Elliott Bay Bicycles

For bicycle lovers, this shop is pure bikeporn!!!
The collection of vintage steel frame bikes is extraordinary beautiful! !!
I bought a jersey and a cap… Bill Davidson gave me a complete storetour, which was amazing because for me beeing from berlin it was a one lifetime possibility! !! Thx a lot for that! !!
The skills and the expertise of this guys cannot be questioned at all if you look at the products they do and sell… I hope that I can afford a custom built titanium frame from this shop one time!!!
Hospitality was amazing!!!

I go to this shop because they are located right by my job so its easy to get a flat or broken spoke fixed but they do charge a lot, in fact they are very spendy.
Other wise they know what they are doing and very competent.
Note: keep in mind — $$$$$$$ is needed here!

I don’t even know where to begin with this place. Out of all the shops in Seattle, me and my gf chose this crap hole.
First off, we went in and they seemd «OK», and somewhat knowledgeable. All we needed was upgraded brakes for a bike we had just bought for my gf. We pre paid. That was about the ONLY part that was not annoying about this place.
It took nearly two weeks for the part to get in, which OK might be legit, BUT, they NEVER called us when it came in, we had to keep calling in over and over, and on top of that, the times we did call, they NEVER remembered us, and the first time we called he said «I can’t find the papers». Like seriously? We pre pay a good amount of money and you LOSE the papers?
The parts finally got in and so we take the bike in and drop it off on a Monday. The guy can’t even tell us when it’ll be started to be worked on or even an estimated completion day/​time, he couldn’t even tell us who would be working on it. We NEVER hear ANYTHING about it, as in progress or completion. We finally call TWO Mondays later, and they are like «it’s done». and that’s it, no more no less of a conversation. So we go in to pick it up and I ask the guy «when was this done?’, he looks down and says «I don’t know, all I see is a day for an «appointment», but there isn’t even a date». This means the bike could of been done for DAYS and they never let us know.
We know for a FACT that they had our number on MULTIPLE pieces of paper/​receipts/​work orders, whatever. We even had them RE verify that they had the number and that they would call when it was done.
The work was done, the brakes work «OK», but they still partially SUCK big time, and they make a god awful sound when you apply them. Now we are going to have to take it yet again to ANOTHER shop to have it done CORRECTLY!
Waste of money, waste of time, the customer service/​help is completely atrocious… I can’t believe this place stays in business with such horrible quality of work and customer service. But hey, wal-​mart stays around too I guess…

I’m not sure if my experience is typical — I was enthusiastically recommended by my friend to visit this place to start my bike research. Given my friend’s shopping experience — I would like to have same experience, as I’m a newbie when it comes to purchasing a bike.
Upon entering this functional and charming little store, I found a lot of bicycles being on display, which are intended for those who are experienced with bicycling. I saw a lot of varying brands, handle bar models, pedal styles, and a whole assorted amount of accessories.
What detracted from my experience was the person I was working with — a younger person. The older gentlemen in the store was working with another couple, that appeared to be professional (or at least, heavily experienced) bikers.
So, I don’t mind working with a younger person, but this person was not at all interested in assisting me. I did explain to this person that I’m new into biking and I’m starting my research, and that I would like some rudimentary pointers to get me started.
This person was distant, disengaging, and disinterested in assisting me — even though I was the only other customer in the store. I was seeking some basic information of what to look for in a bike — even printed literature or websites on purchasing a bike would’ve been nice. At least I could’ve left this facility to conduct further research on my own time.
I may visit them again, but I’m going to check out other bike shops around the Puget Sound Area first — before I consider heading back to this facility. I will admit — if you’re versed with biking, and know what you’re looking for — consider looking here. For those new into bicycling may have to consider elsewhere.

Shop hours…
Open Saturday and Sunday. Not so much, I’m from California and heard about this shop. I was very excited to shop there. After stopping by multiple times I won’t go back,
If they are out leave a sign, if they are closed for parts of the season they need to post it. No idea why they were closed when it was clearly posted on the website and door that they were supposed to be open at the times I stopped by…
Too bad guys…

They said my job would be done at a certain time, but when i arrived they hadn’t even started work on it yet. Then they charged me $ 75 to replace my rear casette… They performed no other work. I won’t come back here and would not recommend it.

I ve been working to replace a personalized but not super expensive surly cross check that was stolen. I m familiar with many of the bike shops around town, recycled, gregs, r and e, free range, montlake, the one on the Burke by university village, etc. They re all good and bad for various reasons. Not my point to say this one or that one is god s gift to cycling or this or that is the devil s spawn.
I do wan’t however to report that, out of all the shops that I brought my situation, circumstances and interests to, Elliott bay was the beat hands down. Bob simply knows what he is talking about and endeavored to solve my problem. In other words, I received personal, prompt and professional service and recommend the Elliott bay, and especially bob Freeman, to anyone who would like to buy a bike from someone who is super knowledgeable and passionate about bikes and the whole world of bikes. Along the way, you ll probably pick up a bit of Seattle bike lore.
It would take more time than I have right now to describe how much better bob grasped and solved my situation than the guys I talked to at other shops. At other shops I felt like I was at a doctor s appointment where I trusted my Internet research better than the doctor. At elliott bay, I felt like I was learning things I knew I could nt get anywhere else.

Here’s a fun story.
I took my Specialized Roubaix in a few years ago for a tune-​up since the shop is nearby my office. The bike was in good working order but just needed some tweaks to smooth out the shifting. When I went to pick it up I was told one of my Shimano integrated shifters was in such bad shape that they would be unable to repair it or tune the bike. They added that the whole mechanism would probably fail very soon. I found this odd since the bike was only 4 years old and I had not been having any difficulties with it. But I trusted them with the diagnosis but didn’t bite on the offer to replace the shifters at the cost of several hundred dollars. But I did stupidly pay for the «tune-​up» that they charged me for.
Once I hit my first hill on my way home I realized that the bike was now so far out of tune that I was stuck in high gears for my entire commute. They failed to tell me that not only did they not tune the bike, but they had put it out of commission.
Before shelling out big dollars for a new drive train or downgrading to a lesser gruppo of shifters (My 105/​Ultegra 9-​speed drive train was now a relic) I wisely got a second opinion at my local shop on Bainbridge Island. Given 10 minutes they told me the shifter was fine and the bike was tuned. THAT WAS THREE YEARS AGO! The bike and the shifters have been fine ever since with a couple thousand miles on them.
That was the last time I went to Elliot Bay. I cannot believe that the salesperson and mechanic stood there fed me that B.S. Either they were idiots or they were hucksters. Given some previous experiences with the salespeople, I tend to think they’re rip-​off artists. I wonder how many unnecessary repairs they’ve charged people for. Or how many custom Davidson frames they’ve convinced people are the only bikes worth owning.

I think we can all agree that Seattle is a city where people love bikes. But I’m not sure anyone loves bikes more than the folks at Elliot Bay Bicycles. After a long search for a road bike, I found the PERFECT bike here. I’d shopped in a dozen or so stores in a 20 mile radius and in addition to finding the exact brand and size bike I wanted, the service was spectacular. All of my questions were answered, I wasn’t made to feel like poser or noob because I’m new to cycling (trust me, this happened at a few other stores) and in addition to having the right bike for me, this shop also had great service and tune up rates as well as accessories and gear for cycling. I spent a big chunk of change here and don’t regret it in the least!

I have given these guys more chances than I care to admit. At this point not only will I never go in this shop again, I vehemently warn everyone I talk to against ever giving Elliott Bay their business.
Here is a laundry list of my bad experiences:
(1) I will preface this by saying that I myself happen to be a former bicycle mechanic. I needed a part for one of my bikes and asked my mother who works downtown to swing by Elliott Bay to grab the part for me. I told her specifically what I needed and told her not to let them convince her that I needed something else. When she arrived, they immediately started to upsell her and when she explained to them that I was a mechanic they scoffed at her and said that the shops I worked at were not reputable, that I had no idea what I was talking about when I told her what I needed, and that I was an «idiot» for wanting the part that I wanted. My poor mother was so blown away and upset that she walked out of the store.
(2) I went in to buy spokes for a wheel I was building. After Mark (?) spent 5 minutes questioning me whether I actually knew how to build a wheel (yes I’m a girl but I’ve built wheels for over a decade) he then decided that I was asking for the wrong spoke length since they were out of stock on the length that I needed. I had already properly calculated my spoke length and was sure I was right but this jerk was more concerned about condescending to me and making a sale then actually selling me what I needed.
(3) I watched their mechanic force an English bottom bracket into an old vintage Italian lugged steel frame, completely destroying the BB threads and the frame. Like, what mechanic doesn’t know to not force a bottom bracket when it won’t thread in properly?!
I will absolutely never give them my business again and have made it a minor mission of mine to make sure that no one else does either.

Bad customer service and expensive for what you get!
I had gone into Elliott Bay Bicycles because while one a bike ride, I was having a minor issue with one of my brake calipers, and stopped in because I wanted to know if they could take a look at it. Before working on my bike, the mechanic told me that my brakes were of bad quality and that I should get better brakes. The mechanic did some work on my bike, including installing new brake pads, and brake cables. I had said that I wanted new brake pads, but they charged me for the cables and the labor installing them without asking me about the cables. My bike came out with a mess of grease all over the handlebars and brake levers. When I asked if they could clean it up, I got rude reception from the clerk. When I left, there was still grease on my handlebars, I was still having brake issues and I was out $ 42.14 ($ 22.50 of that was for 3 units of labor).
I found this surprising coming from a privately owned business– I get much better service when I go to Performance Bicycle (a large commercial vendor).

Don’t get your bike fixed here. I should have known better before I came, I saw the mixed reviews on Unilocal,but they mostly seemed to talk about price and not quality. I was new to seattle and came here hoping for more personalized service.
I went to get fenders and new brakes. The guy should have told me I didn’t have enough clearance for the fenders I was looking at and recommended a cheaper set that clipped on (with no labor costs). Instead he sold me and installed the expensive ones and they dragged on my tires.
That was annoying, but over the next month they helped me with a couple times with minor issues, so I reconsidered my opinion. When my tires needed replacement, I came back.
I asked for replacement 27×1 ¼s and adjustments to the fender so it wouldn’t keep rubbing the tire. Especially with the fender complaint in mind, a competent mechanic would never have installed that size, and should have recommended slimmer tires.
But instead they just shoved on new 1 ¼s. The fender won’t work with them, and the rear tire scrapes the frame on turns. This is not overpricing, or even greed, as the slimmer tires are the same price. This is incompetency and negligence.
So look, they’re not *terrible*, they run an ok shop but this was two big misses and now I’m out almost two hundred for bad parts/​labor. I strongly suggest you avoid. Go somewhere else. Go to REI if you don’t have a store in mind and they’ll give you decent help.

I received excellent advice from this shop. My friend and i were setting out on a bike trip from Seattle to San Francisco and had no idea of a good route. One of the employees gave us the full low-​down and had a map handy to show us the way.
Thank you so much for the excellent campsite and route advice.
Also, there is a lovely collection of classic bicycles hanging from the celling and around the shop.

My bike flew off the top of my car one day while I was driving on the freeway and got pretty messed up. Needless to say some of the steel tubes had to be replaced if I ever wanted to ride it again. I took it here as it looked to be the premier bike builder in the Seattle area. I was greeted by Bill, the owner, and he explained the whole repair process to me. He even took into the shop and showed me where they make the frames and some of the cool frames they were currently working on. The whole repair process only took a matter of days and the bike came back to me good as new!
My experience there was nothing but awesome and I highly recommend them for any repair work. There is not even a hint of arrogance that some high end bike shops just ooze. Everyone was down to earth and easy to talk to. The front shop is a reason in itself to visit this place. I have never seen so many beautiful and vintage bikes in one place. Definitely one of my favorite bike shops in the area.

DO NOT GO HERE!!!
I had an extremely poor customer experience here and would highly recommend taking your service somewhere else. I went to this shop based on a recommendation from a number of coworkers at work, they all mentioned that Elliot Bay Cycles was the best place to get a fitting.
Based on that I brought my bike (70’s Peugeot) in to have a tuneup and was verbally told that the bill would be between $ 150 and $ 175. My final bill was $ 246. I think it is important to communicate additional costs to the customer especially when you will be exceeding the initial range that you quoted. An extra $ 71 may not seem like much to some but in these times it is quite a bit, especially when it is unexpected cost.
Additionally, it took two and half weeks to get my bike repaired. Bob called me on friday ⁰⁶⁄₁₂ to say it was ready. I came to the shop three times on saturday to pick up the bike and was repeatedly told it was not ready. When It was finally ready (⁰⁶⁄₁₇) I came to pick it up and waited another 30 minutes because the work order disappeared. In the meantime I received a $ 50 parking ticket (I paid for 20 minutes thinking how long should it take to pick up my bike?)
The sad thing is after all of that I never even got the fitting. My overall experience was terrible.

This is one of the great bike shops in the Pacific Northwest.
It’s a fairly small, crowded place — but there are 4 things going on here all at once:
First, in the back they make Davidson Handbuilt Bicycles. Bill Davidson is one of the première custom bike builders in America, and they can make you a bike in steel, titanium or carbon fiber tubing for practically any purpose. Their website really doesn’t do them justice — if you can think it, Bill and his crew can build it.
Second, hanging from the ceiling is a complete museum of rare, collectible vintage bicycles that have been restored and rebuilt by co-​owner Bob Freeman. If you are interested in the history of cycling, this is a place to visit. Also, there are typically 3 to 5 very nice used/​vintage bikes for sale in the back of the store, and typically a dozen or so classic frames as well.
Third, it’s a bike shop. It’s not a mega store — mainly it’s road bikes and commuter bikes. For new bikes they stock Bianchi and Redline; at the high end they stock Orbea racing bikes. They also carry Rivendell frames, Reach folding bikes and Civia commuter bikes… and sometimes a few other odds and ends. And typically, if you visit, you see a few custom Davidsons that have just been built for customers.
Fourth, they have bike repair — anything from simple service to complete bike restorations, repaints, and frame repair. Collectors send their bikes here from all over the U.S. to fix… so if you’re having a problem, they can fix it. I’ve had them do some hard stuff to my bikes, and they always get it sorted out. I’ve also taken them a couple of vintage bikes that I have been restoring (I do the easy stuff, and save the hard things for them…) and have always gotten good advice on what to do and what I didn’t need to do.
Downsides? It’s a small space, and their selection of bikes isn’t large. No kids bikes, few if any mountain bikes. And their accessories selection, especially in clothing, is limited.
But if you’re looking for a custom bike, or have a really hard problem or restoration you need some help with, these are the guys to see.

This shop is full of bicycle eye candy. Unfortunately when I went there a while ago, the employees were somewhat less than helpful. I told one of them that I was looking for a new bike, but that I don’t know very much about bikes in general (i.e. what kind of bike would suit my intended purpose), and he said «right on», and then sort of wandered off. Okaaaay.
So I ended up buying a bike at another shop. I will be giving this place another try, though, as I now have another bike that needs to be repainted and I hear good things about Elliott Bay’s paint jobs.

My favorite shop in town.
I get the best advice from Bob Freeman. He has steered me away from spending too much money on things I don’t need and seems to enjoy chatting about bike arcana.
Other folks there would like me to spend more money on upgrades, and I usually ignore their advice, with the exception of the suggestion to move to dual-​pivot brake calipers (okay, okay, I believe you, I’m sure they’re great).
They’re down the street from Pike Place Market and keep great hours for after work drop-​ins.

Thank you for bringing back my bike lust!
Although I can’t afford one, IF I ever could, I would get one of the Davidson hand-​built bikes… the construction is literally a work of art, insanely light and they will powder coat it! Mine would bubble gum pink with orange bar wrap, stem, hubs, and spokes. mmmm **sighs**
They actually have a great selection of bikes for everyone from beginner to pro. Their selection of shoes, however isn’t so great, especially for women… but they can order anything in.
5 stars for not being an uppity testosterone filled bike shop, and for reminding me why I love cycling!

Great bike shop located downtown and right near the market. They have a huge history of making custom frames but can help you with anything. They cater mostly to the road cyclists but are able to help mountain bikes as well.
The staff is friendly and informative. They know everything about what they sell and are more than happy to talk about trails to try out. I went in for a tune up during a busy week and they squeezed me in so I could have my bike in a day and at only $ 25 for a tune up, new tubes and a chain I was quite pleased!