Review Date
February 15, 2010 Overall Rating
 5 of 5
Customer Service Rating
 5 of 5
Technical Expertise Rating
5 of 5
I visit this shop:
Once a month
|  |
Reviewed by: rlaraway
,
Weekend Warrior Shop Summary:
- Bikes: Strong inventory of Yetis, Specialized, Ibis, Santa Cruz + a battery of beach cruisers.
- Parts: Handle bars, seats, seat posts, drive train components, pedals, brakes, bashguards, bottom brackets, stems, etc
- Accessories: Shorts, shoes, jerseys, helmets, packs, reservoirs, etc.
- Tools: Lots of tools.
Knowledgeable and passionate staff is always polite and eager to engage you on your bike and the trails. Strong service component - build bikes, wheels, repair almost anything. Customer Service:
Service is excellent!
Well-staffed, well trained group of guys who ride, but who don't act like your questions are silly (even when they are, like 95% of my questions).
They've done great work on all my bikes, and most important to me, when they make a mistake (as all shops do), they make good and they fix it.
They keep meticulous records of your purchases... returns without receipts? no problem. Bike gets stolen and you need the serial number for insurance? no problem. Forget what size helmet you bought? no problem. Other Comments:
My friends mock me for what they call over-the-top Trailhead Cyclery (THC) loyalty. They often ask if I am "on the take."
I'm not on the take, but I am going to tell you a story about Trailhead that will knock your socks off.
Last winter, they built me a beautiful bike - Yeti 575, custom wheels, top-of-the-line everything. It was my second bike from THC. Thing shredded like crazy.
On May 6th 2009, I got a frantic telephone call from my wife. Someone had walked into my garage, lifted it off my ceiling hooks, and stolen my bike. Beautiful bike just gone.
I filed a police report, insurance claim (USAA!), and got a new bike. THC keeps meticulous records, and they were instrumental in helping me supply the precise spec, serial number, etc not only to the police, but also to my insurance company, which needed to verify that my claim was legit. THC went way above and beyond there... but wait... there's more.
In early January 2010, a heckuva nice guy strolled into THC with a bike he knew was going to need some work. You see, nothing good ever happens to this guy, so when he found a black-spray-painted Yeti 575 in the bushes, he was pretty stoked at his good luck.
Loyal to their customers, THC doesn't just build/sell you a bike and forget about you. They have soul - they love to ride, and they are invested in your experience. (I'm serious). So when one of the guys recognized my blazing royal blue CK hubs and my orange/blue CK headset spacers, he knew it was my bike. Because I'm not just a number, he remembered - from 8 months ago - that I, Russ, had my awesome bike stolen. He felt my pain. It left a mark on him, too.
The guys at THC obviously can't confiscate the bike. They also don't know if the guy in possession of the bike is the thief or just a lucky guy. My homeboy at THC (let's call him Jeb) elects not to tip the guy off and slyly takes down his name and number. (The guy needed to take the bike home to finish painting).
Jeb calls me to say, "Dude - I saw your bike." We agree that the best course of action is for him to call the police, report this and give them my police report number.
Deputy Rick Chaeff called me the next day with a plan. He went to the guy's house, and the guy did the right thing, and turned the bike over to the deputy, who called me to meet him to pick up my bike.
Now I ask you - does your bike shop have a staff that cares enough about you to remember how you got your bike stolen? Can he in a fraction of a second identify the bike and take swift action to get things right?
My experience with the other bike shops in the area is that their staff is usually too busy being late to work and blowing you off when you ask dumb questions to even remotely think about you as a rider - someone with whom he/she shares a passion.
THC is one of those bike shops that has soul. They have great inventory - they know how to build bikes and maintain them.
To be fair - they are busy and do make the occasional mistake - as at least one review points out. HOWEVER - every bike shop makes mistakes. THC, though, makes it right - EVERY TIME. While it's also true they are not the cheapest, I've found that with these complicated machines, you get what you pay for. Other shops have a bunch of ass-clowns in the back smoking weed while the THC guys are fixing Nomads, Yetis, FSRs, and Mojos.
Bottom line: I've been here 100s of times, and I'll go 1000s more. Give them a shot.
Would you like to Comment?Join MTBR.com for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
|
Review Date
February 11, 2010 Overall Rating
 4 of 5
Customer Service Rating
5 of 5
Technical Expertise Rating
 4 of 5
I visit this shop:
Every few months
| |
Reviewed by: JCintheBA
,
Cross Country Rider Shop Summary:
I bought my Ibis Mojo at trailhead. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to give the bike a once over when I picked it up. I figured it is a MTB shop so they should have done a decent job building it. Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong. Clearly the bike had been assembled by someone who didn't know what they were doing and was never QAed. Pretty much everything that could be wrong was wrong. It took me a couple hours to get it into riding condition. My first ride at demo the front wheel went waaay out of true. Clearly the tension had never been checked. Gregg can attest to how bad the shifting was. Now I was pretty ticked off. I called Ibis to see whether they would send me a new wheel and I would strip down rebuild the entire bike myself. They suggested I bring it back to Trailhead. I'm glad they did.
I took it back and Lars met me at the counter. Ibis had called and warned him I was coming. He couldn't have been nicer and more helpful. He agreed that the bike had not been built to their standards. I left it and a couple days later they called and said it was ready. This time they did a fantastic job. Everything was adjusted correctly, everything was lubed and Ibis sent them a new front wheel which they had their builder go over and re-tension. They even made a nice chainstay protector using stella azzura bar tape. It really was a fantastic job. I left feeling much better about the shop.
Everyone makes mistakes. It is how they are dealt with that matters. Trailhead did the absolute right thing and went the extra mile to make sure I left happy. I would buy another bike from them in a minute.
Customer Service:
Good guys. Just take a good look at the build before you leave
Would you like to Comment?Join MTBR.com for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
|
Review Date
January 18, 2010 Overall Rating
5 of 5
Customer Service Rating
5 of 5
Technical Expertise Rating
5 of 5
I visit this shop:
Once a month
| |
Reviewed by: gomustangs
,
Weekend Warrior Shop Summary:
I went in looking for information on Fox shocks and ended up walking out with a new fork. Staff were very patient and informative when answering my questions.
Took my fork back the next day to have the crown race installed and to exchange a part. Both requests were met with a, "No problem." I walked out 5 minutes later with everything I needed. Customer Service:
Courteous, helpful, no pressure. Other Comments:
I look forward to visiting them again in the near future.
Would you like to Comment?Join MTBR.com for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.
|
View Comments (1)
