LuLu’s Cyclery

To the person who was working the store Thurs. afternoon around 3:30 pm a word of advice.
If you’re the owner, you need a new business model: one that acknowledges, while you’re on the phone, that a customer came in with his bike and has been standing there for quite some time A simple social skill like saying I’ll be with you momentarily would go a long way. Instead, totally ignoring me, while talking to someone about a piano, leaves me feeling as flat as my bike tire. If you’re a worker, perhaps disgruntled, for whatever reason, and not caring at all, then you still need to fake it, pretend you care enough to at least acknowledge my presence.
I lleft the store, went to the bicycle store a few blocks down and within about 15 minutes, had my flat tire repaired.

I was nervous about purchasing a bike as I haven’t had one in many years but I received great, friendly customer service. The folks at LuLu listened to my needs and my price range and made some great recommendations. I shopped around a couple of other bike stores to test ride several different bikes but ultimately the selection, the price and the service brought me back to LuLu’s. I’m so excited about my new bike, thanks for making the process a joy. I would definitely recommend LuLu’s.

I live in San Francisco, and this is where I direct all my friends to buy their first bike. They sell used bikes, but they put considerable effort into rebuilding them first if any of the components aren’t up to snuff. So when you walk out of the shop you have the best of both worlds– inexpensive, and reliable. I’ve had a half a dozen of my friends buy their bikes here, and they’re all happy with them months later.
Plus the people there are super friendly! I’ve never felt pressured to buy. And if they don’t have anything in your size, they’ll see if they have any frames in their warehouse they can build up for you.
Well worth the BART trip over to visit this crew, and buy the best used bikes I’ve found yet in the Bay Area.

Great shop, really nice staff. They spent over an hour with me as I tried out different bikes and got them to be just the right fit. Emily (I think is her name) was the one helping me out. Not the cheapest bike shop, but reasonable from what I could tell. I don’t know a-​thing about bikes so can’t review them on a lot of the technical stuff or how a «good» bike shop would be run. But they were helpful, nice, and I am very happy with my new bike!

Really great service and good prices. I bought a bike here a while back and came back recently to get a seat cover and kick stand. They didn’t have seat covers but when I told them it was an uncomfortable seat, they offered to switch it for a new one free of charge. I got a kickstand (they put it on for free) and also a phone carrier, which was also put on.
Awesome selection and good service.

I tried to replace my tires after someone attempted to steal my bike, but couldn’t get the alignment right. The owner of LuLu’s straightened them out and pumped them up for me free of charge! Thank you!

A year ago, they equipped me with a bike which took me all the way up to Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. Had a truly excellent time.

My experience with LuLu’s is limited — just went in for a new saddle for my mountain bike. I just brought the seat and post and the gentleman helping was really friendly, offered a new wider seat that would better accommodate my gf, and installed it onto the post free of charge. The seat was reasonably priced too. We heard him explain to another customer why they don’t (and cannot) sell used rims (they’re a safety hazard). I liked the service and would return there for parts/​repairs in a minute.

Love my Opus bike I got from here! They were very quick to help me find just the right one. I also brought it back to have it looked at after one of the pedals started knocking and they made a quick adjustment and had me on my way. They were also featured in Sunset magazine some time ago. Come here if you’re looking for something different that you won’t find everywhere else.

Just bought a used vintage Raleigh road bike from these guys last week. I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with the staff at Lulu’s — they were very knowledgeable and down to earth, and sincerely wanted to make sure I was happy with what I was buying. They also were really chill with maintenance; they said that they’d be happy to do small maintenance jobs for free. Would definitely buy from these guys again!

I stopped by to have something fixed on my bike today; it only needed a small tweak and they did it right there and would not charge me a dime. Nice guys, and they seem to have a lot of good commuter bikes and accessories.

I’ve made a mistake by buying a brand new bike from this shop without much research. They are quite nice until you buy the bike but If you have any problems with the bike, they won’t take care of it, no warranty at all.
I’ve paid around $ 600 for simple bike, and it started making problems in the first week. I took it back there, show what is wrong and they fixed. But later when I took there they said they won’t do it next time for free. It was the same issue they claimed that they fixed it, but it repeated the same thing. So either they don’t know how to fix it, or they just want to get more money from you.
They also told me that they would call the manufacturer company about the problem with my bike, but guess what? they didn’t even get back to me, which was not a surprise.
Later I took the bike to two other mechanics to check out what is wrong. And the first thing they said they give full support to their customers and they could fix it for free for one year. I’ve had to pay another $ 60 just to fix their mistake. Both of the Mechanics that I took my bike, told the same thing that those guys had no mechanical skills.
Make yourself a favor and either buy the same bike online, with at least 25% cheaper or go some other professional store and make it right.
After reading the reviews, what I realise is, people just rated the owner of the store, not the quality of products or the service. Hope this review helps someone. I could give «0» star if it would be possible.
**** EDIT ****
After reading the response from the Shop Owner, I’ve had to edit my Review.
First of all, this bike is not more expensive online. Please do not misdirect the people. I’ve checked it online and there are a lot of retailers selling the same bike pretty much the same price even after your discount. You probably refer to Official Company’s website.
Second thing is, my complain is not about money I spent, but the service I received in return. So here is problem.
Problem: If I spend any amount of money (Either $ 1 or $ 1M) on a Brand new product I expect to have the product functions as it’s promised, which is all about being able to ride it. And it does not function well, I’m not able to use it since the first week. I’m not asking over promises or race-​level bike. What I want is simple: I just want to be able to ride it.
This is not first bike in my life. I’ve been using many number of bikes over 20 years. And I didn’t have that kind of issue before, not even once.
Solution: (Which I and everybody would expect) Either you fix it the bike for free, or you replace it. If you cannot do any of them, you offer a refund or a discount on another bike.
Solution from Your Side: You didn’t fix it or you couldn’t fix it. And you asked for extra money to fix it. You didn’t either offer a replacement nor a Refund. It’s not ethic what you did, you are only interested in selling the bike.
*** EDIT ** (7÷16÷2015) after Shop Owner deletes their previous Comment and re-​writes with yet another excuse.
Before I make a review on anything I first make sure that it’s not only my opinion but it’s common for most of the people.
So you claim that it’s my fault about how I ride the bike. As I explained that it’s not my first bike in my life and in fact I’m riding bikes for more than 20 years.
I’ve taken the bike to more than several different bike shops or mechanics and asked them what is wrong with the bike, without giving any information up front. They all said this wheel is not normal for a bike you pay more than $ 500, the shop you bought it from needs to make a replacement or refund you. and then I asked if it has something to do with the city roads or user usage. They all said, It’s nothing to do with the roads or the way how user rides it unless you participate in a street bike race.
Summary: You are the only bike shop, or mechanic, who claims that this is on the user end. I’m not here to discuss all the details about how hopeless you are doing your job, but just wanted to show people, who reads the comments before going to a place or purchasing something on Unilocal,that this place is only fine when you don’t have any issues. If you do have any kind of small issues, this what you will get in return. Make yourself a favor and go get it from Wallmart or something, so you can return it any time.

I’ve never bothered to write a Unilocal review until riding my bike in for a repair today.
After my experience, I downloaded the Unilocal app just to write how awesome the customer service was today. I’m not surprised to see all the 5 star reviews.
It was like finding a thorough and honest car mechanic… These people are great from my first experience with a repair and installation.

First Review (Hopefully its helpful)
I’m here to rate Rich (Richard) who is a super friendly old guy who introduced me to the realm of bikes. He is full of jokes and super funny (and persuasive too he successfully made me buy a helmet which I loved!!) I got all the things I need for a bike including safety tips and advices. I biked away with a (used) bike I loved at first sight and all the accessories at affordable price.
I haven’t been back for a repair or something so I’ll rate that once I had a chance to go fix something or have oil changed.

(First Unilocal review – That’s how much I liked this place!)
Bought an awesome new bike yesterday at Lulu’s. The last time I rode a bike I was in middle school, so I came in with minimal bike knowledge and asked a lot of really clueless questions. The staff was extremely friendly and patient, even though it was near closing and I could tell it had been a long day. I tried a couple of bikes and decided on one that was a little pricy, so they even cut me a great deal on it!
I’ll definitely come here from now on for all my bike needs. They were really awesome and respectful of my beginner skill level and low budget. Thanks Lulu’s! :-)

I went to Lulu’s a couple of weeks ago to rent a bicycle for me and a friend to use in San Francisco for a day. The price was great and it included everything we needed: bike, lock, helmet. Also they gave us the bikes for 24 hours, so we were able to bike the whole day and not worry about bringing them back before the shop closed that day.
A couple of days ago, I was in Berkeley again, but this time I had my bike, but I forgot to bring my lock, so I went to Lulu’s to try to rent two bike locks. I don’t think this is standard practice, but I told them my situation and they let me borrow two locks free of charge. This I thought was pretty exceptional.

I just dropped by and chatted with an older gentleman outside about my front tire that I was considering replacing. He shared a lot of useful information, including how to mix 25 mm and 28 mm tires, and determined that I don’t need to replace it just yet.
I feel bad that I didn’t buy anything this time, but when I do need to replace something or need a new accessory, I’ll be sure to head back to Lulu’s!

I love this shop! Only been here once, but damn, so glad I did.
I was on the hunt for an entry-​level road bike around $ 1,000. We weren’t finding a lot in the surrounds as it’s in between seasons, but Lulu’s had two different bikes that totally fit in my ranges, size and cost. The components of the imported Stevens bike I eventually walked away with were superior to anything else I’d looked at in the same price range.
Emily spent an hour with us on a Sunday evening adjusting things and fitting me and letting us scoot around the neighborhood test riding.
Super bonus: lifetime of free tune-​ups for my new ride.
The good: awesome customer service. And I love how quirky the shop is. Medals and photos and bikes everywhere.
The bad: limited selection for sure. I totally lucked out.
Super bonus: finally, a store that gets people need the weekends for big purchases; Lulu’s is closed Wednesday/​Thursday, when I imagine most folks aren’t buying bikes. Duh.

Dennis was super helpful! They have affordable bikes and Dennis knows his bikes. He will answer your questions so ask. My family was able to look and try bikes until they found something that they liked. Thanks for helping us find a ride Dennis!
They also have a 30 day guarantee, which made us feel better about their company.

The gist: Bike rental made easy — they go above and beyond.
I’ve only rented a bike here, not used any of their other services, but it was super painless. They had a couple cruiser styles and what I thought was a pretty reasonable rental price for the day. The person I was renting it for wanted a basket, which it didn’t come with, but they obliged and put a basket on the front. I thought that was pretty nice that they were willing to do that. The bike didn’t have any issues and the woman at the shop said that if we were running late returning the bike, to just give her a call.
I got the sense that LuLu’s is kind of going for a bike shop somewhere between the messy DIY collectives in Berkeley and the über manly bike shops. It felt like a very welcoming environment for women, which I think is much-​needed in the bike shop scene. I just got a bunch of work done on my bike so I probably won’t be getting any tune-​up service any time soon, but I may stop in for a tube if I’m riding by. Definitely recommend coming here.
Why not 5 stars? I didn’t see their whole selection of rental bikes, but they didn’t have a women’s in the large size my GF’s mom was looking for. That’s totally fine for most folks and really, for renting a bike, that makes sense they wouldn’t have the perfect size, but it was kind of a bummer. That said, they easily could have just rented that size out or something — I’ll give ‘em the benefit of the doubt, and the bike they gave us worked out fine.