I finally decided that I'm not too cool for a bike helmet and BFF Bikes got me right!! Great selection, amazing customer service, and ultimately a helmet that checked my every box. Y'all stay safe out there and hit up BFF Bikes! read more

BFF Bikes - Lazer Cerro - Bike Repair/Maintenance Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Always helpful and friendly, always great service, always reasonably priced. So glad to have them in the neighborhood!

What a great experience! I've always been nervous about riding in the city and haven't owned a bike in 10+ years. I was intimidated to go into a bike shop and admit that, but it was no problem at all. I explained the kind of riding I wanted to do and Alice suggested two options. I test-rode both of them and immediately had a favorite. Alice explained the features, adjusted the seat, installed my new bell, and I was ready to go! She also told me about a Thursday-night, women-only ride they do for beginner riders to get comfortable riding in the city, which sounds perfect. I love my new bike and just wish I hadn't waited so long to get up the nerve to buy it! read more

Everyone's always nice and seemingly knowledgeable. Bought some random things like a pump here.

BFF offers the best fitting service for any female rider who would like a comfortable sales experience. Highly recommend this shop for sales as well as community rides! read more

We went in to purchase a bike today Four people were working in the repair area and no one was available to help us. No one even said Hi when we walked in. We walked around about 15 minutes and then a customer came in with a repair and they helped him- still no one acknowledged us. It was kind of surreal. So sad....., I want to support local business'. I have purchased several bikes from them in the past. read more

I am completely obtuse when it comes to all things bikes and, because of that, am often hesitant to go into a repair shop because I'm immediately in over my head. I have been to BFF bikes several times with problems that are a mystery to me and not only are they patient and kind with me, it always ends up being way more affordable than I expect. I'm extremely grateful that I lucked into finding them so close to where I moved read more

Apparently, I had grown to dislike my old bike. I didn't notice it, but my husband suggested I get a new one because I frequently nitpicked my old one. I researched BFF bikes a while ago, a woman-owned bike shop. When I lived in the burbs, what seems like eons ago, I used to spin at a bike shop and got into group rides. My nice road bike hasn't seen the light of day since that move unless you count the 4 times I've moved it into new homes. My plan was to bring it there for a tune-up and start committing to their monthly rides. That has yet to happen because life. So, when I decided I was ready to consider a new bike, I knew exactly where I wanted to shop - BFF. Kelly helped my pick out my new bike. I told her what I disliked about my old bike, what kind of rider I am, and what I wanted in a new bike. She gave me a few options, patiently laying out the features of the different bikes. The first bike I rode was the one I ended up buying and I love it, my only complaint is that I haven't had time to ride it more. I didn't put the rack on my car, so I decided to leave the bike there. I also was concerned about bringing another bike home; we already had 2 cars, a motorcycle, 3 bicycles and bins of things stuffed into a 2 car garage. I love that they work with West Town Bikes; I supported them in the past and planned to donate my old bike to them. I rode the old bike over the next day, worked with one of the techs to identify the accessories I wanted to move over to the new bike and grabbed brunch while they worked.They took care of getting the bike donated for me. Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase and my experience at BFF. You could tell the customers are a mix of seasoned cyclists, casual riders and newbies, but it does not feel intimidating in the slightest. One of these days I'll get my road bike there for a major tune up and catch a group ride. read more

I previously went to a bike shop near my home but was never really impressed. The prices were good, but the work they did never seemed to last or wasn't very thorough. So when my bike (Darlene) broke down on my way back from work, I searched for the closest bike shop to walk it to and it happened to be BFF Bikes. What luck! I've been here a couple of times now and every time they do an excellent job for a reasonable price. Having a place where I know things will be done right the first time is sooo worth the extra few bucks and inconvenience of bringing Darlene here. read more

We got first bike for our older son. He is very particular about the color and looks so we did a search with bike stores in the city that can meet his choice. BFF bikes had some great suggestions over the phone so we decided to stop by here. First about the store: this store is right in our neighborhood so glad we came here. The staff is extremely friendly. They helped my kid try out few bikes. While he was so hesitant to try any color other than blue, they got his color of choice in a box quickly so my son gets the assurance that they have the bike of his color choice. The service was great. We were told that it may take a day to assemble the bike but we got a call same evening and my son was more than happy to try his new ride. I would recommend this store for your new ride or service! read more

BFF Bikes - Bike Repair/Maintenance Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Stopped in today to check out what they carried in bike locks, not a huge selection, however a range to to fit your needs. You can choose from a light, medium, or heavy duty lock. The question of what you need depends on how long you plan on locking it up. If you're running into a store for a few minutes, or will you be locking it up for hours while you go to work on Metra? You will also need a cable to pull through your front tire if you don't want that stolen. Lots of good advice on what you need. I didn't buy a lock today, I have a couple at home that I haven't been able to locate, have to look a little harder and should I be fortunate enough to find them, see if they're appropriate. I did make a purchase though, I needed a pouch to carry my phone and keys in. Again, an efficient selection covered all the bases. I looked at a couple and the sales associate was very helpful by putting them on a bike to demonstrate how to install it and let me see how my phone fit into it. Now that phones are larger my old one doesn't cut it anymore. Now for the overdue part of my review, I did purchase a bike here. I do have a couple of other bikes that I thought would be great rides, however I picked those out myself without any expert help. What I ended up with are a couple of bikes that I don't enjoy riding, they sure look nice though. BFF concentrates on fitting the right bike for the female rider, I now have a bike that is nice looking, but more importantly fits me well and is super comfortable to ride. Great people make this a great full service shop. read more

BFF Bikes - Bike Repair/Maintenance Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I get my bike a tune up every year, this year I brought it to BFF Bikes. I've never had a more thorough tune up ever! My bike was glistening when I picked her up! My gears were all shiny and new, my brakes were amazing! I'm so happy I found them I will never take my girl anywhere else! I think I even can go faster lol Thanks a million read more

Could not have had a better experience! I wandered in to ask about a commuting bike, and Gillian, the owner, very kindly and patiently helped me for 30+ minutes. I ended up buying an awesome collapsible bike for the train, and one of Jillian's colleagues gave me advice for taking it on the Metra. What a lovely store and team. read more

BFF Bikes is a great bike shop. The staff is knowledgeable and super friendly. They make me feel at ease, even when I know I'm asking a very newbie kind of question. They have helpful clinics for beginners (and it looks like more advanced ones as well.) I love this shop. read more

Excellent bike shop - my wife and I both go to this shop for all our bike needs. Great mechanics, good selection of parts and accessories. New shop on Damen is real nice. Highly recommend! read more

Excellent service and super helpful staff. They helped me spruce up my bike in time for summer with all the essentials. I appreciate how patient and informative every staff member was. Definitely will return for future needs. read more

BFF Bikes - Spruced up bike for summer - Bike Repair/Maintenance Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Great neighborhood bike shop. You can get a lot done while supporting a women owned and staffed business. Prices competitive with area bike shops. Customer service was good. Queer friendly. Same bike shortage challenges as other places. If you already have a bike, they do not have similar bike accessory shortages. read more

I couldn't be more pleased with the service and care I received at BFF bikes. I knew how great BFF was when I lived in Chicago, I attended a fix a flat workshop and got a couple of products to help me along as I was new to cycling! Kelly and the BFF team really helped me out this past week after I shipped my bike from California to Chicago. A missing seat post clamp and seized brakes, I was in a jam..literally! The seat post was very specific to a Liv bike and they went above and to get me fixed up. A special thanks to Kelly for offering me the part off of her own bike and calling to follow up later on the day letting me know they had found a part in the shop! Good, honest, friendly, and kind humans are at BFF bikes. Great mechanics, excellent customer service. They are a gem, I urge you to visit and let them share their sparkle. read more

I ordered a Public bike online and had it shipped to BFF Bikes and they set it all up for me! I've stopped in a couple of times and had nothing but great experiences. They have genuine care and concern for their customers and want to make sure everyone is happy on their bikes! They also seem to know their regulars, which is a good sign :) I wouldn't hesitate this business to anyone in the market for a bike or accessories. read more

Helped me with an odd in-house repair on a stationary bike. Friendly, efficient, and adapted to the odd situation!

Very friendly! Helped me fill up my very flat tires that I thought were going to be needed to be replaced! Got me filled up for free!

They had the exact bike I was looking for and the service was outstanding! Highly recommend!

So much good about this place. -Super community driven -Knowledgeable and skilled staff -Woman owned! -Well stocked inventory -Extremely friendly service They go out of their way to work within your budget and ensure you understand what you're getting. I will never take my bike anywhere else. They've also inspired me to learn more about my bike and I swear one of these days I'll learn how to fix a flat! =P read more

I love this place! I feel like shopping for a bike should be fun and exciting, not nerve-wracking and full of pressure, and I really had a great time at BFF. I read about them online before stopping in and I love their origin story and how they cater to women. (They also serve men and carry men's bikes, FYI!, but they have a much-needed and greatly appreciated female focus.) Reading about them alone made me want to give them my business. I haven't owned a bike in almost ten years and I don't know a lot about bicycles when it comes to features. Annie helped me tremendously, telling me about the various options available, their pros/cons and differences, and then helping me choose what elements are important or unnecessary to a rider like me. The bikes she showed me were right in the price range I'd specified, and I took three for a test ride. BFF is located in Bucktown in the perfect area for testing out bicycles, with lots of quiet, residential streets. They even provide a map in case you're confused about which way you should go. I had a lot of questions that, to me, felt a little silly, but Annie was super-helpful, friendly, and down-to-earth. She's clearly passionate about riding, and I really love that she was able to share her knowledge and enthusiasm with me, but never in a way that made me feel like a dope for not being a bike person myself! This was a completely pressure-free experience and that's important! I found the perfect bike and fell in love. They checked it up in the shop in the back and attached a basket and bell and kickstand for me while I waited! I rode it home! I hit the 606! I hated for my ride to end! Highly, highly recommend BFF to everyone out there. I know I'll be back, and I can't thank them enough! read more

I stopped by BFF recently because I had a question about a repair on my bike. The mechanic gave some great advice, and while I didn't purchase anything that day, I'll definitely be going to BFF for all my bike needs! The staff is great! read more

The experience with Vanessa,Chase,and Dan was exceptional!! Bike accessories are Reasonable priced. They even did a courtesy call to let me know what i needed to replacing. Down-to-earth people running an honest business. BFF Bike Shop is one to definitely one to recommend. read more

BFF Bikes - My new old bike.. BFF Bikes Thank you, for my tune-up!!! - Bike Repair/Maintenance Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Seriously, THE BEST! As I've gotten the hang of bicycle commuting, I realized I needed a bike that not only rides faster, but one that actually fits me. The bike I'd been riding, while in very good shape, just was not doing me any favors. I was getting winded just cycling a mile...and that's not because I'm terribly out of shape. My quads were burning (not in a good way), my back was hurting, my hips grew super tight. Just not a good situation. Shopping for bikes is tough when you're rather petite. I found BFF Bikes through Yelp and was thrilled to find out they specialize in women's bicycles. I also saw they offer monthly "How to fix a flat" classes for an super small donation, which was awesome because other classes I looked up charged $40-$50. That's when I decided, I'm going to BFF Bikes. Right before the fix-a-flat class, I talked to Kelly, who works there, telling her my concerns about my current bike and what I think I wanted in a bike. She narrowed it down to a couple of bikes and showed me a Liv commuting bike in size XS (win!). She asked if I wanted to test ride it, and of course I said, hell yes! She made sure the bike fit me, and after some seating adjustments, I was off on a test ride. WOW, what a difference a fitted bike makes! It was smooth, I was sitting taller, which allowed me to see more of the road. I fell in love with the bike! I came back, stayed for the class (super fun and useful!), and told Kelly I'd have to come back for the bike since I was headed out of town. A couple of weeks later, thankfully Kelly was there again, and I bought the bike! Best decision! I also ended up buying some lights they sold, and I already owned a pretty good lock for my bike, but they have a good selection of accessories. Overall, really great vibe at BFF. They're super friendly and down to earth. Because they're so passionate about cycling, they make you feel really excited about it too. It's extremely reassuring if you're a newbie cyclist like I am. You don't even have to come here to buy a bike. Take a class, since they offer a couple each month, and learn a new skill! read more

Short story: A local, woman-owned business with friendly and knowledgeable bike mechanics who know how to get the job done. Long story: After struggling for around an hour with a somewhat frustrating fender install, I decided to throw in the towel and let a professional handle it, as the cost effectiveness of doing it myself was rapidly diminishing. I read a few reviews here of local bike shops and was put off by how many reported the bad experiences they'd had with dour and sometimes downright surly mechanics--this wasn't the case with the reviews of BFF. I called ahead on a Friday evening to see if they'd have time to do the install sometime over the weekend and, when given the green light, dropped the bike off with the bike mechanic, Steven. He called the next day to update me, explained that he had encountered a problem with my rear brakes, and wanted to okay the repair with me before proceeding. I got a second call later that day that my bike would be finished soon and available for pickup the following day. I picked it up and the install was flawless -- Steven did a wonderful job and the cost was right in line with what I'd been expecting, especially as it had taken a fair amount of diligence to get the fenders aligned perfectly. Some reviewers have mentioned that their labor costs are a little higher than they would've liked. I can't comment on how their prices truly compare, as I do as much of my own maintenance as time permits and haven't sought service quotes from other local businesses, but I will say that I'm of the mindset that a) You get what you pay for and b) I would rather pay a little more to have it done right the first time. A few days after the fender install I noticed my front wheel was dragging a little. Thinking it was the front fender, as I'd hit a bump or two on my recent rides and the clearance between the wheel and the inside of the fender was miniscule, I brought it back in for a re-adjustment. As the other bike mechanic (equally cool and as knowledgeable as Steven--can't believe I forgot his name) was busy at the time, Vanessa, one of the co-owners, came over to help me and crouched down with me to troubleshoot. In the end, the other mechanic determined that the last time the bike's recent service (which had been completed recently by Kozy's, who had thrown in free maintenance with the purchase of the bike) their mechanic had failed to properly calibrate the front and back disc brakes, as well as the rear derailleur. The moral of the story is you get what you pay for. As you can surely tell, I think very highly of BFF bikes and will be heading to them for all my future bikes needs and I think you should, too. read more

I am new to the biking scene in Chicago - like - really new. Because I didn't want to invest a ton of money, I ended up buying an old Schwinn off Craigslist. I brought it in to BFF and they were non-judgy about the bike itself, and were more than happy to take a thorough look and fix anything that needed to be fixed. While they had my bike, the mechanic took the liberty of riding it around the block to make sure that everything was working properly. I also bought a few accessories for my bike, which they affixed to my bike for no charge. I did compare the price of some of the items they had in the store to other bike stores in the area, and they were consistently the lowest priced. I have been in several times, and had great experiences. Most notable though, was when my husband took my bike in. About 3 days after I fixed the bike up to my liking, the saddle and seat post got stolen off of it at the Clybourn Metra stop. The good folks at BFF helped him surprise me by looking up which saddle I had purchased a few days prior, and getting it on the bike. They even took the time to make a "custom part" using a bike chain and some rubber to secure my saddle to my bike frame. They did this for free, and only charged my husband the cost of the saddle and $5 for labor. Overall, great service, welcoming environment (especially for new riders), knowledgeable staff, and just generally good people. read more

BFF tuned up my bike this week and it was money well spent. Thorough assessment followed by quick service and a complete explanation of what was done. Getting on the bike, which was 5 years of heavy use out of tune, was like day one when I bought it! (from BFF). So happy to have a local shop I can trust read more

I had to stop into BFF Bikes on a whim due to a flat tire. Even though it's not normally the shop I go to, everyone there was super friendly and knowledgeable and I had a good chat with the mechanic about bikes and cars and Chicago. He fixed my flat in no time, put a new battery in one of my lights, and told me some pretty important information about how my back tire was kinda rad and to be careful of people trying to steal it--no one had mentioned that to me before. Pricing was awesome, conversation was awesome, shop was awesome. If you're in the area and need some help, definitely stop in. These are good people. read more

I live nearby, and would come to them for parts and emergency repairs, and BFF would always help me out. Their parts are very reasonably priced, and they would install things for me in-shop immediately, like a new bike basket, or a new seat/seat post. They spent time with me to help me find the right parts for my 15 year old bike, and were honest about repairs. Which is why I bought my brand new, first-bike-in-15-years bicycle from them! It's a beautiful Momentum by Giant bike, and after having me test drive a few different models, we found an amazing blue commuter bike with all the bells, whistles, and storage that fit perfectly within my budget. I had plenty of questions about how to maintain it, and they answered and explained everything in great detail. I recommend them to everyone, whether you need parts, labor, or a brand new set of wheels! P.S. They are dog-friendly, and have done events with local rescue One Tail at a Time, and I often see shop dogs when I visit. :-) read more

I came in today while I was visiting Chicago via bike. My brake cable randomly disconnected from my bike and it turned out that my cable was shredded and needed replacing. I came to the closest bike shop which happened to be BFF. They were super friendly, quick, and helpful! I didn't even know they were women specific when I walked in but I was pleasantly surprised! They have lots of women's jerseys, shorts, bags, gloves, and more! My only complaint is that they're a small shop and as an avid female cyclist, it was hard for me to find something I didn't already have but it's probably hard for them to find really good stock for the store since women's stuff is so rare. Thanks BFF for filling a much needed void in the cycling market place! read more

Went in today to get a new bike and Annie was amazing! Super helpful and very patient with all my questions. She picked out a few bikes for me to try and I walked out with a new bike that I love! The shop is very welcoming and everyone was very nice, I highly recommend and I'll definitely be back :) read more

Everyone at BFF creates a welcoming and friendly, community environment. They do great repair and upgrade work at reasonable prices. I love having BFF as my neighborhood shop! read more

If there is a more friendly bike store and staff in town, I am not aware of it. Steven and Annie are smart, patient, and friendly, and I can't recommend bff enough. So far we've had a tuneup, bought pedals, and gotten help with shoes and saddle adjustment. When it's time to build a new bike, I expect to come here. read more

BFF Bikes - Bike Repair/Maintenance Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Got a flat on my first ride on a new bike nearby. Walked over to The Bike Lane and saw a line out the door. Found BFF Bikes and headed over to an empty shop. I didn't have a mask in order to enter but an employee just took my bike in and patched it up in 10 minutes. Advised that they don't normally do patches but made an exception because they were out of stock of the tubes my tire requires. Really smooth experience and will definitely come back. read more

Had a wonderful experience here the other day - Rolled in and the mechanic stopped what he was doing to help me right away. He had honest opinions about some parts I should get replaced, had them in stock, and then popped them on in 10 minutes. Everyone was pleasant to talk to, the parts and labor were fairly priced, and I left feeling really proud that this place is in my neighborhood. My bike has never felt this great, it was seriously a joy to take a ride after being here. read more

I've been going to BFF for 4 years. The service is always responsive, fast and affordable, not to mention nice. The saddle audition program is just about my favorite thing--you can put down a deposit and try out different saddles and your deposit goes toward the purchase price. Their biking clinics for newbies like me are super-helpful and welcoming. I tell all my friends to go here. Plus, supporting a women-owned business is important! read more

Although I have not yet been to the physical shop (yet) I used the online services and then communicated by email. I was looking for a specific product and called/emailed several times receiving prompt and efficient attention and service by Kelly. I look forward to visiting the store soon! read more