I foolishly paid the amount without questioning the price nor work and left. I brought my bike to SBS for a tune-up and was immediately told by the mechanic I needed both shifter replaced and a new chain and tune-up. Take my advice about not going to Somerville Bicycle Shop, even if you don’t go to the same place I did afterward. So for the same work I can either spend $ 320 and get bad service and treated poorly at Somerville, or spend $ 205 and be really happy with the work and the way I was treated at Bike N Gear in Franklin. And he was a really nice guy the whole time, despite the fact that the shop was busy and he was working at top speed. One he said he would fix in ten minutes for $ 10, and the others he quoted at $ 65 each. I was met at the door by someone who introduced himself by name, asked me mine, and after hearing what I was there for, stepped outside to look at the bikes in the back of my truck. 15 minutes of a drive later I found myself at Bike N Gear in Franklin, NJ. I agreed to the new price, and we were about to start doing paperwork when a different employee walked in and, after having the first employee explain what work was to be done, said «no, three need to be $ 80 each, not just two, the owner will never accept this.» I tried to point out that we had already come to an agreement, but at this point they were committed and weren’t really bothering to display any class or manners, beyond a smug «I’m sorry.» I agreed he should be, and embarrassed that my children had to see me treated that way, took my family’s bikes elsewhere. He agreed to charging $ 40 for those two, but still $ 80 each of the other two. I asked him if he could do better, pointing out that at least two of the bikes were very simple and in good shape. He glanced at them and told me that the tune ups were going to be $ 80 per bike. We were met by one staff member who asked us to bring all four bikes inside the shop before we spoke, and while that took a bit of work with two young children trying to help, we managed. We brought all four of them here for a basic inspection and tune up. My family’s bikes, which aren’t fancy, needed some attention and I felt we should bring them to a reputable bike repair shop. i have gone so far as to hold a sign up in protest against this shop visit: somerville bike shop scammed me on Facebook for pictures and other people who agree this was done because the threads needed for the crank arm puller were completely stripped out… mind you i purchased the bike there and never had any other shop do work on the bike only to have the owner GILBERT say that his (non-certified) mechanic saw nothing wrong and that there was nothing they could do… he lied in order to keep from replacing a 20 $ crank arm that his (non-certified) mechanic destroyed… this shop needs to go out of business before somebody gets hurt from gross negligence… never go to this shop the mechanics are street bike racers with no technical qualifications save yourself from getting swindled by GILBERT THE OWNER. I am a local customer and bought two bikes from this shop totaling 1700 $ after the bottom bracket was replaced 4 times i occurred to me that there were gouges on the inside of the left crank arm from a flat head screwdriver that was used in combo with a hammer to remove the crank arm. Sorry to say that I will not be visiting my most local bike shop anymore… I spared this guy the hassle, but judging by other reviews, seems like others may have gotten the same treatment. So, I did what the shop employees should have, and warned the customer of the possibility that he’d also need to buy a new cassette and even new chainrings. At no point did anyone warn the buyer that by replacing a worn chain (if, indeed, it truly was worn), there was a risk of new chain/old gear incompatibility (these two things wear together). Having been called out, the mechanic grabbed the tool to ‘confirm’. I told the customer there was NO way they could know that without properly measuring the chain with a special tool. The guy at the register asked the mechanic: «is he gonna need a new chain?» Taking only brief glance from a distance, the mechanic replied «yes» (this is NOT something you can eyeball – especially from a distance on an otherwise nice-looking bike. The guy in line in front of me in line needed a replacement front dérailleur. I should preface this by saying that am a former bike mechanic (full time during college) and still maintain all of my bikes myself.
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