Services
Urbane Cyclist
Urbane Cyclist is the reigning champion in our best bike stores post, and for good reason. Over the 14 years the store has been open, it has attracted a loyal customer base of urban riders who rely on the store for their cycling needs on a year-round basis. In fact, though the store started out with a pretty small space, it has slowly expanded by taking over additional parts of the building it occupies at 180 John Street such that the showroom and service areas are surprisingly expansive for a bike store located so close to the increasingly expensive Queen West strip.
Here you'll find one of the city's highest concentrations of utility cyclists, a term staffer Kathleen Banville uses to highlight the particular needs of Urbane's most common customer. "These are cyclists who generally use bikes as their primary mode of transportation, who may not own a car, and who ride all through the year." As such, one isn't going to find a selection of road and mountain bikes on the sales floor. Instead, there's a range of fixed-gear, single-speed and touring and travel bikes on offer. The store also does cargo conversion kits, trailers and kids bikes.
From a brands standpoint, Urbane carries a full line from the Canadian company Opus, and selections from KHS, Dahon, Globe, and Bike Friday (mainly custom travel bikes). But perhaps most importantly, they also offer an in-house line of bikes called Urbanites. These come in a variety of styles including single-speed, commuter and touring models. From a price range standpoint, Urbane's bikes start at $400, with higher end touring bikes running up to $2000 depending on the level of customization one's after. In general, Kathleen and her staff recommend that cyclists spend at least $600 to ensure that one gets a ride that won't require significant parts upgrades after a season (take their word on this — it's true).
Another way to avoid replacing parts is to go single speed or fixie. Sure, there are still a few parts on these bikes that require maintenance, but their simplified drivetrains are durable and light, a combination that makes sense for urban riders. And besides, as I've said before, it's not like Toronto's actually that hilly. Single speeds should be comfortable at least 80 per cent of the time, and when the going gets a bit tough, just think of the workout you're getting.
Given the focus on utility cyclists, Urbane also carries an array of accessories and clothing to help city riders deal with the elements and to avoid having their gear stolen. All the major players are accounted for, including Kryptonite and Abus locks, a bevy of fenders and racks, lights and Ortlieb courier bags. Same goes for service. Although the shop doesn't claim to be specialists with hydraulic brakes (found most commonly on mountain bikes), they can handle just about anything else within reason.
One final note. As a worker's co-op, I've noticed that the staff are generally very knowledgeable at Urbane, and the service tends to be above par, especially if you have a lot of questions.
THE SKINNY
Who the store caters to: utility cyclists, couriers
Bike price range: $400-$2000 (sweet spot $600-$750)
Service capabilities: Full service, but not the place to bring your BMC Team Machine
The tune-up: For $50 you get adjustment of gears and brakes, adjustment/tightening of headset and bottom bracket if possible, minor truing of wheels, cleaning of braking surfaces, all bolts tightened to spec, lube applied to chain, cables, derailleur and brake pivots, tires filled with air, plus 50% off additional repairs required.
Discussion
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They gave me a lot of unnecessary hassle for some fairly straightforward requests. I now go to Bikes on Wheels for service and they are always polite and professional.
Urbane also carries a lot of accessories and parts, but they are quite pricey which had I end up doing shopping at MEC or eBay, instead.
Anyway, I will definitely consider their Urbanite Touring bike when I am fit enough to ride long distance.
Bike was ready on time. I Went to pick it up and took it for a little spin. Came back and decided to have a carrier rack installed. Also asked for some minor adjustments - seat height and handlebar. Came back half hour later. Rack was installed but the seat was still too high and the bars were still the same. I do my own work so just took it home and did the adjustments myself. On the way home found that the gears were not working right - front derailleur had not been set up properly. Adjusted that myself too.
A year went by. I like the bike but there were a few problems. The front forks are not cambered forward enough so if I turn sharply, my foot strikes the front tire. Also I found the paint flaking off of the steel frame in spots. Not good.
I ride through the winter. First spring, I put the bike up on my bike stand and disassembled it so I could give it a complete cleaning. Took the front crank apart and removed the gears. Found that one of the gear lugs had been cross threaded! This is on a $130 crank! Went down to Urbane and raised the issue with their staff. They tried to make out like it was my fault because I do my own work. One I convinced them that I knew what I was doing, they told me I'd have to leave the crank for the Shimano rep to look at. The rep only comes in once every two weeks! Fortunately it was the small gear, which I never use so decided just to live with it and only have 3 of the four lugs bolted in. Not happy.
My impression of these guys is that they are coasting on their laurels. I like the co-op idea but it doesn't seem to be producing superior service as far as I can tell.
When we came back to Toronto last fall, I started the project of completely rebuilding my 26 year old Raleigh bike....doing most of the work myself, but turning to various bike shops when I needed help. I soon came to believe that Urbane's service shop was the only one in town I could trust.
Six week's ago, that trust took a bit of a beating...I couldn't get the gear's adjusted properly, and had a couple of other issues that I couldn't address my self. I took it in to Urbane, explained the problems, including a slight wobble in the crank, and asked to be called if they encountered any other issues. After leaving the bike till the end of the day, I came back to find the tech gone, and the gearing still not adjusted properly...with a note from the tech saying the front derailleur cage was twisted and needed to be replaced....but NO CALL from him during the day.
I didn't have time to address this again till last week, when I went in to talk about this with the service folks. _No beating around the bush, no excuses_ They accepted responsibility immediately, told me there would be no labor costs, asked me to pay for only parts...and scheduled the repair, at my convenience, for yesterday.
Yesterday, they did the front derailleur....AND discovered that the crank wobble hadn't been properly addressed by the original tech....who, by the way, is now no longer a member of the co-op (Urban is a worker-owned shop)....he had just tightened the lower cartridge plates, instead of taking it apart and inspecting the cartridge....in any case they replaced the cartridge and checked the trueness of the crank and sprockets...and showed me the wear int the old original cartridge......and I paid nothing more than the cost of the parts that I would have paid for originally...they ate several hours of labor.
These are people who care about the quality of the work that comes out of their shop...and when it is not up to standard, they address it, without BS, and at their cost. I'm sticking with them.