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- Hours:
Mon-Fri 8 am - 6 pm
Sat 10 am - 6 pm
- Price Range:
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$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
11 reviews for Urbane Cyclist
All Reviews
Urbane Cyclist
7/8/2010
I've purchased my commuter bike here and I'll probably get a fixie eventually as I've been pining for one since 2001.
This shop is NOT a high-end shop contrary to what other reviewers say. This shop is for people who love bikes and actually use their bikes on a regular basis, if not every day. This is why a large amount of their patronage is from bicycle couriers and the year round commuters.
If you expect their prices to compete with CDN Tire, then you will be disappointed. But consider this: CDN Tire bikes are designed to go from showroom to landfill in about 50kms or less. CDN Tire bikes are the kind that you ride twice, hang up in the garage, feel guilty about it 5 years later, try to ride it again but everything is seized so you hang it up again for another few years then eventually give it the toss to the curb.
Urbane sells bikes in the MID range. Their prices are fair and their service is excellent. They won't sell you what you didn't ask for, nor will they pressure you into spending more than you should.
I will continue to bring my commuter bike here for service whenever it needs it, and I will continue to recommend this place to family and friends.
Urbane Cyclist
7/8/2010
This is a decent, but not excellent, independent bike shop. It's definitely a cyclist's bike shop which (as far as the retail end goes) caters more to more serious riders. I think they'll probably fix any bike and I was all manners of bikes (beaters to pros) in there.
I came in here after I was hit by a car a couple blocks away and my rear rim was bent. I was hoping they'd have one like it but the closest they had was one model down. Fine, they could order it at a reasonable cost. They even helped me by bending my wheel back into shape enough to let me finish my travels for the rest of the day on a wobbly rear wheel. They did not charge me for this service and the new rim and spokes + building the wheel on my hub cost me $150...reasonable for Toronto. I know some of you are thinking that's crazy expensive for just a rebuilt wheel, but this a pro mountain bike and it's an expensive hobby if you're getting this quality stuff. The wheel was finished a week later as described. I'll give the service dept 4 stars based on this experience.
The store didn't have anything I was particularly interested in and I'm a bike fanatic so that's not a good sign. I looked around at their collection and it varies...including some folding bikes that I've long been interested in, but they didn't have the styles I was interested in...it's a small shop after all and they can only carry so much. I saw some tires that I'll probably get when my current ones wear down...$60 per tire and that's again normal for what I'm looking at.
They close too early for my tastes but (again) pretty standard closing times for sleepy Toronto. And some of the people there seem surly rather than helpful. The location makes it convenient for me so it's likely I'll keep coming here when the need arises, but if I happen to be near another one then I'd go to another one. There's nothing that really marks it as special except that they actually did what I paid them to do. But that's pretty good at least.
Urbane Cyclist
5/10/2010
I've been here twice. They're a bit overpriced when it comes to buying stuff from them but the service I got the first time I came here was great.
I had just gotten in an accident with a car and the guy working here adjusted my brake which had been stretched because of the impact with the car door. For free. That was very nice of him.
Unfortunately my second impression of the place was less than stellar. Staff was pretentious and they didn't have what I was looking for at a reasonable price.
It all depends who's working when you go in.
Urbane Cyclist
2/24/2010
The staff in the store are really nice & helpful. I came in here just to browse for a new bike since the rusted tank I'm riding right now probably won't make it through another winter.
As soon as I walked in, the staff member behind the counter cheerfully said "hi" and said if I needed help with anything to just ask. i did end up having a couple of questions. I'm in the market for an upright commuter bike. She didn't try to upsell me to an expensive one. Their selection is pretty good. I've got to visit a couple of other shops to compare prices but they were in the $500 range (I did check MEC and they had an upright commuter for $650).
This one bike I was looking at, the girl told me that she recommended getting rid of the quick release wheel part which she said was about $5 per wheel. Not bad and I appreciated the tip!
Very helpful and friendly service!
Urbane Cyclist
Updated - 9/29/2009
Urbane, you are dead to me.
Having made an appointment last week to tune up my bike, I showed up Monday morning in the rain, only to be rejected by Toronto's most pretentious bike shop.
Long story short: my frame is slightly bent. It's dangerous, I know, but I'm not about to shell out for a new ride. More to the point, I've discussed this flaw with Urbane many times and they have nevertheless fixed my bike.
But on this day they turned me down citing "liability issues". Like what? I'm not asking them to sponsor me; I just needed my brakes tweaked and wheels trued. It was too early in the morning for me to argue, and I really shouldn't have to.
I won't be visiting here again.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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4/19/2009
Extremely professional outfit with awesome selection of bikes/accessories and a highly knowledgeable… Read more »
Urbane Cyclist
4/1/2010
I recently bought a bike from Urbane. The experience of buying the bike was top notch, the salespeople were friendly and helpful and I got to test ride bikes to my hearts content. I don't believe they work on a commission basis so there were no pressure tactics used on me to "buy now, right now!!" or any attempts to get me to buy a bike out of my price range. I had two different guys help me on two different days and they were both genuinely nice guys with good knowledge of the bikes.
So I'm really hyped to start riding my bike but it needs to be assembled so I'm told to come in three days from now and pick it up Monday. On Monday I restrain myself and wait until two a-clock to pick up my bike... I'm told that it won't be done until four and that in fact when I was told to come in Monday that meant the end of the day Monday... I look at my receipt and the various papers they gave me but can't find anything written down about the time I was supposed to come pick up the bike... whatever, it's a few hours. I come back at four after going to chapters and reading on the third floor by the big windows. They say come back in another two hours. Now, I don't mind wasting time... but I was thinking, maybe some people do? So I come back for the third time and it's done.
It's raining so I get fenders put on... at a charge for both the product and the labor to put them on mind you, after I've just spent 600 on the bike and 300 on accessories... the mechanic puts on the fenders. The front one is clearly rubbing on the tire and the back one is too close to the back brake, knocking against it every time I hit the slightest bump. After insisting they get the fenders on properly, after all I paid for the installation, I get some attitude from the shop person, like they are frustrated with ME!! Did I do something? After I just spent $900 and am now paying you to put these fenders on you're giving me grief cause you can't install them properly?
Whatever, a few days later I'm still tweaking the fenders, which clearly don't fit on my bike but are the ones the people at the store chose for my bike. On closer inspection I encounter a screw to lock in one side of the front fender that isn't even screwed in. There are all of FOUR screws on the fender. Wow.
Then I'm looking at the bike further and notice the handlebar tape doesn't go all the way to the stem on one side.... guess they ran out of tape on the spool? Then I push down hard on the handlebars and they slip down, I have the bull horn handles. So I get out the ole allen key and tighten it up.
When I take it to the shop they make a point of telling me I only tightened the top screw of the handlebars and not the bottom. Um ya, I think, and you never tightened them well to begin with and that's your job. I could have gotten seriously injured if I'd been riding and they slipped but hey, apparently that's beside the point.
The last time I went in there, I've had my bike about a week now and I absolutely love it, I wanted to get the chain guard taken off. I hadn't asked for a chain guard and the bike that I test rode and agreed to buy didn't have a chain guard but whoever built my bike decided I needed one. I'm told that I'll have to be charged 25$ in labor to take the chain guard off. I politely remind the mechanic that the whole chain guard thing wasn't my idea and that I didn't want it to begin with. She retorts with "there's a good analogy for what you're asking me to do, but I can't think of one right now". I've had time to think on one! It's like this, you go to a restaurant and order a green salad... and when the salad comes it's got lobster in it. You clearly didn't order the Lobster salad. You tell this to the waiter he responds. "Well, I can take the lobster off your salad, but I'll have to charge you for taking it off"
Then she says "If I'm doing this for free I certainly can't do it now" implying that if I had paid the 25 bucks she could find the time to do it now but for free, for me, who had only just bought this bike and who's assembler put on a chain guard against his wishes, well, to rectify their own mistakes..... for free.... I would have to wait.
P.S. in the amount of time the mechanic was chatting away with one of her friends who had entered the store while I patiently waited for a communication on what was to happen with my chain guard she could have easily taken it off. Instead I hung around the area for four hours to come back at closing time.
The screws have come loose on my toe-clips and I lost one before I noticed and tightened the rest sufficiently.... they consistently screw me sufficiently but ignore my poor bike.
Urbane Cyclist
8/28/2009
I stopped into Urbane Cyclist today because I had 30 minutes to kill before meeting a friend downtown and because I've seen it almost every day on the way to work.
I want to change the tires on my mountain bike. I was after hybrid/street tires to replace the thick off-road tires which waste far more energy than they should due to high friction levels. For an urban commuter, thinner, smoother tires are the way to go. I spent about 10-15 minutes in the store before leaving completely disappointed.
As a recently converted cyclist, I am constantly in search of improved gear, nicer bikes, and upgrades of all kinds. I bought a cheap used bike from Bike Pirates on Bloor St W [Which I highly recommend for anyone interested in cycling and not blow the bank in the process.]
First, I walked past rows and rows of bikes in the retail area of the shop straight to the service department in the back. There is a reception area in the service department surrounded by glass cases of gear, plus things on the walls/shelves. There are doorways leading to two rooms; an office and the other looked like the service area.
I stood in reception for about 5 minutes - no one came out to ask if they could help me. I even gazed inquisitively into the office, and the people clearly saw me - still didn't come out.
I figured: "Fine, if they don't want my business, I'll take it somewhere else." From what I saw of the parts in the service area, things were extremely pricey in this shop anyways. Tires for $70 each. Axles for $150, $200 and up.
My entire bike cost $80 at Bike Pirates! Yikes.
Anyways, I left the non-service department and had a look at the bikes for the pure joie du vivre. This is a uber high-end bike shop. They had alot of really nice bikes. Their entry level bikes were about $500-600, and the cheapest one in the shop was about $450. The nice ones cost well over $1000.
While I was there, I noticed a staff member helping out a lady who was obviously interested in getting into biking. Although I may be rushing to judgment, her physique led me to guess she was not a seasoned cyclist but rather an entry level, "let's try a new hobby" type person. Commendable, and I'm all for it. However, the bike he had her trying out cost like $1200! A price tag big enough to discourage or bankrupt even the best-intentioned prospective cyclist.
I was really disappointed this shop had nothing to offer the entry-level cyclist, or value-oriented consumer.
When I decided to get back into cycling as an adult, I bought something cheap. I wasn't sure how well it would work out with my lifestyle, and my commute to work [about 7km each way through fairly heavy traffic areas]. I've subsequently found that I like it very much, and in the future I will easily spend $500-$700 on a bicycle. We spend that much to ride the disgusting TTC for 5 months anyways, right? But the point is, that's helluva lot to spend on a hobby if you're not certain it's for you.
I suppose shops like this have their purpose, but for someone interested in value and good service - keep looking.
FYI: Later on that day, I stopped into a couple of shops on Bloor W between Lansdowne and Dufferin, and the staff were far more helpful and prices more reasonable. Tonnes of nice bikes for less than $600. Also, fair prices on tires - $20 each. Plus the staff actually had time to acknowledge my existence. A big plus.
FYI*** Updated: I ended up going to Mountain Equipment Co-op the next weekend, and was extremely pleased with the outcome. The tires were about $11 each, and they only charged $5 per tire to install ($37 including tax). No waiting, they were able to do it in less than a half hour. I highly recommend going to MEC for any bike needs or other hobbies. I find their products are good quality, and also good value. Plus their staff are extremely friendly and knowledgeable. Also, the guy who worked on my bike told me that by the spring MEC is going to be selling their own brand of bikes. Yay! Good value and amazing quality. No rip-offs here.
Urbane Cyclist
1/14/2010
I took my bike here for some repairs on a friend's recommendation. They were fast, did a great job and were friendly. I will use them again.
Urbane Cyclist
10/17/2008
The Urbane Cyclist is a great spot to get a bike fixed. Even if you ride a BMX like me and they are mostly into mountain bikes and stuff. They never try to over charge me or get me to buy stuff I don't need.
Which, has got to be the best endorsement ever.
Urbane Cyclist
7/30/2009
they didnt kick me out when i decided to test drive the sound of every bicycle bell in the store.
and they even lent me a screwdriver to put it on!
Urbane Cyclist
10/18/2008
1 photo
Urbane Cyclist is my favourite bike shop for three reasons: convenient hours, really helpful staff, and great prices. When I needed to get my tube fixed (stupid piece of crap bike!) I called 5 different stores, and Urbane's price beat out all of them....even the place in Kensington, which I was surprised to find was one of the most expensive!
They've got all sorts of bike accessories for sale, from bells to baskets. They also have a great selection of locks, from the top-of-the line to the more affordable brands. They also sell bikes, but I always do my best not to look at them because they're so pretty and it makes my junker bike jealous.
