Grayslake Hobby World & Bicycle Shop

Please don’t go this store, because you may hear bad words form the owner, that what happened to me I spend more than 1300 dollar on my traxxas car then my next visit I was buying a battery I asked him for a discount he shouted bad words. It was really bad experience.

Last summer I took my bike to Grayslake Hobby World to get a tune up and new brakes. The only thing I didn’t like about my bike was the noisy brakes and figured it had never gotten a tune up in the past, so why not. I took it to Grayslake because I could easily ride my bike there and drop it off, no fussing with a bike rack on my car or anything, and I could walk home. It wasn’t my first time in the shop. I had previously purchased a few radio controlled items for my husband and other than being ignored for several minutes trying to get information on an item, I never had a big issue. So I dropped my bike off and was told it’d be done in a week. We were going out of town for a few days so I wasn’t really concerned about the time frame. The eighth day they had my bike, my husband called about it and found out that it had been done for a few days already and no one had informed us. Not a huge deal, but still annoying. We went to pick it up, paid the man, and I knew as soon as we were out the door that something wasn’t right, but I thought maybe because the bike had been given a tune up it may take me a little while to get used to slight differences. But basically the bike had no front brakes. I squeezed the brake lever as tight as I could and the brake pads just barely touched the wheel.
So I took the bike back, a day or two later, and on the way I had a gear slip and my chain fell off. This had never ever happened before and was just another reason I wasn’t happy with the tune up. I was told I’d have to leave it because the bike guy wasn’t there. So I did. Another week. And again, they didn’t call when it was done. I went to pick it up again and took it out front. I rode it half a block and took it right back in the store because the brakes were still terrible. The guy then tried to tell me that that’s how the brakes are supposed to be on a bike like mine. Well, no, that’s not the case. I understand the front brakes shouldn’t be as tight as the rear and you should use the rear brakes to really stop yourself so you don’t flip over, but there should be some front brakes and they should be much more even than they were when I was given my bike. Plus, I had pretty even brakes when I took the bike in so I think I know what my bike should feel like. Since I wasn’t happy with his explanation, he tried to say that maybe a different set of brake pads would be better but other than that there wasn’t anything else he could do. Okay, sure I’ll bite. So I let him put on the new pads while my husband and I went for a walk. We took the bike home, it was only marginally better and now it was also making some new clunking noises it hadn’t been making before. I was kind of fed up and just wanted to take it somewhere else but my husband took it back (since we paid $ 60 – 70 to do the tune up/​brakes in the first place) and demanded it be done right. When we picked it up the fourth time, it was magically better, it actually had front brakes and the brakes were much more even. Funny, since there was nothing more he could do… It was still making the clunking noises when I’d hit a bump and a constant creaking noise in higher gears, so I still wasn’t happy with it, but seeing how it took them four times to just get the brakes done to barely satisfactory state, I didn’t want to take it back.
So the reason I didn’t write this review last year is because this all happened at the end of the biking season so instead of taking it somewhere else again last year just to put it in storage, I decided to wait until this spring and just deal with the noises for a month or so. So, about two weeks ago, I took my bike to Mike’s Bikes in Palatine. It’s quite the drive, but I liked their showroom and saw their repair area and was impressed. I asked them to give it a tune up, check over the brakes, and just give it a good once over. They had it 5 days. They called when it was done. When I picked it up, it was perfect. They said certain things were loose causing the clunking noise and they had to lubricate the shocks to help with the creaking noise and they adjusted the brakes as well. Basically everything Grayslake Hobby had said they had done had to be redone. It only cost me $ 35. Now I didn’t get another new set of brake pads, but I know those pads didn’t cost $ 30, so lesson learned. I should have taken it to Mike’s in the first place and not to the closest place just because they were close. I wanted to support my local shop, but they are far more concerned with minimally supplying r/​c hobbies to even think twice about bikes, I’d rather drive the half hour to get it done right.

I would recommend not going off of the hours they list. Have gone numerous times they said they were open and they either have not opened on time or closed down early. I’d call ahead and if you get the answering machine is still be hesitant.

We got the bikes tuned up– keep an eye out for sales on the website. Plus they have a great HO scale selection that my son is having a blast with, Thomas the tank engine and other trains. Also a huge selection of RC. And super friendly owner that will take the time to explain things to us. Definetley a fun time for Dad as well as son!

I haven’t ridden my bike in years, but I decided to get it tuned up and start riding again. I wasn’t sure if Grayslake Hobby World would be the place to go, since they aren’t just a bike shop, but I was pleasantly surprised. They had a good selection of helmets, and the price for getting my bike completely fixed up was very reasonable. The staff was great too. I’ll definitely check there if I need anything else bike-​related, though their selection of locks, bags, etc. didn’t look very extensive, so I might end up at a bike shop a bit farther from home for those things.