about what I’d have to pay or not pay or if they’d even fixed anything. She just kept saying, «I don’t know. I don’t know.» Really? ‘Cause it’s your shop lady and if you don’t know who does?
One exception: Matt the mechanic is really great. If only someone could take him and move him to another shop where the staff is warm and friendly it would be a hat trick. As it is now I wonder why they went into the bike business to begin with because they sure don’t give the impression that they like it. Meanwhile, I’m looking for another shop to give my business to. I’ve“ve needed a back tire for months now and I’ve refused to go back to these people to get it changed.