NYC Velo — Local services in New York

I've been a customer of NYC velo for 19 years. I was actually the third customer ever for the store. I'm not a capitalist and I believe that money should never come between anyone. However, I do understand that it cost a lot to run a business in New York as I own my own business as well. In the past year I've been to the store three times. The first time I had grips installed on my handlebars for which I was not charged labor nor was a labor fee brought up. The other two times I had two flat tires changed for which I paid parts and labor. Today I went to get new grips. I was informed that there was a $5 charge to install the grips. I protested this charge and said I was friendly with the owner. I assumed the owner liked me after having been a customer for this long (obviously that's not the case). The owner came over to me, told me he would do it this one time for free and then proceeded to tell me that I was going down the wrong path in life and that I don't value his employees time or the cost it takes to run the store. I don't think that's the case for starters and secondly, there's zero skill or time involved with installing these grips. All that you do is you take an air pump and you push air underneath the handlebar pipe where the grip goes to slide the grips on. It takes literally 3 seconds per grip. There's no skill involved and extremely minimal labor for a grand total of about 15 seconds of total time installing. This definitely does not justify a $5 charge. So I left the store and I had a really bad taste in my mouth about how this guy dressed me down in front of other people. It's one thing to do it for free. It's another thing to embarrass someone in front of other people. I called him back. He kept the same argument about how I don't respect his business and how much it cost to run his business even though I've been a customer for 19 years, told me I had crossed the line and that I was no longer welcome at the store anymore. We had some choice words for each other and I hung up. I encourage you to take you  business elsewhere for the following reasons. Obviously this person does not value a long-time customer and only sees dollar signs above all else. They defended this position at length telling me how much their rent cost and how high their costs were in general, and how their employees should be paid for their time which I fully agree with. However, I do think that a long-term customer should be given an exception to a rule like that on occasion, especially when such little physical labor is involved. Kind gestures like this go a long way. I further disagree with the fact that this person decided to give me their opinion about me as a human being in front of other people and that's the main issue I had in this situation.

I went to a shop in my neighborhood, explained what happened and said I didn't want the negativity of these grips on my bike. The guy swapped at the grips out for some that he had in stock. Put them on for free and told me not to worry about it and apologized that I had this negative experience at a store that he's not even associated with. I would encourage you if you're thinking about getting a bike or bicycle repair to take your business elsewhere. Go to somewhere where they're going to treat you like family. Not just like a dollar sign. That place is definitely...

We bought an $1,100.00 bike for the 9/11 Museum to make deliveries of essential items to the disabled. We attempted to use our tax exempt status. The staff told us “we cannot accept an emailed tax exempt form — we need a physical form.” Moments later a form was produced and they still were not happy. The staff rejected the Museum’s official tax exempt form, accused the FDNY Battalion Chief of fraud (“I’m sorry we cannot accept your form — we’ve had a lot of fraud lately”) despite that he had an official FDNY shield + I.D. Issued from Fire Department Headquarters — and abruptly told him he can take the bike and pay full tax on it or to take his business elsewhere. As a result of a bike shortage and placing the project before personal feelings — our member made the purchase but not before being humiliated by Velo Staff. When the time is right, this chapter will continue as no one should be treated like this. (We told them this and they spun this as a “threat” lol.) The worst part of this Velo Bikes experience is as follows: The young woman who works as a volunteer at the Museum was with the Battalion Chief that day and was so upset at the way the Chief was humiliated, she had a panic/anxiety attack on the corner and collapsed — and an ambulance came and treated her less than 20 yards from Velo, with Velo’s “new bike” sitting on the sidewalk. You literally cannot even script something like this. Adding to this the smug owner “Andrew” states, “we don’t want a relationship with the 9/11 Museum and this isn’t how a 9/11 Museum should act.” Absolutely obnoxious and a wonderful example of the self-grandiose nature of Andrew and his arrogant staff. If you want a new bike and great service — go to Syd’s Bikes in Chelsea. Don’t patronize Velo Bikes who treats members of the FDNY and 9/11 Museum staff like street vagrants. No bike in the world is worth what happened to our young volunteer that day, with her hands curled up, hyperventilating, laying on...

The workers there are very friendly and knowledgeable within specific domains. What this store lacks, minus a couple I’ve met, is giving a damn. I purchased a Surly from them and had to keep taking it back there because of various issues I was having with it. This was the first real bike I owned, so I didn’t know anything. Brakes scraping, gears not shifting properly, how wobbly I felt on the bike at lower speeds. Took it back 3-4 times with no lasting fix. After speaking with Surly, I found out that they did a custom build (nothing wrong with that), but exceeded the manufacturers specs. Every adjustment I made to the bike I did so without their help. Brakes scraping? Check tire alignment and caliper alignment. Feeling wobbly? Was my back sore? Yes? Handlebars too high. Gears not shifting well? Shimano 10/11-speed derailleur has a low error tolerance, it’s in the middle of both, so got a better derailleur.

When I asked them if I could fit 700c tires, the response was “oh, I don’t know… you could try.”

Surly suggested I go to Bicycle Habitat instead. When I asked them the same question, the rep got back to me in the afternoon the next day telling me that it would fit. And that he checked with the mechanic, and they grabbed a 650b bike and successfully installed a 700c tire. They didn’t sell me on anything over email, instead they said they wanted to talk to find out what outcome I wanted to achieve.

If you know exactly what you want/need, then support local businesses and go to Velo. If you need someone to diagnose or help you understand how to maintain on your own, go...