Black Bird Bicycle Repair

Great service, really honest and efficient. This might just be my new bike repair spot!

While on the hunt for a reasonably priced no frills commuter bike, I stumbled upon the bike bus. I had visited a few other shops and was turned off by all of them only offering $ 1K and up fancy road bikes with no other selections. I just moved here and was looking to commute to work and to the grocery store so I just wanted a super simple, cheap bike. Anyways, I had seen the purple bus when visiting Lompoc previously but didn’t realize she sold bikes too until I saw a bunch of bikes parked out front.
I dragged my boyfriend along to help me look and I found a great bike that she had recently fixed up and replaced pretty much everything on it. She allowed us to go take it down to an alley so I could try riding around on it since I was a new (and nervous) biker. She also helped me raise the seat to the proper height and gave me lots of tips on riding around the city. I ended up purchasing the bike and she asked me to come back after a few weeks for a free tune up. I brought it back, she tightened and tuned up the bike and it made big difference. She asked me to come in once more so she could check out the rear hub and to make sure everything was working well. The second time I brought it back, she adjusted my brakes, tightened everything again and fixed it all up. I can’t imagine getting this level of service from a bigger place and can’t say anything negative about the owner, the prices or my bike. I ended up convincing my boyfriend and a coworker to buy their bikes from her too and we’ve all had great experiences. If I ever decide to upgrade my bike or need anything fixed, I’ll definitely go back to her again.

I had just eaten at Lompoc (across the street) and walked my bike over so that I could hop on and ride South on Vancouver. As I jump on and move forward 6 feet, I find out that, huh, I have a flat back tire! Luckily there was an hour to spare before my next appointment, and I was literally in front of Black Bird.
Sherifa was in the middle of fixing one of two bikes for a neighbor, but while the neighbor tested that first bike, she fit mine in. She asked a couple questions and could already tell me what bad habits I had in my riding and maintenance, as well as what would need fixed soon and how I could have made the expensive piece last longer. When she pointed out the ‘shark teeth’ where it shouldn’t be sharp, I understood why I was having gear-​shift issues. I haven’t corroborated her notes with an outside source, but her answers and the fact that she could tell how I ride made a lot of sense to me, and I’ll be following up on her suggestions soon. I feel really bad that my ‘beefy’ tires broke her plastic tool! :-(Luckily she has more than one.
I didn’t have enough cash for her very reasonable pricing, so I called hubby and he paid through square over the phone. You should definitely check out her shop! Felt more knowledgeable just having been in there…

Sherifa is awesome! I brought in an old beat up bike and she got it in great working condition for a fraction of what I thought I would have to pay. A month later the rear hub that she had replaced broke. I brought it in to her and with out me even asking, she replaced the hub for free. Not only did she replace the hub, but she gave me a nicer one than the one she originally put on! It mattered to her to make it right. She didn’t have to do that, but it was smart because I’ll definitely be back. So far the best priced and most honest bike mechanic I have been to in town. Thanks Sherifa!

Sherifa, the owner, is so great and super knowledgeable about bikes, especially older bikes like mine. She specializes in fixing parts like internal hubs and cottered cranks which other bike shops won’t touch, and knows everything about vintage 3-​speed bikes. Plus, the shop is in a great location between N. Vancouver and Williams St, and it’s in a bus! What’s not to like?

Had a great experience at this cool and funky shop. The owner rented me a bike and said they were getting ready to increase their rental inventory. Sure is handy having rental bikes in the neighborhood and you can’t beat the service.

This is a great little bike shop inside a big purple bus. Cool huh? Plus it’s a female mechanic — even betta. Not that I have anything against you guys :), its just nice to be able to support women mechanics.
Anyhow, I had purchased some new wheels and disk breaks for my mtn bike/​everyday commuter and took my bike in to have them installed along with a whole new drive train (chain, rear cassette, front chain rings). She did a really great job. She had read up on disk breaks and knew of their propensity to squeal if you don’t «break them in» initially. She even broke them in for me (rode the bike while continuously squeezing the breaks), which was great, because I often am riding with my dog and don’t have the hands free to break them in. Oh and did I mention that she is really reasonably priced!?!
My bike runs great now — really happy I took it in!