The Bike Center Santa Monica — Local services in Santa Monica

I pulled my bicycle inside from living outside on my small deck for almost 2 years. My bike is 21 years old and I’ve been riding it all those years and taking good care of it. For the most part it’s always been inside, except for this last period of time. It was covered up while living outside but in need of major beauty treatments and some repairs. Coastal weather, high winds, fires nearby, atmospheric rivers the last few rainy seasons, various critters living underneath the cover, rusty chain, flat tires, it had blown over a few times, etc. I recently decided to get back on the bike path and start riding again after being turned off by how crazy dangerous it’s gotten on our roadways. After checking out bike repair places close by my apartment, I called The Bike Repair Center Santa Monica. Triston answered and I let him know what I was looking for. He was immediately so welcoming and warm on the phone. We discussed what I was thinking my bike needed and said absolutely they could take care of it and to come on in. He also made a few suggestions before we hung up for me to think about and once he could see the bike we would take it from there. The very next morning I walked my bike with flat tires over to The Bike Center Santa Monica on 2nd and Colorado and left it there for a few days. Triston was super - took great care in discussing options and checking out my bike to get it back in top shape to ride again. I called in a few times with afterthoughts about little things like adding a water bottle holder and always was met with “no problem” and offered a few different options for me to choose from. I also picked up a new floor pump to keep my tires filled with air from home on my first visit. Once I got the text that my bike was ready I headed back to pick it up. Triston went over everything with me that was done on the bike and thanked me for coming in. As I was rolling out of the shop to go for my ride he said “be safe!”. I loved that. I went straight down to the bike path for a first bike ride in a very long time. I rode south towards Venice. What a great ride it was! The bike was in excellent shape and I was thrilled to be back riding it again. It felt brand new and was as beautiful as ever. It was quite cold that day and super windy, so not many people were out down on the beach. Can't wait for my next ride. Thank you so much Triston and team for all your help and I will be seeing you again with my...

Because this place has a 4.0 review and was right off the Metro Station, we decided to rent bikes from there during our visit to the Santa Monica Pier. That was a big mistake though. The people helping us were rude and their customer service was little to non-existent.

We had looked online beforehand and knew exactly which bikes we wanted to rent and for how long. As soon as we got there we let the guy know. We had to put $1000 deposit down, and that wasn't a problem... except our credit cards kept declining. It was probably our fault since we went on a trip without notifying the credit card company, I don't blame the shop for that. But by the time I handed the cashier our 4th credit card, he snarked at me and rolled his eyes. That was extremely impolite and uncalled for, it almost made me feel like I was a nuisance because I didn't have money for a deposit.

Finally the deposit was dealt with and we got the bikes. But then they tell us that the seats for the bikes can't be adjusted... I'm not sure if it was the look I shot at him or just the look on my face in general, but they ended up getting a different bike for me that could be adjusted. So we got one adjustable bike and one non-adjustable bike. The bikes were great, they made going uphill extremely easy on the way back and it was very user friendly.

So we get back to the shop to return the bikes and there were 3 attendants at the cashier. One of them walks away from the counter and motions us to bring the bikes in. After leaving the bikes with him we head over to the cashier to pay for the time. I didn't take the session off the deposit since I didn't want to pay an extra percentage for foreign exchange rates so I told him that we would pay for it in cash. He gave us the total and my partner hands him a bill while I rummage for change in my wallet. I hand over the change and the cashier says, "Oh, it's too late I already entered the amount." and hands me back more change.

Overall, I thought their customer service really needed to be worked on especially for a place that caters so much to tourist. But the equipment they had was good and the location is good. If you would like to be treated like trash, I would recommend this place. If you do care how other treat you, please just go...

First, I'd like to say that the person who greeted me was friendly, and the bike I received was clean and in good, working condition. For the price, it's a decent bike. It's a Giant Contend aluminum frame with a Shimano Sora 9-speed groupset. In Hawaii, I rented a Roubaix Sport from West Maui Cycles for less. My biggest gripe comes from when I asked to have the stack adjusted on the bike.

I've rented bikes before, and I know shops prefer to the do the adjustments themselves, and so I asked for have the stack on the bike lowered, after test riding it. The riding position was very upright, and while I'm not a pro racer, I like to ride a little lower. I've moved the spacers on my own bike, and I know the procedure doesn't take more than 10 minutes. I didn't expect the response I received. When I asked, I was given a lecture by, what I assume to be, the head mechanic. I was told that if I wanted a bike fit, I should have shipped my own bike, if I wanted to ride lower, I can ride in the drops, and, funny enough, I was told that they don't like people making adjustments themselves (which is why I asked in the first place). He also said something about anyone with a multitool is a mechanic (sarcastically), and something about liability (which I understand). The head mechanic was quite demeaning and condescending. I was upset, and told them to leave it, and he instructed the other mechanic to move the spacers.

At the end of the day, the gentleman could have responded in at least one of 2 ways: 1, tell me, "I'm sorry, but we don't do that" (or something to that affect), or 2, "Yes, let me take care of that for you".

Anyway, the gentleman was older, probably 40-50 years old, with a raspy voice. If you're reading this and work at the shop, you should know to whom...