Tsunami Cycles

I called the store to ask for a custom bike. The sales associate told me I had to come in to get measurements. I came a few days later, they told me only the manager can custom make bikes. So I asked to speak to a manager, he wasn’t in. I asked when he would be in, they didn’t know.
I called again a few days later and left a message to make an appointment with the manager. I came in and we discussed what kind of bike I wanted. He told me he’d ask around. That was the last I heard from him. I emailed him multiple times after we spoke in person asking about my bike, no reply. I called. No reply. This is probably the worst customer service experience I’ve ever had. Would give zero stars if I could.

I had a brake problem while out for a ride and stopped by this shop. Although he was in the middle of a repair, I was promptly helped by Justin. He provided a lot of options for resolving my bike’s issue and explained everything in casual detail. The total cost was surprisingly low and he did the repair on the spot! He was a very real, down to earth guy and made the experience enjoyable. If you’ve ever been somewhere for service that doesn’t feel like service but more like your just talking to a friend, that’s what this guy was like. I like that because it doesn’t feel forced or just transactional. I would definitely come back and recommend this place to all my fellow Unilocalers. I’ve ridden my bike 100 miles since this incident and it works even better than before.

I’ve taken 2 of my kids bikes here and the service has been impeccable. They are very knowledgeable and have great customer service.

I went into Tsunami at this afternoon and received great service. I was attended to by Justin, who took the time to explain to me (a bike layperson) which bike would best fit my needs. He was friendly, trustworthy and knowledgeable.
I bought a bike, rode it the 20 minutes home and the left pedal arm fell off. I thought, ‘I’ve just dropped $ 450 on a new bike and it breaks after 20 minutes of being ridden?!’.
I called Tsunami, spoke straight away with Justin, and within an hour of my call, Justin had personally biked over to my house on E Riverside, replaced the necessary bolts, and the bike was back up and running… all for free.
As someone who works in the service industry, I very much appreciated Justin and Tsunami going the extra mile. Thank you.
Tsunami’s management should know that Justin is great value to your team.
Highly recommended.

I brought in my fiancé’s bike last week to have a flat repaired. When we went for a ride, we realized the tire hadn’t even been inflated. Fortunately, we have a bike pump. Not even 10 minutes into our first ride, the back tire slipped and rammed up against the frame — rear lugs weren’t tightened. Fortunately, the wheel didn’t fall off the frame while riding, and I carry a bike wrench on me and was able to tighten it properly.
Today, I brought my bike in for a tune up. Again, not even 10 minutes into a ride and the back tire slipped and rammed up against the frame because the lugs weren’t tightened. After paying $ 54 for a tune-​up, you’d at least expect the lug nuts to be tightened properly. Bike wrench to the rescue yet again.
While they did do a speedy job — which I appreciate — they need to pay attention to re-​assembling bikes fully, properly and with safety in mind. Due to both of our rear wheels nearly coming off of the bike frame, I doubt we’ll be returning to Tsunami Cycles.
UPDATE: The owner called me after seeing this review and offered to refund my money. At the time if this update (September 4, 2015), it is 55 days later and still no refund. We also discovered that when the rear wheel of my fiancé’s bike fell off while it was being ridden, the rear axle was severely bent, requiring further repair. I took the bike to Pedal Pushers on E. 5^th, and not only did they replace the destroyed axle, they also tuned it up – all for just $ 30. Glad I found Pedal Pushers!

Highly recommend! They are friendly and do great work. I think the pricing is very fair as well. I came in after buying my very first bike ever, used on Craigslist, and asked them to give it a once over for me and make sure everything was in safe working order. A «lookover» is only $ 15 and they also lube it up and all that at the same time. They actually fixed something for me for free and put end caps on my handles at no additional charge. The pricing on parts includes labor and looks lower than a few other bike shops I’ve visited.

Best service, in any industry, I have ever received in Austin.
I had a flat tire that they fixed super fast despite being very very busy. The employee also tightened up my seat and did some adjustments on my chain and shifters to make it run much better. He said no charge for the adjustments he just wanted to make my ride more comfortable. I was out of there in 10 minutes and my bike is so noticeably better it’s almost unbelievable. I will be scheduling a full service tuneup soon.
I am a customer for life now. Thanks

Some of the greatest and most friendly dudes. They don’t intimidate you, make you feel at home and go out of their way to educate you on bike stuff. Highly recommend them not only for their service but their affordability and desire to work with you on prices. Great staff. Great experience overall! Got a pawn shop bike the other day and I knew exactly where to take it to get it riding like new again, brought it to Tsunami and they worked it and had me ready to go in a day. This place rocks.

I love this shop! It’s amazing. The service is wonderful, the quality of work is always great, and the people are some of the friendliest in town. I have always been 100% satisfied with everything Tsunami has ever done for me and they will always be my first choice for bike repairs. I regularly recommend them to everyone who is a cyclist, because they’ve found small things that need to fixed on my bike that other places have missed on multiple occasions.
One of my favorite things about Tsunami is that if you visit them on a Sunday the employees will teach you how to fix your bike on your own for free! Wanna know how to change a tire? They’ll show you. Wanna know how to true a wheel? Sure, they’ll explain it all! Wanna know how to adjust a chain? Cool, They’ll give you the DL.
This is a great shop that really understands the cyclist community here in Austin. It’s a great place to be familiar with, so support a wonderful local business and go check them out. You’ll be so glad you did!

Love this place! It’s my neighborhood bike shop, so I stop in whenever something’s wonky on my bike. The guys who service my bike let me come around, check out what they’re doing, and answer any questions I have regarding my bike.
Apparently, the shop is open on Sundays for for owners to work on their bikes. I will definitely take advantage of this at some point.

Not a great experience with the shop. The time to tune up my bike was in the neighborhood of 4+ hours. On pick up, some of the tune was done incorrectly. Had to take it back to be fixed. Few more rides, and the gears are not shifting properly, the breaks are still not working correctly, and there’s now a whining squealing noise going on.
Here’s what supposed to be in a tune up:
Adjust brakes — did not happen the first time /​and still not correct
Adjust gears — not shifting smoothly and chain now jumps between gears
True Wheels — seems okay
Inspect and adjust hubs — squeaks now
Inspect and adjust bottom bracket — seems okay
Inspect and adjust headset — seems okay
Clean and lube drive-​train — I now have squealing when I didn’t before
Overall safety-​check — things were loose when I picked up. Not sure what was checked.
Also, if you go here don’t expect an explanation on the work done. I was hoping for someone to go over what needs to be replaced and what’s looking good. Nope. I’m disappointed because this was $ 50 and now my bike is worse than it was. I’m out the money, but I guess I learned a lesson in exchange. Save your money people and do it yourself or go elsewhere.
If the owner were to contact me and offer a refund I’d take it. If they wanted to fix the mistakes made during the tune up… no way.

I’ll keep this short and to the point. This place fu**ing rocks.
A group of 6 of us came for ACL and rented bikes here to get around. The bikes were like brand new, the staff was awesome and the return process was super easy.
Our flight left at 6am. The owner said we could just lock the bikes up out front and then told us what to do with the key.
Our hotel (Hotel San Jose — go here!) ended up returning the bikes for us on Monday which made life even easier.
Not a lot to say other than stop researching best bike rental places in Austin and just go here. They made our trip so much better.

Their labor job, prices and approach to clients includes myself is excellent! Like the way they talk and being so friendly. Love love their small shop and definitely will come back again for updates! :)

I Came in too close to closing and felt terrible about it. But this place was awesome. The guys weren’t super douchie like other bike shops I’ve been to and they helped me out even though I came in so close to when they closed (doesn’t excuse my actions). I would definitely recommend this place for anyone who is getting bike work done, they are super helpful and I will be back.

This is my go-​to shop. The guys here are straightforward, smart, and don’t give you the run around. Work is done quickly, efficiently, and they’re always happy to see you walk through the door even if they’re busy. They always take great care of me, without judgement that I was riding a cheap piece of crap from Walmart.
Just bought a brand new, Fuji bike from them and will continue to go there for whatever I need. This shop has been around a long time, and for good reason.

My favorite bike shop in Austin.
Seriously love this place, and the guys that work here. Probably the friendliest and least judgmental shops I’ve ever been in. You’ll never be ridiculed or judged for riding a cheap bike, or a bike with cheap components. David is super helpful and really accommodating. He’ll take care of you.
Great prices, and they also take the Go Local card here!

After making a fine mess of my front derailer in an attempt at tuning it I headed on over to Tsunami since it’s about a block from my apartment. I was going to just buy a new cable and install it myself but when I asked if they had time to do the job the mechanic said yes. He put my bike up on the rack and went to work. He mentioned there was no tension adjuster and suggested an inline one. I agreed and he got my beloved workhorse put back together and road worthy just in time to ride on down to ACL and check out the throngs of festival goers.
On top of the great service it was about half what I was expecting to pay!

I pass here every day on my bike commute to and from work. The other day I stopped in to get some chain lube and was greeted by Anthony. He was so nice and helpful and offered to take a look at my bike because my gears hadn’t been working right. Turns out one of my cables had been cut and that’s why I was only able to stay in one gear. He very quickly fixed it up and it was only an 8 dollar charge. This shop may not be stocked as full as Bicylce Sport shop or RIE but the service was great and I will be back for all my bike tune up’s and repairs.

I guess this place is ok. I’ve been here 3 times and each time I’m told that my bike is cheap lol. Every. Time.
So I scored a used bike from an abandoned bike auction to use to supplement using Austin’s awful bus system and to get some exercise. I wanted to get it tuned up because space only knows who had it and how hard they treated it. I took it here after a Unilocal search.
A dude there props it up on the bike rack and fools around with it some, then says, «You padicab?» I replied that I did not. He says, «Well what’s this?», holding on to a piece attached to the seat pole and in an accusatory tone as if I was trying to dupe him or something.
I replied that I had no idea, that I bought it used from an auction and I had no idea who had it before me let alone how they used it. He grumbled something under his breathe and said he would tune it up, but that it was cheap and may or may not make a difference.
To their credit they did have it done in like less than an hour and called to let me know that it was ready.
Anyone recommend a good bicycle repair shop that isn’t pretentious about owning a $ 2,500 bike? lmao

I’ve been going to Tsunami forever the past year and I was pretty smitten, but they’ve made me fall head over heels when they took care of the Gitane that made an unfortunate collision with a car. They tried their best to revive it, but unfortunately my poor frame was too bent. Brian then spent tnext he rest of his time showing me what the best replacement frames that might be good options. Two days later I came back with a Peugeot frame and Brian was able to strip all of my working parts off my Gitane on to my Puegeot frame, and make a bike that looks like it’s straight out of Back to the Future.