Ballard Bike Co.

It was quick and easy to rent our bikes! It was an easy drop off too. They gave us the helmets, as well. We ended up riding to golden gardens.

These folks know what they’re doing. I blew my back tire out, checked maps for a local repair shop and Ballard Bike Co. came up 2 blocks away. I wheeled my flat bike over to their shop and found their manager working on a bike and told him my situation. He gave my a quote for a new tube and instalation $ 18, threw my bike on a rack, expertly fixed my tire, rang me up and I was out of there in like 7 Min.!!
Thanks who ever you were, saved my moring.

I was in need of tire air while in unknown territory, and this shop was very helpful and more than willing to help me out! They gladly filled my tires and were very nice, so I would give them a try in the future if I ever needed service.

I swung by to test ride a frame I’d found on the interwebz. The new owner/​manager is a pretty cool guy, but seems to feel disconnected from the fairly niche stock. He says he likes classic (70’s) lugged steel frames, yet all they carry is TIG townies. Bummer, but I foresee a bit of a change in stock, perhaps.
If you’re interested in the shop, pay attention to the recent reviews due to the change in management. I can’t speak a whole lot to their services, since I really only test rode a bike, but it was assembled well, the shop is really cool, and the owner/​manager knows bikes. Though he wasn’t a bike wizard, but that also meant he wasn’t off-​putting like many bike shop folks can be.
If you want a new, good-​looking bike, check the place out and see what you think!

I ordered a bike and there were some unforeseen delays in the delivery. It took almost two weeks for the bike to come in, but they handled it well.

I love this bike shop! Every time I have needed help with something the person working has been very helpful and friendly, the job is done quickly (I’ve actually never had to wait longer than 5 minutes), and really inexpensive. I’ve never gotten a condescending hipster vibe like some people have commented on. Will definitely be coming here for most things.

first off… don’t be fooled by the Unilocal reviews. There used to be a little café in the front of the bike shop that served wine/​beer and coffee to people waiting to sit at the amazing restaurant in the back. It was nothing special… but it was better than waiting in the hallway so i get why people liked it. They’ve since moved across the street and are now only a bike shop.
i shopped around and found that their tuneup is 45 bucks (pretty cheap for seattle)+ positive Unilocal reviews. I dropped my bike off and was met arrogance, condescension and terrible service. When dude began writing my invoice he wrote the tune up at 95 dollars instead of 45 which is advertised and which they confirmed when i phoned earlier that day. when i called him on it… he rolled his eyes and told me the 45 is just a ‘safety check’ and if i don’t care about my plastic bike i should just get that… he repeatedly referred to my 2000 dollar carbon fiber bike as ‘plastic’…to be rude. when i asked what the extra $ 50 was for he gave an incoherent and mealymouthed answer with no consistency or clear explanation. i opted for the basic tune up, it took 2 days longer than he initially told me. In the 10 days since i got the bike back ive gotten 2 flats (even though i asked him to check the tubes) and had to get the alignment adjusted by another shop because the shifting was off. they fixed it (for free).
spend the extra 20 bucks and go somewhere with nice and/​or professional people. you’ll get neither here.

Spent $ 200 for full job and replacing two tubes. Next day tube was flat, questionable whether any work was done and the price was very steep. Do not feel like anything near $ 200 was done.

This place was… OK. I dropped of my bike for a full tune up. The guy who I dropped it off with was nice enough. I had some other issues on my bike I wanted addressed– new chain, new cassette. He looked at my bike and agreed with me. Fine.
They worked quickly– that afternoon, it was ready. I showed up and the guy I picked it up from couldn’t have been more condescending. He, in all seriousness, said «Atta girl» to me when I told him my mileage had increased in the past two years. Like I was a child. He also smelled like he had had a beer (not necessarily a problem– he’s a bike mechanic, not a brain surgeon, but it is a little unprofessional).
The quality of the work is pretty good and the first guy was nice, but the condescension sticks out and makes me feel just bad about the whole experience. Maybe it was an off day. But I don’t think I’ll return.

Stopped by here before work to have them check my bike. It wasn’t shifting right and I lost all patience with it. The tech quickly started wrenching on it and in less than 10 minutes had it shifting smoothly. Great price on repair work too!

Great, friendly service! They tuned up my bike in the same day. Prices are lower than other shops. Best thing: no bike snobs. They gladly tuned up my neglected basic bike without attitude.

I have a bit of know-​how when it comes to bike maintenance, but apparently the «funny noise» was due to the fact one of the nuts on my back wheel was completely missing! Sabatoge? A jealous ex-​lover? Attempted manslaughter?
In any case, I just moved from Chicago so I figured I could use a «pro» tune up job on my bike. The job they did was great! As I said, I can do this stuff perfectly fine on my own, but once in a while it feels nice to have a «proper» tune up. They ended up not charging me for the full amount because dude told me that it didn’t need much work done anyway (I merely asked for a bottom bracket replacement, and to replace the lost nut) so I appreciate their honestly and dedication to paying only for the work that was necessary.
Friendly guys there, will happily answer any bike questions you have. They’ll give you a good estimate of how long it’ll take. Mine was done in 24 hrs.

Great service, extremely fast and accurate.
Service price is well below other shops, I would definitely pay more.

This happened some time ago and I thought it might have been a one-​time thing so I let it go. I had always received good service here before the day I didn’t. I brought my bike in for a routine tune-​up and was told that it would be done by late afternoon (around 4). I decided to hang out in Ballard until it was done, since I had nowhere to be until later that evening. When I didn’t hear from anyone — I checked to see if it was ready and I was told it still wasn’t done and probably wouldn’t be for some time. So I decided to head home. I was still on the bus when the guy who worked on my bike called and told me it was done. I couldn’t go back though, since I had somewhere to be. This news, was apparently distressing because there isn’t a lot of room to store bikes. Well, sorry, but I hung out all day and it was told it wasn’t going to be ready anytime soon. Not my fault.
When I finally do get it back I notice some issues while riding home. The tape on the left side of the bars was ripped on the bottom. Scuff marks on the frame that weren’t there before. It seemed to shift fine and otherwise perform okay, so I rode it home and didn’t think too much about it.
However, upon riding it home from work in the dark the following Monday I found that my headlight didn’t work. Someone had rigged it to stay on so I wouldn’t notice it was broken. The mounting mechanism was completely thrashed. Putting together all the other things, it appeared that my bike had been dropped and then they tried to cover it up (at least long enough to get me out of the shop). I am never coming here again. This is not only poor customer service, but they are putting fellow cyclists in danger. I used to commute through Sodo to get to work and back and coming home in the dark without a functioning headlight was not cool. I hate to bring down the rating of local businesses, but it looks like this is happening to other people. I would hate it more if someone actually got hurt because they trusted this shop.

outstanding service from these guys. they do amazing work, for a reasonable price. Ballard’s a hike for me, and i still make the trip out.

Pros:
I had a groupon to get a bike tune up, which makes the service a good price.
Service provided was good.
Cons:
The earliest appointment to get a tune up was a month out.
They are a bit of bike snobs. I was looking to buy a pannier when I picked up my bike, but had mistakenly called it a saddle bag. They told me they didn’t sell those. I was about to leave without getting anything when my wife noticed them hanging on the wall.

So I was a huge supporter of Dutch Bike Co. for a number of years when Fritz worked for them. Hell, I bought over $ 3000 of bikes from them and a good deal of my gear. I really liked these guys. The crew here was nice and didnt have that pompous bike shop vibe you get with most specialty bike shops. It was down to earth and really an awesome place…
Until my list visit… my wife dropped her Work Cycle off to have a simple project done. She wanted new grips, a different lock, and a baby seat installed on her bike. Nothing big.
We were told an estimate of time being a a few days, less then a week. Well that was not the case at all. After «A few days» we called and got excuses about why it was not ready. A few days alter we called again with the same thing… two weeks went by and we got the same MO.
Finally we find out the bike is ready for us to pick it up AFTER we call.
I was dropped off to pick up her bike and planned to ride home.
Shortly after picking it up I noticed a few problems. The break lever was lower but I did not pay it much mind. As I rode to West Seattle on my wife’s bike, I started to notice more damage. The break lever has several deep gouges in the metal and the shifter is missing a piece off of it.
We also noticed that there was damage in the paint and it has been painted over, which makes her feel as though it was dropped and someone has tried to cover up knowingly done damage. It wouldn’t be a problem, if someone had just been frank about the matter and pointed out these changes. Painting over damage and saying nothing makes my wife feel deceived.
Furthermore, we had the Axa lock switched out with one that has the compatible chain. When we picked up the bike the original lock was not present, nor were the leather grips that we had swapped out. Having thought back on this, we are confused as to why we were not given the opportunity to keep the original lock as it is still technically ours and we could have used it in the future on another bike.
I e-​mailed Dutch Bike Co. four times and never got a response back.

Dutch Bike Co. is solid coffee shop in Ballard.
I enjoy coming here for a coffee from time to time when I’m close by. The baristas are always friendly and their coffee is darn good. I’m a big fan! Cool space.
Oh, they have bikes, too.

Just another Seattle café. What sets them apart is the cool integration with a bike shop, but that’s about it.
PROS:
1. Good location
2. Cool business model. Get a pick-​me-​up while getting a tune-​up? Why not?!
CONS:
1. Not so ambiant
2. Baked goods aren’t fresh, and there are flies swarming around the display case
3. $ 0.30 surcharge for using a card on a less than $ 5 order. You kidding me? Everything on the menu is less than $ 5, so that means you either gotta get two things, or pay the fee. Kind of lame and kind of shady, considering that the only sign indicating the charge is on the back side of the credit card machine.
Meh.

Five stars to one.
I’m bummed, really bummed, but I can’t give them one more dollar. I decided to put upright bars on one of my bikes and stopped to look at what they had. David was eager to show me what they had and to take the job (I had planned to do the work myself, since they were very busy). I left my bike with them after discussing what brake levers and grips I wanted to use and said «no hurry.» I meant the no hurry part, I have other bikes to ride.
A week later someone wanted to buy the Nitto bars that were on the bike, so I stopped in to ask that they either let me remove them or remove them so that I could sell them. Still no rush on my part. A week later, I stopped by – my parts had come in but they had a problem. The bars did not have the correct stem clamp diameter for my stem. I was literally told «We don’t know what to do.»
1. Who orders handlebars without checking the stem clamp diameter? What BIKE SHOP does not check it?
2. Uh, there’s a shim for that. I had to go home, find the correct shim, go back and tell them what to order.
So another week goes by. I get a call that my bike is ready, but that the twist shifter and my brake levers really don’t leave much grip space. I look at it, and that’s correct, they don’t. They give me the bike with maybe 3″ of grip on the right side. Really not cool. I was ready to chalk it up to my problem, order new brake levers that DID fit (because they exist), and put these on another bike. But the whole thing upset me. I paid them. They are a bike shop. If the levers that I said I liked don’t fit DON’T JUST USE THEM ANYWAY. You are a BIKE SHOP. Tell me that others will work better. You are a BIKE SHOP and should have that knowledge.
So I decided to give them a chance. I took it back to David. I showed him that the clamps on the brake levers were not appropriate for use with a twist grip shifter. He apologized and said the bike never should have gone out in that condition and told me they would fix it for me free of charge.
A week went by. I called. «Yes, your bike is ready.» I grabbed my helmet and walked over. My bike had EXACTLY THE SAME LEVERS that it had when I dropped it off. They had been moved a bit. I was furious and said «This is exactly how I dropped it off. These levers do not work with this shifter. They were supposed to be replaced.» I was told that ANY OTHER LEVERS would be exactly the same. I pointed out the other clamp styles on other bikes IN THE SHOP. The next argument was that it would not get me «much more room.» I measured the other clamps and showed how I would get another ¾″ at least.
There is no good answer to the fact that I was argued with. Did the bike mechanic not know that there are different clamp styles on brake levers? If not, then he probably should not be working on bikes. Did he know, but lie to me anyway?
He offered to take a set of levers off a Linus bike in the shop and put them on my bike because he «did not want my bike there anymore.» I pointed out that I found that a bit insulting, given the circumstances. I let them swap the levers and took the bike home to install the grips myself.
The brake levers are unevenly adjusted (one is much looser than the other) and did I mention that they never returned the levers that were on the drop bars that I initially had them remove?
Don’t worry, Dutch Bike Co, you’ll never have the inconvenience of having my bike in your shop again. I’ll shop online or go to Rosebud, Free Range, Wright, or just about ANYONE ELSE.

Dutch Bike Co, I am very torn about how to rate you. All employees I interacted with were beyond friendly, helpful and knowledgeable (including baristas), but… What company sells more Groupons than they have the capacity to take on work for???
I bought a coupon for a full tune-​up ($ 35, for regularly $ 70) and called late summer hoping to make an appointment for said tune-​up. I was told they were booked up through when the Groupon expired which wasn’t for another fivemonths! Seriously.
I explained I was just in a crash and a little worried about my baby being out of true, and couldn’t they even take a quick look at it just to assess where my needs were at? Eventually, the man I spoke to on the phone said to sure, bring it by, and they’d see what they could do.
I rode over, grabbed a delicious latte while waiting about 10 minutes, and had my bike thrown up on the stand. After a brief diagnosis, I was told I’d actually been doing a great job of maintenance on my own (nice job, me!) and really all I needed was a new chain, which they would allow me to apply the cash value of my Groupon toward. Now, I certainly feel the full value of my purchase should have applied, since it was within the eligible time, but do understand the difference between labor and parts. So, again, I’m torn.
I watched and learned while Lance (?) replaced my chain, and was quickly out of there on my way again.
This is more of a 2.5 star review, but I erred on the side of 3 stars, despite my extreme disappointment in coupon redeem-​ability, because I suspect they are amazing when not under expiration-​date-​fire. Hmm… to be confirmed at a later date.

I am going with a one star on this review only because there is not option for no star for Unilocal rating, zero star is what I think this businss deserves.
What kind of bike shop has no storage??? I called a few times because I have a groupon for a full tune up and they cannot take my bike in because there was no storage and I cannot leave and pick up the bike because they are just SO BUSY!
Of course the Groupon then approached expiration. I called and was told that the value of the Groupon can be turned into a basic tune for the value since they cannot accomodate the full tune before expiration, blah blah blah. Ok so I made a point to ask when they can take in a basic tune.
I showed up at the store with my bike on the date in question and upon quick inspection was told that it was really in good shape apart from some shifting cleaning with wd40 and required no tune at this time and why not come back a different time.
Just as I was about to turn around and leave, a chain inspection was suggested and it was determined that I needed a new chain and that the value of the Groupon can be applied towards it.
I said ok since I made the trek all the way to Ballard.
Half an hour later, I came back and was told that they did a basic tune and a change of chain and I owe them additional $ 30+.
WHAT!
After some argument, I paid, and left the store feeling like I have been swindled!
I have dealt with many bike stores and have no problem paying for good service, this experience leaves me with the bad taste in my mouth. I will NEVER come back here and will NEVER recommend anyone I know to come here.

Very cute place to relax and have a glass of wine while you wait a couple hours for your table at The Walrus and the Carpenter. I had a glass of the rose, which was light and refreshing, perfect for the mild Seattle night. The space is airy and open, but there are only seats for about 12 people.
Pastries and coffee looked pretty tempting, I’d be down for a return visit to try them out!