The Bicycle Workshop

I have a 70’s original Schwinn — ride it everywhere. I had 3 issues — he heard only 2, because he is so smart. This guy does not listen, tried to sell me cheap replacement parts (saying the originals were not fixable) and also forgot to fill the air in my tire (the replacement tire was the only issue I let him fix). When I came back 3 minutes later for air — he didn’t even realize «he» was the problem; assumed I came back for something else and tried to rib me about it. He was totally embarrassed when he realized he sent me on my way with no air and then tried to discuss where I could possibly get the original parts fixed. WTF. Will never go back.

This is a great place hands down. I got a bike as a gift and it came with a warped front fork. Not only did the bicycle workshop put it together and replace the fork, but they tuned it up and made it better at an affordable price. I won’t go anywhere else in the santa monica area. Great service and great people

Very nice and helpful! Had a old bike and it was fixed like new! Highly recommend!

My wife and I just got home from our first visit to the Bicycle Workshop, and all I can say is that I am very very happy with the way Victor treated us. We had been looking for a bike for my wife, who is very short. She also has very very small hands, and this makes it hard for her to use the brakes.
Other shops just wanted to sell us small bike that was still too big for her, with the seat lowered all the way down. We wanted something that actually fits, and with a rear coaster (foot) brake. Other stores told us that the gigantic ugly behemoth «cruiser bikes» were the only ones with the coaster brakes.
Victor surprised us by suggesting a folding commuter bike. It’s a great solution. It has a very small frame so that it can fold up into the size of a large suitcase. But even if we never fold it, that frame size is perfect for her. And it doesn’t look like a big ugly cruiser bike. it actually looks really cool. He also changed the front brake lever to a smaller one that she can use more easily.
Why did none of the other shops suggest this? I don’t know. But Victor was really really helpful and took us seriously. Also the price was very reasonable. I will definitely be going back to The Bicycle Workshop in the future.

The best around Santa Monica. After riding around town trying to get my tire fixed to no luck from any surrounding bike shops, I stumbled onto this guy. (Well I saw him on Unilocal) but as I went in, he was nice, genuine and friendly and fixed my bike right there with me in about 10 minutes. The other shops around town were kind of assholes. They didn’t even look at my bike, just assumed they couldn’t fix it. Weird.
Anyway, I highly recommend this guy.

Vic has fixed bent forks for me– 2x– as good as new. Vic is super knowledgeable, and his prices are reasonable. He is a long time master of the craft. Other shops refer difficult issues (like mine) to him. If Vic can’t fix it, it can’t be fixed.
Rear lot parking is limited.

Victor really is amazing. He is great with bikes, knows absolutely everything there is to know. His prices are good and he is fast. You can count on him. I will absolutely be bringing al my bikes to his shop. Thank you!

Victor did a great job tuning up a used bike that I had just bought, and the cost was very reasonable. A few weeks later, he installed a back rack for me for just the cost of the rack. Great local bike shop with personal service

Really the best. If you want cheap service, go to Wheel World or Helen’s.
If you want the best bike mechanic in the city, go see Vic. He specializes in recumbents and can tune them like no other.

I have used this shop for over 20 years. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Victor is a talented, conscientious mechanic who genuinely cares about his customers. The service is great, the prices are fair and I always feel welcome there.

We normally love this shop but very sorry to say that they took my 5 year old daughter’s bike in for repair today, told us to come back at 4pm the day before Thanksgiving to pick it up, but when we arrived at 3:55p they had already locked up for the long weekend. So my daughter now can’t ride her bike at all over the long weekend, and we have to cancel our family ride along the beach Thanksgiving morning. Very thoughtless, careless customer service — we live around the corner and could have easily come in early if they’d only taken a moment to call.

Great, fast and convenient neighborhood bike shop! They fixed my blown out tire and had me back on the road in a few minutes. I’d highly recommend them.

Words cannot express how pleased I am with the work Victor has done on my bike.
This bike has seen it all, the beach, the desert (burning man), mountains. It’s been put through the wringer. The frame also has a ‘custom zebra print’ (brother-​in-​law skilfully wrapped zebra duct tape around the frame to perfection) we all love this bike, we call it Zebra bike.
Victor took Zebra bike from looking like a hap-​hazard sad bike that had seen better days to a brand spanking new bike (retaining its zebra coat) while ensuring that the bike was tuned up to perfection.
Even my brother-​in-​law (original owner) is blown away by the work.
Absolutely I will recommend that you bring your bike to Victor. ESP if you want good, old fashion customer service with true workmanship.
Thank you so much Victor! I really appreciate it.

This is our neighborhood bike shop and we are lucky to have it! We have brought our bikes in on several occasions and have always been treated to excellent service and workmanship. Last month, I brought my beach cruiser in to fix a flat tire, get a new seat, and make some minor adjustments. The owner was literally on his way out the door to get his lunch but took in my bike and said he’d do the work right away. We returned 30 minuted later to a fixed tire, and then he spent another half hour with me adjusting my new seat and handlebars. He was patient and knowledgeable, and did it all for a decent price. Every time we are in the shop we see many other customers leave equally satisfied. Thank you, Bicycle Workshop!

This is a genuine review from a 6 year repeat customer, 98% satisfied.
Victor is the man to turn to. If you are looking for hard-​core, old school, honest advice on unusual problems, this is the place. If he can’t do it, he’ll send you where it can be done. If he’s not sure, he’ll figure it out. If he doesn’t know, he will say «I just don’t know», rather than glad-​hand you and tell you something to appease your desires.
Some people call him ‘grumpy’, but if a bicycle mechanics expert is not grumpy, he’s probably trying to sell you something you don’t want. It’s the nature of the art. If you don’t care whether it’s done right, don’t waste his time. Save your little questions for the mainstream shops, or look it up on the internets.
I’ve tasked a lot of different bike shops in the area, and it’s definitely refreshing to find someone who does the work for sheer love of the bicycle. I would never waste his time patching a flat. Would you ask a physicist to make your morning toast? Maybe if she’s your mom. You’ve gotta figure that one out for yourself, kids.

Undoubtedly the best repair shop I have come across. Been there twice with serious problems. First time after I did an endo on my bike, I took it to REI and they told me it would cost $ 500 to replace the front Ultegra shifter. Took it to Jeff at the Workshop and he took the whole thing apart and rebuilt it. Cost $ 125 and worked better than new. Recently I had problems with the rear dérailleur… it was a Sunday so I took it to REI… Patience got the better of me and on Tuesday morning, back to Jeff I went. 48 hours later and I riding my beautifully rebuilt and cleaned dérailleur.
No better place in the Southland for great bike care.

I’ve been to this shop twice over the past few months and these guys are great! I can’t understand what the negative reviews are all about. I dealt with two different gentlemen and both were friendly, professional and efficient. The price to get a new tube/​fix a flat on my first visit was very reasonable and I waited for less than 5 minutes. On the second visit I got a new seat for less than $ 25 and he installed it without even charging for labor.

If you’re going to charge me $ 100 for a tune-​up:
— don’t tell me you’ll call me when it’s ready if you’re not going to
— test my shifter after you adjust it to make sure I can get to all gears, not just 6 of 7
— clean my wheels so the brakes don’t howl when I stop
Aside from those problems, they seemed to do a fine job. I probably wouldn’t go back, though.

This may sound silly, but if you’ve seen Alan Arkin’s «Peevy» in the fantasy adventure «Rocketeer» you’ll recognize Victor. He’s an old-​school bicycle mechanic who knows what works and what does not. Years ago I wrecked my Custom-​featured 1988 Holland and brought it to him to be reassembled following crash repairs.
The reason that’s four stars instead of five is that he did not notice (I guess I should have mentioned it.) that one of the custom features was a reversed rear brake bridge, which puts the caliper on the front of the seat stays, That protects it from the grit that the rear tire throws up, and puts the adjusters for both brakes on the right side (along with the cable stops — see below), so you don’t have to turn the bike around on the work stand to adjust the brakes.
Anyway, the first shot at assembly had the rear brake cable housing crossing around the seat post from the top tube cable stop, in order to reach the attachment on the left side, because he’d mounted the caliper on the back side if the seat stays.
But that did not stop me from returning to him when I had my last (I hope) crash. For one thing he wanted about half what Helen’s quoted, and besides, he was familiar with the bike. My confidence was confirmed when I walked in and saw he had a bike on a stand clamped by the seat post rather than the frame. Joe Bell (see my review) warned me against idiots like the one in Seattle who’d clamped a tandem frame he’d painted, on the top tube, and crimped it.
This time the assembly went smoothly and quickly, finishing ahead of schedule. Adjustments since (cables stretch) were free, and now the bike runs perfectly, tracks true and elicits admiring comments from my cycling buds.

The people at Helen’s put my Cannondale together wrong, I took it back to them 3 times because it didn’t shift properly. They basically told me to go pound sand. I took it to Victor and he fixed it in 5 minutes, it had the wrong size chain.
20 years and many Bicycle Workshop tune ups later, I gave the Cannondale to a deserving friend, it still runs like new thanks to Victor.
Of course, I bought my new Raliegh bike from Bicycle Workshop, Victor has a great deal on 27 speed hybrid mountain bikes right now (upright), and of course he sells a ton of recumbent bikes.
He’s a neighborhood institution, many people rely on him for fast, friendly service at extremely fair prices.