Pleasant Hill Cyclery

Don’t ever go here. The owner talks down to his customers. I took my son in to buy some parts and to remove a lodged piece on his new $ 400 bike frame. The owner just started hacking in it without covering it right on the counter with no care for others property. He kept making the comment that he only works I and deals with adult bikes meaning that bmx bikes were for kids. He even asked my son how old he was and acted as if he was better than us. He kept talking down to us and as other customers came in he said things such as I would help you but these guys came in 10 secs before you. Making us get real unwelcome. Very unprofessional and uncomfortable. We offered to pay for his archaic service of pounding our new frame and he charged us $ 10 for treating our stuff like garbage. Never will I go here again nor will I ever recommend this place. Horrible service. They open at 11 but are closed for lunch at like 11:30. Go figure. Please go to Big Dave’s bikes, they are friendly and awesome.

Bought a groupon for a «complete tune-​up» for $ 35.
Called the shop to bring in my lightly used hardtail mountain bike. Guy on phone (owner I think) sounded rude and said not to expect same day service and that it would take 2 – 3 days to perform tune-​up.
I hesitantly brought bike in and was met by same voice and only guy I’ve seen in the shop the 2 times I went (longish hair with scruffy face and glasses– owner?) he told me to lay my bike in corner and give him my name/​email address and he’d «email me» when work was complete — weird. I was going to just use $ 35 voucher to see if I could use it towards merchandise — but he had none displayed.
I asked him what would be done and he went on a rant about it was only external adjustments and that he wanted to make groupon deal a full tear down but «they» said it wouldn’t sell etc etc. So I wasn’t exactly sure what he would do to my excellent condition bike — but I was hoping he’d at least clean chain/​derailer and let me know if anything was out of adjustment or in need of maintenance.
A week and a day went by with no email– so I called once– no answer. Called next day and asked if my bike was done. «Ya it’s done»
Once I walked in the shop (dirty and dark btw) I see the same guy working on a swinging door on the ground that leads to the back. He continues to wrench on the door — ignoring me — so I say «Hi» before he decides to acknowledge me and ask what I needed. I told him I was here to pick up bike and added that I could see it on the rack.
He continues to wrench on the stupid door for another minute before walking over to grab my bike– then just hands it to me and says –see ya.
So I ask «Were you the one that worked on my bike?» He responds yes and I ask if he can tell me what needed adjustment. He asks if bike is a 2015 (it’s a 2011) and says its like brand new (making me presume he did nothing). Then he starts another rant about how it didn’t need spark plugs/​timing job etc cause it’s not a car. And told me nothing about my bike or what he did.
As a noob to bikes I felt unhelped, uniformed and ripped off. I crossed a bridge and drove 30 miles each way to get there too.
The guy is a total weirdo. The shop is gross. It is obvious this guy/​owner can give 2 shits about customers.
I will never return

I enjoy reading these reviews because I’ve dealt with this guy a couple times.
Its true he is a real asshole… But I can be one also, so his demeanor I take with a grain of salt.
However every time I have brought my bike in for repair, he has came through and got it fixed.

I got a Amazon Local deal for this shop and took my daughter’s poorly neglected bike in for service. Inside the shop was a guy who I thought worked there talking all kinds of Shizz (I’d swear it was the guy the other Unilocal*complaints are referring to…) and the gentleman who checked in my bike. I left w/​a bad taste in my mouth because of all the BS coming out of the mouthy dude. As it turned out, when I went back 1 week later to pick up my finished bike, the nice guy was Eric the owner; the other guy was just some mouthy bum who he can’t evict! Eric & Co. did a great job on the bike and I got a super deal. I’d use him again:)

No doubt an eccentric dude and hit or miss customer service but the guy does know his stuff.

Eric was awesome… Killing time and happen to have my bike with me so I went in there just to take my stuck pedals off, he didn’t even charge me for it so I had everything else I wanted done adjust both my derailleurs and switch my brakes moto style for a better than fair pricing… definitely coming here for all my bike service needs and I don’t even live around here.

Ok… so terrible inventory if you want to demo a bike. But at the same time you’ll probably get the best professional fitting in the east bay. To me this is the most important service that a bike shop provides
Yes the guy at the shop is a bit strange and may not be politically correct at times, but what do you expect? He’s hella old! And in the end you’re getting supreme service.

Love, love, love Eric and his shop! He is the all time best bike guy! His work, his integrity, his service are outstanding!

When doing some bike shopping, I Thought of stopping by this place to find some options. First thing i realized is that there are no bikes on display and everything is online which is bad in case you like to try one out. The owner i talk to is really pushy, he did not want to leave me empty handed and I wasnt ready to buy one just yet. I had to make an excuse why I can buy one just so he can leave me alone and move on.
Overall, avoid this place if you hate pushy sales people. Instead visit Hank & Frank in Lafayette. They’re Much friendlier and ended up buying from them.

Been doing business with Pleasant Hill Cyclery for years even when they were at the end of Monument Blvd. Eric has always treated me great and knows what he is talking about.

Great customer service and amazing pricing. This gentlemen here has an awesome dog who only seems to dislike weirdos in the area. I got my sons bike built here for his bday and then he threw on a pair of very reliable training wheels. If you ask for it, he has it.

Fast service and honest! Eric is the owner and I call him frequently with questions and he always helps me! I’m surprised this spot doesn’t have a higher rating?!? He orders parts of its not in the store and assists with everything!!! Me and my mom come here and appreciate Erics honesty and will be a lifelong customer (:

For those thinking of getting a Specialized bike, just don’t. After my fork was recalled on my very cute purple bike, my bike was returned with a flat black and ugly fork. It didn’t match or go with the bike at all. The bike shop said there was nothing that they could do that Specialized decided that a bike that wouldn’t kill me, unlike their previous model, was good enough.

I thought about giving this guy one star instead of two, but because of the fact that he is batsh*t crazy, which I guess is out of his control… I just can’t. I went in to get a couple of new tires and tubes, and try to support local, small businesses at the same time.
The Store: It’s fine, but a little bizarre. There are two rows of bikes on display, but 75% of the store is roped off. I asked the owner about this and he said that they are all repair bikes, but some of them look like they have been there since ‘nam. Not a bad thing, just odd.
The Dude: He’s completely bizarre. He was fairly nice to me. I know that he thought he was friendly and helpful, and he almost pulled it off. There was only one problem; he totally insulted me like four times without even realizing it, such as when he called all students dead-​beats, or when he referred to Pleasant Hill as «Peasant Hell». He really has no filter at all, and just blurts out any old thing that pops into his head. I’m not easily offended, so I really just found him entertaining, but… he’s clearly crazy, and kind of a d*ck. If you want a reference, he is like the hippie version of the guy in Falling Down who owns the surplus store.
At any rate, the new tube he sold me is bad and was flat by the time I got home, so I am going back there today so he can replace it. Should be fun.
UPDATE:
I was right, that was interesting. In the span of two visits he has disparaged, in no uncertain terms, the Chinese, Mexicans, students, the police, the homeless, hipsters, Obama, the city in which he does business… and me. Yikes…
All that said, he replaced the tube for free and apologized for the inconvenience, so I give this guy a solid 2.25

* I planned to give 3 stars but the average is 2.5 so sadly it would be beneficial for the place.
It was a nice Sunday morning and we were out running errands. I remembered that I needed a very specific part for my bike so going to a regular sports Store was out of the question. I drove 20 minutes from my home to the closest bicycle specialty store to arrive at 12pm when they open just to sit in the parking lot for an additional 20 minutes waiting for the store to open. No one showed up and there was no notice on the door saying they would be closes or have different hours over the Memorial Day weekend. I’m dissatisfied with their lack of professionalism to open the store at all.

My wife went in there the other day to get a tire fixed on my kids bike. And the owner of the place couldn’t stop being rude about the quality of the bike. I normally don’t write reviews but when someone puts such a horrible taste in my mouth about how they treated my wife it makes me want to react.
If the owner of the store reads this I hope that you close your doors. You need some serious help on Customer Service, especially when you talk to ladies. I will tell everyone never to go to the store.
You need to think before you talk!!!

Do not go to this store. they have THE WORST costumer service EVER.
A few months ago i went in to purchase a bike. as i told the owner that i didn’t know much about bikes and asked him questions, he told me to «go to walmart or target if you want a bike for $ 100 or less» WITH A VERY IMPOLITE TONE. i was angry and i was about to leave the store when i saw a bike that i really like and ended up buying it. i was pissed, but i got the bike i wanted and needed. i thought, whatever. strike one.
Something happened to my bike a few weeks ago and i went to the store again last week to get a wheel replaced. The owner told me it will take about two days to get that done and that they’re gonna call me upon completion of the work. well guess what, it’s been a week and i haven’t received any calls so i gave them a call. I asked him nicely about my bike and he told me «we can’t fix it right now because we have a lot of customers walking in» with a tone that basically says ‘you’re not important and i’m busy.’ strike two
Don’t they have mechanics to do the work? how long does it take to change ONE wheel of a bike? Never ever will i ever go to that store again. i’m not even gonna wait for strike three.

If you want Warm and Fuzzy Customer Service, move on to the next place. The owner is pretentious and often acts like you, the Customer, are an imposition. When asked to repair my cheapie Mountain bike he replied that he really doesn’t like to as it takes time away form working on the $ 6000 bikes… ok…
Website says they are open at noon on Sunday. Sign on the door says the same. I arrived at 12:10pm, the place was closed so I took a walk for 20 mins. When I returned he was out in front as I approached my car with the bike on the bikerack OBVIOUSLY I had been waiting for him. Not a WORD about not being open at 12n as stated…
That being said, the work is usually good and priced fairly.

I have been using this shop for a while. Eric is always very friendly and helpful.
Wanted to share two great experiences and make some other comments:
#1:
My recent experience was excellent, he went above and beyond to help out:
My friend VJ was looking to get a new Santa Cruz Bronson. We checked with a few shops around the Bay Area. Eric didn’t have it in stock… but he was able to get it with in a week from Santa Cruz. He went with the Ram package so it didn’t have all the top line parts. Stepping up the next level would of added a few thousand dollars to the price. I was helping him spec a decent build… so for drive train we went with the new SRAM XX1 drivetrain, two sets of pedals and a dropper post. It turned out the XX1 required a hub that needed a new hub; so we spec’d in a DT 350.
Eric provided all of the new parts at cost, laced wheels for free (a min of $ 55 labor), built a solid wheel set up. We made a few changes on the bike through out the process. You figure at that point, owner would get pretty annoyed by all the changes… but nope… he just smiled and ordered a new set of parts. He did all the labor for free.
Unfortunately Santa Cruz Bikes decided to pull his dealership and are no longer selling him bikes unless he stocks a min number on the floor. It is shame that Santa Cruz would do that… not every bike shop has the same business model and strategy on inventory control. Stocking bikes does have holding costs, and in a case like my friends case if he bought a bike for his floor that he didn’t want, he would have to just let it sit until someone that needed the exact bike to buy it.
#2:
My personal bike I had purchased a year ago… it was a Intense Uzzi. I needed help getting bike assembled as at the time I didn’t have tools at my bike at my place when bike arrived. I had been waiting on bike for a few months as it was a special order from Intense. I went to a few local bike shops in the area, they wanted over a hundred dollars to assemble the bike. The bike had to be ridden that day, I had waited too long. I went to Pleasant Hill Cyclery, Eric was busy at the time, but he let me use his shop tools to get most of bike assembled and helped me get my derailleurs tuned well for $ 15 – 30 if I remember correctly. I got to go ride that day and couldn’t of been happier. All the other bike shops were more concerned with their «repair schedule». Eric made it work.
#3
I see some complaints on Unilocal about looking for a «cheap bike» around $ 200. Well, looking at the reviews and been a rider for many years; you won’t find a decent bike for $ 200 at a bike shop. Walmart, Target and Toys’r’us would be the place to go for that. Or Craigslist. Bikes are expensive that are repairable and that have any decent performance level. News people, a high end bike can be over $ 15k. I realize those bikes are not for everyone, but if you want to ride places which have 30 foot jumps big drops, a $ 200 bike won’t do the trick. But if you want to ride from your house to the grocery store a $ 200 bike will work fine.
And sure Eric doesn’t have a lot of inventory in stock but he can get you what you need, does a great job with repairs, and it will be cost effective probably a better deal than you will find locally.
He mentioned he will be getting Devinci Bikes as a Santa Cruz replacement! Great split pivot design. If I ever go for a full DH bike, the Devinci Wilson would be my top choice.

The manager, or whomever he was, was snide and arrogant. I was looking for a cheap bike, he told me he doesn’t waste his time with cheap bikes, that I should go to Wal-​Mart (which I had just come from and found some nice stuff) or Toys ‘R’ Us to buy «a piece of crap that will break and he won’t fix it.»
Creeped out by his demeanor, the state of the shop, and the giant, intimidating dog beckoning you at the front door, I went next door to Play It Again Sports where I experienced the complete opposite of this place and found a used bike, like I wanted, that suited my needs and dollar!
If you want a super-​duper, fancy bike, check out Pleasant Hill Cyclery, if you just want something to take to where you gotta go, check out Play It Again next door!