Ten 27

Ten27 (née «Turin») is the largest and best stocked bike shop in the Evanston area. Everyone I’ve dealt with there has been helpful and pleasant, both in sales and service. They have a litte of something for everyone, but the bias here is toward the racing/​roadie crowd, I think.
EDIT 11/​19/​2012: Ten 27 will be closing at the end of 2012, to be replaced by a chain bike store from Wisconsin, I understand. There is a terrific clearance sale on right now as they liquidate all their stock.

I would say that the maintenance guys aren’t going to win any congeniality awards — BUT — they definitely know their way around a bike. They have proven to be incredibly competent on some difficult tasks.
The retail shop is a little spendy, but they do have good deals on out of season stuff for you penny pinchers out there. I prefer my LBS’ to be a little more commuter/​utilitarian oriented. Still have that stuff — just not the focus.
Good shop, decent staff and timely/​knowledgeable maintenance crew.

This is a pretty cool place.
Right off of the Metra.
Staff are super friendly, hands-​on, and involved with customers.
There is a bike maintenance area too.
Not a huge selection of bikes, but for clothing and accessories they have a decent amount, just pricey.

I will never, ever visit Turin bicycles again.
For the second year in a row, I thought, «It can’t possibly be as bad as it was last year,» and made the mistake of going in for a routine question for their service center.
No, I am not smart about bicycles. No, I will never compete or finish a century ride. But the guy at the service desk treated me with such contempt and such derision that I felt I was unworthy ever to sit atop a saddle and pollute the same streets as this bicycle genius.
This jerk snapped at my kid. Dismissed me both verbally and physically. And acted like an absolute jerk.
I will NEVER go to Turin again. I will be bringing my business to the Pony shop or anyplace else besides this awful, awful business.

I went here because my spin studio is just around the corner. I was getting really into indoor cycling and The teacher at Fit Girl said they would have cycling shoes at Turin.
I went in and they were really helpful. Liz walked me through what i needed and got me all sqaured away really quick. Since spinning with these shoes i’ve noticed a better more effective workout.
They have so many bikes that maybe when it gets nicer outside Ill take my bike fitness routine outside too!

I’m giving them 3 stars because I’ve had mostly good experiences there, and then a few bad experiences, one recently. They have very knowledgeable staff, when you can get (and keep) their attention. Their accessories are ridiculously overpriced (as much as double over Amazon pricing for some of the items I’ve looked at). Their actual maintenance/​repair shop is amazing and very affordable.
The last time I went, a staff person (possibly one of the owners) opened the door for me but then proceeded to ignore me for the entire time I was there, even though there were no other staff members in the shop and I was very obviously shopping with intent to buy. When I finished shopping, I stood at the register for 10 minutes before he decided to come over and ring me up.
Fortunately for Turin, I’ve received MUCH worse service at their competitor, Pony Shop. Unfortunately for Turin, I’m super close to Chicago and I might just start taking my bike into the city.

Very nice, helpful and laid back guys in the store. Went in Dec. 2011
Had to fix a flat tire– Tubing would’ve been 6.99 and labor 10 (Not bad), but I ended up having to replace the tire b/​c I got a flat from the tire peeling and coming apart– bought the bike used so understandable (Vintage 1970 Raleigh). Tire cost around $ 14.99 and the guy ran it by me before performing the repair.
Went home and then realized my gears were not shifting properly once I had to go up a hill (Evanston is pretty flat so took awhile before I had to do this). Took it back two days later and told them I just had my tire changed and something went wrong with my gears. Looked at my bike and made some adjustments, no questions asked– didn’t look at my receipt. Very nice, courteous and cute guys! Thanks and will be back again!

This is fairly close to how a bicycle store should be, in my opinion.
I’ve received good service and fair prices here each time I visited.
The first time, I needed to buy a set of lights and get my rear dérailleur tuned after I let someone borrow my bike. I went up to the service counter and got help on both fronts right away. I was directed to the lights and found a nice set of LED blinkers for $ 18. The salesman didn’t try to get me to upgrade to a higher model or let them install it in the shop, which I expected him to do considering my experiences with other bicycle shops. Also, the shop personnel highlighted some other problems with my bike when I got the dérailleur tuned (front dérailleur not perfect either, headset is loose). However, he was polite about it and told me exactly what was wrong then gave me some time to think about repair options, instead of pressuring me to do it on the spot.
The second time, I was an idiot and broke my old Kryptonite lock by getting a key jammed in it. I walked up to the locks, and after staring at them for a short time trying to figure out the differences between them, a salesman came up and helped me. Again, no trying to get me to upgrade, and clear explanations of the differences of each product and how they would be useful to me. Walked away with a new lock for a reasonable price.
The third time, I ripped a hole in my tube. Went up to service counter, said something along the lines of «my tire is flat but it’s not because of the tire», they replaced the tube, parts & labor, for like $ 14 or something, I believe (how do you stay in business?). Completely hassle-​free.
Earlier this week, I went in to get splash guards installed. I went in at 6:45pm. I looked around for a bit and started playing with the grips (yeah, I kind of exhibit ADHD when I’m at stores) when someone asked me if I had any questions about them. I told him I was really looking for splash guards. He asked me what kind of bike I had, and then showed me all the options that would fit. He took one set off the wall and said it would be the best one, but let me look at all the others they carried as well. Eventually I decided which one I wanted at 7:00. Problem is, I had to be somewhere at 7:30. Well… they installed it in 20 minutes. I’m impressed and am sure I’ll be coming back.

Great experience when I was in the shop, except the bike I ordered never came in even though they promised 7 – 10 days.
I came into the shop and asked for a few recommendations in my price range. The salesperson gave me several options. He then let me take one of the bikes I was interested in for a ride. No complaints about this part.
I liked the bike a lot, but they didn’t have one in the size/​color combination I wanted so he ordered one from the manufacturer. I filled out a form and left my phone number. The salesperson promised the bike would arrive in 7 – 10 days and someone would call me.
After 10 days I called to check up on it. The first bad sign was the person on the phone couldn’t find my name in their system. Then he went to check inventory and said the bike would arrive the following week. It’s now the following week and I still haven’t heard anything.
I ended up going to another bike shop in Chicago and buying a bike from there.

This place is great. I just purchased a used bike yesterday and stopped by Turin to get a lock. I noticed that the shop had a huge service station and asked the repairmen to look at my bike to see if it requires some tune-​up. All the guys were very friendly and even though they were all busy, one of them took my bike and spent good 5 minutes inspecting it.
I kind of expected that they would recommend tuning it up with them, but they said the bike was in a good shape, oiled the chain and did not charge me a cent for all the work.
I bought the lock and new pedals, and the sales person installed them for me for free. Again, small thing, but makes a huge difference if you have no tools and know little about bikes.

Just got my first road bike from Turin. After a miscommunication resulted in ordering the wrong color, they went above and beyond to make sure the problem was quickly solved (including driving to the WI border). Chris, the owner was VERY knowledgeable and gave over an hour of his time to ensure everything was well set. I appreciated the great customer service and education.

Turin definitely gets at least 4 stars (a «3» rating is not fair)! Not perfect in terms of quality of service and product offerings, but they’re certainly the best bike shop in Evanston!
Very friendly and knowledgeable staff. FYI to Caressa and potential customers — there is a bike pump IMMEDIATELY outside the front door of the store. Additionally, I’ve never had a problem with the staff approaching me, asking if they can help — right when I walk in.

My friend and I went to Turin on a Sunday afternoon. We had just moved the neighborhood and we were looking for a bicycle for her.
I love bikes so I was so excited that we found a shop near by that seemed to be extensive and knowledgeable based on their on-​line presence.
She was ready to spend.
First of all there were no bike racks outside of the shop and no neighborhood air pump.
You know how people diagnose good places to live based on how they keep up the exterior? I think good bike shops ALWAYS have an air pump outside or at least some nice bike racks (call the city they will deliver FREE)
Second of all not a single person came up to us. We were in the shop for at the least 15 minutes and there were a whole heap of mechanics behind the counter just sitting there doing nothing.
No,“Just a second I will help you shortly.“
Nothing.
They have lost our business for sure. The sad thing is that I don’t think they allow their mechanics to help customers and they may have just been severely understaffed which leads me to say that I would NOT want be a mechanic at TB either. I am sure those guys have plenty of good kA– know about bikes.

I always feel like I am being looked down upon when I walk in here with my old bike, but overall the staff is friendly. They cut my fender wires one day so I would stop stabbing myself, and they have free air inside if you need it!
Their merchandise is pretty pricey– you are better off buying accessories on amazon and finding a gently used bike elsewhere if you are just looking for something to get around on. They cater more to competitive racers and triathletes. They seem to only be interested in these riders as well.

I found a salesperson who showed me the kids’ used bikes. I spent about 30 minutes with my kids (3 and 4) picking out two bikes they adored. My kids were completely excited – their first bikes! We all agreed on the price, so we told our kids we’d be taking the bikes home. Our salesperson brought the boy’s bike in back to put the training wheels on.
But then he returned and said, «Oh, I thought you were named Jean. These bikes are on hold.» No sticker, no anything, was displayed out in front in the showroom. I’m like, «Are you kidding? You showed my kids the bikes, you let them ride around on them, you spoke with your manager about the price, you told us we could buy them, and now you say someone had already placed a hold on them?» He explained this mystery Jean person hadn’t put any money down, but had phoned in and said she’d like these bikes, so we were just out of luck. He smiled and said he was sorry.
Well, I was sorry too. My husband carried out my daughter as she cried and cried. It is rare that one can literally say «your customer service made us cry.»
We won’t be back.

The sales folks seem to look down on you if you don’t look like a cyclist. Not the kind of treatment you’d want to receive if you’re a noob starting out.

OK.

Poor customer service!
Went here with my girlfriend with full intentions to buy cycling shoes for both of us. Neither of us has ever owned a pair and we heard that this is the place to go to find knowledgeable staff.
We walk in and head to the shoes and get helped by someone pretty quickly. We’re asking all the newbie questions and getting not so helpful answers. I ask to try on a pair and and the woman laces me up. I do the typical walk down the aisle. Then our helper says she needs to check on something, and she leaves. My gf still hasn’t had any assistance trying shoes on and I am stuck with the first pair on and no one’s there to answer questions. We can’t see our salesperson any where and after about 10 minutes we see her taking down a bike and helping another person in the store who came in after us! She ditched our potential $ 250 sale to try and make a sale on a bike that would obviously cost more. Poor customer service is an understatement, it was rude. Basically it seemed like no one cared about us because we were novices and weren’t there to buy a bike.
Well guess who needs a new bike. And guess where I WON’T be going. So much for trying to give our money to local businesses — back to the internet for the shoes and a different shop for my bike!

This is one of the few shops in the city that I will trust completely with servicing my bikes.
I can’t afford to buy a new bike there (or anywhere, actually), but I will go there for just about everything else. The prices for parts are good (lower than Rapid Transit) and a few other places. (Ex: Gatorskins) I don’t think Turin is overpriced, I think they just stock nice things that cost a lot of money.
They know what they are doing and are committed to cycling in many ways (racing, commuting, fitness etc.).

I was going to give them 4 stars, but that email «Ed N.» copied here pushed them up to 5 for me. Kudos to them for not kowtowing to every unreasonable customer. (Apropos of that story: I needed an obsolete dérailleur and drove across town to Working Bikes to pick up a beat-​up but serviceable used one for $ 5 & considered myself lucky. To me, paying $ 10 to have someone track down an obscure part sounds perfectly reasonable, even if the part itself is of marginal intrinsic value.)
I’m a longtime cyclist and deal with several shops regularly. The Turin folks do good work and carry a good variety of high-​quality gear. They aren’t the cheapest, it’s true. And the attitudes of their staff can range from A-​1 to indifferent to surly. This seems pretty normal for bike shops. If you want robotically cheerful salespeople, try Wal-​Mart. You can pick up a nice Huffy for under $ 200, and condemn your soul to eternal damnation at no extra charge.