Thomas Bike Shop

Bad shop!!! I dropped off a bike on Saturday afternoon, for a new chain, tune up, and a new seat. Maybe two hours of work, am I right? Was told bike would be ready on Wednesday. Went to pick it up and it still sat untouched where it was put on Saturday!!! Was told that they would get started on it right away and it would be ready tomorrow. Came back on Thursday and was told «I was about to start on it right now» took my bike and left. The three times I was in the shop there was only one person in there and all three times all he was doing was sitting there. No work was being done.

I wouldn’t go back here if it was the only shop in town. I had arranged to buy a bike they had for sale before heading out of town. They promised it would be ready one day, I came in again, it wasn’t ready. One time is understandable. Things get busy. The issue was that they promised it would be ready on two more occasions for a total of three failed attempts. There was no effort to right their wrong and I walked out the door without a bike. I would recommend checking out any other option in San Diego before going here. I was so disappointed that the local bike shop couldn’t deliver on such a basic request.

These are very nice people. They care about their customers and the community. Please support this bike shop.

Great staff, great family business. This place is small, perfect, and located in the middle of South Park. The staff is knowledgeable and communicate well when you have anything being worked on. Will continue to return.

These guys are GREAT. The best, fastest service around. There’s not a huge inventory of items but all the important stuff. Don is the MAN and knows his stuff, excellent service and they’ll never try to rip you off either. A great local shop and they treat you as such! Trustworthiness is rare these days !

Hammies rox!

I really like these folks. Brought in my bike that had major issues and within a half hour I was back on the road. Great mechanics and I had a nice chat with the owner.

Great service. Very friendly and willing to dumb things down for a beginner without talking down to them.

To give you some context, it should be established that I’m not a «bike snob» in any sense. I am, however, an avid bike commuter who avoids car usage if possible.
I suffered some damage to my handle bars, gear shifters, front brakes, and my saddle. All of the aforementioned needed to be replaced. Upon dropping the bike off, the employee showed me the parts that he would use to facilitate the repairs. Although he appeared to have all of the parts on deck, the turn-​around was estimated at 5 days. I suppose I was last in a long line of other patrons.
I called after the 5^th day and the shop still hadn’t started my repair. After regular calls for updates after that, I discovered that they had become «swamped» since I dropped my bike off. This excuse doesn’t appear to explain the delay unless subsequent patrons were placed ahead of me in the queue. After 12 days, they have fixed my bike (huge inconvenience for me).
Also, be advised that their hours of operation are just guidelines. They open at 11am or 12pm when they feel like it.
In conclusion, I really wanted my experience with my local shop to be more positive. Unfortunately, stores like REI can flip your bike in one day and that is why some people choose to go with the larger corporate shop. There are a couple of pros: This shop is NOT elitist (which is great), their employees are happy to advise you on improvements to your bike without trying to sell you on their services, and they’re enthusiastic about cycling.

So let me begin by saying this is the worst shop hands down in the whole of San Diego county! Reasons: I had purchased a used road bike from another seller pretty sweet full old school campy but the bike was a bit small, so I went to Thomas bike shop and they offered me only 80 bucks for the bike really? I went with it and got what they claimed to be a bike in «TITS» condition their words! It is a Schwinn paramount size 60 cm full Shimano ultegra and durace sick! Only thing is it was 800 bucks ok. I rode the bike one day the rear wheel blew out some spokes had to replace not close to shop (nipples are oxidized and wheels need a rebuild). Day after I ride down to the gym at Horton plaza and while coasting down the hill my front der blows off the bike! Whaaat! So I take it back and ask them to deal with it they take 2 days with making the decision and what was it «you tightened down the front der to much and broke it». Come on I’ve worked on bikes a lot and I did not even work on this bike. So they told me that I would have to buy a new one and that they could install it for free! Bullshit! I was like I’m going to go the bicycle warehouse where my brother is a full time certified tech who will
Get it done and do a legit job not some freaking thief!!! Never ever am I ever going back to this shop they do not deserve your business!

These guys are the best. Brought my wheel to be fixed at a reputable bike shop and they made it worst. Brought a very tough fix to these guys and they made magic happen and even gave me a deal. This is my SD bike shop now from here out.

Great service, these guys came through in a pinch. Came in with a broken spoke on my trip to SD. Came out with a place I will come to again when I need some good work done.

I wish I could pick up this bike shop and move it to my neighborhood in LA… the guys here are so awesome and full of bike love.
We were quite bummed to have to make a detour on our ride when I cracked my homegirl’s dérailleur. I found Thomas on Unilocal and they had great reviews so we slowly peddled our way over. The guys quickly diagnosed the injury and immediately went to work replacing the part. They engaged us in fun bike chat while we waited and had us on our way in no time. Oh, and I scored a sweet hot pink fanny pack there as well! Bonus.
I’ve never been so happy to break a bike, thanks T!

I’m lucky that this is the closest bike shop to my house. I have never had very good experiences with bike shops… they are usually incredibly snobbish with appalling customer service. But I have had a great experience with Thomas Bike Shop every time. I have been by several times to get adjustments on my bike and to fix some flats. Each time it has taken them less than 10 minutes to work on my bike while I wait. The guys are very helpful and even though they are obviously bike nuts, they have been happy to answer my newbie questions every time. They always ask if I have any questions or need help with anything else.
The store mostly caters to commuters and the fixie crowd, but for general maintenance and repairs you won’t have a more pleasant experience.

I was recommended by my friends to come to this shop because of the low prices, but I was blown away by the customer service that they provided. I was greeted by Eric who was the only employee working at that time. I was expecting a snobbish attitude because I’m a novice at bike care and biking in general. But Eric welcomed me, and analyzed my bike and made great recommendations to the direction I should go to restore my 20+ year old miyata road bike. He took my bike in on a wednesday to tuneup and projected a completion date of sunday which was 5 days away. I expressed that I was hoping to be able to go riding that weekend, and he told me he would do his best to finish finish asap.
2 days later on that Friday Eric gave me a call and to my gracious surprise he finished the tune up of my bike in time for the weekend. I was pleasently surprised with the prices and the service. Even though I have a bike shop closer in proximity to my house in Mira Mesa, I would gladly travel the extra 10 miles to receive the great service from this bike shop.
I highly recommend you brining your bike in, you will not be disappointed.

Unbelievably low prices. Friendly service & knowledgable employees. Even though its a small store, they have a great selection of new & used parts. Everything you could ask for from your LBS.
I live in San Francisco but came to San Diego to visit friends and family; I wanted to buy some new parts for my San Diego bike but didn’t want to break the bank. Was expecting to spend $ 350+ on a wheelset and walked out of there spending only $ 150 for a wheelset and a handful of other parts.

I’m really glad that I pay attention to my surroundings on all of my aimless driving around San Diego. Thomas Bike Shop was a spot I had always seen but never had a reason to go into seeing as I haven’t had a bicycle since I was about eight years old. My last two wheel set-​up was a white and purple Huffy bike my parents bought from Target, complete with a white basket with a gerber daisy flower on it, big chunky white tires, purple hand grips, and purple and silver glistening glitter streamers. Don’t forget the baseball card I had in my spokes to sound cool cruising through my suburban neighborhood. Those were the days.
As of lately with the weather being so lovely I’ve felt like I want to get myself back onto a bike, get some always procrastinated exercise, ride up to bars, and check out the sights I might otherwise overlook in a car.
The guys at Thomas were super helpful and not pushy when I approached them. They treated my lack of bicycle knowledge with the utmost respect and tried to get me onto something that would suit what I’m looking for. They have a fabulous selection of bicycles and all of the guys here really know their trade and don’t fake the funk. One of the guys let me test ride one of the bicycles and dropped the seat for me. It was exciting to get back onto it until I ran into the neighbors fence like a loser. Guess I need training wheels again!
They also do trade in specials so if you’ve got an old one you’re wanting to retire to trade it in for a better one they will do that. There is a repair area in the back and just on our visit it looked like they get quite a lot of business consisting of all types of folks with varying bicycles.
Thomas Bike Shop will definitely be recommended in my travels to friends of mine who ride.

I’ve been going to Thomas Bike for over 2 years, and I do have very mixed feelings about them.
Jinna, the owner, is very friendly and always helpful when I come in, but she doesn’t always know EXACTLY what she is talking about, (sorry Jinna)
And Don is great, never had any problem with him, always very knowledgeable about pretty much everything cycling.
But the other, younger employees that I’ve seen throughout the past 2 years have never been much help. I never get much of a greeting from them, more like a grunt hello. They never seem to know what they’re talking about, nor have much useful information on the items that they are selling.
But they do have plenty of interesting items and always at reasonable prices. But sometimes their inventory is pretty questionable.
I mean come on, a Mt. Fury Roadmaster? used? for 75 $!? Am I missing something here?

Very reasonably priced family business! They can fix everything, and don’t mind giving advice on how to do it yourself. If they can save you money, they will. If they don’t have the part you’re looking for, they’ll order it or tell you where you can find it.
HONEST. FAIR. STYLISH.

Great service. Got some great advice on how to paint my bike (specifically to my needs; not going overboard and getting primer and clear coat since its not really necessary). Pumped up my tires since my pump broke.
Also have a good selection of bike gear. Going to get my purple pedals and saddle after I paint my bike.
Was offered to be shown how to put on a tire but being the stubborn girl I am I wanted to do it myself and got it thankfully but knew that if I had trouble they would have done it without giving me the ‘I told you so’ rhetoric.
Completely comfortable going there with any questions, simple or complex…5 stars all the way.
And how could you not love the feel of the bike shop… reminded me a lot of the Boston shop I went to. Small, filled w gear, and fun.