Citizen Chain Bicycles

Nice shop with very friendly people!
Left my precious and beloved bike there for a tune up and I’m happy with their job.
Sasha is a very nice dude — he knows a lot about bikes and respects them.
I recommend this shop!
Keep riding and keep sailing!
Love,
Andie

I’ve never written a bad review — let alone any review — because I’ve never been so upset and angry at a business that I would feel the need to voice it to try warn people about this place.
Unless you know your stuff – and I mean REALLY know your stuff about bicycles, avoid this place like the plague. They will scam you.
I got new pedals installed on my bike about a month ago. One of the bike mechanics, Nico gave me a discounted price on a set of pedals for $ 25. Still after the discount, I thought it was pretty high for what I got, but I figured, «hey these guys are nice and I live and work in the neighborhood so I like to support local businesses.» HA.
I left the shop stoked on my new pedals and not even two days later, I noticed one of my pedals were coming loose. I took a closer look and the pedal was literally stripping away my crank.
I took it back a couple days later and Sasha told me it was because the pedals are steel and my cranks happen to be aluminum and that was why it was stripping away my crank. — SOO many questions went through my mind «are you guys fucking serious? you call yourself bike mechanics? How would you not know this would happen since the problem could’ve been prevented?»
He told me since Nico did it, he would fix it for free. I just wanted my bike fixed. So I signed the paper and we agreed on a time for me to pick it up. I show up a few hours later and Sasha told me he had a heilcoil inserted in the pedal that Nico fucked up but took a look at the other one and fixed it also, since it was also stripping away my crank —
«So that’s gonna be $ 16.»
…I’m sorry??? Did you just charge me after you told me you weren’t going to because YOU guys fucked up? On top of that, you’re charging me for the second pedal without even notifying me before you performed the task???
The bike was perfectly fine before I came in the shop. Yes, it’s used, but I have not have any previous issues with it. I just wanted new pedals.
It seriously amazes me that these guys are still in business. Steer away. I will most definitely not recommend this place to anybody I know.

A Local merchant who knows about honor and makes the right choice. It would be good to have more businesses like this in North Beach.
Thanks for owning up.

Most friendly, knowledgable, and reliable shop I’ve been to thus far in the Bay + SV. Nothing state-​of-​the-​art, but definitely that neighborhood feeling that you know has your back no matter what.
Recently moved to North Beach and was happy to find out I am within walking distance of this bike shop that has been superb with anything I’ve asked for. So far I have had hit or miss service at bikeshops either with incompetent people, snobby salesman, or just a plain unwillingness to help me. Every time I’ve gone in to this shop (I imagine they’ve gotten tired of seeing me, ha) I’ve always walked out like ‘Man, this shop is the sh**.’ The guys I’ve worked with have that cool somewhat chill attitude but never arrogant or anything. I’ve gone in for tips on bike adjustments, parts (for a small shop they have great selection), ordering parts, a bike build, and have even replaced my crankset on the spot with help from them and a couple of their tools that I did not have. 100% taken care of and exceed expectation.

Super friendly manager, awesome inventory, no elite bike shop attitude.
I’ll be taking my vintage babies here from now on.

Very cool cycle shop if you love your Retro bikes. Really nice guys in the shop, well worth a quick pop in to shoot the breeze

I got so lucky finding these guys… I limped in 5 minutes to closing time with a giant piece of glass stuck in my tire and they fixed me up in no time and were super friendly. I love a local bike shop with a couch and a dog. Thanks Nico and Sascha, I’ll be back!

Monday: I called them to get availability for a bike I wanted. Unfortunately they’re one of the few bike shops who carry this brand. They didn’t have it but they said they could make a special order for me to get it. Great.
Thursday: They call me to say they ordered it. Awesome.
Friday. They say they it’s ready to be picked up. I was so excited that I made plans with friends to tour on the weekend and I left work early to go get it. I get there and discover they assembled the WRONG bike. They told me to come back the next day. I couldn’t even fathom how someone messes this up. I don’t live close to this place, so coming all the way out here to be told nope sucked.
But here’s what’s interesting. The bike they assembled was a cheaper version of the one I requested (the Expert, and I wanted the Elite). When they pointed it out to me I immediately knew this wasn’t the one I wanted, BUT they kept calling it the Elite when it simply wasn’t. When another employee was asking about the model, the other guy then started going on about the different ones, demonstrating that he knew about this brand fairly well. So then why did he try to tell me it was the Elite before? It’s possible that he was trying to sell me the cheaper model for the same price as the Elite. Probably a bold suspicion, but it doesn’t make sense how one can go from being confused about the model to suddenly being knowledgeable about it.
Saturday. I finally got my bike. They apologized again for wasting my time. Then there was a mixup with the price that I was told on the phone and the one I was given when at the store. We agreed to meet halfway. Whatever, I was just happy to be finished with these people. He adjusted the seat height and explained a few things about the bike, specifically how to use the hydraulic disc breaks, which was nice.
Onward. I feel like they didn’t do the greatest job assembling the bike. Some things were loose and the rear light wasn’t attached to the dynamo. Oh well.

These guys are awesome– really helpful and cheap and knowledgeable. Great neighborhood bike store!

Great, friendly service and competitive costs on parts and labor. Nico helped me out and did a great job on my bike.
What more can you ask for in a bike shop?

there is simply no other bike shop in the bay area that comes close. might be one of the top 10 bike shops in the world. no joke. unbelievably fast, inexpensive, friendly and knowledgeable service. no idea how they do it when no one else can. these guys are long-​time riders who live and breathe bicycle knowledge. every bike shop should be this good. no really. i order parts and they’re available yesterday. ask anything and they have the perfect answer. the more i spend the cheaper everything gets. i’d love to keep the secret to myself but decided it’s smarter to make the rest of the world better by example. go check it out now.

After blowing out on my morning commute nearby and the only other shops in the neighborhood being bike rental shops that are totally useless or shops that don’t realize that people rely on them being open when they say they’ll be open, I found CCB and waited til they opened at 10AM, which, hooray, they did! Thanks for the tube (s) and tire, guys!

Just moved to the area and have been to every single shop in sf. No other place had guys as cool and knowledgeable as cc does, nor as friendly or willing to give me a great deal on a special order. I bike every day to work, spent a couple months worth of my life touring, and ridden on several bike teams and all kinds of bikes. I know my stuff and choose to support these guys. Much appreciated.

Really fast turnaround + excellent repair/​tune-​up on my urban commuter — guys here can be a little short with us mere mortals if you are not as bike-​wise as they are, but I just let them give me their expert opinion and generally agree. THANKS

Talk about customer service. …WOW. This is a place where they underpromise and OVER deliver. Never agaon worry about getting over charged or work not done in a timely fashion– this place is a dream!
I rook my bike in, it was fixed and handed back with a smile. I LOVE this spot.

I live on the other side of town so would not normally have taken my bike all the way over to Fisherman’s Wharf, but there I was with my bike emergency, and I thought — «Oh Brother, I have to take my bike to a tourist bike shop.»
Was I ever wrong! They were friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and super nice. They charged me less than they could have and went out of their way to help me even though I was there late in the day.
You know when you leave an establishment feeling like you really do live in the best city ever, that you’ve gotten a great deal and fabulous service. This bike shop gives you that feeling!

I have had some bad luck at this store with tubes lately. Seems that the last 4 I have had installed have all be defected with a small leak. While annoying, the friendliness and wiliness to try to fix the problem by the staff makes up for it.
Both the owners I have had help me are very friendly and helpful. I love that they have this cool bike shop right in north beach. Love to support small businesses that have a passion for their business. The charm factor reminds me of the kind of stores that use to be in this city.

This shop is amazing. If you are looking for people who are knowledgeable and passionate about bike, then this is your ideal place.
I’ve been in multiple times for parts, fixes, and advice. I never leave disappointed. North Beach is lucky to have such a cool shop.

Excellent mechanics, quick-​turn around time. I’ve been bringing my battered steel trek here for 4 years and they always greet me like a friend– teach me something about my bike and never charge me too much.
A small but well-​curated selection of parts. clothes and accessories– but mostly just good mechanics and good bikes.
A really low-​key place to buy a rebuilt vintage-​looking bike– that works well and not too pretentious.
Also– I’ve seen these guys be just as warm and helpful to a clueless tourist on a rental bike, a person all in spandex with a carbon fiber bike, a hip guy on a fixie… Even a confused guy with a Walmart bike. All got good friendly service.

Citizen is one of those gems in North Beach. Great, knowledgeable staff who are totally there to help you and not make you go broke in the process.
When I still owned my 1960s Hercules roadster, I took it here anytime I needed a replacement part or tune-​up. Citizen Chain knows what they’re talking about when it comes to vintage and custom bikes. They researched the stock hub that came with my bike and found out it was actually notoriously unsafe. When I needed other replacement parts, they were sure to get me stuff that kept the aesthetic of the bike intact.
While I don’t have my Hercules anymore, I know I could bring my new bike (or any bike) over to them and they’d treat it right. Even not living in the neighborhood anymore, I still don’t mind making the trip over.