Baltimore Bicycle Works

I Went to find a set of cleats today. A guy was helpful in identifying it for me, but told me they didn’t have it in stock and would need to order it. I then expressed that I would look at other places. At that moment a blonde lady came up and told me there would be five dollar service charge, for identifying the product I need. I stared at her for a good moment waiting for her to tell me she was joking, but she wasn’t. I capitulated because I was in a hurry to get the cleats, but this by no means makes for a pleasant experience. Never had anyone else attempted to charge me for answering a simple question. I will be going in again to pick up my cleats, and if no explanation was made regarding that it would be the last time I ever go there.
I intended to give five stars for the guy who had been helpful, but the attempt to charge me for nothing made me decide otherwise.

Great service. Had a small issue with my bike which they fixed cheaply and took the time to explain what I should do to prevent it next time. No pressure sales techniques after I asked a few questions. I will definitely be back.

One of the few bike shops I’ve been in that didn’t give me the feeling that they were going to pull a fast one on me, and they weren’t condescending either. Maybe I was disheartened by the type of people that worked in most of the shops I went into in Philly, but I felt confident in what I was buying here, and I’ll be back.

Terrific experience with this bike shop today! Got a quick simple repair for an extremely reasonable price in less than 10 minutes. There is also a sweet selection of bikes with decent prices if you’re looking to start your life as a two-​wheeled adventure (you should) :). And lastly, they have a cat named «Falkor». It doesn’t get any more «Charm» City than this. Keep up the great community-​oriented work BBW!

Great customer service. Everyone that I spoke to in the shop was very helpful and pleasant. The shop ended up having to order the model that I was looking at from the dealer. The bike was shipped and then assembled at the shop within a couple of days of it being ordered. Great overall experience.

After flirting a bit with running, I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t «have what it takes» to sustain that over the long-​term (basically, no stamina and age is not on my side), so I’ve been thinking about getting a bicycle. I have to keep fit somehow, right? So my husband and I walked here on a beautiful Saturday afternoon to check the place out and see what they had. I really hadn’t planned on buying anything…
Well, after seeing the selection here and speaking with the friendly, accommodating staff, that plan went horribly awry, as I pretty much fell in love with a gleaming Jamis commuter bike after a «test drive» up and down the Jones Falls Trail. I was dubious that they could find anything for me since I’ve been known to need equipment in the kid’s section before, but the Jamis came with a 14-​inch frame, which was pretty much what I needed. Even better, they do have an installment plan where you can put 10 percent down and «hold» your bike for up to 3 months («layaway» is such a crude term, but that’s more or less what it is); this is convenient for me since I have holiday expenses coming up!
My husband also fell prey to their wiles, as he purchased a huge 19-​inch Jamis Coda Sport.
The only bad thing is that we won’t be able to get our bikes until December! We’re both eager to get started now, but that’s okay — it’ll be a nice present for both of us.
Lots of accessories here, too, for almost every situation. They have folding Brompton bikes, too, which are GORGEOUS — if I had the G and some they wanted for those, I’d have ordered it in a heartbeat. But my new Jamis will do for now.
I’m no cyclist and have no idea of the differences — but the staff here was very patient and answered all of our questions with a smile.
Best part of the experience? Mr. Falkor, otherwise known as The Lord of All That He Surveys. The sweetest, softest and furriest shop kitty ever. :)

Stopped in while visiting Baltimore and doing some exploring by bike. Probably would’ve rode right past it had it not been for a few young local kids doing wheelies out front. The staff was super friendly and welcoming and even hooked me up with some swag. Hard to believe there’ll be a better shop than this after seeing how they treated everyone while there. Will definitely stop by on my next visit.

I’ve become a very interested/​probably annoying bike commuter with questions and small problems. I’ve stopped into Baltimore Bicycle Works three times in the past month, both times my questions were answered and a bit of work was done on the bike. I was off on my way in 10 minutes one time, 20 minutes another. I paid nothing the second and third of these visits. The folks here are amazing.

Best bike shop I have ever been to!

My bike tire wouldn’t hold air. I was scared and didn’t know what to do. Reluctant to get it fixed because money. Sick of walking to and from work. I wandered into BBW and $ 13 and 10 minutes later my bike worked. Also gave some preventative maintenance tips.

A very friendly and efficient shop.
I came here last summer to get my old, beater bike I just inherited tuned up and the girl who worked on my bike did a great job and also have me some maintenance pointers since I hadn’t owned or ridden a bike for a while. I appreciate the knowledge sharing a lot.
This past Sunday, My boyfriends bike needed a quick tuning with a wrench we didn’t have, so walked it here. The guy helped us quickly and graciously walked outside with us to point our some great bike trails nearby after we asked him about some of the best routes to go up to Hopkins.
What I like best about this place is that they are friendly and non pretentious (Twenty 20 in Hampden gave me that vibe), and that they don’t mind helping me out for a quick thing like tightening handlebars for free. Because of this, I want to give them my business.

Came in here on a Saturday to rent a bike after having not biked in a while. They have different models available for 24 hr rental at $ 25. Helmet or lock is another $ 5. There were only road bikes available that day so I took one for a spin around the block before deciding to rent it. The entire process took maybe 10 min and the people working there are nice, especially for someone like me who is the opposite of a bike connoisseur.
Had no issues with the bike and a great time on the rock creek trail. Will probably be back if I plan to go biking again.

Pros–
Good Prices For Services
Reasonable Prices for Parts/​Accessories
Service Program for Bike Buyers
Carry some of the more «non-​standard brands» like Brompton
Cons–
Dont carry some of the mainstream brands like Trek
This is one of my favorite bike shops to visit. With bike shops you tend to get either friendly yet uninformed employees or really knowledgeable yet snobby bike techs, who scoff if you don’t know the difference between platform vs clipless…
Luckily BBW has both friendly and very knowledgeable bike techs. I just get a vibe that they are really glad to be there and want to help and educate you to be a better bike rider/​owner.

Staff were very pleasant even though the place was really crowded. I had just recently purchased a mountain bike on craigslist and was interested in changing the tires to more hybrid like tires that had less resistance when riding. I talked to the guy and he told me that the tires I had on there were in great shape and that I should probably wait until they wore out until I replaced them. I really appreciated the honesty and even though he could have easily told me I needed new tires and gotten a sale out of me, he was just honest instead. Man — that is just a breath of fresh air! I will definitely go back when the tires do wear out and get some thinner tires.

I love this place. All the best aspects of a small local business — friendly and knowledgable staff that is really enthusiastic about fixing your bike and getting you on the road. Not only do these people really know their shit, but they are very happy to tell you what they’re doing as they work on your wheels, so you’re getting more involved and knowledgable YOURSELF in the process. Spread the bike love. Reasonable charges for a wide array of services. OK selection of products in-​store, and you have the option of ordering parts as well.

Staff was very helpful. As soon as I walked in I was asked if I needed help. Very convenient since it was my first time there. I needed help trying to find a bike accessory and the gentleman was informative of explaining the different brands and products to me. I was grateful for this especially since I had just come from another bike shop that showed no type of interest in offering me any help. So I came back about 2 weeks later and bought what I needed. Again staff was very helpful and attended to me as soon as she was done with the customer in front. You also get a discount if you work for a union.

Nicest. Bike. Shop. Ever. For the most part bike shops scare me as the employees tend to be pretentious and unhelpful unless you demonstrate that you know exactly what you want. I walked into BBW with the glazed look in my eye of someone who has absolutely no idea what they’re doing and was immediately approached by someone asking if I needed help. I was still getting my bearings so I told them I just wanted to look around. They politely left me alone but within 10 minutes another employee checked in on me. There was no pressure whatsoever, they just wanted to make sure I knew they were available if I had any questions. This time around I just needed a new bike tube and they didn’t make fun of me when I realized I didn’t know what size I needed. They just asked questions until we figured out what was most likely to fit my bike (turned out we were wrong because I told you I don’t know anything about bikes! But they exchanged it no hassle a few days later). This will definitely be my go-​to bike shop from now on.

I’ve always found this shop and the staff here to be top notch, and it’s a crime I didn’t write this review before now…
I’ve never purchased a full bike here, but I had BBW finish a bike build for me that I started (and couldn’t finish), AND fix a very expensive touring bike that I screwed up the headset install on. I’ve brought my bikes in at least three times when I just can’t get it right.
(If I owned a bike shop, I’d probably cringe at a customer like me. I’m an admitted amateur bike mechanic poseur… I put brakes on backwards, headsets upside down and use the wrong cable/​housing, but I *try*)
The tune-​up BBW performed for me on my first road bike was pitch perfect and kept me on that bike for two summers (and hundreds of miles) without much more than infrequent chain lubing and tire pumping on my part. They do an excellent job explaining exactly what the work is that they need to do while providing a completely accurate (and fair) estimate for their services. I’ve also been impressed by the fact that they’ve done their work quickly to get me back on the road, while keeping the lines of communication open throughout the process.
Did I also mention they sell Bromptons?
Highly recommended. A+

Baltimore Bicycle Works is a great bike shop, lots of selection.
Tucked away in a more gritty and obscure area near Charles Village. I haven’t had anything specifically serviced by them, as I do my own bike maintenance, but I have used them for parts. When I’ve been, I’ve had friendly low-​pressure service; if I had to buy a bike, I’d seriously consider shopping here.
Baltimore needs more bike love, and BBW is helping to build that culture.

And in conclusion…
Let me first say that I love the thought of any place that is «employee owned.» Because of this fact I really wanted to give them a try. A friend wanted to get his «spring cleaning and tune-​up» done to his Cannondale. His local shop always did the work but I talked him into letting me take his bike to BBW.
I took his bike and asked them to do the spring tune-​up. The price was exactly the same as my friends local shop. It took a few days for the tune-​up and picked the bike up. The first thing I noticed was that the bike had not been wiped down. It still had the few remnants of last years dirt on it and the dust of a winter. I know that technically wiping the bike down is not part of a tune-​up, but come on, when you are getting ~$ 90 for 20 minutes worth of work, you can take 30 seconds with a rag to make the bike look a little better than when it came in.
My friend didn’t really care about that, but we got back and went for a ride and the derailers were in worst shape than when it went in. This is seriously a 2 minute adjustment for any bike mechanic.
In this case I called and told them my concerns, and they somewhat reluctantly agreed to make the adjustments.
I felt like a complete idiot for recommending them.
*Note to self: Always try businesses first before recommending them.
Ok fast forward a couple years.
I decide to give them another try. Of course this time with my own bike. I bought a reconditioned Schwinn road bike for $ 100 from a used bike shop. I called to see if they had 27″ «Hybrid» tires. I was told they had a bunch of different ones.
I went in to BBW, told the guy I bought it for $ 100, that it ran GREAT but I needed new tires. I also mentioned that it had been reconditioned and that everything worked well for what I need it for. Riding once or twice a week as I’m not one of those «I’m so cool because I have a bike» types. I told him I wanted hybrid tires that were a little thicker than the tires on it (¹⁄₈^th in) because even though it is a road bike, I ride on a lot of dirt trails. Again, it’s a $ 100 bike. So he looks for a second and is like «oh well we have these Gatorskins.» I’m not sure if you know what a Gatorskin is, but it is everything but a hybrid tire. It’s basically like a slick. He and another guy told me they would rock and that they would be way better than the tires I had.
So I agree to get the Gatorskins. He said he would put them on for like $ 5 each (good price) so off he goes. 10 – 15 mins later it was ready to go, and then he starts giving me a pitch about having the tune-​up done to the bike. I guess in the time it took to put the tires on he forgot that I told him it had JUST BEEN rebuilt and how well it ran.
Lesson here… listen to people.
So I paid and on the way out I asked him how many PSI the tires took and he told me 125. Then he was like «yea you can check here on the… oh, these are 100PSI». So instead of getting a pressure gauge, he just let some air out of both of the tires.
*One great thing about this place, the guy here can tell how much air they are leaving out of the tires just by listening to it.
I ride home and it feels like I am riding on stone wheels. I get home and they had 110PSI and 115 PSI.
*On second thought maybe not.
Then I noticed that both of the stems were at a 70 – 80 degree angle. So I had to actually take both wheels off, let the air out of the tires, and adjust the stems at 90 degree angles and put them back to 100PSI.
I know that I could have just ordered the actual tires I wanted, but they were pretty adamant that I would love these tires. I like them, but there is a big difference between 100PSI tires and 70PSI tires. What I needed was 70PSI hybrid tires. Bad cross sell…
I still like the idea that this place is operator owned. Unilocal is here for people to voice their opinions and their experiences, which is what I did. They have a decent selection of parts and new bikes at pretty good prices. I just happened to get what I consider crappy service twice.
P. S. Steve B. has to be a shill. «they have a good selection of used and new bikes and will help you out getting that right bike.» That sounds ridiculously fake.