International Bicycle Center

Avoid! A bunch of unpleasantly smug a*holes who are also terrible at fixing bikes.



Needed to readjust the derailleurs after installing new chain, chainring, and cassette and wanted a professional to do it so that it's done right. I also needed to remove another link from the chain and I didn't have another pin to reattach it (chain came with only one reattachment pin).



Let's start with how they messed up the chain. So I come to just ask for an extra pin but then I think maybe it's better to just let them do it. They say it's only $10 so I think, why not. Bad decision! The guy tells me I'm wrong and that he needs to take two links out. When he's reattaching it I ask him if he needs the pin he just gave me but he just reuses the pin he pops out. I say, oh I didn't know you can reuse it like that, and he replies, I can but you can't. Right... fine, whatever, I ignore that. Then turns out he was totally wrong, it's way too short and he needs to put another link back in to bring it to the length I originally said it should be. Ok so he does his stupid trick with the pins again but he messes it up and needs the extra pin after all. He also breaks the chain not at the same spot where he attaches it so he's just messing up more and more pins all over the place. He totally compromised the strength of my nice new Ultegra chain. And I paid him to ruin it! Don't repeat my mistake!



Ok. Now it's time to adjust the derailleur which is what I really wanted their help with. At most good local bike shops, they'll usually do that for free because it takes them under 5 mins (if they do it right... read on). They tell me $12, but I figured that's ok since they are giving me a service so I'm willing to pay. He adjusts it, meanwhile giving me a lecture on how it's done and being very smug and snappy. He then hands it back, saying, it's as good as it's gonna get. What does that mean?? Did he adjust it correctly?? I ask if it's good and he says he didn't say it wasn't... Ok... I take it out to test ride it and it's terrible. It's making awful noises (bad derailleur angle). I go back and point it out to him that it's done wrong. He adjusts it again, without apologizing. I test it again, now the chain is rubbing against the front derailleur. I bring it back. Now he's already busy with another customer so another person readjusts it. Again, wrong: it's rubbing when in another gear. I go back again showing him how he did it wrong and then readjusts it again and then it's finally ok. (To the credit of the second guy, he wasn't as much of an a*hole, but I still had to show him he adjusted it wrong and it took him forever on the final adjustment.)



Basically, I did their job for them checking that it's right. I went there and paid them to get a professional adjustment and not only got a terrible one but I had to do all the work of double checking their bad adjustments. They also ruined my chain for a price. At no point did they apologize or recognize that they did it wrong and that it's not my job to check their bad adjustments. Instead they gave me snappy comments and a conceited attitude. And this wasn't limited to one of the employees; the other one wasn't quite a master of his trade either.



I learned from my mistake and I will not be coming back, ever. I can only hope that my bad experience was not for nothing and that readers will also learn from my mistake of letting these a*holes handle my bike. Avoid this place like the plague. Don't let them touch your bike. They'll ruin it... but not without asking for your money first! Outrageous!