Performance Bicycle

I am always on the fence about this place.
it’s the prices. i can get the basics here for cheap. pro tires, pro stuff… peddles? All that?
For cheap. The problem is PB undercuts the LBS.
Which is why I am on the fence. And i know racing is expensive and you have to buy expensive stuff all the time but man, sometimes you have to bite the bullet and save $ 45 on tires because you need THAT money to pay for an entry fee some place.
anyway, i dont hate the joint and it gets the stars for the cheap.
it it all that nice? nah, it’s a big warehouse… but, the prices.

I love this store. I support my local bike shops, too, but this one is a one-​stop shop especially during an emergency. I went in there recently when my front disc brake was making a terrible noise. I had adjusted and fiddled with it, but to no avail. A guy named Russ, who I think is a director there of some sort, helped me figure out what was wrong, and when I rode my bike out of there the brake was working fine with no sound. I highly recommend the store, and if Russ is there, ask for him.

Many cyclists only go to their «local bike shop» (read, not a chain store) and look down upon shops like Performance. The performance bike in Pittsburgh is different. They have always had solid mechanics and I never feel like they are trying hard to sell me something. I started going to Performance because it was convenient. I now go because I genuinely like the employees and the shop. They always have specials, printable online coupons, and will price match any local shop within 25 miles. If you want a specialty bike that only a local shop carries, then so be it. If you need anything else, give Performance a try.

After my 8 year old hybrid was totaled in a run in with a car I was looking to upgrade to a more serious bike that was still useful for commuting. I went to several locally owned bike shops and learned what would suite my wants and needs best was something close to a cyclocross or gravel grinder. I test road several bikes at these smaller stores and found two I liked but not loved. Only one of these bikes was really within my budget.
I wasn’t keen on giving my money to a chain store but I figured it was a good idea to at least look in performance bicycle. They have a very large selection of bikes and a pretty helpful staff. I found the bike that I loved (a Fuji sportif) and it was right in my price range so I bought it, along with spd pedals (I would have gotten shoes but they didn’t have ones I wanted in my size and also didn’t have a very large selection).
On the second day of riding I hit glass and punctured my tire and tube. I went back to PB and they gave me a gator skin tire for ½ price BUT then sold me the wrong tube size! I told them I’d fix the flat on my own to save $ 10 in service charges. I got home and realized the tubes were completely wrong: I would be taking the bus to work in the morning, ugh. So the next day I went back and told them the deal. They exchanged the tubes, even the one I opened, but it took them almost a half hour to figure out how to do it in the register.
I would go back here for bike accessories because they do have great prices (got a rear rack for $ 25. Everywhere else they started at $ 40 or $ 50. Plus they installed it for me while I waited since I didn’t have a way to carry it home on my bike), but I will always try to support local bike shops first if at all possible. I already love the guys at biketek in squirrel hill for tune ups so I’ll continue going there for any service.
I would have given them 4 stars but they lose one for being a big box chain.

Since the former manager (and mostly all of the previous staff) left to work at an independent shop, the customer service at this Performance Bicycles location has declined greatly. The salespeople are incredibly pushy and are primarily concerned with selling you as many items as possible, even when you have made it abundantly clear that you are not interested. My wife and I stopped in to purchase a helmet for her, and both salespeople would not leave us alone and continually asked when we were ready to look at bikes, when I already informed them that we only needed a helmet. One younger salesperson was very helpful, but he was pulled away because the manager was yelling at him from the back of the store. With so many options for independent bike shops in the area, steer clear of this big-​box retailer and buy from a friendly local shop.

I am mainly writing this review purely on the fact that Performance Bike (PB) has yet to update the specs on the bicycle I «bought» here, as of the time I posted this review. I’ll explain why «bought» is in quotes in a second.
If I was to write a review simply for the staff at the performance bike store in Pittsburgh they would get 4 out of 5 stars. They all work very diligently to answer your questions and make sure multiple times that everyone has been greeted in the store.
However, with that said, the online store is far from golden. About a month ago I purchased a 2014 Performance Exclusive Diamondback Overdrive Sport which appeared to be the last year’s model (2013) of the Diamondback Overdrive Sport. After I checked the specs on the bike against Diamondback’s website, I found that the specs were identical. Furthermore, the picture and the specs listed contradicted each other. This left me quite confused since PB was selling it as a «Performance Exclusive», so I called their tech support.
Once I was on the phone with a lady from their call center, I asked her whether the bike shown online was being sold according the picture or the specs sheet. Sadly, she had no idea what the bike was, what it had on it, or who she could even transfer the call to so I could even get an answer. Her best advice: «The Performance Exclusive bicycles are typically just a different color» …wrong!
Since PB was running a deal that weekend, I hoped for the best (that the specs were correct), and I ordered the bike and had it shipped to their store.
When I went to pick up my «bike», they handed me the 2014 Diamondback Overdrive Sport (not the Performance Exclusive one that I had ordered) which very closely matched the specs listed with the exception of the 2013 frame, which was why I had ordered it. When I told them that it was the wrong bike, everyone just acted confused and eventually admitted that they had no idea what the «Performance Exclusive» bike was even like, so once again I tried to call someone.
This time I called their Spin Doctor tech people. The guy who answered the call, who I’ll refer to as «Dopey», also couldn’t tell me what parts were suppose to be on the bike. Finally, I informed Dopey that the specs for the Performance Exclusive were identical to the 2013 Diamondback Overdrive Sport, to a «T». Dopey then argued with me that it was unlikely, even though I was looking at them while I was talking to him. I also told him that the picture didn’t match the specs either.
To explain, the bike pictured had mechanical disc brakes, a Suntour crankset, XCT shocks while the specs listed hydraulic disc brakes, a SRAM crankset, and XCR shocks. That’s a pretty big difference.
Dopey then informed me that 99% of the time the bike would be sold as pictured, and he’d have someone else check into the wildly wrong specs. When I asked whether they’d honor the specs listed, I was told they would not, so I could either return the bike or take whatever they would hand me.
On the bright side, I was able to go back to the store and pick up the 2014 Overdrive Sport (not the bike I ordered) even though I had ordered the crappier «bike in the picture». So they get one extra star for screwing up in my favor.
Furthermore, even though I alerted them to their error, as of this moment, the only spec they have updated is that the bike has XCT shocks, that’s it.
After this experience, I will not be doing any more business with them in the future. I’m pretty disheartened that they wildly misrepresented the bike they were selling and still have not corrected it.
Furthermore, I would expect them to honor the specs as listed. Really how hard would it have been to ship the correct frame with the listed components to a store and build the bike as listed? I wasn’t asking them to build me a tricycle out of a bicycle or put car tires on it, just use the 2013 frame with the 2014 components as it was listed.

This is a great shop. I have bought a couple of bikes here, a lot of gear, and have used them for tech advice and work. Very helpful — I never got the feeling they were trying to oversell me. Len is a fantastic store manager.
They have tons of inventory and very reasonable prices compared to small shops. Yet none of the pretense of certain snobby shops.
I hold back one star because they sold me an entry level Mt Bike for my son some years ago (Diamondback). It was poorly designed and caused us a lot of issues. They did ultimately accommodate us.

If you are looking for a bike come here, they have a million of them. I was looking for low price and clearance items but they were a few these but not what I was looking for. This is an urban location in an area heavy with bike lanes so I would expect them to be proficient at repairs. After looking at the prices I understand why my bikes are 10 and 20 years old. bikes are expensive! Am I showing my age? So if you need a bike this is the place to go! Do not go to walmart! Go here and get a bike that fits right!

Went here for the first time this evening.
Walked in, was greeted by their mechanic (I think his name was Bob working at 6:00 PM on 2÷19÷14) And asked him about repair stands. I told him about my bike, that I purchased ON LINE (never goes over well at a LBS) he just smiled, and said «lets see what we can do» .
He not only showed me a stand, he grabbed a bike and showed me how it worked on the stand. WHAT???
He gave me some advice about stands, asked what I wanted to do with it and didn’t recommend the most expensive stand in the shop! WHAT???
We moved on to floor pumps, he asked me some questions, and recommended a floor pump that was not only a lesser priced pump, it was on sale too! WHAT???
I’m a 45 year old guy getting back into cycling, and he got that. He recommended some quality gear, on par with what I wanted to do.
If you want bike gear, go here. There was no up sell, and the bikes and gear ranges from professional race users to the weekend warrior all a fair price, and great service.
It’s nice to know even though I don’t shave my legs, and do cardio exercises 8 hours a week, they get get me.
Thanks for the service. I will be back!

This is a review for the repair desk at Performance Bicycle:
I got a new bike off craigslist and in a few weeks the bike literally started to fall apart — rear disk break got stuck, crank started to get loose, shifter did not work properly. I figured that it was time for a quick tune up. Stopped by Performance bikes and talked to one of the advisers. He saw what needs to be fixed and mentioned total repairs were less than what normally would qualify for a full tune up. ($ saved right there)
He wrote up an estimate and in 3 days the bike was ready. Breaks — fixed, crank/​shifter — fixed PLUS he re-​did how fenders were attached, fixed improperly secured front wheel, lubed my chain, adjusted everything so the bike rode like a dream. No extra charges.
Excellent customer service, very reasonable price and very friendly employees.
Will no doubt be back next time.

The Lowe’s of bicycles. They literally have anything and everything you could want/​need for your bicycle. I went in looking to purchase a new bike, and being bike illiterate I had no idea what I was doing. I talked to Bryan and he helped me pick out a bike within my price range, and showed me the things I should have in the event that I would need to make a quick repair, etc. Not once did I feel like I was being pressured to make a purchase. Bryan (and the staff in general) were incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. Definitely my go-​to place for anything bicycle related in the future.

Had a flight tire on my vintage Schwinn bike. They had me in and out of the store in under 20 minutes. Other places have had me drop off the bike for a few days! Also, they were really informative about letting me know how to take care of my tires since my newer tires aren’t really made for the old bike frame. I will definitely come back here for my future bicycle needs.
Also, they have a pretty nice selection of bikes and equipment. I may come back here if I decide to buy a newer model. Prices seemed really good compared to other stores in the area.

Scott (store manager) and the rest of his team at Performance Bicycle are fantastick. The staff is knowlegable, competent, and consumer friendly. I have bought two Fuji Road Bikes from Scott, in fact, I drive 120 miles from State College to get our bikes tuned up (I bought the two year service plan), they are very accomodating and excellent to deal wiht. The repair techs do a great job answering my questions and servicing the bike. More than just a franchise bike store, they truly are interested in customer service and that is why I keep coming back.

My mountain bike has been on a suicide mission for about 6 months. First, the chain guard fell off, then the gears stopped shifting. When the brakes went I decided to spring for a new one.
I’m a daily bike commuter, but am otherwise an absolute novice when it comes to this subject. Santa brought me my first two-​wheeler — a pink Huffy with an amazing white banana seat. Each of the bikes since has either come from Toys R Us or a garage sale. My last garage sale bike lasted an astounding 2 years — or, the equivalent of $ 10/​year.
A friend recommended the Trek store and Big Bang, but being a creature of convenience, I opted for the shop closest to home. I stopped by Performance Bicycle on a bone-​chilling Friday night in East Liberty and was treated to great service, honest advice and a nice selection of hybrids, which is what my novice brain decided I just HAD to have. Store associate Grant was great. He talked me through my options and didn’t balk at my paltry sub-​$ 300 price-​point. He suggested I come back over the weekend for a few test rides. I did just that today. The first bike I tried out was a Diamondback Insight hybrid. Shiny silver and complete with a pair of sexy fenders I was hooked at first sight. However, it was the second bike that I really made me swoon. The Diamondback Vital 3, priced at $ 229 (unbelievable) was made for me. I looked like a 3 year old riding around the Trader Joe’s parking lot exuding absolute joy. I giggled out loud. More than once. The bottom line is, I could have purchased this awesome bike somewhere else, but the crew (Thanks Grant and Len — and the other guy with the leg tattoos that helped me) at Performance really made me feel at ease during my shopping experience; the price was incredible and I feel safe knowing that if anything should happen to the bike, I have somewhere friendly and knowledgeable to visit.
If you’re shopping for a bike, visit Performance. I’m looking forward to riding to work in the morning. And it’s MONDAY. Know what I’m sayin’?
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New info: 1^st bike turned out to be too big for me. I took it back a week later and Scott couldn’t have been more helpful. Now you’ll catch me on a snazzy new blue Schwinn complete with fenders (bought on site) and attitude. Love ya’ Performance!