Kermeka D.
Yelp
My sister and I came here because we wanted to buy new bikes aand weren't sure what would be right for us. Diego spent at least 3 hours with us exclusively and educated us really well on different types of bikes. He asked us important questions and really seemed invested in helping us in our journey. He told us he rides 100 miles 2x a week so we knew we were talking to someone knowledgeable and experienced. We loved that Diego didn't try to push and bikes or make a sale. He patiently answered our questions and made it his goal to educate us properly so even if we walked out of there without buying anything we could go to another store knowing exactly what to look for. In fact, he even gave my sister the names and directions to a couple of bike shops nearby. He took his time to fit us for the bikes (before we bought anything) and even called his lead, Alexa, over to help when he needed a second opinion on fitting. We got to test the bikes in the parking lot/ back delivery bay which was amazing. I was wearing flip flops so they even lent me socks and shoes to ride. The service here is simply unparalleled. We had brought a bike rack with us in case we decided to buy but neither of us knew how to use it so one of the shop guys, Mario, helped us out. They had a few color options in store for each bike, but also offered to order online and have it shipped to the store if we decided we wanted a color they didn't have available. We both ended up picking colors they had on the floor.
Once we decided to get the bikes, they did a complete safety check on them while Diego walked us around the store teaching us about bike maintenance and telling us what tools we would need (multitool for seat adjustment, lube for chain, etc.). He gave us info about apps we could download to tell us how fast and/or far our ride was and told us what type of phone mount he prefers and why. We got helmets from a Walmart nearby as we arent planning to do any dangerous or super fast biking (just recreational) and didn't feel the need to drop $70 on a fancy helmet, especially since Diego mentioned you should replace your helmet every year.
Note- if you buy from REI, get the membership! It is $30 forever and you get to return most purchases within 1 year if you don't completely destroy them. This is an amazing deal, especially because you get to try out the equipment in your home or area and figure out if it fits your lifestyle or if the amount you use it warrants the cost. Additionally, among the other perks of being a member, such as $20 giftcard you get right away & 20% off shop services forever, you get an hour of free service on the product before you take it home. For us, we decided to purchase $10 kickstand and have REI cut them and put them on for us, since the bike wheels have to be taken off and it is kind of complicated to attach the stand. Everything else we can probably do ourselves in time if we so choose (bike lights, water bottle holder, phone mount). Diego mentioned we might want to also change out the seats but due to the test ride we both knew we liked the seats and found them comfortable. I am super pleased with our bikes and excited to spend some sister time outside! REI staff is so incredibly knowledgable and we so so appreciated Diego simply educating us rather than being at all pushy about a sale. You can really tell how passionate he is about bikes-if you want to get into a new hobby or activity and need to learn more but are daunted by the sheer volume of info on the internet, try going to REI and asking some staff there. You will learn SO much!