What a great shopping experience today at Bushtukah on Richmond Road. My husband purchased a pair…read moreof green Shimano cycling shoes from Christian. The quality of service was beyond reproach. Christian was very knowledgeable and highly personable. He is very happy with the cycling shoes.

Been a longtime customer at Bushtukah buying multiple bikes, bike trainer, X country skis and lots…read moreof clothing and accessories. I have never been disappointed with the service and am glad to support a local business.

Worst online ordering. They took the money from visa and they put them back without any…read moreexplanation. Twice in 3 weeks

Kind of expensive, but not good service, or much to say in a good way I guess…read more I had trouble finding what I wanted, getting service, and then they had a very small selection of skates. Decided to shop somewhere else with better options.

It had been years since I last stepped foot in an MEC store. The last time I did was in Montreal…read moreperhaps eight years ago. That particular store is long gone. My friend and I stopped by to check it out. She let me know that you no longer need a membership. Yep, I live in a cave. This store is huge. It's two floors of camping gear, bicycles, apparel, snacks, and more. I know many folks who think that MEC is strictly for campers. I have never done any camping in my life. It's not because I don't like nature. It's because I'd get eaten alive by mosquitoes. My bug bites get puffy and extremely itchy. Instead, I can enjoy getting hats and tumblers. We saw a flat flask that we both liked. It would be great in a bag or purse. Is it bad that I was thinking of filling it up with booze instead of water?! It was a bit expensive at roughly $60. Every water bottle that I own does not exceed a third of that price. I like the sling bags at MEC. They are durable, have many zippered compartments, and are comfortable. I still have my red one. This store had more updated styles. If it came in purple, I would have bought one without any hesitation. There were some sales going on. Prices are high to begin with, so if you can get something on sale, do it. I saw a sun sombrero that fit my large skull. I couldn't justify paying $40 for it. I hope that it goes on sale. I like the travel accessories. From charging adapters to mini flashlights, you can get everything here. My friend found a pair of Teva sandals in my size, at a reduced price. I haven't worn this brand in ages. I had just bought two pairs of sandals a couple of days earlier. Had I not, I would have probably bought this pair. Teva has velcro straps on all its sandals. I am into the convenience of velcro on footwear these days. This store had those massive Stanley tumblers that everyone seemed to want earlier this year. I held one in my hand. It was $60. I then put it down, similar to the flat flask. I enjoyed browsing around this store. I can now say that I've been to MEC in Ottawa. Yay! (286)

We have had such a great experience with the MEC. We had shopped at a few other places for…read moreadventure clothes, gear, and more and they have a good selection. For clothes, yes come try, check out their sales. They also have a great selection of boots and shoes. Their clothing is varied and I appreciate them having a store brand. We actually like a lot of the store branded items. They seem to carry lots of sporting stuff. I would say a good strong selection of camping, biking, skis, hiking, and... climbing! I love their climbing selection. They even have ice picks. I would say definitely talk to their staff if you have questions. They are knowledgeable and helpful.

Trailhead used to be in a really cool rustic looking post and beam building at Scott St and McRae…read moreAve, but that building was torn down to make way for condos (story of my neighbourhood). So it moved to the Fairlawn Plaza which is across the street from Carlingwood Mall. The older building had much more character, and was really fitting for Trailhead, which is an outdoor adventure kind of store, like MEC. Nonetheless the new store is doing well. Admittedly, when I walk into these kinds of stores, I am like a fish out of water. I have zero interest in kayaking, camping or climbing mountains. I like the temperature controlled climates of enclosed shopping malls, museums, theatres, and restaurants (and don't ask me if I want a seat on the patio, because the answer will always be "no." Lol). Actually, I do like the outdoors, but only when the weather is fair (20 degrees Celsius, no precipitation), the sun is setting, and the bugs haven't come out yet. I am not sporty nor outdoorsy. So why the heck do I even go to Trailhead, you ask? Because they have some cute clothes! They have a great selection of prAna jeans (ethically made, sustainable, and organic fabrics) and they have clothes that are great for travel, like they fold up real small and don't wrinkle (brands like FIG from Montreal, and Toad and Co.). Their prices are on the higher side, but they do have sales, although their sales are not as discounted as at Bushtukah or Sail. Nonetheless, I like going in to poke around, but only for clothes because I have no idea what most of the other stuff in there is for ;) Oh, they also sell Canada Goose jackets. These are also of no interest to me, as I try to avoid situations where I have to be outside when it's -30 degrees. Lots of free parking in the plaza.

The person who helped me with the purchase of my cross country skis was Tyler. He was extremely…read moreknowledgeable, and very helpful. He taught me the proper way to use the bindings, and was patient with all of my unending questions. There was never any pressure, just education, and assistance. On another note, I was pleasantly surprised at the price of the skis and bindings. The same brand and style was much less expensive than at their competitor. I can honestly say that the only reason I was in there was because I had a gift card, but I realize now that my bias that they are too expensive has been quashed. their prices for good quality items was very fair.

People at Ottawa Goodtime are friendly knowledgeable and willing to pass along their expertise…read more I've purchased a couple bikes, utilized their service and storage. Nothing but positive experiences. Happy to continue to support this long time Ottawa business.

Purchased a used bike from there a couple months ago, that was fairly smooth other than the back…read morebrakes not being great and a bike listed for 6,000 turned into a 17,000 loan. Pinkorange or whatever is meh. The clothing side, absolutely atrocious. What a joke of a store upstairs. Bought a jacket that turned out to be loose fitting when I took the liners out, also had lost some weight. Never wore the jacket out of the house, accidentally threw the tags out, tried to return for smaller size and upon their obviously biased "inspection" was told too bad because there's marks on it. White jacket, purchased it with the marks but they refused to believe that. Absolute sh!t, buy your gear literally anywhere else, the dude running that shop is a complete d!ck. I'll never shop there again.

Courteous, helpful staff went over and above the call of duty and standard level of support. My…read moreson's heal plates to his favourite old 21 yo ski boots cracked off. Salomon redesigned their heal plates about 10 years ago. Alex made a detailed list of my son's old ski boot specifications and helped him try on various ski boots. Mike did not think that the heal plates for boots as old as his would be available so he transplanted the back heal plates from another pair of boots of similar size to my son's old ski boots and donated the boots to fix the front heal plates if they break. All work was done within 2 weeks and free of charge. My son's old comfortable ski boots were repaired to our full satisfaction.

Paige and Cameron were awesome! They helped us find new ice skates and answered all our questions…read more It was fast and knowledgeable service.

What a great find in the village of Canton. A well-curated selection of outdoor clothing and…read moreequipment at great prices. And the staff are super-friendly and welcoming. Definitely worth a visit!!

From the owner: NEW Outdoor gear and apparel. Quality brands like Patagonia, Osprey, Salomon, Goodr, Strider,…read moreRossignol, Atlas, Tubbs

Great value, pretty good service overall, so I would come back here, and I ended up buying more…read morethan I expected. I found this a really solid choice and I would recommend it.

Decathlon is a Sporting Goods store from France. This location recently opened and is the first in…read moreOttawa. In fact, Decathlon only opened its first store in Canada last year (2018) in Brossard, QC. Their prices are fairly low and all their items are their own branded stuff, so don't go expecting any Adidas, Nike, or Under Armour, lol. I see it as sort of the Ikea of sporting goods. They had really cheap sportswear. I saw shirts and shorts going for $5-7. Obviously, they had clothes that cost more as well. They had lots of inexpensive yoga and weight lifting accessories too. They had lots of sporting equipment like skis, bikes, rackets, hockey sticks, basketball nets, etc. The store is really big, brightly lit and well organized. There's a cafe inside run by Think Lunch. From what I saw, selection was limited and on the pricey side. There's an indoor basketball court in the store, and a friend of mine told me that if you sign up for their membership, which is free, you can book their court for free. I don't play basketball, but if you do, you have a free place to play year-round, which is pretty cool. The store is in a big strip mall. It's right next to Giant Tiger and will be next to Adonis, which is being built at the time of the writing of this review. Same strip mall as Food Basics, Dollar Tree and Party City. Lots of free parking.

I went to Sports 4 College Square to buy a pair of New Balance running shoes, but they did not have…read morethe model I wanted. The clerk suggested I try another brand. I asked if I could try them at home to make sure they were comfortable, and the clerk assured me that I would be able to return the shoes. Today, I brought them to return to the store, as I found that they were a bit narrow in one of my insteps. When I went to return the shoes today, the clerk went to the back of the store where only staff can go and spent a long time talking with, I assume the manager or store owner. When he returned, I asked what the problem was. I was told that there was a note on our name that said we were only allowed to get an exchange or get credit. I asked why and was told that over the past six years, (since 2018) my husband and I had bought 9 pairs of shoes and returned them. I was then told by the person from the back of the store that we were banned from buying any shoes from that store because it takes up too much of the staff's time to deal with people who buy and then return goods. Wow! I am not a person who goes and tries things on in stores and then returns them and buys online after. I rarely buy anything online. I felt very violated by the attitude of the staff people in the store. Instead of talking to me about why I returned the shoes and maybe trying to get to the bottom of why the shoes had been returned, instead we are told we are banned from buying in that store. What a shocking way to treat your customers! I will definitely let others know the customer service policy of this store. We have at least 6 runners in our family and many friends also. Looking forward to buying from a store that respects and values its customers.

I was diagnosed with metatarsalgia and knew that I needed new shoes. I had been walking everyday…read morefor more than 5K for 90 days since we were in Florida and chose not to rent a car just for that reason. We had to walk everywhere. It was all hard surfaces and by the end of the 3 months I had a very sore foot. A friend of mine recommended sports 4 where she said she always bought shoes. When I walked in Nathan greeted me. It was really busy and he started to serve 3 customers at once. I have never in my 50 years of living in Ottawa and now at the age of 80 had such outstanding service. Nathan measured my foot and then brought out a pair of shoes that were a miracle. He wanted to make sure that these were the best so he brought out two more. He gave me time to walk in each pair and then choose. Although not a super athlete we have walked every day on many trails in the small towns within an hour of Ottawa. I was one of the featured trails in The best trails of 2021 on the Alltrails.ca website. Today I went to my zumba class and I didn't have any pain in my sore foot in my new shoes. Nathan is a super star salesman and has saved my life. Thank you Nathan and Sports 4. Roz L.