Review Date
December 3, 2008

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Customer Service Rating
 2 of 5

Technical Expertise Rating
 1 of 5

I visit this shop:
Every few months

Reviewed by: krazychowmein ,  Cross Country Rider

Shop Summary:
The times I have gone to Performance I can say the customer service has been comparable to Fry's electronics. You ask for a specific part from any of the rep's and they all seem to go to one guy who is usually helping 3 customers at the same time. I've gone to another Performance store in Mountain View and the service has been better but this shop I avoid unless I need a random mass produced part which I don't have to ask any questions on at 8:30 PM at night when the LBS's are closed.

Review Date
July 11, 2008

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Customer Service Rating
 2 of 5

Technical Expertise Rating
 2 of 5

I visit this shop:
Every few months

Reviewed by: bikerdood321 ,  Cross Country Rider

Shop Summary:
Ok lets be honest. You go to Performance at 8:55am on a Wednesday morning just because you have absolutely nothing to do. Guess what? There are 6 people waiting for the store to open....some have waited an hour just to be there the moment the shop opens as if they are selling some exclusive product just being released to the first 7 people in this galaxy. 4 of those 6 people have returns to make, the first guy is attempting to return a pair of riding shorts he's had since 1996 with the idea of an even exchange on a premium Castelli riding bib. The second guy wants to return a bike from last spring "because he's decided he doesnt like it" or "because noone told him he had to pedal the damn thing". Its all good though because the next customer has his mailed sales flyer, his team performance card, a web print of a sale price thats $2.00 cheaper online and his 10% OFF Coupon Mailer. "Is there some kind of extra deal I can get on this?" "Sure sir, your purchase is 87% off original price, let me see what else I can do for you". Oh wait, he doesnt have to have his team performance card because he makes the one associate running the entire store floor look him up by his last name instead of the nuisance of bringing his little card. "Whats your last name?" Then I hear - "Okay whats your first name, Johnny, Jerry, Mugsy,...oh here you are....Arnold Swarzanegger". All that to save .25 cents on a performance branded inner tube that was already less than half price. Meanwhile, 3 people need someone to explain to them what a bike actually is and newton's law of how a wheel goes round and round. Those 3 people are gonna have to wait though because the 9 people that have formed in line to checkout at 9:35a on a friggin' Wednesday morning while that associate was looking up the governator are all now impatiently waiting to be rung up and I overhear them all greet the staff member with "IS THIS ON SALE???", "CAN I RETURN THIS IF I DECIDE I DONT WANT IT?". Here is an idea, buy the item after you've already ruled out that you arent going to not want it. I can see if you buy an item and its defective but all my years wrenching at a shop when I was paying my way through college and noone ever attempted to bring back a water bottle cage from a 60's peugot that has since been melted down and recycled to vintage samurai armor.

Customer Service:
Customer Service is less than spectacular. Good thing those associates get paid a hearty $8.00/hr in the Bay Area of California to deal with it all. I had a solid riding buddy who worked at one of the Performance stores which gave me material for the above review, as well as my personal experiences there, and now he wont even look at his bike post "P".

Other Comments:
Dont go to Performance and expect to be treated like the LBS, because its a retail chain store always understaffed and undereducated no matter which location. Performance is essentially the Walmart version of the bike world.....buy mass volume, pressure vendors into lower wholesale prices based on that volume, discount the resulting product more than the competitors, make a profit by sheer quantity, and hire a staff to do it all at the lowest possible cost to be human punching bags and checkout express lanes. The staff changes as quickly as their sales events or bargain bike lines. Current employees never seem happy and sometimes look like they are waiting for the mega earthquake or coastal tsunami to put them out of their misery. Going in on the weekend? Good luck, its like a Jackson 5 reunion concert in there...pray you get rung up by the angry asian kid before close, let alone sized for a bike. If and until things change, do your research and then go there for the things you need based on the value & availability, and not with the expectations of being enlightened. Despite all I try to treat the staff like they may be somebody's riding buddy.

Review Date
June 12, 2008

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Customer Service Rating
 1 of 5

Technical Expertise Rating
 2 of 5

I visit this shop:
Once a year

Reviewed by: wazupdog42 ,  Weekend Warrior

Shop Summary:
Bad. Often only carry one brand or type for each item. I went there today to get some tires and the only ones they had were Panaracer Fire XC Pro, which were the one I wanted. An entire 1/2 display rack (which could have held at least 15 different brands) was given over to the Fire XC pro. The only exception to this was saddle bags. There were at least 20 different brands. All of which were very similar.
Service is mediocre and so is the sales staff. No one would help me and there were more people working there than customers!
Their bike selection is also very bad (at least for mountain bikes). They put disc brakes on the crappiest models to make them look better and use very heavy, not great quality components. Their bikes look great, but I don't think they will last very long.

I would recommend it only if you know what you want because they often have sales and good deals (one of the advantages of being a national company is they buying power) but otherwise, please support you're local bike shop. They will often be friendlier (which is worth the extra money) and far more knowledgeable (i.e. they actually ride.)

Review Date
July 6, 2007

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Customer Service Rating
 1 of 5

Technical Expertise Rating
 2 of 5

I visit this shop:
Every few months

Reviewed by: Ty.S ,  Weekend Warrior

Shop Summary:
Not sure what they're selling these days, they seem to alternate which manufacturer they're pushing lately. They send out that 'newsletter' on the sale items.. but make SURE you check your reciept.. because about 90% of the time they'll charge you the normal price.

I'm not a performace member, don't plan to be...EVER..

Customer Service:
LOUSY LOUSY LOUSY. There is 1 or 2 guys of the entire staff that have an idea of whats going on.

I went there to buy a seat.. wanted to demo it real quick.. I was told I had to buy it first.. then they'd toss it on real quick, I could blast up and down Hamilton and decide if I wanted to keep it. This was the inverse of what they had told me the night before, but oh well, such are things.

I buy the seat.. the guy who was in the shop, decides that now is a good time to go stand on the floor and do nothing.. the other guy in the shop ignores my bike and rolls it to the back. I stand there for 20min. and nothing happens.. it was only a seat FFS.

Got my bike back, went home and decided that even if I hated the seat I'd just give it away, rather then go back.

Other Comments:
If every other bike shop in the world closed and this was the only place open, I'd spend the money and buy my own welding business and start making my own crap.

At this point I will never spend money there again. I'll pay more to get it somewhere else as long as I don't have to go to any "performance" store.

Review Date
April 17, 2007

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Customer Service Rating
 2 of 5

Technical Expertise Rating
 1 of 5

I visit this shop:
Every few months

Reviewed by: shanedawg ,  Cross Country Rider

Shop Summary:
I'd have to echo cmdr's comments. The staff is untrained and make a lot of mistakes at the cash register. I always triple check my receipt because they get it wrong at least 50% of the time. I only go there to buy gu or clif bars when they have a sale. They also have pretty good prices on their house brand clothing. If you want a wind breaker or lycra road shorts you can save a lot of money buying these instead of pearl izumi or some other way overpriced brand. Other than that their selection is lousy. They are so out of touch with what people currently want to buy it's amazing. They used to be a cool store back in the 90's but they have gone wayyyyy downhill.