Century Cycles

I just bought my bike from this place about two weeks ago. I have to say that the service was fantastic. Everyone I spoke to was very helpful in narrowing down my purchase for a bike in order to find the one that fit me best. They fully explained all of the differences between the various bikes and what justified the different prices tags. I came in only knowing that I wanted something on two wheels that I could pedal forward. They brought it down to my level and helped me feel confident in my purchase. I haven’t ridden a bike for exercise or distance for about 8 years now, so this was a big jump for me.
Century Cycles was a very clean and neat place. There wasn’t a single part of bike out of place or in the way. They have a large variety of bikes to appeal to kids looking for a mountain bike or triathletes making an upgrade. Parking is a little wonky in back, but I didn’t have trouble finding a spot. There are a lot of accessories scattered around the walls of the shop for peoples’ various needs. Racks, car mounts, grips, helmets, sunglasses, clothes… Anything you need. They let you test ride your bike around the parking lot.
Something you should know: your LBS (Local Bike Shop) is basically like a car dealership; they only sell one or two brands. If you want a particular brand, you may have to call around to find out exactly which store sells which brand.
For the curious, I bought a Giant Escape 2 ($ 500) and had extended handles put on for extra grip positions. The Escape 2 is a hybrid, which seems to be the middle ground for both quality and price in terms of bikes. It’s more road friendly than a mountain bike, but it won’t be the precision that a triathalon or race bike stands for. Since most hybrid bikes seem to be of similar quality, it really came down to which frame and style I liked most. Century Cycles had that bike. Something I didn’t realize was that the shape of the frame makes it a little more difficult to get a car mount. Part of the frame is flat where a round holder would usually go.
You get a 10% off on all purchases made at this store for the first 30 days after your bike purchases. It’s a pretty sweet deal, but most other places around Lakewood had similar or better deals (more off, longer time period). You also get a free tuning sometime within your first year (I think, don’t quote me on this one!). Every single person that I saw come into the store with a problem was helped very quickly and given a time frame for when their problem could be fixed. They also offer classes on how to do some basic bike maintenance.
If you’re in the market for a bike, check this place out. I’m certain that they will do everything they can to find the exact bike you’ve always been looking for.

Ray is the best!!! I bought my son’s bike here & also had some repair work done on another old bike too. Great Service! Great Products! I’m buying my next bike here for sure.

Yesterday I had my second great experience with Century Cycles, and I’m overdue to show them some love.
About a year ago I had a flat tire and brought my bike to a larger shop that was a bit closer to me in North Olmsted. The woman who «helped» me was rude, disinterested, took my tire in the back and came out 15 seconds later saying «We can’t find a problem with it». The tire was still leaking air. Audibly. I looked at the guy standing next to her and he shrugged and walked in the back without saying a word. She just stood there and stared at me. If I could shoot syphilis out of my fingertips, they both would have gotten a faceful.
I got online and found Century Cycles. Headed straight over, a super helpful guy took my tire, and within 45 seconds showed me exactly what the problem was. I asked if I need a new tire or a new tire and tube, he gave me a down-​sell and told me I only needed a new tube, installed it, and I was on my way, problem solved, in under 15 minutes.
So yesterday when I ran over some glass, I headed straight to Century Cycles. Walked in, said «I need a new tire and a new tube», and I had both installed, inflated, and was on my way out the door in just under 6 minutes. No upsells, no «are you sure you don’t want to buy this other thing» no rude staff, just a couple of super helpful guys who helped me out, didn’t waste my time or theirs, and had me on my way quickly and for a reasonable price.
Fantastic. I love this place.

One of the best shops. Great staff. The owner is pretty cool too. I think his name is scooter? Back in the day they had a guy named mikeyfng. Legend.

Highly recommend this place. I took my bike in to have some new tubes and tires put on. I bought my tubes and tires from another bike shop cause I was planning to change the tires myself but got caught in a time crunch. They took my bike in the basement and switched out my tires in less than 45 minutes while I waited (Shop was very busy when I went so to fit me in like they did was awesome). Great people here who are friendly and customer focused.

Best experience ever! The staff in this place is outstanding. We have been here 4 times thus summer and have worked with several of the experts who work here… they are ALL helpful, knowledgeable and go out of their way to be sure you are satisfied. I can’t recommend this place enough. We won’t go anywhere else.

Last year we bought our bikes from this shop. This was our first non-​Wal-​Mart bike purchase. We love the bikes. We probably went into the store about 5 times before we actually purchased. They were very helpful and answered all of our questions and helped guide our choices. We were able to try out many of the models we were looking at before buying. I love that I could purchase from a local business. They carry lots of bicycle accessories. We’ve purchased some accessories from here and some elsewhere due to price. This is also why I’ve given then 4 stars rather than 5: understandably the prices are a bit higher than some big box stores and online. They also fix bicycles and do tune ups. When I need a tune-​up on the bicycle, you can bet I’m bringing it here. I would totally recommend this shop to anyone who wants to buy a bike.

I got my first bike here, and every bike since :) it’s def got some serious props in my heart.

I’m not surprised to see several other 5 star ratings for this place! I’ve been in other bike shops and felt like a total loser in a store full of bike enthusiasts, but not at Century. These guys took me seriously even though I was obviously not a regular cyclist and were incredibly helpful without the douchey almighty-​biker attitude I met at some other area shops. They repaired my broken bike on the spot (10 minutes) and charged me basically nothing. I may not know much about bicycles but I know what good service is like. Thanks Century!

I stopped here today for the first time to acquire knowledge about biking since I don’t have much. My car died and I was given a Trek hybrid bicycle by a friend to get around Spring through Fall to save money to buy a car before the snow starts flying again. I was treated like just as important of a customer as someone who has been there many times before.
I explained to the two staff members who helped me about my situation and that I needed to quickly get a basic repair kit together and learn as much as possible as soon as possible. After welcoming me to the cycling world, the staff recommended my basic needs to cover keeping me on the road in case of flat tires or minor repairs. There was never an attempt to upsell or sell me stuff I don’t need right this second. I bought a few items and rode to another store to price shop for a few more items. The second store didn’t have anything comparable as far as selection and price, so I rode my bike back and purchased the rest of my supplies that I needed to get going.
They offer many repair and preventative maintenance services as well, and have a huge selection of all the gear, supplies and bicycles, not to mention a free air hose in the back of the building to fill your tires. This store was recommended to me by someone who is a major cycling enthusiast and now I see why. I told the staff I would be back for all my needs in the future. Awesome store!

This place is terrific. The staff is incredibly helpful. The only ding I give it is the wait time for a bike repair. It took 2 weeks for them to do a tune up in it because they were backlogged. I guess they are short a few maintenance guys. Other than that, great selection of bikes, gear and apparel. Dare I say this place carries more merchandise on hand than Second Sole a few doors down. See my review for them to read about my frustration with their lean merchandising strategy…

I haven’t purchased a bike here, yet still seem to be here once a month for accessories.
Seriously-​great staff… I try to remember names of those who go the extra mile for me, but no need to at Century. Everyone on the staff is super! They offer honest advice and I’ve never felt the up-​sell pressure.
Decent selection of bikes from casual townie to carbon superhero.
Great selection of accessories from pumps to shorts to shoes to bottles. Even better, Century supports the community with «ride-​in» repairs and their evening towpath rides.

My awesome plan B for bike stuff! Knowledgeable and down to earth… I REALLY like this place!!!
I think in the future it will be plan A…
Explains why there were so many people there…
Great Place!!!

Love love love this store. My sister was looking for a new bike, and after figuring out what she wanted, I recommended she try out a couple of particular bikes in the $ 1100-​$ 1200 range. Century Cycles set them up on a trainer for her, but she found the fit wasn’t right (the geometry of the particular bike, not the frame size). So after explaining what she DID like about that bike, they brought over a $ 400 bike for her to try. I was floored, since we had pretty much already made it clear we were willing to spend $ 1200.
Still, that bike wasn’t quite right either, and with their next attempt, they nailed it, bringing out a bike that neither of us was familiar with but that seemed to be exactly what she was looking for. I quizzed them about its quality, and they had all the right answers (later confirmed by reading reviews). Because I’ve been in so many bike shops where the staff didn’t know much more than I did and tried to push a bike that didn’t match what I was looking for, this alone would have earned Century their 5 stars, since good advice is priceless. But on top of all this, the advice was delivered with a friendly and helpful attitude, and they threw in a bunch of extras with the bike! Like any other beginner, she’s going to need lots of accessories, advice, and service in the future, and finding a good bike shop is at least as important as finding the right bike. So glad she found Century.
Another bonus: not only did she ride it around the parking lot, they offered to let her take it on a long ride through the metroparks if she wanted. We didn’t take them up on it, but wow.

Century Cycle sells many brands of bikes, but the largest on the floor seems to be of Raleigh bicycles. The welcoming and knowledgeable staff would probably be able to hook you up with whatever brand you wanted. Not actually being interested in purchasing a bike (I have one), I was engaged with all the extras the store sells. Baskets, both synthetic materials, bright plastic baskets, and like real baskets lined the walls. If you are a manly man and don’t want to ride around town looking like you’re on your way to a Sound of Music style picnic, you could get one of the wire baskets. But you shouldn’t; everyone definitely needs the Sound of Music type of basket.
Besides baskets, Century Cycles also carries other accessories for your bike like bells and handle bar flowers, for realz.