Colonels Bicycles

For someone who commutes by bike daily, for over three years, with happiness, I, without knowing much technically and mechanically, naturally command special membership into the family of hardcore bike riders.
For us, a bike shop is like church, a place for healing and communion. To daftly connect with bike brothers deeply is occasionally de riguer, as is always the case when I come here for a bike repair, wether it’s advice, a flat tire, a funny sound, or something serious.
This may well be the friendliest bike repair shop in DFW. Fort Worth country kindness and authenticity shines. Prices are reasonable, if cheap, and the service has always been on the spot and less than 10 minutes. But again, I do have the bike rider club secret society halo. I also find the repair knowledge exceptional here, where their insight trumped other bike shops information.
As for the small bike selection, I find it more on the standard side of things with high prices. No cool fixed gear bikes, for example. The random used bikes for sale have always been really decent in quality and in value.
The Mexican place next door is good for grabbing a taco and a beer if you have to wait.
Excellent place for bike repairs in DFW

My husband and I went in to this store last weekend (saturday), which I understand may be a busy day… But, we experienced horrible customer service!!! Actually we received no customer service at all. First, as we were approaching the front door, we had to hold the door open for an employee who was leading another customer to show bikes that were outside. Neither of them acknowledged that we held the door open for them, including the employee! Once inside, we walked all around, looking at all of the bikes and products. We passed many employees (all with customers), but there was no acknowledgment that we were there and looking. I have worked in retail, it is okay to say, «Welcome, look around, we will be with you just as soon as we can!» At the very least, after walking around for 15 mins as if we were invisible, a simple «hello» would have been nice. We left and went to Oak Cliff Bicycles and received wonderful customer service and a fantastic bike!

When I go to a store I expect to be helped not talked down to because I ask questions. Much better spots in Fort Worth for bicycle gear, make the trip down to Performance Bicycles.

I called Colonels Bicycles to see if they could adjust my brakes. I had purchased a new bike online and for safety sake, I wanted to ensure everything was operating properly. «Sure,» I was told, «just bring it in tomorrow.»
The next day, I loaded the bike and drove to Colonels. They are near the Movie Tavern in a strip mall. First you have to find a parking space. Then you tote your bike up the stairs where you reach their door. There were three people working. As I struggled with the door trying to keep it open and pull my bike in, do you think anyone tried to help? No.
At the service counter is an older gentlemen; probably in his 50s, wearing a grey shirt with his name on it. I mentioned that I called in the previous day and I was told to bring it by this day. «Sorry,» I was told, «we’ve gotten at least ten bikes today and I don’t think we could get to for at least a week and a half.»
I asked how long did brakes take to align? He replied that wasn’t the point. They could find other issues. «Yes,» I said, «but it is a new bike that has never been ridden.» To this guy, it wasn’t going to happen. His best offer was to leave the bike and they’d try to have it done in two weeks.
Well, that wasn’t going to work for me, so I told him I’d find another way. As I left, the employees watched me struggle with the door and with my bike as I left the building and traversed the steps to load the bike back in my car.
In the parking lot, I called Trinity Bicycles. They said to bring it in. Two days later the bike was ready and they did a great job. I’ll never recommend Colonels, but I will Trinity Bicycles.

I go to Colonel’s Bicycles because the staff are very knowledgeable. They live and breathe bicycles. I have to say they definitely cater to a more-​than-​recreational bicyclist crowd.
They’ve got a small space in the trendy So7 district, and most of the real estate is devoted to bicycle sales and service. (They know where their bread is buttered). They don’t have a lot of accessories or clothes hanging around, but what they have is QUALITY stuff. Expect to pay for quality stuff.
I’ve had my bike in to have some accessories installed and some anti-​theft locks cut off. I did schedule my service ahead of time (not a big deal because the fenders had to be ordered anyways).
As promised, when the fenders arrived, they called me and I brought my bike in. I dropped it off at lunch and I picked up the bike after work. They charged me $ 80 for the service, but Tommy (one of the techs) had to custom make a bracket, and saw the locks off and replace them with regular skewers. The tech was cool enough to roll my bike out and show me how the fenders went on and what I’d have to do to accommodate any other accessories. $ 80 was totally fair and totally worth it.
Nathan helped me find a good helmet, recommended some luggage, and even steered me AWAY from buying a high-​dollar wide-​ass seat. He said, «Ride the seat you have for a while, if you hate it, then come back and buy this». How often does the sales guy tell you «Hey, you probably don’t need that»? Rockin!
I commute to and from work and log about 60+ miles a week on the bike. So for me, Colonels is right up my alley.

As a beginning cyclist, I bought my first bike from Colonel’s in 2001. I shopped around quite a bit, and the folks at Colonel’s were not only more interested in helping me find the right bike, they also listened to my needs and suggested a less expensive bike than I planned on purchasing. As much as I like money in my pocket, I was more than willing to spend my extra dough on pedals, helmet, a pump, shoes, blowout bag, and I walked out with all of the above for less money than I would’ve dropped at another store, for a bike alone. I still have and use all of those things, except for the pump, which broke. Here comes the fun part: it had a lifetime warranty but had been discontinued. Colonel’s, without asking any questions, replaced the pump with an equivalent model, even though they no longer carried that particular brand.
Fast forward a few years of cycling under my belt, and I was ready to buy a bike for my wife. We visited Colonel’s probably six times-​it was the only store that actually measured my wife and was interested in finding a bike that fit… And they were interested and attentive every time we visited, no matter how many customers were there. Sully (Randy) worked closely with me to build a bike, again, that met our needs and was within our budget.
When our son came along in 2011, we decided to build the piece de resistance, a cargo bike for the whole family. We got suggestions and information from every single member in the shop, which was helpful because every single member in the shop rides bikes, every day. We were able to custom build our bike to our exact specifications, down to the spokes… And this is not a bike that requires spandex shorts of any kind, mind you! Not to mention, the staff accommodated our toddler on multiple occasions.
The moral of this story is this: I’ve dealt with Colonel’s as a novice and as an experienced rider. I’ve been a single guy on a budget, a married man looking to find the perfect gift for my wife, and now a parent who wants to enjoy time outdoors with my family. I’ve seen the shop full of customers, and there have been days when I was the lone shopper. Consistently, I received competent and professional service from these guys. This is the place any rider can buy any kind of bike, and I encourage anyone to give them a try.

Perhaps not the biggest shop around and by far not one with most eye-​candy, BUT that is a good thing. What this place lacks in space and bling it makes up for in old fashioned customer service. These guys are «old school», unassuming, full of knowledge and willing to go the extra mile to satisfy a customer. If it’s not in the shop they will go out of their way to try and get it for you.
As for Jeff B’s review, one must understand that operating a bike-​shop is very expensive and the profit margin on parts and bikes is very low. Properly servicing a bicycle doesn’t come cheap. Think of the overhead, utilities, payroll etc…. Bike shops like this are becoming very rare for that exact reason.
This is a great shop, one that is capable of adapting to the customer, be it a semi-​pro, or a weekend recreational rider. No intimidation, no pressure to buy anything just a bunch of great guys!

My impression is that Colonels is great if you’re an avid biker, into high-​end gear and passionate about all things two-​wheeled and unmotorized.
I recently went in with my beater of a mountain bike and my kid’s bmx bike for various problems with brakes, chains and other deferred maintenance, and didn’t have the greatest experience.
They sized me up as a moron when it came to bike maintenance, which is accurate. We talked about their ‘minimum’ which was to give the bikes a tune up to the tune of $ 50 for my bike and $ 30 for my son’s bike. It seemed steep for the work involved, but again, not my area of expertise.
After 3 weeks (They were clear about the timeline on the front end, but this seems like a lot of time for two tune-​ups, no?) we got the call to come get the bikes. $ 80 bucks later, I guess you could say they did the work as promised, but we’re still having issues with the brakes on both bikes and they couldn’t really explain what work was performed.
Long story short, next time I’ll know to take my bikes to somewhere less about Lance and the Tour and spandex shorts and more about rudimentary bike maintenance. That said, if you’re into big time biking, this place seems to be the place to go, complete with an air superiority to round things off.

I was out looking for a new bike shop recently, so when my bike was in need of a tune-​up, I figured it was time to try Colonel’s. I’ve received plenty of recommendations to try them from other people in FW who have been happy with the service they got there, and it’s close to where I live, so it seemed like a logical choice.
First: what I look for in a bike shop. Number one should go without saying: knowledgeable folks. Second is trustworthiness so that I never feel like I’m being sold a bunch of crap that I don’t need. Third is to be able to talk to anyone about bikes without the feeling of either being talked down to or having them talk way over your head. Last is simply being able to go in and talk to nice people that are obviously happy doing what they’re doing.
So I seem to have found all that at Colonel’s. They told me what I was going to need before I even left the shop, the tune-​up was done well, I got a modest price adjustment for mentioning that I was bike shop-​shopping, and will return without a doubt.