Hurrah I finally own a bike, thank you santa! Unfortunately…read morethe poor wee thing (now fondly named deathtrap) had a few slight issues that the co-op sorted out for me. Firstly my wheel was not properly attached to the bike and was stupidly dangerous to ride and secondly my brakes did not work very well. This may be a great set up for a slapstick skit but not for real life things like annoying people cycling round the meadows. Which is clearly the point of having a bike. Any the hoo, the bike co-op was amazing with me, they only charged £7 for parts and gave the bike a big look over and made sure it was all safe for my weakling legs. The staff are great, patient and honest as all heck, they don't try to sell you anything you don't need and seem to have a make do and mend attitude. Basically they want you to ride bikes and have fun, which is a huge thumbs up from me.

If you do cycling of any sort in Edinburgh, you will probably be familiar with Edinburgh Bicycle…read moreCooperative. They're located on Alvanley Terrace, near to the Bruntsfield Links. I've been in a few times - once to get some new inner tubes, another time to get some cycling mitts (fingerless gloves) and finally to replace a light. The shop has such a great range of everything, along with staff who are passionate about the subject matter. Whatever I was looking for, there was always a great range of that item, across a variety of prices. This shop thus caters for the casual and hardcore cyclist alike. It's the sort of place that you'll wonder round, and see something that you don't really need, but do want, and then try to justify whether or not you need it. The selection of complete bikes for sale is also great to look at, with that 'if money was no object' glint in your eye. Apart from sales, the shop also does repairs in a small workshop that is part of the shop. It's pretty much a one-stop shop for your cycling needs, and in a city like Edinburgh where cycling is the quickest way to get around, it is a very useful place. Well worth a visit if you live nearby, or even if you don't!

I have been coming to this shop for years now, kind of rarely, as I'm not a regular and determined…read morecyclist. I will only talk about my last experience which was as good as all the others. It was time for my reliable bike to get some TLC: having it for a good few years now, it needed a new chain and other bits and bobs. I came in for a quote, fearing that they might have a long queue or something. It was Saturday. I got a very accurate quote of what had to be changed, each piece precisely quoted, and mentioning that some small extras might pop up during the actual work. It was the 2nd quote I was getting that very same day and it sounded normal to me, considering how pleased I was also in the past from the service here. So although there was expected to be a slot available on Tuesday or Wednesday (some people cancel so slots open up), the kind gentleman actually said they could keep the bike till then rather than me having to bring it back on Mon or Tue, so I happily did. I could also leave my u-lock there rather than carrying it with me. I think I was actually called on Wednesday to be notified that the service was all done and my bike was ready (very clear voicemail ). I went back to the shop, saw my shiny serviced bike: it was literally like new - rolling so smoothly! Great work from the guys, very pleased with consistency, professionalism and value for money! Highly recommended!

If you need your bike fixing in a short time and for very little, come to The Bike Works…read more PRICE: Parts and tools cost as little as they would anywhere. The cost of servicing is very reasonable, and you will only pay for what you have asked to be done. QUALITY: Service is very good. Friendly staff will sort out what you need, and always have a useful suggestion to make. CHOICE: Though small, there are a wide range of parts to choose from, and the shop is able to order in any component not found within their stocks. Being a keen and experienced cyclist, on coming to Edinburgh I needed a shop where I could get my brake pads, tyres and inner tubes for a reasonable price and relatively near where I lived, whilst also providing a place to service the bike if it required work beyond my expertise. The Bike Works provided this. It is a wee shop just off Sciennes Road or the Meadows and easy to find. Staff here are friendly, know their stuff and won't try and fleece you. Maintenance is of a high standard and when the occasion arises that you cannot fix your bike yourself, they will do only as you ask them and the bike will potentially be with you by the end of the day. The shop is also open at very useful hours, allowing you to pop in for that spare part you couldn't find during those evening bike-maintenance sessions, or to pick up an inner-tube before spinning off on a night cycle to the Pentlands. Other very useful features include rails for bike-parking outside; a card-reader for the change-less many out there and regular staff who often recognise you or your bike when you bring it in with a bent hanger or misaligned derailleur. I find this place to be a gem among the many fine shops in this little area of Marchmont, and it deserves a terrific thumbs-up and my own special Gold Award for best in class.

I'm a newbie to road cycling and had to buy a bike via Evans because my employer is tied to them…read morevia the ride to work scheme. I've spent over £900 with them and customer service I've received has been pretty poor (with the exception of one time when Grace gave me lots of helpful advice on picking out my gear). Tipping point was when I went in to see if they could have a look at my bike, because it has been making a clicking noise since I picked it up from Evans who had to change the tyres due to a recall. Staff member didn't really say anything helpful other than 'bikes make a lots of different noises' and 'we didn't touch anything other than your tyres so can't be our fault'. They offered to check it in but I was pretty sick of their attitude so took my bike to Bicycle Works who asked sensible questions and identified the problem in 2 minutes. Problem had nothing to do with the tyres and if staff member at Evans had bothered to identify what the problem was I would have happily paid to get it fixed. Not planning on setting foot in an Evans store again.

This review is really based on my hubby's experiences as he is the cyclist and the shopper. I just…read morego along to make sure he doesn't get distracted and buy things he doesn't need. He absolutely tries his best to use independent shops - and there are lots in Edinburgh but even though they are great for helping you choose and maintain a bike, unfortunately they aren't always able to carry a large stock of a variety of parts and accessories especially for specialist activities. So after making the rounds to the local shops, if he can't get what he wants he goes on-line. Again - there are lots of on-line shops to choose from but we travel a lot and aren't always home to accept deliveries. The Evans in Edinburgh also rarely has what he needs in store (which is why there's only 3 stars), but the good thing about Evans is you can order and pay on-line and only have to drop in to collect your goods which will be sent to the shop from a bigger warehouse. There is even free parking at the side of the shop - just press the 'Evans' buzzer and they'll let you in. All very easy and stress free because you're guaranteed that you'll get what you want with no need to hang about the shop.

I think Alpine Bikes is one of the Edinburgh stalwarts, but I only visited this shop for the first…read moretime a few weeks ago. There was a decent sale on and I picked up a good bargain. This shop has the largest ladies section I've seen in Edinburgh so far. The clothing is good and varied, catering for the roadies, MTBers and utility bike riders amongst us. I had good banter with the guy at the counter who couldn't fathom at all why I might want to buy a baby blue shirt dress thing with pink piping and reflective strips up the back. Cute and girly didn't marry up with his understanding of bike riding, but he made me laugh and it was all in good fun. Would definitely come back here to look at the clothing. Didn't explore the shop further than the ladies section.

The predominant style of bikes on offer from here are cross country bikes and it is this area where…read morethe shop offers its most comprehensive section. Despite this the other styles of bikes the store also offers are very well stocked themselves with hybrid bikes (which are suited to both track and road) being its second best area. The bikes generally sit in the price range between £250 and £1000 with relatively few ultra high end bikes on offer compared to some of the specialist shops. The bikes on offer are, however, of high quality and area all good bikes that you would want to buy. If all the choice gets a bit much for you then the staff here are more than happy to help and you only need to ask and they shall do everything they can to help you pick out the right bike.

I've used the Bike station before and always been happy with the service but today was above and…read morebeyond. I noticed a puncture as I set off for work, so pushed my bike to the Bike Station, but it was closed. It was Monday morning and I saw on the sign that the shop didn't open until Wednesday. A member of staff from another branch happened to be there dropping off some bikes and asked if I was ok. When I explained about the puncture, he opened up the shop and replaced the inner tube and tyre for me and also oiled some parts of the bike that needed done, all whilst waiting. I can't thank Mark enough for offering to help on his day off, what an amazing service! Lynsey

When buying a second hand bike, the one thing you want to be assured of is quality. Such bikes can…read morebe rusty, slow and not especially good - the last thing you want to be doing is buying a bike with dodgy brakes and in risk of breaking. Thankfully, there is a solution; Bike Station sells not only cheap, but also high quality bikes (they'll also recycle any unwanted bike you have but don't want) - in this respect they cannot be faulted. After my last second hand bike fell apart after just a few months use I was about to give up on second hand bikes, but the quality here is first class and still very good value. Upon arriving at Bike Station, you'll see a sign in the street pointing you into a small car park. Here, in what is really just a glorified garage you'll find Bike Station. On Saturdays (Fridays for kids bikes) from 10:30 till 4:30 you can buy second hand bikes and on Wednesdays 4pm till 8pm and Saturdays 12pm to 4pm you can hire a work stand for £4 to fix your own bike. Throughout all these three times you can also buy second hand parts. In short, this place is well worth a visit, whether you are a bike lover wanting to mend your bike or someone who just wants a second hand bike that won't break. The service here is excellent and the quality cannot be faulted - if only all second hand bike sellers were this good I wouldn't have spent money on a bike that's now broken.

I approached the guys at eastside bikes to build me a custom Cyclocross bike that I already owned a…read moreframe for. Over the course of several emails we figured out what were the best items to use and also what wheels would suit my riding style. Andy and the team went out of their way to be super helpful and I was really impressed with the service. The wheels (built by Andy at eastside) are great, the bike looks and rides amazingly well and I couldn't be happier with the service. Cannot recomend these guys enough, especially if you're looking for a cheaper "round town" work horse, or want some custom wheels.

Super friendly. I lost a screw on my bottle cage mount where I fixed my ABUS lock. They helped me…read moreimmediately and didn't even charge anything.

I am an avid cyclist and I was looking to rent a nice, higher end bicycle and I was looking for…read moresome city bikes to rent for my other members or my family, this bike shop delivered much past my expectations and the bikes were perfect! Fair prices on all of them and the staff are some of the most helpful people! This is by far my favorite bike shop and I wished I had a bike shop this good locally!

The first thing to note is that these are summer opening times. Through the rest of the year…read morethings are roughly the same except that it isn't open on Sundays, although they do operate an extended summer here and its only when it really is too cold to enjoy cycling that the summer opening times end. This is very much a high end specialist store, but they do also do repairs. However, when I brought in my knacked old bike to be fixed they sent me to Bike Station. They were helpful and friendly but knew it wasn't worth their while to fix it given that I'd told them it only cost £45 and given the state of my bike they were probably right. It may seem like I'm complaining, but I'm really not, they recognised that I wasn't wanting to spend a lot of money on my bike and instead of roping me along to half fix it they told it to me as it was. Many shops might have strung me along and charged me for a bike I still couldn't use. The bikes themselves are really only for committed cyclists, but if you are looking for specialist bikes this is a great place to come.

I nipped into the Bike Smith to ask the mechanic if they could remove a broken chain guard from the…read morecassette. The guy was really friendly and helpful and didn't charge me for the job. He whipped out a pair of pliers as quick as you like and removed the offending piece of plastic without a hitch. I asked him if I could potentially book in my bike for a service, knowing that it's in reasonably good nick and doesn't need much done. I really just wanted to make sure it was all ticking over ok. So instead of booking me in he took a look at the tyres, mechs, brakes and general condition of the bike, told me not to waste my money and come back when it really did need a service. I thought this was a good thing - the guys in the shop don't want to take your money just because they can. A hugely refreshing approach and will recommend this handy little shop at Haymarket to all. Also a good selection of accessories and they also look to sell bikes and parts too. So worth popping in for a nose if you're out and about in the local area.

The owner of this store Greg has moved next door. Last week I rented a bike from him and end up in…read morea serious accident I broke my hip and ended up in Royal Infirmary. When I went to claim my driver's license back he charged me £120 to get it back and held it to Ransom. This person had zero empathy for my situation and would not even meet me halfway on the cost of the repair I am now back in Vancouver recuperating from my injury

I called these guys to get my bike serviced and said I would bring it in to be done on the…read moreWednesday of that week. When I brought it in they hadn't actually booked me in but Richard said he would try his best to fit it in asap. The bike was serviced on the Thursday and is running like a dream.

This isn't the largest of bike shops and doesn't particularly offer a great deal of range limiting…read moreitself to selling primarily commuter bikes and doing repairs and services. Although there aren't that many bikes on offer, they do, however, manage to cover a decent range of bike types by avoiding duplication of similar styles and are on a par with the bigger bike shops in terms of pricing. Personally, I'd still go elsewhere to where you get more choice within each specific price range, but if you do live locally then you won't get a worse deal here, you just won't get the same range.

My wife and I were looking forward to riding bikes when we visited Edinburgh. We were very glad to…read morefind Sean at Pedal Forth. Just make sure you follow the sign around behind the "horse carriage" to find the entrance to the shop. Sean was knowledgable and helpful offering a range of well maintained bikes, free maps and lots of local knowledge. The shop's location offers a range of riding options. We could have ridden into the city center, along the shore of the "Firth of Forth" but chose to ride the trail along the "Water of Leith." We had a great time. Returning the bikes was easy.