Durst Cycle & Fitness

As someone whose preferred method of transportation is biking, Durst was one of the first places I checked out when I decided to buy a bike. In the past, I had been someone who had purchased bikes from Wal-​Mart or Target, but I wanted something nicer that would last longer.
After doing my due diligence researching bikes and prices I went to Durst during one of their ‘Sidewalk Sales.’ The staff member who helped me throughout the process was incredibly knowledge and answered each and every one of my numerous questions. He didn’t lose patience after I had test rode my 8^th bike since arriving and did not pressure me to make a purchase.
After many questions and test rides, I finally decided on a bike. While waiting to check out-​it was incredibly busy-​the owner chatted with me about stopping in for a free tune up after a month and gave me some tips about safety precautions, getting the bike registered, etc. It was nice that he took an interest in his customers as I wasn’t the only one who spoke to during the wait.
It’s been about 8 months since I purchased it and I still love it and have had no issues. I’ve called or stopped in with questions about doing some tune ups or upgrades and the staff are more than willing to offer advice and assistance. I highly recommend Durst Cycle.

I bought a expensive bike in the store few months ago and that was really a regretful deal. The stuffs there did not seem to be friendly to someone who walk into their shop and want to buy something. I feel stupid after experienced these and if you want to have a joyful experience in purchasing a bike, trust me, do not enter it.

After Ethan saw my review here, he sent me a very courteous email expressing his concerns. He stated that the MSRP on the 2013 Specialized bike I purchased was, indeed, $ 1,050. He further explained that because Durst Cycle was once burnt on a telephone credit card transaction, they no longer accept credit card payments exceeding $ 300 over the telephone.
He said he did not recall refusing my payment via PayPal. I’m not sure he refused it, per se, but when I mentioned using PayPal, he told me to mail a certified check. He apologized for the confusion and oversight and has now offered to refund to me an amount equal to any would-​be saved PayPal fee.
In addition, Ethan said that owners manuals are not custom to each model of bicycle and that they are not even updated each year and are, thus, filled with general information. Again, he very courteously apologized for not addressing my concerns.
Finally, Ethan asked what he could do to earn back my favor, and on top of that, when I did not respond to his email, he went to the effort to snail mail a letter to me to that effect and encouraged me to call or email if I wanted to talk.
I must say, that IS a class act, Ethan, and I appreciate you renewed efforts. I don’t really care about any refund at this point because your courtesy and follow-​up effort means more to me than a refund. Thank you. I hope my revised rating and updated post helps make things right, and I wish you continued success.

I came here once to buy a Camelbak, of which they had none, «because everyone just buys them on the Internet now «. Well yes, if you don’t have any in your store, people will buy them on the Internet.
Then, I came here once at 5:45 PM before trying to go mountain biking and intending to buy some cycling gloves. They were closed. I don’t know what kind of idiotic bike shop owner thinks they can just stay open until 5:30 and stay in business. Hey idiotic owner, a lot of your customers are going to be working people. If you ever expect them to shop at your store, you’re going to need to stay open a little later.
Or don’t, and just go out of business. Maybe a shop that is actually helpful will open in your place.

I have bought a couple bikes here but that is mostly because Champaign Cycle was too far away and BIkeworks is never open when he says he will be, super run down and condescending. I went in to Durst to look at their used bikes. I wanted a women’s cruiser. The only one they had was a huffy Panama Jack for $ 129 (used!). I checked online and it retails new for $ 149! I’ve also had trouble getting help when I go there, perhaps because I’m not wearing spandex even though I ride my bike more than 95% of the general population.

I had a flat tire and decided to go here. I had to left my bike as they said they can’t do it right away.
I came back and charged $ 20 for it!

all one star reviews confirmed

I just got ripped off by this disgusting store. I only want them to fix my bike’s brake, before that my tires was perfect for several mouth.
After one night, they charge me $ 100 for replace both tires, because they manually break my tires, and they said it was a hidden problem, and it just happened. I was one in a thousand!!! Can any normal customer accept that!!!
F**K this store, by the way, they didn’t make any better for my brake.
They just charge me $ 100 for parking my bike in their disgusting store for one night.

If you like to get ripped off, lied to and cheated, then this is the bike shop for you. Prices are insanely marked up and service is by far some of the worse I’ve ever seen.

Chalk one up for not having the sense to check out Unilocal before spending my money. D’oh.
Long story short, these people are jerks. Charged near $ 200 to tune up my mountain bike and hey, what do you know, now I’m having even MORE problems with it! And I know it isn’t my riding habits, because I seriously doubt riding back and forth on paved roads to work every couple of days would make a bike suddenly unable to stay in gear, and the console creak loudly every time I pedal.
I should also mention that if you are told your bike will be ready ‘tomorrow’ that is Durst-​speak for ‘sometime at the end of next week.’ I surely enjoyed walking across campus in a 100+ degree heat wave because I made the mistake of expecting my bike to be fixed in two days at most, considering they quoted me one…
If you plan on supporting this business in any way, you should probably go to the bank, withdraw a couple hundred bucks, and set fire to it. That is the equivalent of my experience with Durst.
I highly suggest Bikeworks as an alternative to these jerks at Durst.

I’ve purchased at least 5 bikes over the last 10 years there. I just took a bike in I bought a year ago for the free check up. I missed the one year mark by 13 days. They said too bad and wanted to charge me $ 70. I bet I’ve spent at least $ 5000 on bikes there over my life in this town and they want to stick me for $ 70 on a technicality???
I’ll never set foot in there again. The atmosphere in the store always has a negative vibe. No one is talking to each other, no enthusiasm. I had a friend of mine who worked there years ago. He said they are all about money and the Durst family treats the employees like lesser humans…

I went there because it was close, and of course I should have checked Unilocal reviews first. I am a former bike mechanic, but did not have the time or the tools with me to tune up the two bikes I had with me. So I take them over to Durst and the mechanic says they will be ready tomorrow. I thought that was a little long compared to how long it took me to fix bikes, and every bike shop I have been too– but okay. I took them in on Wednesday, and did not get them until Monday right before close! The bikes are my, and my fiancees only transportation right now. One day turned into 5, and nearly 6 for a tune up! They pushed my stuff to the side even though i called once, and sometimes more every single day. The repair bill for the two old bikes was 85 each plus a 45 dollar rim. I paid 210 $ to have two old bikes fixed, what a rip off. I could buy a good mid range bike at another store for that price! The bikes were not clean, or completely fixed! my handle bars are still crooked, and front fork off balance. I paid 85 each for my two derailleurs to be tightened– that is all. Go somewhere else if you want competent tune ups, good service, quick service, and a good price, because Durst has none of these.
At the end of summer I wanted to buy two expensive competition bikes for me and my fiancée, totaling over 1000 $- it will not be from them.

I’ve been here with a friend before to get his bike fixed, and he seemed to be very satisfied with the service. Then again, I’m not sure exactly how knowledgeable he is about bikes, because I’m certainly no pro.
I went here today to buy a bike lock, and they did my favorite thing: greeted me warmly, asked if I needed help, then left me alone. I was checked out by a dude that seemed like he was on downers. I asked if they would cut my old lock off my frame, and he said yes without hesitation. Once it was off, he informed me not to lose my keys again, because they’d charge me $ 15 to cut off the thicker lock that I bought. Good to know, but it kind of felt like scolding. The lock that I bought was only about $ 5 more than it is on Amazon, which is pretty good for buying it in a specialty store.

My wife and I love Durst Cycle. We took her bike there after we’d been turned away by the snobs at another bike store and the tech at Durst put it up on the rack right away, gave it a quick once over and gave us an estimate which turned out to be spot on. I bought a bike there that day and the salesman took plenty of time to answer my questions and let me look around. We’ve gone back a number of times to pick up accessories and get tune ups and never had a bad experience. Great place!

$ 9 for a tube? are you kidding?
i also asked to use a wrench and they wouldn’t let me b/​c of «insurance» reasons. if i am buying a bike tube, i know how to take my wheel off and replace the tube. they tried to charge me to have it replaced but i opted to take a walk home and do it myself.
terrible service, terrible prices.

This is basically a shop for people that don’t know anything about bikes. My sister used this shop because she doesn’t have a clue.
Bike tune up = $ 60 (what a joke) They don’t even wipe the dirt off. They broke her dérailleur in the process. She had to pay an extra $ 40 for a new one (which wasn’t in stock) and while she was being rung up, they tried to charge her $ 50 for it.
The kicker is that the dérailleur was not in the same Shimano family as her other hardware so it doesn’t actually work too well. She says her chain comes off all the time.
Overpriced, understocked, poor workmanship and they’re a bunch of cheats.

This place has the smallest selection of womens’ bikes I have ever seen for its size, and literally only one or two small women’s road and/​or hybrid bikes. If you’re under 5’5″, skip this place and go straight to Champaign Cycle, which has lots of small Treks to ride (if you don’t like Trek, though, you should drive to Bloomington). Also, they make no effort to adjust your bike to fit you if you buy it there. I bought an Electra Townie there and paid full price, and only learned later that the handlebars were set WAY too high; I could barely reach them and could never curl my fingers around the handlebars without leaning way forward. Because I could not yet ride a bike when I bought this one, I couldn’t test ride, but this was something that anyone could have seen who bothered to look at me and look at this bike. I later adjusted them myself at home using an Allen wrench, but other adjustments were needed that required tools that i don’t own, which was irritating. Also, the salesperson tried to wheedle me into riding a bike that was so big for me I couldn’t stand over it. I also was sold a water bottle holder for my Townie that didn’t fit my Townie. I was unable to return or exchange it, but they offered to give me some «shims» to make it fit. very lame!

I would like to give them zero stars, but alas and curse them, they will get one!
The short story: don’t waste your time at Durst, go to Champaign Cycle instead — they are awesome.
The long story:
I went here while I was a student, in order to get an inner tube. The gentleman (I use this term loosely) who assisted me would not condescend to help me understand what I could do to prevent further flats (I know now: keep them inflated to about 3x the pressure I had when I got the flat). As a greenhorn, I picked up some tire slime (a vile flat tire prevention product — complete waste of money). The clerk took my money, and then, _​as he handed me the receipt_​derided the product as the useless s*** that it is.
They will take your money, laugh in your face, and they know that they can continue because they have a constantly rotating supply of suckers (students).
I will say that there was (maybe still is) one cool guy (kinda young). God help him.

This shop has an «absolutely no returns» policy, and there is a damn reason for that. They stock low-​quality items that malfunction or break, and when you complain, they wave you off by blaming everything on your incompetency and «the use of wrong tools». Basically, they are pinching to every dollar they could get today, taking advantage of scarce business competition and the volatility of the student population. Why would they want to strive for customer satisfaction, if a year or two from now you’ll be gone from this little town forever? So they don’t.
I bought a freewheel remover tool from Durst: it’s nothing but a 1-​inch nut with some special threading on it. They charged me $ 10 for a nut. Overpriced as it is, I thought to myself, As long as it does its job, it’s a good tool to have.
Well, it didn’t do it’s job. The nut was defective: so shallow that it fell almost all the way into the freewheel, sticking out only by about ¹⁄₈ inch to grip on with a wrench. It was also made of unhardened metal, so the nut’s edges smudged like clay, without removing the freewheel.
When I brought it back, the workers and then the management tried convincing me that a large professional-​grade adjustable wrench was the wrong tool, and I should have used a vise. Since when a wrench is a wrong tool for turning a nut!!! By the way, the instructions on the packaging explicitly read «remove by… using either an adjustable wrench or … a vise». So, excuse me for being a student on a budget and not being able to afford to own a workbench with a vise!
While I understand that Durst Cycles did not make the tool, there is nothing worse a business selling shitty merchandise and then fooling its customers into believing that the failures are somehow their own fault. This is what earns the lowest rating for this review.

Durst is insanely expensive, but they do carry top-​shelf bike brands.
My recommendation: go to Durst, find the bike you like, and take it for a test ride. Then, buy the bike online for hundreds less.