The Bicycle Works

My front brake cable broke a day before I was leaving town. Unrelatedly, I also needed all brake pads replaced (I’m lazy with maintenance).
Fortunately, they were able to squeeze me in that day (a Sunday), and a few hours later, I picked up my bike for what had to be the most reasonable price I’ve paid for repairs since I moved here last year.
Definitely my new bike shop in Edinburgh.

A great shop for repairs and buying the odd bit of kit that you need before a ride. Its not a huge shop and I won’t say much about it. If you don’t know a huge amount about bikes you are safe to take your bike in — they’ll do a good job, at a good price and they’ll be polite. However if you know your stuff this place can be a bit of a nightmare.
Let me highlight one incident (which is not in isolation). I took my bike along needing a bottom bracket re-​grease. I didnt have time or the tools. The mechanic looked at it and insisted that the creak was my pedals. I explained that this was not the case but he wouldnt take no for an answer.
In the end I had to just say «Look how about I pay you to strip and re grease the bottom bracket and when I get back if the creak is still there I will pay again for the pedals.»
Sure enough when I got back the bottom bracket had been done and it was sorted out. Now I’m not suggesting the customer is always right but I dislike the attitude that he must know better because he works in a bike shop. Anyway overall a great shop I just don’t try and be friendly with the staff anymore.

Walked in and out so fast. They are definitely a well oiled machine (hehe).
The prices are really fair as well. £16 for a tune up, and it cost me £4.
Overall I was really impressed, I know nothing about bikes and they made it very easy for me. I basically pointed to my tire and said, «problem.» and they got it sorted without any other details.
Great local spot for me, I will definitely make it my go to bike place.
PLUS you can always eat some delicious fruit/​veg from the local markets next door. Fab.

I stopped by here with the boy because he needed to get a bicycle wheel fixed.
In 5 minutes he was in, out, and with a bouncy new wheel — hurrah! All for the fine cost of 8 pretty pounds.
Tucked up Marchmont, it’s not somewhere you’d pass every day but they can do anything you could possibly need doing to your bike, and then some.
My previous flatmate was a cyclist, and I mean like proper, hard-​core, 80 mile race cyclist. She swore by this place to keep her bike in check.
Professional, cheap, friendly and local — whee!

If you need your bike fixing in a short time and for very little, come to The Bike Works.
PRICE: Parts and tools cost as little as they would anywhere. The cost of servicing is very reasonable, and you will only pay for what you have asked to be done.
QUALITY: Service is very good. Friendly staff will sort out what you need, and always have a useful suggestion to make.
CHOICE: Though small, there are a wide range of parts to choose from, and the shop is able to order in any component not found within their stocks.
Being a keen and experienced cyclist, on coming to Edinburgh I needed a shop where I could get my brake pads, tyres and inner tubes for a reasonable price and relatively near where I lived, whilst also providing a place to service the bike if it required work beyond my expertise. The Bike Works provided this. It is a wee shop just off Sciennes Road or the Meadows and easy to find. Staff here are friendly, know their stuff and won’t try and fleece you. Maintenance is of a high standard and when the occasion arises that you cannot fix your bike yourself, they will do only as you ask them and the bike will potentially be with you by the end of the day.
The shop is also open at very useful hours, allowing you to pop in for that spare part you couldn’t find during those evening bike-​maintenance sessions, or to pick up an inner-​tube before spinning off on a night cycle to the Pentlands. Other very useful features include rails for bike-​parking outside; a card-​reader for the change-​less many out there and regular staff who often recognise you or your bike when you bring it in with a bent hanger or misaligned dérailleur.
I find this place to be a gem among the many fine shops in this little area of Marchmont, and it deserves a terrific thumbs-​up and my own special Gold Award for best in class.

I picked up the recommendation for this repair shop from someone at the park and that is really how this shop keeps up its business. It’s not in the best retail spot for business, so it does have to rely a lot on word of mouth, but thankfully for its sake it does deliver. Despite the slight lack of passers by it isn’t in a bad location to reach with your bike being just off the meadows.
Over the years I’ve visited several different bike shops to attempt to get repairs done and many of these fall wide of the mark and don’t seem to interested in your business. This shop is an exception and if you have a repair that needs doing, come straight here.

If you live in Marchmont and need you bike fixed then I could certainly recommend that you call upon the expertise of The Bicycle Works. Although I don’t really cycle much myself, I saw the work which they did on a friend of mine’s bike and it was excellent. He had smashed his front wheel on a particularly high curb and brought it in to these guys who realigned the wheel and fitted it out with new spokes. Apparantly it only cost about £30 and he hasn’t had any problems with it since.
The shop inside is clean and ordered with a whole range of spare parts, puncture repair kits and bike chains. The staff are friendly and definitely know what they’re talking about, making this the place to come for your cycle repairs.