Worst customer experience I've ever had at a bike shop in Victoria. The mechanics are incredibly rude. I stopped in yesterday to see if I might be able to get a new chain for my bike. That was all I wanted, yet the mechanic starts off with, "If you want everything that's wrong with this bike fixed, it'll be $225." I'm like, WHAT. I just wanted the chain fixed. He pulls out his chain tool to show me exactly how worn the chain in (yeah, I know, that's why I'm there), and we talk about that and the fact the cassette's worn. Fine, yeah, I definitely should've replaced the chain earlier. And then he says, "yeah, and your bike is pretty dirty. I don't like to work on dirty bikes." But it's ok, they'll wash my bike for $40. I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt at this point, but he kept referring to how dirty my bike was, and questioning my ability to clean it when I said I would. Again, it's a BICYCLE. I ride it over 40km every single day. It's going to be dirty. I agree I should clean it before I bring it to the mechanic, and that's my fault, but I had to keep hearing about it over and over and felt really shamed. Thank goodness they didn't actually have the time to complete my repair, because I'll never go back. read more

Easy to miss but once you remember where exactly it is and how to get there they are one of the best repair shops in Victoria and worth the effort to find. Helpful clear advice balanced to the level of understanding of the owner. Heck they will even offer advice for the DIY folks. Their basement parts and work room is more organized than the VGH operating ward! The guy could hire himself out to feung shui my garage anytime. read more

Recyclistas - e-bike heaven - Bikes Near Me - Victoria, British Columbia

This place is so expensive, not only are they rude but they charge a lot for putting stuff together just like what the other guy In the other bad review said. I had them Put a brand new brake cable and some other adjustment of some sort and they charged me 80 dollars! They also keep telling you to buy new stuff instead of trying to save the customer money, they have lots of used parts that you can salvage and buy for cheap which is great but like I said they will try to tell you not to, so I would go to jk Bicycleitis instead cause they have used cheap parts too with better customer service. read more

Five stars in ALL categories. Service off the charts GREAT! whether one is a renter, like the 2 of us visitors to Victoria .... Or a local we met at the depot getting his Bicycle tuned up... FOR AN UNBELIEVABLY LOW price. These guys are GREAT! Dedicated to getting more cars off the road....and more bikes ON THE ROAD..... our hats off to Recyclistas! Affordable: Two bikes...really good solid bikes.. @20 each. His n hers. Includes hemets. Includes industrial strength Locks. 40 bucks only. TOTAL ! 24 hour day rental. Includes off road parking. You could pay that for an hour or so from the vendors in the heart of the tourist city centre. Recyclistas are located near the juxtaposition of Hwy 1 and the Pat Bay Hwy. Galloping Goose & LOCHS IDE trails run THROUGH THE PROPERTY so u r right there! It's approx 6kms from city centre. Easy peasy. Top marks . Highest recommendations. Just go there. Locals and visitors both. read more

Something has changed at Recyclistas. There is now an emphasis on the hard sell and pressure to do unneeded repairs.

I took my barely used brand new $600 mountain bike as I was past the return or exchange period at the shop where I bought it and the guy at Recyclistas wanted to give me $120 for it so I kept negotiating with him until I got close to $200. I said yes, and he gave me the money. Then, in front of my eyes, he put a red sticker with the price $400 on it. Is that a fair way of doing business? read more

When they're not high, they're great! See that's funny because all of them are always high, or at least act like it. And I'm pretty sure negative reviews are getting deleted, because I don't see my friends on here, and I saw it 3 months ago... Anyways, they accidentally installed a sram cassette on a shimano drivetrain. How stupid can you get? This is so simple that anybody at a bikeshop would probably resign the day they made a mistake so elementary. They don't know where their stuff is, the place smells of sweat and don't believe the good reviews. They are from clueless people who don't know bikes. As somebody who knows, understands and loves cycling, I can tell you don't take a shortcut with these idiots. Go to oak bay, russ hays, MEC, or straight up cycles (personal favorite). Oh yeah, they will rip you off if you're not paying attention. Guy there sold me a bottom of the line 1980's dented road bike for $450. $450!! It was hands down the worst road bike I have ever saddled and took for a ride. So yeah. Never go there, and they suck. read more

Just awful,,, Unfriendly staff members, and way too expensive. Just to put my front brake ended up costing me 300 dollar,, not recommend

THRIFT SHOP, MACKLEMORE, BIKE VERSION So yeah I walked in like "what up I gotta big CENSORED" So pumped, I just bought some #$*( from Recyclistas. Charged me $450 for a 1980's road frame with some low end parts thrown on. They installed a SHIMANO cassette on my friends SRAM shifters. However they gave him a better SRAM cassette, after he pointed their obvious error. Me and my friend went there. Turns out, you can either get your brakes bled for like 50 dollars by a ton of weed smoking hippies, or you can to a real bike shop, where you will pay about $30 dollars more for someone who is not high to bleed both your brakes. So I guess it's cheap... but more accurately, you get what you pay for. Except in my case, cause I bought overpriced road bike and he still did not give me cool stuff. He didn't even hook me up with some weed. Final verdict: If you want some 80's garbage for dirt cheap, YOU CAME TO THE RIGHT PLACE!!! Otherwise, prepare to smell weed. read more

Went there July 4th at 2:30pm. My three-year-old daughter was with me. We were first in line - the girl there told us we couldn't come in because there was a customer already in the store; CoViD protocols, so I totally get it. I told her that I was looking for a half-link. She then went to the people behind me (#2 and #3 in line) and asked what they needed; they needed a repair, so she checked in their bike. She then went to #4 and #5 in line and asked what they needed; they told her and she went inside and got what they were looking for. When she came back I asked her "can you at least check to see if you have half-links?", since she had helped these people who came 10-15 minutes after me, but made no effort to find out if they even had what I was looking for. After my baby daughter and I waited in the heat outside, the guy who was looking at the same two helmets for 25 minutes finally left without buying anything. We could finally go in. But, as soon as we went inside, all of a sudden the next two groups of people behind us, #6 and #7 (together) and #8 just got to come inside while we were in there. In fact, while I waited to pay, the two employees there helped #6 #7 and #8, even though we had waited 30+ minutes in the heat, and #6 and #7 had waited less than 4 minutes and #8 had just showed up. Eventually, after helping all seven of these people that came AFTER me, one of the employees finally came over and completed my purchase. When I asked why they helped all of those other people who came after me, none of the three employees now present could provide an explanation. When I asked why we couldn't come in when one other person was there; but three other people, who arrived after me, could not only come in while we were in there, but they were served before us. One of them said something about it being a mistake, another mumbled something about staff shortages - neither explaining why my daughter and I were subjected to a stricter standard that everyone else there. They were hyper-vigilant about making sure we didn't go in when someone else is there, but gave everyone else free reign. I do not understand this double-standard, where my baby daughter and I were treated like garbage, left outside in the heat, while everyone after us received service before we did. I do not know what the source of their discriminatory behaviour was toward us; maybe they have something against family people, or children, or because today we came in a car instead of on a bike. I will give them the benefit of the doubt that they didn't treat us like garbage out of some personal animus toward me or my daughter, and it better not be due to the fact that my daughter is of mixed ethnicity. I have been a regular customer, but I'm never shopping again at a store that treats me, and especially my little baby girl, like garbage; while giving preferential treatment to other people in front of her. I hope she is too young to feel the impact of this behaviour. read more

It was my first time at Recyclistas and wow - they are AWESOME! Quick, courteous, kind, intelligent, and accurate service. Second to none. Love it! read more

This is the BEST bike repair shop ever! They have every kind of part imaginable in their shop for bikes, and repaired mine on the spot! They're right along the Lochside trail which makes it SO easy plus they were very friendly and reasonably priced. read more

Excellent bike repair shop. I broke my front derailleur while on the Lochside trail and stopped here to see if they could fit me in to fix it. They were very kind and took me in right away to repair my bike. A short time later I was back on the trail with a fully working bike! Would highly recommend them to anyone that wants honest bike work done quickly. read more

I dropped by to have them look at my bike after going to two other shops I had used before and been happy. They took me right in even though there were a number of other people there getting repairs, looked at and test rode my Rocky Mountain bike and did the repairs at a fraction of the costs of the others. I will need a new chain and cogs and stem soon and will be going back. They treat you right. There even was a guy who fell and skinned his knee and they asked what happened and made sure he got the care he needed. I recommend you guys sell granola bars and mineral water and people would sit and talk as they wait and you make money. As good as it gets, thanks guys! read more

Great customer service! I had my bike tire replaced and in a few weeks the seams gave out. When I brought it in to the shop, they gave me a new tire for free! read more

If zero stars was a choice I would have selected that. I would recommend never doing any business with Recyclista. Their work is poor, they have no customer service, and they openly admitted that I made a "bad purchase" from them and that I "should have more thoroughly tested their product before buying". I bought my first used bike from Recyclista on April 6th 2015 for my girlfriend so we could get back into riding. I immediately regretted my decision because of slipping gears and sloppy breaks. After seeking advice from the shop I decided that it was just a symptom of an inexpensive bike so I proceeded to be talked into an up-sale to a more expensive bike. When this bike was also a problem I brought it back once again to have their staff look at it. After they worked on it and nothing improved I decided that enough was enough I wanted a refund. Being that I had given them ample chance to repair it, I thought that a refund was a forgone conclusion. I talked to the owner and he told me: "dude you test rode, it didn't you?". After that I asked him if he (Ryan Harris) could give me my money back and he informed me that he could. I then inquired if he felt he should give me a refund, he agreed he should but "did not feel like it". If I was reading this I would also think that this is an exaggeration, but I assure you that it is not. I have never seen this level of unprofessionalism from any business, and would encourage anyone looking for anything bike related to take any an all business elsewhere, or else be ripped off like I was. read more

By far the worst customer experience i've ever had. They took my by bike for two days to replace a cable and retape my handle bars. They call me saying I need 150$ worth of extra repairs, this sounds a suspect so I ask them to just do the work I came in for. Next they refuse to the work asked for without doing the extra work. I take my bike back (and deal with some rather rude staff) and I bring to a different shop and they sort it out in 2 hours and charge me 30$ for the additional work I needed. I'd give this place a negative 5 stars if I could. Also cash only is a little inconvenient. read more

Brutal. GPS on my phone wouldn't give proper directions so I call them asking how to get there from 2 blocks away. A guy answers, gets frustrated almost immediately - because apparently he doesn't know north from south, and passes the phone to someone else. When I walk into the shop a guy fixing a bike just looks me up and down and goes "are you looking for something?" um yeah.. great way to greet a customer I literally felt uncomfortable and start backing out of his store while I tell him that I'm looking for a women's road bike but that I don't know much about bikes. His response "well the bikes are outside" and points at 20 bikes that I obviously saw - thanks tips. So I walk out and decide to just have a look for myself since someone deaf and blind could sell better than him. And he decides to follow and tell me that companies have stopped making women's road bikes (are you kidding me?) I tell him that actually, I was looking at some online the day before... his response? "Oh well then I guess you know more about bikes than me" Guess so! So I just turned around and started walking away while he talked to the back of my head some nonsense about how the good bikes at his store don't stick around long. I still haven't bought a bike, but I know that I won't be going back to check out their "latest". Total flop. read more