Alternative Bike & Board Shop

This is by far my favorite local bike shop. Everyone is very helpful and not too pushy. They are my go to place for all of my biking needs and the mechanics there are really helpful and answer my questions, even as I annoy myself as I continually remember other unrelated questions. Tip them and tip them well. Wish I had more cash on me for my last visit they were so helpful.
Also the store had a really cool antiestablishment vibe that meshes well with my approach to biking and resistance. Kudos

I’ve been going to this place for years. Highly recoomend it.

best bike shop vibes in town. always welcoming. the alt is my favorite bike shop in the twin cities area.

I am very, very happy with my experience at The Alt. I am very new to biking, and everyone was very helpful. I am also an indecisive person, and they were very patient with me. You can tell everyone that works there is very passionate about biking. Would recommend this bike shop to anyone!

Great customer service via email and in person and very reasonable prices unlike there competitors who charge much more for labor i would definitely go back good location too thanks

Excellent place at an excellent location. I walked right in and I was asked if I needed help. I had questions and sought advice on the kind of product I wanted and I received legit information. There was no pretentiousness and I will be back!

Best shop in the city! The Alt will keep you rollin year round and you always leave slightly smarter and cooler than when you entered. These guys don’t leave the shop and get in a car to go home, they get on some crazy contraption with 4 wheels and a picnic table attached to the back then pick up their kids and the groceries on the way home! My point being they know what they are selling, they care if its awesome, and they won’t sell it if it aint!

This place is great! Knowledgeable, friendly, approachable staff, and affordable prices.

Everyone at the the Alt was very helpful and patient with me! Ashley went above and beyond and helped me to build a custom bicycle. She was very knowledgeable and really helped me to understand the process, i never felt pressured into buying anything and always felt like i was getting solid advice. I’m so pleased with the final product and feel really confident that if I ever need anything the staff at the Alt will help me out!

Just when I thought there wasn’t a way to convert my bike into a one speed (because someone else at another bike shop said it was impossible), Ashley said oh yeah we can do that. Great service, patient and your bathroom was actually not as scary as i thought it would be.

I’ve been to the Alt on a number of occasions over the past couple of years – most recently today. I’ve not made any major purchases – mostly replacement parts and some service work. The staff are always really helpful and don’t try to upsell beyond what you truly need. Service work is very reasonably priced and basic adjustments (brakes, dérailleur adjustments) can often be completed while you wait. Good stuff!

This is a great bike shop if you are feeling the need to be trendy, or fulfilling your inner hipster! (I don’t know, nor am I cool enough to have an opinion on the ‘board’ part of the shop.)
First and foremost, it is a little pricy. However, if you are not overly concerned with price, they have a great selection of bikes for many different types of people! Most of them are trendy and Uptown chic, which is probably why you pay for it. Additionally, they have very trendy and Uptown chic accessories.
The staff is always really helpful and friendly! Even if you don’t end up buying anything, they are willing to give you the information you need. I have even had staff send me to other bike shops to find exactly what I need.
I have yet to actually buy something from The Alt (mainly because I am the used bike and used parts type of guy for now), but will keep going back to see what new and interesting things they have on the floor. Who knows, I might even buy something one of these times!

I have been into this shop multiple times and am always disappointed. The first time I was in I went for a bottom bracket, they gave me an italian threaded bottom bracket and had to rethread my BB when I went to exchange the BB for one that wasn’t making the same cranky noises. It’s still making noises, to the best of my understanding the current threads are too loose and that’s causing my creaking.
The second time I went in hoping to find an endurance fit road bike capable of fitting my girlfriend. We came in to look at a 58 cm felt around $ 1700 and without discussing our intended uses some dude with nose plugs came back with some ~700 heavy steel POS telling us to buy a frame, not all of the components because they can be swapped out. I made it clear that I was not happy with a single component and you refused to listen to me. When I said that I didn’t like the performance of the shifters he gave me some smug remark about how he works at QBP and knows better than me that there is no difference between sora and 105 shifters. Well, the internals are technically different materials, but there’s absolutely no difference that matters… Oh yeah, the bike he showed us was a 61 and he had to put the seat almost all the way down but refused to believe us when she said we were a 58 (ever other one we tested was 58 and we were measured by the other three shops we shopped at) Well, I ended up buying a nice bike with higher quality components that is significantly lighter and meets all of our requirements from another local bike shop You lost a sale and a customer.
1. The service attitude is poor, both for bicycle services and for sales
2. The shop is dirty, the carpet is stained and needs to be vaccumed.
3. Downselling the customer over 50%? We were not in the market for the bike you recommended and you argued with my personal preferences, this does not make sense.

Wow! Had read these reviews because I knew I was headed here, now am happy to confirm the positive parts of all.
We bought an Electra Townie from a woman in Mpls. that maybe had bought it at the Alt, but for sure had it converted from a single to a three-​speed there (she told us so). But after purchase and a little riding, we were pretty sure, and a local (St. Paul) bike shop (Bill’s — like them too — but less ‘outgoing’) confirmed that this bike was only shifting 2 speeds — wasn’t going into 1 or low.
I called the Alt, mentioned the Mpls woman’s name (I think they may have even recognized her) and the problem. The made sure to mention that their Lifetime Warranty only applies to the original owner. But said that it was probably only an adjustment problem — and if that, they could take care of it for me.
Well, they did. They were very friendly, no question about it. Took it for a short ride, then put in on the rack. He may have taken over 10 minutes on it (was not just a snap) and said that he’d opened up to the point where the shift cable ends (inside the outermost part of the internal shifting hub) and tightened it up. I couldn’t have done this from the outside as an semi-​informed biker (I didn’t tell him, but I’d tried to get the shifting to work). It shifts like a dream now. I asked for his name, and should have written it down — but I’m sure that they are Great in general there: While I waited, I asked another tech how the U lock we were given with the bike was supposed to hang on the frame. He went and dug all the parts needed out of parts bins in the back, and when I tried to pay for them, he wouldn’t allow it.
I walked out of there with a great bike, no extra money spent. The least I can do is leave this Glowing review! I’m not leaving this review in exchange for a freebie — Unilocal was never discussed– they just do business this way. How great — and This Place deserves your support.

Very nice people, great service and quick. Also major bonus, they aren’t bike snobs and don’t make you feel like an idiot for bringing in your Schwinn

Stopped in for some bike essentials after buying a used road bike. Staff was friendly while still giving me space to explore and browse. Importantly the folks working were problem solvers. I needed a helmet, but all the ones were set up for winter, which hopefully has ended. So the guy working just swapped out one part on a floor model and slapped it into the helmet I liked! Boom. Helpful.
Will definitely return for supplies as needed.
Edit: After a little tour of mpls bike shops I came back to award a fifth star. I really like Alt. I think it will be my go to bike shop!

Just got my bike back from the Alt after a post winter tune up. Love their always super friendly bike techs, great service and very fair/​affordable pricing.
Appreciated that the tech that did my work order gave me an honest assessment instead of trying to upsell things I didn’t need.
The Alt has won me over as a full time customer.

Guy at the counter was helpful and they had what I needed but not in colors I wanted. But the service makes up for the not so great selection.

Dudes here are really cool and super nice. They actually seem to like helping people fix their bikes and aren’t snobbish about it all.
There are great deals here and a great selection of equipment and rides. They even rented us the tandem bike for a couple hours for practically nothing.
Can’t recommend this place enough! Buy local!

If you’re looking for a bike, this is the spot for you.
Reason 1: Not a chain. These guys are locally owned, locally run by cool guys who are just trying to make a living off their hobby. Frankly, I’m jealous of their zeal.
Reason 2: You’ll find killer deals here. Really. I found a sweet cyclo-​cross here for about $ 300 off the sticker price. Then I told them my old bike had been stolen and they gave me 15% off too.
Reason 3: Service. If you buy a bike from these guys, you get service for free for life. FREE FOR LIFE. Yeah, you gotta pay for parts, but they cover labor and they do a sweet job making your bike roll. Few places in town offer a deal like this. On top of that, they have a 24-​hour service deal: they’ll fix your bike overnight. Guaranteed. Yeah, whoa.
So, I’m all out of bullet points, but really, what more do you need. At least go check out the shop. They have a great selection of road bikes, BMX bikes, cross bikes, cyclo-​cross bikes, skateboards and gear. It’s a great little shop if you like to ride.
And you should. Like to ride.