Waterloo Cycles

Awesome place. The guy who runs the store is super nice, and extremely knowledgeable. He’ll fix your bike completely and in a hurry, often for a better price than anyone else in the area. The store also has a quaint Austiny vibe.

This place is terrible. Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT, go here for any reason. They are rude, over priced and just generally a terrible place. I’ve been riding for 35 years and have dealt with every bike business in town on numerous occasions. I seldom write reviews and when I do they are almost always positive. If I write a bad review there’s a good reason. Go a few blocks North to University Cyclery and avoid this place like the plague. You have been warned.

I dont know much about bikes and this place took advantage of that fact. It was a super nice day outside and I wanted to go on a bike ride but the wheels on my bike had gotten stolen. I would have gone to a nicer bike shop but I didnt have my car so I went to waterloo since it’s right by my apartment. I was feeling impatient and just wanted my bike ready to ride. I was really surprised to find out it was $ 430 for just two non-​matching wheels but he was a seemingly nice old man that runs a bike shop in Austin so after profiling him as an honest person, I said I’d pay for it. I found out fairly quickly that I had gotten ripped off pretty badly and not only that but the wheels are way smaller than the original ones, he didnt bother tightening up my rear brake, and he said I should go to some other bike shop and get the «something something» oiled. Really? $ 430 and you cant oil my «something something»??? I know I was dumb for paying that much, but I was sleep deprived and impatient and also dumb. So if you’re looking for an honest bike shop with integrity that does a good job, then go to not here.

Great little shop.
Problem seems to be that the owner isn’t here as much as he used to be, and his sons aren’t as invested in the place.
Hours are «meh» to «whenever we feel like it» and service can be hit & miss.
Dad is the real draw of this place.
If he’s not in, forget about it.

Horrible, nasty owner; terrible customer service; prices are a rip off. There are tons of great bike shops in Austin, don’t pick the one with no redeeming qualities!

three words: clown dog bikes. It’s right down the road.

A friend of mine bought his bike here and after a few miles on it, the chain fell off and he couldn’t find it. I owed him a favor and offered to put a new one on for him.
I drove over 60 miles round trip to learn from a note on the door that they were closed for both Wed. July 4^th (which I would expect) AND Thurs., July 5^th. My bad.
So I drove BACK into Austin on July 6^th, Friday, the next day, and waited over an hour for somebody to open the shop, but nobody came.
Their hours should NOT read «10−7», but «maybe-​maybe».
Their voice-​mail doesn’t give any information at all except that they can’t get to the phone.
That’s over 2 hours and all that gasoline wasted for NOTHING! What a waste. Never again.
Judging the other reviews here on Unilocal,and my very positive experiences at Clown Dog just a couple of blocks away, I am surprised Waterloo Cycles is still in business; I am not even sure they really WANT to be.
Give this sad excuse for a retail business the slow, painful death that it deserves and shop somewhere else.

Okay — It’s SXSW and Friday. Most local business and service people are burnt out by this point in the week. Not Mike & Mike at Waterloo Cycles. My husband and I rushed in thinking they had just closed to get a flat tire repaired (a serious problem when trying to bike downtown without a pump) — only to find out that the store had in fact been closed for 2 hours.
Both Mikes welcomed us into the store and offered to change our tire — no problem. I’m a bit of a novice when changing a tire or in fact doing any kind of maintenance on my bike. Okay I’m a total girl-​cliché when it comes to these things. Mike & Mike were so helpful with no pretensions about letting me not get my hands dirty.
We did some browsing and found that the tiny store has a great selection. Mike & Mike also were happy to share recommendations on products that they liked. We will definitely be back to check the selection during store hours.
Thanks to Mike & Mike for great service and a special thanks for not locking your doors!

Stopped here during my cross country drive while I was exploring Austin and this is my only negative review out of all the places I’ve been to throughout my stay in Texas, or even the whole country as a matter of fact.
My bf and I drove cross country with our bikes hitched to the back of our truck, and after seeing literally EVERYONE riding past us with amazing bikes in Austin I insisted we drop by this cute little bike shop with a little hut in front of it with «on sale» bikes.
I walk over to the bike hut, in such an awesome mood since I was absolutely loving Austin… when a large sized man approaches us and suspiciously looks at us and asks if he can help us. I explain to him brightly that we are traveling cross country, and that I might be interested in either trying to trade our bikes in or just inquiring about a new bike seat. He goes on to to give me what I felt was a some what irritated attitude towards my questions, as if I were perhaps wasting his time. He then goes on to ask me if I have a license for my bike? I say no, and that I am from NYC and as far as I know we have no such a thing. (If your bike gets stolen there, that’s your problem. Get a better lock. Cops have better things to do then track down bikes.) He responds rudely, almost accusingly that he just traded a bike with someone who had apparently stolen the bike from someone else and now he is being taken to court for it? (Sorry, Texas, I love you guys, but if that’s a true story you guys gotta fix some things. Like I said, if your bike gets stolen, that’s life, and its your problem.) I felt bad for the guy, but hey I didn’t steal my bike, and my story is clearly legit… ya know… seeing how my bf and I have NYC state drivers licenses, and Ohio license plates, yeah also the fact that we are dragging all of our worldly belongings on the back of our damned truck!
My bf and I don’t look like creepy bums and I, nor no one really deserves to go to a bike shop and get accused of being some kind shady creep. I was offended, and have worked in customer service before… this place is just straight out tactless, classless, and well rude. I am not surprised to see that so many other people have rated this place with one star. Its a wonder the place is still in business. I would have actually gotten something from him since I was in such a great mood (and ready to shop to much of my bf’s dismay =P) before I walked in and got talked to like some dirty, thief child.
Good luck Waterloo. You have officially won the award for the meanest, most bitterest place in Texas.

No stars!!! I went into this business to window shop and kill some time. The owner approched me and began asking me questions about what I wanted to buy. When I told him that I was not interested in purchasing a bike today, he got irate and told me I was wasting his time when he had other things to do. I asked him if he was implying that I would shop lift if he was not standing right next to me and he shrugged and nodded yes. His shop is maybe 400 sq ft and I am a clean cut 40 year old male. The owner is a completely disrespectful jackass. Clearly the only reason the shop has survived so long is the proximity to campus. I urge all potential customers to shop ANYWHERE ELSE.

I bought a pedal wrench here. It stripped and didn’t even get the pedals off because it was weak metal and the pedals were CroMo. Brought it back the same day, showed the guy the damage and he said «we don’t take returns on tools, and you should have brought your bike in here anyway so we could take a look at it,» implying I am an idiot who doesn’t know that the left pedal unscrews clockwise (YES THANKS MR MANSPLAINER). I said his two star ass grubby little bike shop did not earn the confidence I need to trust my bike to them, and walked out of there while he kept my $ 20. Worst treatment I have had at any bike shop, ever.

I wanted to rent a bike for SXSW and called Waterloo Cycles a week before I wanted the bike. They had a bike and said I could reserve it for the time I had requested. The person I spoke with took my credit card and told me that if I needed to cancel ahead of time, just to let him know. It shouldn’t be a problem unless I canceled the day of my rental.
When he quoted the price it was more than twice what was listed on their website and a lock and helmut are extra. Well, okay — it is SXSW and folks are allowed to mark things up. After I hung up, I thought about it for a while and decided that maybe I really didn’t want to hassle with a bike. Called him back 60 minutes later to cancel and he told me that I would be charged a day’s rental for canceling. Apparently, they could have rented the bike out in the 60 minutes that I had it reserved and now they couldn’t…
I understand the flakiness of the masses of SXSWers, but I had only reserved the bike for 60 minutes and canceled a WEEK in advance! I don’t live in Austin, but I would never use this bike shop again. Customer service is important to a bike shop’s business and this is something that this shop lacks.

AWESOME LOCATION!!!
GREAT Weekend staff!!!
So lots of people say lots of stuff about this place.
I heard it was too expensive… WTF?! Do people expect free stuff from a biz with a great location? News Flash — mech. costs money and rent isn’t free. Derr.
A few folks mentioned the shops friendliness… So maybe the old man who owns the joint isn’t Jesus, however his offsprings running the place on FRIDAYS and SUNDAYS are REALLY FRIENDLY and HELPFUL.
I like it!!!

Just don’t do it !
This bike shop was where I rented a Bike for the Austin LIVESTRONG Challenge. It was my own fault having to use them I guess because I should have looked for shop earlier but after talking to the owner on the phone, I was confident I could get a decent bike to rent for 65 — 90 mile ride.
The owner assured me that he would reserve a bike for my at least as good as the TREK 600 that I ride at home.
Upon arriving in Austin, I was told that my one friend was given almost a Pee Wee Herman style bike because that’s all they had left in her size.
I was concerned for good reason :(
I arrived at Waterloo on the busiest bike weekend in Austin, when Lance Armstrong sponsored a ride in his hometown this is your time to shine but no !!
When I saw a Star Trek Wrath of Khan trading card in the spokes of a bike — should have told me about how often they do service on their «fleet «of bikes.
The owner was not even there — he went on vacation and left his 2 kids Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumber to run the shop.
I was given a old FUJI that I am sure Dennis Quaid was riding in 1979’s BREAKING AWAY.
There were no SPD Clips for my shoes and the «mechanic «threw on some used ones that were horrible.
I was afraid the bike would not make it for 45 let alone 90.
My friend Liberty was given a Side Show Bob clown sized bike also
it took over 3 hours to get out of there too —
I can believe I rode 90 miles on that POS and that only because I missed the 65 mile turn off.
They had the nerve to check for damages when I returned — I should have sued for damages for mental anguish.
Horrible service go to Mellow Johnnies and save a headache.
Congrats — my 1^st 1 star review only because I can’t do 0 stars

Before I bought the bike I have now I stopped by Waterloo to check out what they had. The old guy came out and asked what I wanted to buy, when I told him I was still in the looking phase he told me to stop wasting his time. And then stood there arms crossed until I just walked away. So don’t go here if you want to be able to look at the bikes before buying something (and by «look» I mean just that — I didn’t touch the bikes or ask questions about them).

Know why the owner is always smiling? He’s ready to rip you off.
Don’t show weakness. If you say something like «I’ve been looking for a new widget, how are these?» he’ll realize you’re lacking knowledge of that particular widget and will make up a totally bogus inflated price when you’re ready to check out. There’s a reason nothing has a price tag on it.
Only buy something here if you:
1) Know exactly how much it should cost (he’ll try to overcharge you 2−3x retail)
2) Don’t want to return it later (store credit only)
3) Have lots of spare time (he works at a glacial speed)
I added a star because when I went here several years ago shopping for a new bike, he was actually pretty helpful. But after my recent experience buying some parts, I ain’t going back any time soon.

This is my go-​to spot for my bike. It’s the same guy everytime and he is super helpful. Being a college-​student on a budget he recognizes that I’m not always willing to spend a lot of money on repairs and offers cost effective ways to keep my bike running.
This is also a local business, so show them some love!

I had a horrible experience at this shop during SXSW. I forgot my lights, it was getting late, closest shop was Waterloo. I picked out the Planet Bike spoke light set and didn’t pay much attention checking out (I know, sucker). When I was checking my bank statement it said that Waterloo charged me $ 43.00 for a $ 24.99 bike light set! I figured it must have been a mistake and confronted the owner the next day. Unfortunately, when I asked him to at least give me 10 bucks of the money he smiled and said «If that’s the price I told you at the checkout, that’s the price you pay». Oh yeah, and no return policy… nice. Its unfortunate that owners like this are giving local Austin businesses a bad name for price gouging. Do yourself a favor, save your money and shop at legitimate local bike shops.

I’ve been getting into cycling quite a bit, and have started building some bikes myself. So, I’ve been around town to most shops, looking for this or that. I’d never been to Waterloo Cycles before and I was close by so I thought I’d drop in.
As soon as I walked in the owner asked if I needed help (which is common), and I replied no thank I’m browsing, he waited a few seconds then asked if there was something particular I was looking for, again I said no thank you I’m browsing, then a few seconds later he asked the same question. GEES, let me be and have a look, I will let you know if I have a question, it was a really annoying deterent, but that isn’t why he has gotten 1 star. He has gotten one star because he OVERCHARGES monumentally. I went there to see what he had and to get some «North Road» bars if he had them, and he did. But he was asking $ 45 dollars for a set of Pyramid «North Road» Bars (which are $ 15 online at most). When I called him out on this, he got mad and said sarcastically «Well, guess what, I gotta pay for this, that, and the other .» Now, I understand a businesses costs, but three times the regular price is not annoying, it’s OFFENSIVE. I don’t mind paying a little more (i.e. $ 20 – 25) for them, but that is ridiculous. So after the attitude and the price gouging I left and went to the Peddler (where all the prices are fair, and the staff knows what they’re doing). Don’t go here, he will rip you off and if you ask him about he’ll get upset. This shop is a dinosaur that needs to become extinct. Don’t Go.
Try the Peddler

Remember watching reruns of Andy Griffith on TV, and everybody was so nice to each other? Opie and Aunt B would walk into an ice cream shop and the counter person treated them as they would a friend.
I got the same kind of feeling at Waterloo Cycles. I went into the store to get an inner tube for my bike, and was greeted by the owner. He asked me what I needed and helped me figure out the correct size. He also gave me some info on how to prevent future flats. After the sale, we had a nice friendly conversation.
Pretty old school, huh? I was hoping that maybe I had walked through some sort of time warp and had wound up in the 1950’s or something so that I could stock up on baseball cards. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, but I was happy to find a friendly neighborhood bike shop.