Planned a bike ride but got a flat--thankfully Chris at Epicenter Cycling in Aptos was amazing! He helped me change the flat quickly and got me back on the road in no time. Super friendly and efficient. Thanks, Chris! read more

Epicenter Cycling - Aptos - Bikes Near Me - Aptos, California

Great great great! Staff is so delightfully helpful. Ask Danny in the service department about the L&S service! All your parts will be squeaky clean! read more

Not a great customer service experience, the employee couldnt be bothered or care less about helping me. so I will take my money else where.

Really poor customer service. I broke a spoke and went in there with my wheel. "a week from Friday" was the response. "For a spoke" I said "it's a 5 minute job"? No response. I said, "so can I buy the spoke?" "But that's half the work" the service guy said. He made me measure the spoke myself (never touched my wheel) and it turns out they didn't have the spoke I needed. I appreciate that I was an interruption, but the interaction left a bad taste. Went across the street to Speed Shop Aptos and got exactly the response I had expected: "sure, right after we're done with this bike, leave your wheel, we'll text you in an hour." So if you're looking for a shop with a "can't do" attitude, Epicenter Aptos is your place. read more

Poor service, people that work there will ignore you, poor selection and high prices stay away at all costs have gone in multiple times and been ignored almost every single time go to a shop that actually knows what they're doing and care about their customers read more

Employees were rude and didn't not want to help. Especially the girl eating on the front desk and did gave attitude when asked questions about what was needed. Super unprofessional and would not recommend! read more

Sadly, similar to many other reviews here this shop can be summed up in the following ways: 1) Rude and condescending 2) Lack of concern and knowledge by 80% of staff 3) Strong push to drop $5-10k on a bike for no reason than that is the only way to get what you pay for This is not a bicycle shop or bicycle repair shop, but a branded, overpriced Trek shop in disguise, conveniently located to prey on all of the riders headed to Niscene Marks. Go elsewhere. read more

Stop by to ask for advice from the repair shop concerning brakes not working. Six people sitting in the repair shop ignoring us and then one reluctantly came outside and gave half hearted advice for less than a minute. Then let us know that they would not help us with our bike at all because they don't repair Rad bikes. We brought our own tools and did not need them to work on it! We were just simply asking for advice on how to tighten brakes. Disappointed by the customer service. read more

I visited the shop multiple times, and except of the insane prices, the employees don't seem to care too much. I came to buy some parts for my bikes but the sellers didn't really want to sell. They answered that "you might find it there, I don't know", and just walked away This shop doesn't fit Aptos. read more

In fairness to the shop I have never been inside. I also understand how the pandemic has affected the bike industry and how busy they are. I have been a MTBer since 1994. I called their shop yesterday and spoke to a young employee who did not provide his name. I explained that I was coming down to Aptos and staying at a resort there and wanted intel on a simple out and back MTB ride...MTB Project was recommending Nisene due to proximity and my time constraints. The young man said he knew nothing about this area. I asked if there was anyone else that could help and he said maybe the mechanics but they were all too busy. I do not know the area. I called another local business that does shuttle stuff and he gave me directions on where to go. Ironically the trailhead is supposedly directly behind this bike shop according to the business I called which I confirmed with Google Maps. Five minutes of the shop's time would have been immeasurably priceless for me. I see other reviews are positive...perhaps it was just who I spoke to. read more

I don't have a customer story here, just an impression and an observation: 1) people seem nice 2) the only band of bike they sell is Trek. Well, also Electra beach cruisers. 3) the only kind of ebike they will service is Trek. 4) they are geared very heavily on accessories toward Trek. So, if you really want to check out Trek bikes, this a go-to shop for Santa Cruz county. If you want to explore brands outside of Trek, go just about everywhere else in Santa Cruz county - many of them have Electra bikes also. read more

The staff here are not only knowledgeable but also very generous. I have been working on getting my daughters bicycle all set up for safety and there were many parts I wasn't sure I installed properly or couldn't and they offered their hand in helping me get her all squared away so we could go on rides in the beautiful Nisene Marks. Awesome family business! read more

Epicenter Cycling - Aptos - Bicycle all fixed up. - Bikes Near Me - Aptos, California

I took a wheel in to have a rim replaced. I called 3 days later, they said they would get back to me that day or the next with estimate. Three days after that, I went in and asked if they had done anything. I was told that parts would have to come from east coast, not ordered yet.....needless to say I picked up my wheel, and will never cross their threshold again. read more

I'd give zero if I could. My boyfriend bought me a beach cruiser with gears for my birthday back in June. We both rode it a couple of times and thought it shifted kinda of rough into the lower gears. And, he paid $430. Anyways, I rode it down there one morning and had the guys in the shop check it out. The guy that looked at my bike basically told me I didn't have a $10,000 bike and that's what I was gonna get for what I paid. But go ahead and come back because I get free tune-ups. When I told my boyfriend about that, he wanted to tune him up! read more

My friend rented a bike here, he was insulted by the manager who assumed he didn't know anything about mountain bikes. Wrong, buddy, he is an athlete and climbed +6k that day on your rental. Got zero info from the manager on where to ride but luckily the locals were happy to give that up. Elitist behavior ain't getting you good reviews. Only rented here since it was literally the only one in town. Find another shop read more

The staff are friendly and seem very professional. Purchased a Trek bicycle from them for the wife in April during the COVID19 shelter in place so did not expiernce the ideal shopping environment. Things felt a little rushed since there were other customers waiting to be attended. I felt the store was large enough to accommodate three shoppers at a time if they were kept 20 feet apart and the employees brought the products to them. Overall, good service and unbeatable free tune ups for the life of your bicycle. read more

Epicenter Cycling - Aptos - 2020 women's Marlin 5 - Bikes Near Me - Aptos, California

Just picked up my bike from Epicenter Cycling. They did what they promised in the time frame they promised it. Great communication, fast and friendly service at a good price. Will definitely be back and highly recommend. read more

I have to agree with the people who say that the service and prices here are just not great. First, the acceptable: they had some nice accessories here in stock, some of which we bought. They were more expensive than online, but ya gotta pay rent. Then the unsuccessful: We bought some tire liners and some Stan's no-tubes to protect the interior of the tires. I paid extra to have these two items installed, because the bike we have is an Electra Townie Go 5i, and internal hubs are a little finicky. The shop ran out of receipt printer paper (sigh) but at least they could email us a receipt after being asked twice. I knew we were in trouble with the staff member assigned to this task blew up an inner tube in the process. After another hour and a half of fruitless failure, one of the senior staff members finally took over. By then the original person had destroyed 1 tube, destroyed 1 shifter cable, and had lost (and found!) 1 internal routing part. The problem is that the senior staff member also wasn't particularly trained on internal hubs either. There's a tricky bit when replacing a shifter cable (note: there was no need for the shifter cable to have been interacted with at any point here) where you have to exactly measure the distance from the point where the cable exits the housing to where you attach the shifting bolt. This was not done, which makes getting the shifter-tuning right much harder. The staff member solved this by leaving the shifter out of tune, which manifested in grindy shfting in gears 1-3 and no access to gear 5. Also, they only pumped the rear tire to 20 psi instead of the 40 psi standard, which we didn't detect until we were on the way home puffing up a hill. Let's be clear here: this is a model of bicycle they sell and is physically on the floor of their shop. How do they tune them? It's a mystery. I can't blame the young man who tried with no knowledge to deal with the rear tire - impetuousity of youth, and all that. I do blame the senior staff who didn't bother to help him and the staff member who didn't bother to check the deails of how to do a cable replacement. Not the best use of 2 1/2 hours of my time. Learn from my mistake. read more

Aptos location is selling selling nisene marks maps , for $ 9.99 . Or you can go to nisene marks and pay 8 dollars to enter the park , and the nice people at the entrance to the park will hand you a nisene marks map . read more

If you buy a bike from them you will have free perks for life. But there are downfalls. It takes forever sometimes to get your bike in and done. The people that work her definitely know their bike stuff. Save your paperwork! Make sure to take advantage of the free tune ups you get. The equipment they sell is par. Not too high priced. They definitely try to keep the prices down. Selection is moderate, compared to big bike stores, but you get a lot of the good selections. All in all a great local choice read more

See all

People often say support your local bike shop. One could ask, what is my local bike shop doing to support me? With Epicenter, the answer is easy: 1. They have great hours -- open at 8am on the weekends and open until 7pm during the week. 2. They are building a big pump track. Shawn has a great shop. I've woken up to go for a ride at 8 on a Saturday only to find my bottom bracket is shot. A quick call, dropping off the bike, and a couple of hours later I am back in the saddle and still able to get a ride in before noon. They are located right near the entrance of Nisene Marks which is a popular spot for runners and cyclists alike. Prices are typical of local bike shops, selection is good, service is great. Epicenter is definitely giving back to the community with building a big pump track in the lot behind them (they are looking for volunteers) and they've helped out with the Santa Cruz Tri Club. A good shop with friendly people. read more

We rented an e bike from them for Saturday. The bike came well maintained, and fully charged. It was ready when we arrived. Thank you

Feels more like a used car lot. They will put words in your mouth, make things up and once they realize you've been helped by another salesman they will blow you off and walk away from you mid conversation. Went in to buy my daughter a little bike and myself an Ebike. Salesman was helpful initially. However due to the 45 minute wait to get in the store, I had to run. I've made five trips in total trying to get resolution. But currently they will only let you in one at a time, Plan at least an hour waiting outside. Appointment or not. Another customer In line and myself, felt they were doing this under the guise of social distancing but it's clearly a sales ploy. They don't want unattended browsing. I was told the bike I wanted would be in at the end of the week and to assure I receive one, I should leave a fully refundable deposit. I left a $2000.00 deposit and returned on three occasions and they did not have the bike I wanted. I asked for a refund by phone 2x but they will ask who you are before getting the manager and then they will tell you he is busy. Ok, I was patient, I listened to them attempt to upsell me every trip I made in. One of the trips a salesman explained that I needed to think long term, that Electra bikes are not even in the same class when it came to quality as their Trek counterparts. I explained 4K for a bike was out of the budget. Elektra bikes aren't any good now? Dam I wanted one. And this was a change from what I was told in Aptos when I first started shopping. BTW Aptos store that has a completely diff vibe even found a bike I liked! However they weren't able to sell due to technical issues. Saying Electra bikes were not made as well as their Trek big brothers. Has kinda turned me off to the idea of buying one now. But after several requests for a refund of money I still haven't received it. 2000.00 a a month later still no money no bike. They say I have to come to the store to process a refund. Aptos location says otherwise. Just trying one more used car salesman truck. I'm seriously over it and just want my money back. I just don't have the time or energy to argue or be upsold anymore. Please give me back the money I worked for. read more

This review is for E-bike rental. We took my partner's mother with us up Aptos creek. $150/day including taxes and fees allowed us to rent the Trek Rail for the day (10:30am-4pm). We showed up the weekday morning we wanted to rent and they had plenty of stock available. One strange thing was that we had to book online and could not book with someone in store, which is odd. Seemed like something they should be able to type into a computer. Bike seemed like it was in good condition, although it hadn't been cleaned--some mud splatters on the bottom of the bike but nothing major. The person helping us did take it out and make sure it shifted through all the gears properly. He also took a few seconds to explain to Mom how to use the electric bike, but he didn't look into adjusting the suspension for her, which would have been nice. It was easily enough for us to adjust later on for her, but I imagine there are probably some people out there renting for fun who aren't carrying a pump on them to make this adjustment. All in all Mom loved the bike and had a super fun time. The Aptos creek trail is right by the shop, so we just parked by the shop and took the bike straight from there. read more

Loved to hear of the knowledge that Kurt had about my bicycle, as well as happy to be helped by friendly service. I don't believe they call when your bike is done getting tuned but they did have it done the next day like he had said it would be. I proudly rode away into Nisene after retrieving my bike from Epicenter and had no issues at all. Plan to ride it everyday now and also learned they have a guarantee for the parts replaced and I can bring my bike back if I have any problems. The chain wasn't skipping gears like it was as well as its brakes and shifters were also working in top form again. Glad to be able to trust the technicians there as well as not feel bad about paying a price. Every penny was worth it and the time spent in the shop was time well spent. Thanks again guys! read more

Epicenter Cycling - Aptos - New SRAM chain & cassette, as well as some stainless brake lines :) Top: Before | Bottom: After - Bikes Near Me - Aptos, California

Went in during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tons of precautions awesome service awesome selection of bicycles. Went into buy bikes for the entire family. Felt so comfortable with how clean and careful everybody was being. Prices are excellent could not be more happy. I could never buy a bike from anywhere else after shopping here read more

Took bike in Friday at noon for new bike tune up and broken spoke told me they where booked out for tune up till mid September. Told them l could leave it there a week that should be enough time to get problem resolved sale talked to mechanic and said we can do that. Got call at 330 same day they said need rear brakes told them to do it then got call at 430 same day said my bike was ready pick it up next day do to work. I just wanted to thank the staff for the speedy turn around and professional service will recommend and talk good about u guys thanks again read more

My wife and I had a great experience at Epicenter Cycling starting with the new Pacific Grove store on Lighthouse Ave! We had been very disappointed with the reception from the owner at Workhorse Bikes and went to EC. We were met by Charlie and Curtis who were very friendly and helpful. Couldn't do enough for us. We were in Aptos and stopped by their store. Ken and Quinn were so good as well!! We bought 2 electric bikes. Ken got them together and had them sent to the PG store. Charlie and Curtis spent so much time with us there ensuring that the bikes fit and that we were well schooled in their intricacies! Pricing was good, salespeople are great!! 5 star recommendation!!!!! No reason to go elsewhere! read more

Absolutely wonderful service throughout the entire bicycle buying process. the sales and service staff were very helpful and willing to educate a newbie. And you can't beat the free tune ups on my new bike. 5 stars read more

I was a walk in (after phoning them first), and fortunate to find a bike in my size and price range. Not a local or always in the area, they went out of their way to arrange to have my new bike ready for me by the end of the day. I told them they didn't have to as I saw the line of customers outside, but they did. So nice, and I'll admit, helpful to me! Try them out! I will go out of my way to get service and accessories with them. Great customer service pays off. read more

HorrIbly disappointing: After spending thousands of dollars at Epicenter over over the years as a local who lives in Aptos Village, they declined to change a flat on my bike because it wasn't a trek??? I've turned a blind eye to the high prices for years because I always want to support local businesses, but this is beyond rediculous. Not a great way to treat a longtime local customer read more

We rented mountain bikes from Epicenter and took the shuttle. The bikes were in perfect condition and the ride down was great. There was a mix up in our bike rentals, and the folks here were very fair and honest about making it right. On another note - and this is not a complaint, but just a perspective to other weekend warriors like ourselves. If you are not an experienced mountain biker, the bike ride from the shuttle stop to the trailheads is long and hot with a lot of climbing. Bring plenty of water with you. We hope to be back! read more

This shop would be fine if the staff wasn't so rude. These kids have such a bad attitude. So many of my local friends and family have had mind boggling conversations with the kids employed at this spot. If you're too cool to be helpful then don't work at a retail location. I have a bunch of store credit but don't even want to use it bc the people here are so ridiculous. read more

They have a decent inventory of bikes especially during Covid. Individually the people working in the shop are friendly enough. However, starting with the manager, if you ask for information about your bike or question the new bike prep, they treat you like you are out of line to ask questions. If you persist, they turn their back and walk away. My experience; my chain would skip as I applied pressure to the drivetrain. They kept the bike overnight. Told me there was nothing wrong with the bike and I was riding in the wrong gear. 5 months later the skipping worsened. It didn't matter which gear. When I made an appointment to get the problem looked at again. They made if clear I had caused the problem through use. As my appointment was 2 weeks away I continued to ride my bike. A friend, Fox Shock's race tuner looked my bike. He found the front drive gear was loose, causing the rear cassette and drive gear to be misaligned. The was an assembly flaw. It had nothing to do wear and tear. We also found the derailer was not properly adjusted. This is also an assembly problem. When I made the afore mentioned appointment to have the problem looked at, the manager said the problem was due to over use and not covered by warranty. After we finished the repair, I tried to explain what we did to fix my bike. Believing the shop would want to avoid repeating the problem. They stopped me from explaining the problem. They are simply not interested in providing the best possible service. My rear shock is leaking oil down the shaft. Another non warranty issue. Although the bike manufacturer, Trek, disagrees. Epicenter wouldn't even consider it. Fact we're not interested in discussing a failed shock on a new bike. I paid $6,000 for this bike. I suggest buying from a more service oriented Trek dealer. read more

Great selection of rentals and a shuttle to boot. Hard working employees. They might consider providing a simple line drawing sketch of how to get from the shuttle dropoff to the park gate. When handing off the bike to the customer, spend a minute going over the bike controls. If signage is bad where they are going, warn the rider. Have the shuttle driver give simple clear directions for how to get to the park gate. Have employees follow a checklist so the rider gets consistent answers. These steps would help the rider avoid making silly navigation errors due to minor equipment malfunction. To the customers -- consider hiring a guide if it is your first time to a location. Here's my story: I was doing recon for a larger group that I was going to assemble for a future outing. I rented the top of the line mountain bike and the shuttle service. I never made it to the park gate. I made a silly navigation blunder, one that was easy enough to make for a first time visitor to the trail despite having maps and gps. I had asked several workers for guidance. I got inconsistent answers. The shuttle driver made it seem like it was super easy to find the way. I tagged along with a group just to be on the safe side. Due to a comedy of errors triggered by a minor equipment malfunction I fell away from the group and went the wrong way at a critical juncture, quickly ending up in the middle of nowhere halfway down the mountain. I spent the remainder of my rental period just getting back to the shop on time. No single track for me that day! Local knowledge and eagerness to share it is an important consideration for me in choosing a rental shop. I'm hopeful that the leadership team at this shop will be more helpful in future about things outside of the shop. read more

Terrible... just the worst. A monkey would do better repairing a bike than the crew at this shop. Most disappointing and costly.

Great service. I reserved a mountain bike but the day turned out very wet. Derek told me to take it out anyway since they never contacted me to cancel. I ended up underestimating how long the ride would take and rolled back to the store about 15 minutes after closing time (and 45 minutes after they asked me to be back by). Store personnel were still there waiting for me when I pulled up on the mud-caked bicycle. They could've easily gone home and charged me for an extra day. Bike was in perfect operating condition as well. Epicenter crew definitely went above and beyond! read more

I visited Epicenter today and didn't buy anything from them, so I hope someone who knows something about bikes and has actually shopped or rented there will review them in more detail. This review is mostly about their service, and to give you some idea of what I saw in the shop. I can't give them 5 stars in good conscience because it'd be a bit like if I gave 5 stars to a beer garden when I can't drink beer--it's impossible for me to *really* judge the quality! I suspect this is a good place, though... They're very friendly. I appreciated the fact that even though I'm a plus-size woman who's obviously extremely out of shape, the owner (I looked up a story on the shop) pleasantly asked what kind of bike I ride. Heh heh ... um ... my Subaru? Yeah. (I was checking it out because I'm planning to return to the area in a couple days with a friend who mountain-bikes.) Well, he just chuckled when I said I didn't ride, and he mentioned that they rent bikes, which you can take just a bit up the road--they're conveniently located on the road that goes up to the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park. So that's cool. But he didn't push it, and just said that if I wanted to know about anything, I should let him know. There was a young woman in the shop who was very nice too, but also didn't either push me or make me feel unwelcome. That's the perfect level of service as far as I'm concerned. They have a good number of bikes in the medium-sized shop, apparently specializing in a line called Trek. There's also a corner with pretty retro-looking bikes in gelato colors. It's not as big as the main bike shop in my town, but there seemed to be a nice range (keeping in mind that I don't know anything about bikes). They also have a lot of accessories, and if you're a hiker and you forgot to pack energy bars for the trail, they have lots of those, too. I didn't see anything posted about how much it costs to rent a bike, unfortunately. I was kind of hoping they had a sticker for sale or something, because their logo and name are pretty interesting--the name is presumably because up the road in the park is the epicenter of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. However, you can buy a water bottle (I think it was Camelbak-made, but I might be misremembering) with their logo for around $13. Anyway, they seem like nice people and you can't beat the convenient location, so drop by if you want to explore this underrated but scenic area on two wheels. read more

I just had a great morning at Epicenter Cycling. I got my fork expertly rebuilt by Evan who let me watch the whole process and learn while he did it. I also got to see Shawn explain bikes to several customers that came in. Everyone knows their stuff at Epicenter Cycling and it's got a great feeling to the store. You can tell these guys ride bikes a lot. The biggest deal for me is that they open at 8AM on the weekend, super useful to get critical spare parts before a big ride and the location is great not too far from hwy 1 right on the dirt road entrance to Nisene Marks. Prices were reasonable and I'm impressed. read more

$40 bike rentals right next to one of the best single track rides in the country, plus a shuttle service (offered by Dave) makes this a must visit place for anyone serious about mountain biking. The rental bikes are fairly entry level Gary Fisher hard-tails, which are well maintained and up to the task of the nearby trails. The staff are knowledgable and friendly (they try and persuade you to take the fire road if they don't think you're very experienced) and the are plenty of options for water, coffee, cliff bars and the like. The 12 mile climb IS very steep, so if you're even vaguely out of shape, take the excellent shuttle service. After you're done on the single track, there is a 12 mile downhill which is extremely fast and bumpy. Don't under estimate it if you're a beginner on a bike. IF you're a seriously biker, you MUST visit this place. read more