Community Bicycle Supply

I would give this place 100 stars if I could. Community Bike is, quite simply, the best bike shop in the Boston area. They sold me my first road bike and have been incredibly supportive in my continued development as a rider, going far above and beyond the call of duty in terms of doing small (and large) repairs without an appointment, providing incredibly reasonable rates, and assuring me that my stupid questions are totally ok to ask. Rich and the rest of the crew are the friendliest, least pretentious, and most knowledgeable folks you will find anywhere in Boston — I visited multiple other shops in Boston before coming here, and nothing even came close. I travel far out of my way to come to Community Bike because the staff make it worth it.

Wow. Thank you, Community Bicycle Supply. I’m an out of towner and had an actual bike emergency tonight. I called a few days ago to schedule a quick safety check and adjustment in the very narrow window I had. Most bike stores would have laughed in my face. Community told me they’d make it work. And it was in the perfect spot for where I was staying.
My bike didn’t come on my flight as it was supposed to and I was due to be on the road early in the morning. Throwing myself at their mercy, I only had half an hour before they closed. They got me right and ready to go in no time. They were even out of those Gu energy gels to buy so they gave me a couple free samples. I’m gonna miss these guys back in DC.

I first visited this shop one morning when I neglected to bring my bicycle lock to work. I had an important meeting and nowhere else to store my bike. Community Bicycle Supply was nearby and I went expecting to have to buy a new lock, which I didn’t need. A very friendly employee/​owner? suggested I just rent a lock rather than buy one from him. It sounds like a small thing, but it’s rare when a bike shop will put your needs over their own profit. When you visit, you can trust they’re not just trying to maximize the amount of money they can make off you.

Super helpful and great at what they do.
I have this super hipster vintage european bike (yeah, I know…) that needed some major repairs. They were able to do it quickly, and for less than half of what I was expecting!

Love, love, love this place. Went to get on my bike this morning to find the front tire competely flat, surprise! Hauled my bike all the way to Community Bike Supply from JP — I’ve been there before to replace a frayed tire and was incredibly happy with the quality and affordability of the service I got, so I feel pretty loyal to this place. Communty Bicycle did not disappoint.
The mechanic who helped me this time, Rich, was incredibly thorough and gave me little tips, pointers, and tidbits of bike history/​facts as he worked. He recommended changing the rim lining since my wheel was double rimmed, and he checked my tire integrity and made some other little adjustments (tightening my rattly fender, powdering the tube, etc.) free of charge. He could even read the history in the dents and scratches on my bike (which I bought off Craiglist for $ 100 earlier this year). Replacing the tube and rim lining came out to be very inexpensive (under $ 25) and I was very happy leaving the shop 20 minutes later!
tl;dr: Excellent service at an excellent price. This casual commuter highly recommends.

Great people, great products, great service. Everyone treats like they have known you for 1,000 years, in a a good way!

I am a fairly new/​casual rider, so I rely pretty heavily on advice and suggestions from bike shop staff. I couldn’t have been happier with the help I got from the staff here. Recently, a super friendly employee named Mark helped me, and all the staff I’ve talked to are great. Staff members seem to answer my questions honestly, even when it doesn’t translate into a sale for the store, don’t make me feel dumb for asking dumb questions, and are very professional and knowledgable. This feels like a true ‘community’ bike shop indeed. As a very much non-​expert, I can’t speak to the range of bikes and gear offered, but I can say the service is top notch.

This place is AWESOME.
Not snobby. Super helpful. So friendly. Had donuts.
I was helped by Phil who is just the nicest most helpful guy ever. He helped me pick out a lock and some SPD pedals and mounted/​installed them for me too. No upselling or pressure. They went above and beyond when the bolts didn’t work with my frame so they took it into the back and worked some magic.
It seriously has a ‘community’ feel to it. I was going to just buy everything on Amazon but I’m so glad that I didn’t! Great experience :)

I would have to echo what someone else said about bike shop syndrome. I walked in an started looking for what I wanted. I kept glancing over at the sales desk in the middle of the shop where two fellows sat there ignoring me. I walked over to the desk and started to ask a question when I was interrupted with the answer, «if you don’t see it there, we don’t have it.» I protested that I had not even finished asking my question. The experience left me with a very bad impression and I was just about to walk out when one of the mechanics from the back approached me and soon got me sorted out. He was awesome. He helped me pick out what I needed, gave me advice on which model to chose and then did a great job of installing it. The owner needs to hire more people like that mechanic and fewer people like the two that were «staffing» that front sales desk.
Now, in terms of their stock, they have more bikes on display than the other stores in the area so I am surprised to hear someone commenting about their lack of stock. In addition to the display area, they also have a huge storage area next door (not open to the public) where they have even more stuff.

So happy to have this shop just down the street from my apartment. The staff is very knowledgeable and friendly, and not at all bike-​snobby like some other shops I’ve been to. I know some things about bike maintenance, but not all of the things, and it’s nice to be treated pleasantly regardless of my knowledge. They also don’t take advantage of a lack of knowledge by doing an overhaul when it’s not necessary. Their shop is well stocked with anything you might need to outfit your bike. Lastly, they do give bike benefits discounts, so make sure to bring in your sticker!
OH! And their shop is on the street level, so you can walk your bike right into the store instead of, say, carrying it awkwardly down a bunch of curved steps to a basement level shop.

I like this place & it convenient to me. They do a good job, quickly and reasonably priced.

Came here to buy a bike pump since my bike had a flat, and they were very straightforward with everything. I was just looking for a hand pump, and the woman didn’t try to sell me anything I didn’t need and gave me the most practical option. At $ 15 for a low end hand pump, it was comparable to the prices on Amazon, so I was pretty happy with my purchase without having to wait for shipping or anything.

I’ve been on a bike hunt for the last month. I’m hoping to buy from a local store like this one. I stopped in last week and had someone immediately ask me for help; I was in a rush and didn’t have time to really get into purchasing. I just went back with the intensions of purchasing on the spot if I found the right bike.
I walked around the entire store, and found what seemed like the one. I tried to get the person at the counters attention but immediately felt like I was bugging him. Once I was on the bike I was seriously interested in purchasing but he was so unhelpful and rude I was immediately turned off from purchasing.
A little kindness goes a long way. I would have walked out with a bike if he’d been kinder and more helpful. Definitely not buying a bike from here.

I’ve been riding into work (Chinatown) from JP for the past 3 weeks or so on a second hand bike I picked up on Craigslist. I was having trouble with a loose crank arm and the guys at Community Bicycle Supply were able to fix me up and threw is a tire check free of charge!
I highly recommend this place for any bike servicing or repairs.
Thanks again guys!

Not connected to anyone at this business. Brought my son’s bike in because it was making a clicking noise. They figured it out and fixed it in about 10 minutes and only charged me $ 5. Everyone was very friendly and everything was extremely efficient.

I went here recently to replace my bike seat, which had been stolen (boo!). They replaced the saddle and seat post for a little over $ 80, including new seat, post, a kryptonite cable to secure the new seat and labor.
On the whole I was very happy with the service, and the guys who replaced the seat were very friendly and efficient. The reason it doesn’t score more highly with me is that the range of stock they had wasn’t amazing, so I didn’t have a huge choice.
Secondly, they suffer from the usual ‘bike shop syndrome’ where nobody acknowledges you when you walk in, which makes it really awkward to get anyone to help you. There were a lot of people hanging around, and it wasn’t clear who was working there, who was waiting for service, who was being served etc. It’s one of my pet peeves, as it only takes for someone to say ‘hello’ and ask you if they can help when you walk in to make you feel a hundred times more welcome.
OK, rant over — I will go back to this store, as in the end I was pleased with the service I got.

My bike had a flat tire so I brought it here to get it fixed. 10 minutes later, I was back out the door with a new tire, and paid way less than I thought I would have to.
Great service, reasonable prices… best bike shop /​bike repair place I’ve been to.

They seemed like nice people, but when boxing up my bike to get it sent across country, ended up charging me 50% more than they said they would to box it up, and the Fedex charges were substantially greater than they quoted me too.
To add insult to injury, once my bike turned up in SF, the guys at the shop who reassembled it discovered the pedals had just been shoved into the box and were banging around against the frame (carbon…), the seat post had not been marked for height, and a critical piece of my brake assembly was missing. Perhaps it rattled free in transit, but I’m less inclined to think so given how poorly it was packed, and how my roommate who also made the move — and used the same bike shop — had a similarly crappily boxed bike.
Avoid if you’re using their boxing /​shipping service. Up till that point they had seemed nice, but for me who looks after my gear to entrust it to someone who overcharges then underdelivers, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

I recently started riding my bike again often and it broke down, the chain just flew off.
I had no idea, I never bothered learning how to maintain my bike so I brought it here.
I’m glad I did, I actually got help from every single staff member in the store.
The staff was really helpful, they explained what was wrong with my bike in detail and gave me an accurate time estimate on how long it would take to fix. Then they signed off some receipt and gave me a carbon copy (that I would use later to pick up the bike).
I came back next weekend and the bike was as good as new, only $ 24 and the chain was back on, everything was shiny, and nothing was missing. They even took the effort to inspect the rest of the bike and note down recommendations on what to maintain (a bent bike crank).
They didn’t take advantage of my bike inexperience and even helped explain that the bent crank wasn’t an urgent issue at all. They even helped a quick-​fix with my slightly-​off brake cords, again explaining that it wasn’t a significant issue either.
After that I bought a theft-​deterrent front bike light, and the cashier guy completely understood how the mechanism worked and explained it in detail to me so I could fully appreciate the design and how it was worth the cost.
This shop really is a benefit to the community, they also carry pamphlets on bike trails and on-​the-​spot accepted a guy’s offer to hang up some flyers about some important issue (I don’t know, it was some dude who walked in while I was getting the bike light).

The core of every great bike shop has to be the employees. They need to be knowledgeable, non-​judgmental and have an enthusiastic love of biking so that they can be helpful to both newbies and experience cyclists alike. Community Bicycle Supply is a GREAT neighborhood bicycle shop.
My husband was looking for a «trunk» bag that would protect his computer during his daily commute to and from work. The staff was super helpful and suggested the MTX Office Bag that would easily work with the Topeak rack that he already owned (we were really happy there was no attempt to push a whole new (and more expensive) system onto us. The staff’s recommendation was excellent and the purchase has totally changed his life, making his ride to work much easier and safer.
For myself, I have only purchased a helmet from Community Bicycle Supply, but this will be the first place I go the next time I buy a bike!