Northland Cycle

I can honestly say you will get the friendliest and most attentive staff at Northland Cycle. No other store has as such great service. Honest, knowledgeable, and reasonable. This is a no frills place, but the back it up with great people. Want a true bike fit and not some fit system from Germany then see them and they will make sure you are on the right bike and not sell you something that is the wrong size or even dangerous unlike some of the other shops. If they don’t have it they will always order it for you!

I stopped by Northland Cycle and Fitness at the suggestion of a friend that knows a lot about cycling. Northland Cycle is a mom-​and-​pop type of business and it’s been in the family for 40 years. It’s a small place, staffed by gearheads and a place where repeat customers might be known by name.
What you won’t find here is a large selection of bikes or a discount on your purchase. You can find a bike in the category that you want but not necessarily the model or size that you need for a test ride. They can order the model that you need but without a test ride it’s a bit of a gamble. If it doesn’t fit there is a 5% restocking fee on your purchase.
This shop is more like a bike mechanic that sells new bicycles than a bicycle store that has a mechanic.
This is the place to buy if you think your bike is going to need a lot of modifications or a lot of repairs, but not the place to shop if you don’t know what you want yet.
If you have trouble finding a bike that fits try «roll: on Lane Avenue». They have a full body scanner that will take every measurement you need to fit you with the right size bike.

I went to Northland Cycles and Fitness back in December of 2012. While I was there I was looking at a 2012 Talon 29er and took about a little over a week to finally purchase it. John & Dan were very patient and kind through out the entire shopping experience. I had a lot of questions and they had a lot of answers.
I have had nothing but excellent service from the both of them.
Fast forward to Aprill 2013. I liked my bike so much I went and bought a 2013 Giant Escape 2. After a couple days I had a slight issue with the rear dérailleur and I took it back and addressed the issue with no problem promptly. I like going to my LBS and have also purchased accessories in the past and look forward to always doing business with Dan.

I’ve only been into this shop twice, but I have to say this is the best bike store I’ve been to in Columbus! I say that because it is the first store I’ve been to and the employees didn’t treat me like I was a complete idiot and like I was inconveniencing them — I’ve been to a few bike stores here in Columbus (one in G-​view, one off of Hudson, a few used bike places near campus) because I was actively searching for a new bike, and all of them were quite rude (except for the Trek store) to someone who was getting ready to spend a lot of $$! I didn’t buy a bike here, but they have helped me with advice on a few things — and I’m definitely going to keep them in mind for my next big bike purchase! Thanks for not being @$$holes!

Excellent, professional, no BS service. My first choice for most bike-​related stuff in C-​bus. I totally trust these guys to do a bomb-​a55 maintenance or repair job on any of my bikes. I got a nice, kinda expensive carbon fibre rode bike from Northland, so they do sell pricier bikes, but mostly direct order (which was faster than I thought it would be). The shop isn’t as fancy or shiny as some of the other places in Columbus – it’s appreciably more blue collar than Trek or Roll – but Dan and the rest of the guys here really know their sh! t and have many, many years of wrenching experience. For maintenance and repairs, skip some of the boutique, hip shops around town and bring yr broken whip in here instead. Or get a new one; the prices at Northland are very reasonable, especially considering the quality.
Only negative I can think of: Some other shops in Columbus, like Baer and BikeSource, tend to better stocked with accessories and components.
That is all.

Although the level of clutter here is relatively high, this place does NOT mess around when it comes to quality, affordable bike service. After somehow wrecking my bike in to a wall a few weeks ago, my right brake lever had been giving me even more trouble than it had when I first bought the bike, so I decided to throw in the towel and get it fixed after much deliberation. After calling all the usual suspects– Bikesource in Clintonville, B1 downtown, Handy Bikes in Grandview, and Paradise Garage in Short North– I found that this Beechwold bike shop was a head above the rest in both price and turnaround time for the service. I took my bike in on Wednesday morning, went to work, and it was ready for pickup around 6:30 that evening! On top of that, they were able to salvage a brake lever from another older bike that was comparable to mine and sell it to me for a mere $ 15! After all was said and done, the whole ordeal only cost me a little over $ 30, which was more than worth it. For the first time in my relationship with my bike, I can stop at a red light without having to worry about flying in to the intersection after my rear brake does all the work and sends me over the handlebars. And I have Northland Cycles to thank for that!
Service aside, the store is roomy but poorly organized otherwise. The sales floor has mountain bikes mixed with road bikes on both sides of the racks, and there isn’t any clear distinction where the women’s section ends and the men’s section beings, or if there’s even a division between the two in the first place. Most of the bikes are under $ 1000, so I wouldn’t recommend Northland if you’re in the market for a primo road bike that’s fit for a decathlon. Besides the bikes, the rest of the stuff on display is OK at best. There are a few helmets on the far corner, there’s a decent selection of locks, but other than that it’s kind of a mishmash. You definitely get the idea that bike service and workhorse parts like tubes, cranks, tires, etc. are the bread and butter of this place. The guys here know their stuff, and they’re always very confident that they can order any part you may need within a day or two so you can get back out on the road. All in all, my experience here was excellent and worthy of my full-​on endorsement to Unilocalers everywhere!