Big Shark Bicycle

Very unpleasant experience with Big Shark on Delmar. We live nearby, so I didn’t really think a lot about going somewhere else initially. 3 visits. Each time 1+hrs waiting for help, feeling ignored, having them disappear into the back for what felt like ages to make some adjustment. One time other staff had to search for the person who was helping me, who had disappeared after a test ride. Each time I got quite different advice, which made it very hard to choose a model. Finally did settle on a $ 1400 bike, but preferred an alternate paint job from same model year that they did not have in stock. Reviewed the other color scheme online with staff, was told there were many available, paid, and placed order. Told would be in store in 1wk and they would call. After about 10d I called them. Told my bike arrived that day, but would take them 2−3d to assemble and that they would call when ready. Annoyed, wondering why they could not do it sooner and just get their customer his bike, but waited. Called after 4d, told actually that was not my bike, it was the same color scheme as was in store already. Told the alternate color scheme never existed. Told my bike would not be there until middle of Nov (2mo from when I paid for it) because it was next year’s model. Worse, told I agreed to all this nonsense when I paid, which I did not. Felt like I was getting the run around, so I asked for a refund. Watching v carefully to make sure it is posted as I no longer trust their business practices. 1wk later went to Maplewood Bicycle. Walked out in 1hr with a bike I like much better than what I was buying for $ 200 less, and that is clearly better suited to me. Also picked up a helmet and a car bike rack (which they mounted to my car for me). Completely painless, completely satisfied. No waiting (on a Sat afternoon) and felt valued. Try Maplewood Bicycle instead.

After my previous review, one of the managers reached out to me and offered to take another look at my bike and to replace the lock that had been lost. I came in and one of the bike repairman, Matt, went out of his way to make my clunker of a bike function as well as possible. Turned out I had a broken link in my chain and the problem was easily resolved. To make matters better, they had found my bike lock! Don’t know what happened to it, but seemed like a totally honest mistake and I really appreciated them reaching out to me.
I now genuinely do think that this is a friendly neighborhood establishment that also functions as a world class bike shop. My initial feeling was that it was neither, but the efforts of the management and the employees have made me do a 180. I did not want to have to write a bad review, especially because I always believed that these guys were good people, but if it helped to improve the business and service for everyone else who goes into Big Shark, then it did its job. I will absolutely go back here and think that this is a great place for a wide range of bikers. They have an enormous selection of cycling wear and high end bikes, but also went above and beyond the call of duty in helping me out and making my used bike rideable the second time round. The place has a great location for me in the Loop, and I am happy they made the situation right because I did not want to have to shlep to a different bike shop much further away for a couple petty grievances. Thanks Colin and others at Big Shark!

I wouldn’t buy a bike from here if they were 50% off. If you’re looking to buy a bicycle for the first time, I’d recommend going somewhere else.
I went in the store expecting to spend about $ 600 – 800 on the spot. When I walked in, I couldn’t tell who was an employee and who was a customer. There were a couple guys moving bikes around so I went over in their direction. After a few awkward minutes, a guy asks if I need help. Well… Yes. I do.
«what can I help you with?»
Me: I’m looking for a bike I can ride some trails on for exercise.
«the mountain bikes are over there, if you need anything let me know»
I go look at a few and have absolutely no idea what I should be looking for! For at least 5 – 10 minutes by myself.
Apparently the employees here are entirely too busy talking to eachother rather than trying to make sales.
I mean, if I walked into a clothing store saying I was looking for jeans, I’m pretty sure the sales person would try and help me find some jeans that I was satisfied with.
I left.

I am usually very loyal to my LBS in St. Charles but I made a stop by the Delmar location on my way home from a business meeting. During my visit i spotted a cross bike with a great price. I thought it over and brought my wife back with me the same Saturday. Customer service was exceptional. I was approached by multiple sales people but ended up dealing with Colin and another associate whose name escapes me. Despite shopping in the mid-​range price point Colin spent over an hour with me making sure the fit was correct. He was knowledgeable enough to do it right but humble enough to ask for a second opinion. Its worth mentioning, when he introduced himself he had the courtesy to introduce himself to my wife as well which i find to be welcoming. I will continue to shop at my LBS but would not hesitate to recommend Big Shark

I had heard great things about Big Shark, so I decided to spring for service there, even thought it was pretty expensive. Huge mistake. I spent about 200 dollars for a tune-​up, new brake pads, and some work on the derailer, and every single thing was done wrong. The brakes squeaked and jumped, the gears wouldn’t shift properly, there were lots of problems with the wheels-​basically, if it was a moving part on my bike, it worked worse after I got service there.
Also, I got a flat tire and it wouldn’t hold air the day after I was there, which seemed unusual since I had only rode the bike home from the shop, so I called up the shop and they said to bring it in. It turned out that the stem had separated from the tube (only about a month old) due to improper inflating, which they blamed on me even though they had said they filled the tubes as part of the tune-​up. They ended up charging me a ridiculous amount for changing the tube (something I’m totally comfortable doing myself) and were very condescending. While showing me (incorrectly) how to position the valve while inflating a tire, the tech ended up ripping a hole in my other tube, which I ended up fixing myself.
I called and the manager said that she would have someone do the repairs, but I didn’t want to be stuck paying for another round of repairs that would make my bike worse. When I told her I was concerned about the quality of the work, she told me not to worry because the mechanic who worked on my bike was inexperienced so that’s why it was messed up. At other shops I’ve been to, even fairly experienced mechs have their work double checked!
I ended up taking the bike to another shop, and was able to fix most of the problems, although my bike still definitely does not ride as well as it did before this. I’m several hundred dollars out for a bike in worse condition, but I’ve learned my lesson to never come to Big Shark.

I’ve gone to Urban Shark with fine results. Nice people. I purchased fenders and had them installed with zip ties. Not cheap (cheaper online for sure), but happy to support a local bike shop.
The most recent experience at Big Shark, however, was a real turnoff. My girlfriend purchased her bike there a year ago and took it in for a free tune-​up recently. The days went by and we got no call that it was ready, but it was free so we thought we should give them time.
By Day 13, we finally called them. They couldn’t find the bike. They called back later that day to say they had found it.
I picked it up today and mentioned the experience and was completely disappointed by their response. «I wasn’t aware of that.» «This is our busiest time of year.» «Next time, just ask for me specifically.»
I’m not expecting huge credit or something, but please show some customer service! Simply not good enough, especially when the bike is my girlfriend’s means of commuting to work.

Just want to add an update. A bike lock I bought from them malfunctioned (it was a manufacturer’s error) and left my bike stranded in the middle of nowhere with my bike locked to a post. They not only sent someone from the shop to saw it off, they gave me a new one. Good guy bike shop.

A nice bike shop with helpful service. The expensive price of their goods is what turned me away from their business.

Excellent service. Bought a couple of bags for bike from BS and had a couple of other items purchased online. Mike installed and rearranged all. He took time to show me a few basics. Dave, owner, was present and took time to talk with me.
I took Saturday ride earlier in season after being off bike for four years. My ride was disappointingly slow and tiring, but never left behind. A safe ride and very encouraging. Riding Katy Trail next week. Thanks for help getting me back.
Good stock, informative staff wanting to help, not just sell stuff.
And you can get all the air you need FOR FREE.

Big Shark has a great central location close to the Delmar Loop metro, a good comprehensive selection of merchandise (a little spendy) and have always done a good job with repairs to my bike (unlike Mesa!) Also, they are a pillar of the bike community in STL — check up on their website to see what events they sponsor, and the shop always has tons of posters and leaflets for fun bike /​active-​living related events happening soon in the area.

I walked to the Delmar Look and bought my 1999 GT Outpost here in 1999 for around $ 3×0. At the time, I was a student, had no car and no other form of transportation. That bike was how I got everywhere. It was also well over my wal-​mart bike budget at the time. My bike underwent an amazing amount of abuse sitting in the rain, hitting potholes, crashing down stairs, major accidents, going through mud, and Big Shark always got my bike running buttery smooth, and it was either free or at a minimal cost. They have high standards and when they tune up bikes, the job is always perfect. They kept my only form of transportation running smoothly for next to nothing.
After college, I moved to California, and moved up to a Cannondale from a chain store. Every time I get a tune up, I keep saying «well, it’s okay, but Big Shark would have done a better job and for less or free and I wouldn’t have to bring the bike back for shifting issues». Everything, derailleurs, brakes, were perfect when they left Big Shark. I have yet to find a local bike shop here in California that does as good of a job.
Big Shark isn’t competitive with the big Internet discounters if you just look at price. That’s a given, but I kept track of cost-​of-​ownership of my bikes. When I added up the number of times I needed tune-​ups and everything else, my bike from Big Shark was free after the 3 years I owned it. When I left college and had to sell my bike to another college student, that guy said, «whoah, it’s buttery smooth and shifts perfectly». I got what I asked for on the bike which wasn’t too much below what I paid for on the bike. The economics is just great if you depend on your bike to get everywhere.
Thanks Big Shark.

Nice selection but a bit overwhelming. Our sales person was new and not familiar with many details of the bikes that interested me. The rest of the people in the store, however, were quite the opposite. A bit intimidating with gear heads and tech talk surrounding me. I left and headed to Mesa cycles for a much better experience.

Stopped in meaning to check out a few bikes and ended up buying a Marin. :) I test drove a really cute cruiser style bike but after receiving a lot of helpful advice as to why I really won’t like that bike in the long run… I ended up settling on a very cool «grown up» bike that will be better for me and my style of riding and they were very thorough in the sizing of the bike (which I did NOT receive at the last bike place I went to which is why I was bike shopping in the first place).
They aren’t the cheapest but they do have a wide selection and maybe if you’re not ready for the purchase… it’s a great place to get advice and a good bike fitting. :)

They fixed a gear problem on my bike late last year by replacing some cables. The gears started slipping again six months later (since the cable had stretched and I hadn’t adjusted it). Took the bike in to Big Shark and they diagnosed the problem and fixed it in five minutes. Since they’d worked on the bike before and it was a quick fix, they did it for free.
Great selection, friendly staff, expert mechanics.

Great service (buy a bike = free tune ups) and really friendly staff. I’ve done several Big Shark rides/​events, and they are always fun and generally well organized.
They are deeply involved in the STL biking community and are active with bike awareness — love the downtown location!
Not the cheapest place to get a bike or gear, but they carry some of the cutest :) killin it with the large selection of not-​so-​basic-​black biking shorts.

I recently purchased a bike at Bike Shark in the Loop. These guys were great. I was in there a few different times and got great advice and information from all of them. Also, there was no pressure as to when to buy a bike as I had gotten from some other places that I have shopped at.
Big Shark has a great selection and the folks working there all knew what they were talking about. I will certainly go back there for future purchases.

I ended up buying a bike from here because my craigslist search was going too slowly and I wanted a bike asap. The staff member who helped me out was really friendly, though he screwed up with adjusting my seat and I had to come back a few days later to get that fixed.
Aside from that little snafu though, the staff has been great, and I love that if I buy something from them, they’ll install it on my bike for me.
However, they are expensive. I don’t know about the pricing for the bikes themselves, but I know that the accessories are generally overpriced. I had to buy a few things from there (like a helmet) because buying them online would take too long, but even with the 10% student discount on accessories, every single thing I bought, I could find for $ 5-​$ 10 or more cheaper elsewhere.
So, great service, but overpriced. I will happily return to get my bike tuned up (for free, since I bought it there!) and I really did need the help they gave me for picking out my bike, but I try not to buy anything else from them unless I have to.

I have been hunting for a bike ever since I got done with a 20 mile ride in a Biathlon in Illinois this month. I was in the area and thought I would stop in a check out the Big selection at Big Shark. I still don’t really get the name but whatever.
I walked in and was immediately greeted by an older gentlemen who asked me if he could assist me. I told him I was looking for a Mountain bike and a road bike. He took me over to the mountain bikes first and showed me everything in my price range and then explained what the more expensive bikes offered and how it would benefit me. I appreciated that he didn’t try and pressure me but just stuck to being informative and helpful.
Then he took me over to the road bikes and again started at the low end and worked his way up explaining why the jump in price happens and what I would get out of each price increase. I was pretty much overwhelmed by the sheer selection of bikes and the price tags on them.
I basically called it quits and left one because of the Meating at Morton’s I needed to go to and two because I was overwhelmed by the prices of the road bikes north of $ 1,500 dollars.
I did go back after deciding on a bike at another shop to see if I was interested in anything here and again could not make a decision with so many bikes and the prices being so hi. I also felt like they would frown on me trying to haggle over price, but I honestly never tried.
I would definitely see more higher end customers with boats of cash going here to drop some major dough then someone like me, I am not saying that they didn’t have lower end stuff but I just felt it was tailored to the high end market.
Great shop either way.

I’m really not a fan of this place. Every time I go to Big Shark I feel like its really fake and commercialized. I actually know quite a big about bikes… I’ve done a lot of research, and I’ve been biking indoors and out for a long time. I usually know what I want when I walk in the door, or I ask intelligent questions. Yet, the people here still talk down to me. Maybe its the stigma of being female or that I teach indoor cycling… I’m not sure.
A few begrudging positives to just be fair: Yes, they do have a large selection and if you need something right away… its probably in stock. You’ll just pay an arm and a leg for it.
(Mesa’s the place to go…)

My boyfriend and I took our craigslist bikes here to get new tubes and tires. Great experience — they were overall really helpful and looked at the bikes to make sure nothing was seriously wrong. They made my boyfriend’s bike a fixed gear free o’ charge.
Besides our lucky freebie fixed gear set up, the prices are a little steep. But they know their stuff, so I don’t feel so bad about shelling out a bit more cash.
I went back a few months later to buy a nice bike pump and had had a lot of questions about which ones to get. My boyfriend had given me instructions on what it should have… double pump if possible, presta & shrader valves, tire pressure gauge, not hand held — ahhh! You better believe I had it all written down on a sticky note and shamelessly read back the requirements to the guy who helped me. To my delight, I wasn’t looked at or treated like I was dumb & I walked out of there with quite the bike pump. My boyfriend even gave me a round of applause for my purchase — hurrah!
Three bonuses — they have Gu for sale there, there is free air on the side of the building & there’s a parking lot!