Sharp Bicycle

Fantastic stop during my recent trip to CA! I bought a fantastic Trek Chelsea for my easy commute to work, and was helped by the owner, Matt. While I do not live on the west coast, I definitely recommend this shop for Bay Area peeps or anyone looking for great bikes on vacation!

I really like this bike shop, but am disappointed that they’ve fallen victim to paid parking. You now have to feed the meter to shop here (the entire parking lot is overrun with meters now), and the shop owner said the private parking company is pretty aggressive about giving out «tickets». The owner offered to pay the parking for me, but I feel like a mooch when all I wanted to do was come in and browse and maybe buy some accessories. Not sure what it is about paying for parking to come to a store, but it feels decidedly unwelcoming. They said they had issues previously with no parking availabity for customers, so I guess this is the fix. However, isn’t there a middle ground? I’d suggest the stores having tokens to give to shoppers. That would eliminate having to pay, and it would verify that the people using the lot are actually going into the shops and are not mooching free parking for BART or whatever. Having a time limit of 3 hours is entirely appropriate– I can see the need for that, and who ever needs to shop for longer than 3 hours? I hate to say it, but I’ll probably skip this shop over the parking issue. I like their Trek /​Bontrager gear, which can be a bit of a challenge to find in the local area, but I can live without. Walnut Creek keeps me away with their paid parking and hyper-​aggressive ticketing, and I guess Lafayette shopping has come to the same point.

Great bike shop. I have been here a few times for service on my 15 year old bike, and they have done superb work each time. They are very friendly, quick, and reasonably priced for the service I had done. I like these people.

I have given this bike shop multiple chances– it is super convenient from where we live, so I frequently stop by for quick tune-​ups for our bikes, or if we need new tubes in our stroller tires. The two gentlemen (I’m assuming the owners) who are always there are often mildly condescending and moderately unfriendly, but I have tolerated it because of the convenience factor.
However, I will never go back. I stopped by today with my two young children because both of our stroller tires were flat and I had a one mile walk home. I requested new tubes for the tires, which took approximately three minutes. For this, I was charged the price of the tubes, plus $ 10 in ‘labor’. Fine. Annoying for a local customer and ridiculous for 3 minutes of labor, but not enough to write a negative review on Unilocal.
The negative review on Unilocal comes from the overtly rude man who rang us up (for the $ 10 labor), and said to my young daughter, who innocently asked what they kept up in the loft, ‘that is where we keep children who touch things in this store that they are not supposed to.‘
Despite having 3 young kids and a lifetime of biking ahead of us, our family won’t be back to this store.

I brought my bike in for an emergency replacement of a broken dérailleur cable. The mechanics and owners were friendly. They did replace the cable and did I nice job in the dérailleur adjustments. They also have a very nice selection of accessories — saddles, etc.
However they both gave me a number of criticisms:
1. my handlebars were «wrong» — not «deep enough» and too deep and too long (extending backwards)
2. my brake levers were too big for me, that I could not reach them adequately
THESE COMMENTS WERE MADE WITHOUT SEEING ME ON THE BICYCLE OR EVEN TRYING TO HOLD THE LEVERS!
3. some snide remarks about my dura ace triple (I must have bought the last one, etc).
4. my custom titanium frame (maybe 4 – 5 yrs old) was «worn» and I should consider buying a new frame.
I had originally planned on coming back within a week to make some purchases for the bike, however, given the comments, I decided to give my business elsewhere.

I would give this place negative stars if possible. I called to verify if they accept the phone app credit card in which the older man said «we prefer the actual card but yes we can use the acct number for the card». So we drove from San Pablo to Lafayette only to be denied and all of a sudden he states they need the actual card. We were not asked if we needed help when we first got there, explained to him, why would you misinform me and I drove all the way to this store. The man totally twisted his words and I felt disrespected and the way he talked to me was in total shock, like I was a school age child. I also felt a sense of RACISM from his part like who was I and what was I doing there. I was soooo tempted to tell him what I do for a living and tell him I never felt so humiliated in how he treated us. He just lost two customers willing to fork out 6,000 for two bikes… HIS LOST, not ours! Do not support or even try to make effort at this store, not a place to spend your hard earned money for a hobbie you enjoy.

Great bike service and repair. They make every effort to get your bike back as soon as possible. Perfect dérailleur adjustment.

Got my (mountain)bike fixed; major overhaul replaced most of my drivetrain and bunch of other miscellaneous fixes brakes, headset, etc. Wasn’t cheap but it was done right. Took it on the trail the next day and everything worked great. There are places that do work cheaper and faster, but I still haven’t found anyone who does the work right. I honestly don’t have time to bring my bike back to someone who doesn’t know what they are doing. That’s why I come here and only have come in once for the work to be done right (other than minor adjustments that they fix on the spot after you’ve ridden it for while). That being said I bring my bike in for a service about every 1000 miles (road replace chain check drivetrain) or 1 year which ever comes first.
I hate the new meters;

A truly great shop. I’ve been an avid cyclist for over 40 years. These guys know what they’re doing. They’re great with advice, have very skilled mechanics, one of whom just did a great job on fixing my road bike, and their product selection is the best I’ve found in the East Bay. If you’re serious about cycling you couldn’t find a better shop.
I often do my own work on my bikes, but when I can’t figure something out I’ve taken my bikes to them and they’ve done a great job on them. And though like many people I sometimes shop for parts and clothing online, if you ever need advice Matt and Dee are great for that. I’ve become more of a fan of this shop’s over time so expect to be there more often and on cycling websites less often. Don’t quibble about spending a few extra bucks here compared with online dealers — I think you’ll find it’s well worth it.

Ok. Yes I did work for Matt over 20 years ago @ hilltop mall but last year I moved to LAFAYETTE and wouldn’t you know it, Matt is here and 4 blocks from my house too. I have been buying bitsNbobs as needed since moving back here and today a new 26″ bike for my 7yr old. Matt, Sally & Dee were helpful and attentive but most importantly not pushy or over bearing. These guys will always get my bike related business for oh so many reasons. It’s not about saving a nickel online or whatever for me… It’s all about fair, friendly knowledgable service.

They have a tent set up at the NorCal Kids Tri today for emergency repairs — great quick work and free to boot, they declined money and said it was a community service. Great on them!

Nice place, I had my elderly bicycle serviced here to the point of it no longer being worthwhile.
They have some particularly expensive bikes on the floor, but are definitely not in the business of trying to oversell. I’m still in the market for a new road bike, and I’ll probably come here when I finally get around to it.

Matt, Dee and Sally are Fantastic.
I have been buying bikes from them since they were at Hill Top Mall in Richmond, before they moved to Lafayette.
Always good customer service. I usually take my bike to them for repairs too. They will try to fit me in when jammed with other bikes. I like that.
They offer Top Quality Goods. Nice selection of road and mtn bikes. I have also bought urban bikes from them as well
A great family operation :)

Very helpful and friendly! This is my go-​to place for anything hard to find, and they keep our families bike fleet in perfect tune.

Nice shop, nice staff. Great location near some great cycling trails and routes. An awesome place to stop if you need a new tube, or just some snacks. Plus there’s a coffee shop right across the parking lot, awesome!

Such poor, condescending customer service it’s literally astonishing. I purchased a $ 4000 mountain bike from these guys. Been biking my whole life, it was time for a new one, tested a few at local shops and liked the one at Sharp. Three years later the frame breaks. No worries, it’s under warranty. I call them, they say bring it in. I get there and they say– and this is the owner mind you– «do you have the receipt with you?» I said «no, you guys have a copy though correct?» He said «yes, but it’s really a hassle for us to look for it. It would really be better if you drove home, (a city away) and brought it back.»
WOW. ok. You’re going to tell a customer who’s spent thousands in your store, it’s too much trouble to look through a file cabinet for him? I told them I thought it was peculiar that a business would tell a customer that. They just said, «yeah, it’d really be better if you drove home and got it.»
I couldn’t find it at home, they found it later and the ball got rolling.
THEY HAD MY BIKE FOR SIX WEEKS. Twice I called and they said they had «received the parts a couple days ago, so it should be ready in a couple days.» That is correct. My bike was there for weeks and they could sit on that job for four or five days after they received the parts. First time was a false alarm– they either ordered the wrong parts from the manufacturer or the manufacturer sent them the wrong parts. Second time– six weeks later– it was actually ready. I came in grabbed the bike, said thanks and the owner said he had to charge me labor. Said he was giving me a discount though, since really they’d put in four or five hours and they were only charging me for one. 75 bucks… for an hour. I said, «Really? You guys had my bike for a month and a half, doing lifetime warranty work, and you’re going to charge me?» He said «yes. It’s standard practice at bike shops.»
I was blown away. He would rather have $ 75 and throw away my business and referrals, than simply take the responsible, thoughtful, kind, business savvy route. All he had to say was, «you know what? I apologize it took so with your bike. It’s on the house.»
… he would’ve had a repeat customer for life.
But he chooses to treat people poorly. I imagine he does just fine since he’s been in business a while. Imagine how good business would be if he treated his customers well though.
Seriously unbelievable.

I went into this shop to have a crown race (thin piece of metal for headset) swapped between forks. I asked the shop guy how much he charged and he said «I charge based on the time taken». Sounded good to me so after he removed the crown race (5 mins) I asked him to resize the steer tube (2 – 3 mins) then asked him to set the star nut (1 – 2 mins). In total he worked for about 15 mins, max.
We went to the register and he said «How does $ 45 sound?» I was stunned, I had the same service done at Hank & Frank a month earlier and it cost $ 15. I told him that, and reminded him he said charge for time taken ($ 45 for 15 mins = $ 180/​hr). He said «Ok my boss is here, meet me in the middle at $ 35». I am no mathematician but I do believe the middle of 45 and 15 would be $ 30. I didn’t say anything and handed him my credit card, never to return.
Conclusion — Don’t take your service business here, they overcharge by at least 2x.

I’m not an advanced cyclist, but I wanted to get a nice road bike for my next triathlon. A friend recommended Sharp bicycles and I never looked back. I was overwhelmed by the selection and friendliness of the staff. The staff even gave me some training tips and even some local groups that would be perfect for my skill level.
The personalized experience was so much better than online shopping or any other bike shop I have ever stepped into. Thank you Matt and Sally
See you guys again soon!

I happened upon this bike shop while waiting for a table at Chow.
They have all my favorite brands: Orbea, Trek and Cervelo. Usually I have to drive to different stores to see all 3 types of bikes. Prices seemed reasonable and the staff were friendly. I didn’t purchase a bike at the time but I would definitely go back.
I’ve been biking for 10+ years and have had Orbeas, Treks, Specialized, Cervelos over the years and have been to many bike shops in SF, Marin and in the east bay.

Being married to a bike snob is rough sometimes. We are in the process of shopping around for a mountain bike for myself.
I have no idea what I’m looking at. I don’t know what the difference between GT and Trek or Fisher. What ever. I want it to be comfortable to ride and it looks cool.
The guy who helped us was very knowledgeable and very pragmatic in his answers. I didn’t feel like he was trying to show boat us into some B.S. at all.
We checked out the bikes. Some looked pretty nice. I didn’t test drive any because it was pouring rain down outside.
My husband also needed a new bike tube because his trials bike had a flat tire. He said that this store is more expensive that Performance Bikes in Walnut Creek. The tube was $ 3 more than the one we bought there a few weeks ago.
We are still shopping for a bike. We may be back, we may not. I’m not really sure what direction to go in my bike purchase future.