A Quick Warning: The Bike Shop in Glen Ellyn *UPDATED 7/10*

Went there with a friend today who got a flat and didn't have a tube.  We went around back cause he was going to just have them swap it.  They wanted $10 to put in a tube so we just bought it our selves and installed it.  While we were back there we noted two bike racks.  They appear to be customers bikes waiting to be worked on.

There were two REALLY nice bikes there, easily $1000+.  Sitting in the rack on the back, no cameras, no locks, nothing.  Just sitting out there.  The area isn't even viewable from the area,  I know Glen Ellyn is different than Chicago and it's probably fine.  But, if it was MY bike and I knew they were storing them out back with no locks or supervision, I wouldn't be happy.  At all.  

To be fair, these could have been the shops bikes.  However, judging by the fact that they told my friend to put his bike there when they thought they'd be working on it, i was rather certain they are customer bikes.  

*UPDATED* Molly, a mechanic from The Bike Shop has informed us that they are now locking the bikes in the back!  Great to see a bike shop take a bit of criticism and resolve the complaint!  Two thumbs way up!

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Permalink Reply by Julie Aberman (Hochstadter) on July 8, 2012 at 2:04am

I would assume if a bike shop let your bike get stolen they would replace it. Probably not an issue. 

And the $10 to install a tube is a service.  It helps pay for running a business.   

Permalink Reply by bk (aka: Dr. Mambohead) on July 8, 2012 at 3:01am
Attention!!! Bad people!...
Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 8, 2012 at 3:50am

Oh dear, they were going to charge you for working on your bike; what jerks!

I am reasonably sure that those bikes were more secure than you think they were.  No bike shop is going to leave customer bikes where they can be easily stolen.

This entire post stinks of sour grapes and I am betting that there is more to this story than we are hearing here.

Permalink Reply by Timothy Hager on July 8, 2012 at 4:00am

$10 to get a professional mechanic to install a new tube is a deal compared to some shops I've been to.  My personal opinion is that something as common and basic as tube replacement should be part of the skill set of any regular rider but the bottom line is that you're paying for someone to use their expertise to accomplish something you might not know how to do.  If you have the requisite skills and knowledge but would just rather have a professional do the work that's fine, but you should be willing to pay for it.  The understanding when going to any good shop is that the mechanics will do the work quickly and at a high level and that they will stand by any services or products that they sell you.

Permalink Reply by TehDoak on July 9, 2012 at 2:26am

So a quick response: 

The isn't the $10 tube swap cost, IMHO.  A bike shop can charge what it wants to replace tubes.  

The issue was the casual treatment of customers bikes.  I'm sure they have probably never had an issue with it in Glen Ellyn, I just know if it was MY bike (which is no where near the quality of the bikes that were sitting back there, unattended, unlocked, and unwatched), I wouldn't be happy.  

I've never had any dealings with them other than this.  Coming from the city, I was just shocked to see bikes sitting out in the open seemingly ready to be plucked.  

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 9, 2012 at 3:00am

If you have no issue with the cost of the flat fix why even mention it?

Do you really think that a bike shop would leave customer bikes were they could easily be stolen?

These were inside the store; not outside somewhere, right?

Are you aware that most bike shops have customers bikes stored in the back somewhere with no lock on  them?

I'm confused as to why you feel this is such a big risk; wouldn't a potential thief had to go past an employee to get the bikes out of the store?  Or at least past an employee to get tot he bikes to take them out the back door?

TehDoak said:

So a quick response: 

The isn't the $10 tube swap cost, IMHO.  A bike shop can charge what it wants to replace tubes.  

The issue was the casual treatment of customers bikes.  I'm sure they have probably never had an issue with it in Glen Ellyn, I just know if it was MY bike (which is no where near the quality of the bikes that were sitting back there, unattended, unlocked, and unwatched), I wouldn't be happy.  

I've never had any dealings with them other than this.  Coming from the city, I was just shocked to see bikes sitting out in the open seemingly ready to be plucked.  

Permalink Reply by TehDoak on July 9, 2012 at 3:07am

I thought I was clear: 

These were OUTSIDE of the bike shop.  The shop is setup like this:

Front entrance on the sidewalk, with a sign that says 'bring all bikes for service to the back'.  

The back is a small alleyway behind the shop.  It's tucked away from view from the street, but definitely very accessible.  There are two bike racks OUTSIDE for customers to place their bikes while they are waiting to be worked on (outside with no locks, no cameras, and no good view of the racks from the inside).  And, as other posters have said, they would probably reimburse if your bike was stolen....however, I still think that people should know, IF you take your bike there, how it is stored, regardless of how the shop would react if it got stolen, Which is why I started the thread.  That's all.  No sour grapes, no bad experience.  Just a shop being careless with customers bikes in my opinion.   

Permalink Reply by dan brown on July 9, 2012 at 3:49am

i agree with dug this thread is a waste of bandwidth.

 

BTW - the reason they chargef $10 to replace a tube : there is a thing called economics and supply and demand set prices (tounge planted firmly in cheek). people in GE have money and pay for things they would rather not do (and many casual riders have no idea how to do it anyway).

 

ALSO - the mechanic that changes the flat is very skilled and trained and can probably overhaul a bike and fix most anything; so in other words; he (or she) is valuable to the shop. Would you ask a porsche trained mechanic to add windshield washer fluid to your car ?? hell no. only a total moron would do that.

 

just my $.0200003 (adjusted for inflation)

 

DB

 

 

 

Permalink Reply by Molly Shough on July 9, 2012 at 5:29am

Hello All, Thank you for your comments. 

I'm one of the mechanics at The Bike Shop Glen Ellyn. I've worked in the industry for some time, including working at shops in the city, and can tell everyone that theft is pretty much non existent in the burbs.

I'd still like to address the legitimate concerns of the original poster, as he is incorrect in a few details concerning our "bikes in back" policy. Yes, we do have bike racks in back of the shop which we use as a work queue for the day, however they are not out of sight. The back door is open 99% of the time so we have constant view of customer and employee bikes.

The bike fit studio is located directly next to the windows showing full view of the rear bike racks as well. We can also see everybody approaching the rear racks through the windows from the front register.

The back is not some hidden away, dark, or dank alley. We share the back space with a restaurant, plumbing company, and three apartment dwellers we know well. In the ten years we've had this set up, we've had (1) bike stolen and the customer got a free upgrade for the inconvenience. 

On behalf of the shop we'd like to thank the poster for bringing attention to what has worked well for so many years as a flawed system or an easy target for thieves coming from the city. For everybody's peace of mind we'll now be cable locking our bikes still in full view, installing a hidden camera and instructing everyone who comes into the shop who leave their bikes in the back to remain vigilant as there is now an online thread letting everyone know what shop is supposedly easy to steal from.

Thanks for reading,

MS

Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on July 9, 2012 at 5:50am

Attention bike thieves! Leaving bikes unlocked, as I have noticed from travelling outside of the city, is very common for shops as well as home owners leaving their garages unlocked and bikes laying on the ground ect.

HAPPY HUNTING

Wake up suburbanites!

Permalink Reply by Molly Shough on July 9, 2012 at 6:14am

So sorry to have offend any Chicagoans "h" .. I live in the city of Chicago and can personally attest that thieves tend to be more aggressive within the city limits, I've had two bikes stolen and everyone who knows anyone has had something stolen.. This is my personal bias as someone who works in Glen Ellen but lives in Chicago.

The last part of my post did get a little snarky but it's hard not to get a little upset when folks criticize your place of employment based on one visit without all the information. my sincere apologies.. 

Permalink Reply by TehDoak on July 9, 2012 at 6:34am

Molly, 

To be fair, I was behind the store for around a 1/2 hour on saturday waiting for my friend to finish getting a new tube and installing it, and the door to the service area was shut for most of the time.  I'm assuming this was due to the extreme heat.  

And like I said, I wouldn't be comfortable if a bike shop left my bike unlocked behind the shop, regardless of its area, even if I was assured that IF it got stolen, i'd get a free upgrade.  Either way, you guys know your area best and I don't.  I just know I'd be very hesitant to leave my bike there knowing where it's stored, even in an area as nice as Glen Ellyn.  

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