Review Date
November 27, 2008

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Customer Service Rating
 1 of 5

Technical Expertise Rating
 1 of 5

I visit this shop:
Been there once

Reviewed by: harpethnarrows ,  Cross Country Rider

Customer Service:
I cannot emphasize enough how distasteful my experience with this shop was. The fact that it advertises that it was "Voted Best Bike Shop' by New Times and Phoenix Republic readers" is astounding to me. I can't recommend even considering it in desperation.
I found the shop on the internet and called several weeks in advance from Alaska and arranged to rent a road bicycle for 9 days, paying in advance by credit card. I called a few days before arriving to confirmed my reservation.
When I arrived by shuttle from the airport, the bicycle wasn't ready. No big deal. It took about 20 minutes. But I was in a hurry to get on the bike and get to Apache Junction before dark as part of my itinerary.
I was struck by how much of the staff lacked knowledge about bicycling equipment. I've been in many LBSs over the years and you get used to folks knowing their trade. I visited six other LBSs on this trip and all of them were competent. This one seemed a bit off.
Well, so what, I took the bicycle and headed out. (So what if one of the clerks didn't know one cycling computer from another, or that another one rang up two Camelback water bottles at full price when they were displayed at half price. She fixed it when I brought it to her attention. Or that the mechanic opposed me asking to have the seat adjusted up a bit. OK, so it had a quick release lever I could adjust all by myself. He seemed to take offense that I wanted it put up a bit. Well, I though, I know what I need more than he does.)
Well, my first mistake was not looking over the bicycle carefully. I discovered a half hour down the road that the rear wheel was rubbing the rear brake. The wheel was out of true. Too late to go back unless I wanted to bicycle in the dark in East Mesa and Apache Junction. No thanks. So I just flipped the level on the back brake, the one that allows you to remove the wheel. It gave more spacing but still allowed decent braking on the mostly level route I was taking to Tucson. This would come back to haunt me.
The bicycle performed pretty well. I did have seven flats and one major blowout during the 9 days. The tires weren't the best and actually weren't even made any more.
The bicycle worked pretty well. It was a Masi road bicycle. So, over all, except for the tires and the wobble, the bike did OK. Oh, I forgot the seat. The seat clamp won't hold. It plagued me the entire trip. Did that mechanic know it wouldn't hold? Was that why he was arguing against me asking for an adjustment?
So I had a good week bicycling, 450 miles, with three 100+ days, although I canceled a century at the very end because I was worried about a blowout on the other tire -- on the front.
Well, I took a van shuttle from Tucson back to Tempe. I had the bicycle professional boxed -- they did the usual, taking the handlebar off, and the wheels off. Nothing major. I had cleared this with the guy, Josh, when I talked to him on the phone. He didn't object.
Well, when I arrived to return the bicycle, I was treated as though I had poop on my shoes. Right off the bat, a women I later identified as Yvonne Morrison, co-owner, seemed offended that her bicycle was in a box. I say, "Hi, I'm returning a rental bicycle." It was as though I had insulted her. She was completely bend out of shape that it was in a box. I asked her if she wanted to put it back together. "Well, if we do it, we'll have to charge you for it." Ok, well, I said, I'll do it. No big deal. So I took 10 minutes and a bike tool and put the handlebar back on and the wheels back on. I guess I should have charged her for taking my pedals off, which was part of the rental agreement.
So I delivered the assembled bicycle back to her. She disappeared with it back into the shop. I waited. I waited. She had another clerk -- one I had dealt with at the beginning -- back there and they were talking in hushed tones. I went back to the door and asked. Is there a problem? I asked.
She didn't answer. She then brushed past me, ignoring my question, went to the cash registered, and proceeded to first tell me I was late getting the bicycle back. I protested, telling her that I had been completely up front about the days I would have the bicycle. It sees that Josh only charged my CC for a week. I didn't know that, but she acted as though I was trying to rip her off. Then she announced that the rear wheel was trashed and I had to pay $150 full retail to replace it. I objected vigorously.
Bottom line is that I paid $150 plus the extra rental, took the wheel, went to a reputable bike shop, had them true it in 10 minutes, returned and asked for a refund. I got it. But I will never ever go to that shop again nor recommend it to anyone. The wheels was fine, despite Yvonne insisting that she was the expert and knew the wheel couldn't be repaired.
My advice: Never go to this bike shop. If you have doubts elsewhere, look the bicycle over, take a digital camera and document every imperfection, and don't let others like Tempe Bicycles folks rip you off.

Review Date
April 29, 2007

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Customer Service Rating
 4 of 5

Technical Expertise Rating
 4 of 5

I visit this shop:
Been there once

Reviewed by: Franziskaner ,  Weekend Warrior

Shop Summary:
My first, and so far only, experience with Tempe Bicycle was a positive one. They are currently in the process of moving to a new location (405 W. University), so the shop probably wasn’t looking its best, but I did notice quite a few good ‘moving sale’ deals. I took my 01’ Specialized Rockhopper there for a tune-up on Monday evening, 23 April 2007. I gave them no special instructions, other than pointing out that my front wheel hub was in bad shape. I was told the bike would be ready on Thursday, 26 April 2007. Tempe Bicycle never phoned me, but the bike was ready for pick-up as promised Thursday evening. When the tech brought the bike out to me, he pointed out that the front tire was flat. I felt this was probably my fault, because I knew the front tire had a very slow leak when I turned it in, but never mentioned it. The mechanic offered to replace the tube while I paid, and I was given the choice of regular, heavy-duty, or super heavy-duty tube. No brand name was mentioned, but I noticed he used a Kenda tube. I was charged $29.95 for the tune-up, $1.00 for unspecified shop parts, $10.00 for the front hub overhaul, $6.95 for the ‘heavy-duty’ tire tube, and $5.00 for the tube replacement. Total cost for my visit was $52.90. I’ve been pleased with the results of the tune-up and would recommend Tempe Bicycle’s services to others.