If you are anything like me, you've had numerous occasions in which a bike lover will enthuse how much owning a bike "changes one's life."
True to this old trope, after my experience at Cycle Mania, I will never buy another bike, for as long as I live.
I first made the mistake of walking into this shop a few days after my birthday. I have not owned a car in over 20 years, and have been perfectly happy walking everywhere. However, after years of hearing people propagandize on behalf of biking, I decided to give it a try.
I had succeeded in stashing away enough of my meager savings to buy a decent bike, and after an hour of speaking with the staff, walked out with a 450-dollar bike that the staff assured me was worth at least 200 dollars more...
"It just has a few cosmetic dings from shipping- it's as good as new!" they enthused.
I also walked out with another 100 dollars worth of accessories, including a helmet and a sturdy Kryptonite bike lock.
I only had that bike for three and a half months- and it was a horrific headache from the first day I had it.
Within 48 hours, parts started falling off of it. The bike would shift randomly through the gears at unexpected times- usually when in traffic, when such shifts were incredibly dangerous.
Two weeks after buying it, thieves broke through the kryptonite lock, and stole the tires.
When I brought the bike in to see if I could get the tires replaced, I also asked if they could actually take a look at the gears, to make the bike a tad less- well- DEADLY.
When I picked up my bike, I was assured that they had "ridden the bike around the block" to ensure the gears worked. I bought another, heavier Kryptonite lock, and rode the bike home.
Well- I TRIED to ride the bike home, but the service department had not bothered even setting the chain back on the gears- proving they had not ridden the bike anywhere. I had to put the chain back on, myself, and was not too surprised to find they had not fixed the randomly-shifting gears.
Two weeks later, the seat started falling off. I brought the bike back yet again to be serviced, and asked- very politely- for them to PLEASE take a look at the gears after fixing the seat.
Nope- they didn't. On the ride home, the gears continued to slip.
A week later, there was a light rainfall, and I discovered- much to my chagrin- that Kryptonite locks cannot be exposed to ANY moisture- otherwise, they jam, and have to be either picked by a locksmith, or sawed off. It took me three weeks to figure out that any Kryptonite lock can be sawed off, using a rechargeable drill and a two-dollar cutting wheel- so much for security theater, I guess.
By the time I finally cut the lock off the bike, and was able to ride it again, I had had it for two months- during that time, it had been in for service twice, and locked to a fence for over three weeks. The gears were still slipping.
After a friend lent me another Kryptonite lock, I was comfortable riding it to work again- for a week.
That's when the gear mechanism became detached from the frame, and wrapped itself around the axle like cheap tinfoil. The bike skidded erratically, and I was thrown off- thankfully, I landed in grass. Had this happened in traffic, I would certainly have been killed.
I had to hand this broken machine over to Cycle Mania yet again for servicing, with absolutely no hope of them doing their job right- I had no other choice.
When I got the bike back, they had replaced the broken mechanism, but true to their shoddy practices, the gear problem had still not been fixed.
A few weeks later, thieves broke through the THIRD kryptonite lock, and stole the bike in its entirety.
Good riddance- buying this bike was, without a doubt, the worst 800-dollar decision of my adult life.
Now, when I hear people enthuse about how great owning a bike is, I can only shake my head, and chuckle.
I will never own a bike again- it was a living nightmare- thanks to the guys at Cycle Mania. read more
