Rob and Charlie’s

I grew up with Rob and Charlie’s being the go-​to spot for my cyclist father seeing as it was blocks from my childhood home on W. San Francisco St. I got my first bike there and every bike we’ve ever had as a family was maintained by them.
After many years of not thinking much about cycling, I got back into the sport as a much more serious hobbyist than before. One thing that proved difficult in getting back into it was dealing with the fact that being a bit of an amateur means «real» cyclists can be a bit rude and snobby when talking to you. This is particularly noticeable because I chose to go with a fixed-​gear bike for my street ride. My reasoning is that I want a bike that will make me work.
After some bad luck trying to get advice on the best bike to go with, I chose to go back to the tried-​and-​true shop of my childhood.
Sure enough, it’s the same old Rob and Charlie’s it has always been. Everyone seems to enjoy working there and they’re all really helpful. I had a lot of questions and not only were they very patient and forthcoming, but they didn’t make me feel like they were judging me for wanting to go the route I did for my first «real» road bike. It was really cool being helped through the process of choosing and ordering my bike like that and I can’t thank them enough. Everyone should take a cue from these folks when it comes to running a nice little shop where the gearheads and newbies can both have a positive experience.

I went in with a beat-​up cheap bike from a garage sale and asked for a tune up. Leo advised me that it might not be worth the cost to repair it, but with consultation we decided on a plan to address the imperative issues. 3 hours and $ 70 later I had a smooth running bike and some advise on future maintenance. Definitely a bike-​fanatic kind of place, but funky instead of snobby. Best in Santa I’ve experienced so far.

Disappointed with today’s interaction with one of the employees. His co-​worker did a good job of recovering the situation. Customer service isn’t about immediately and rudely blaming the customer and making him feel incompetent when there was an oversight on the shop’s part from a previous service job. I thank the co-​worker for his professional intervention but I don’t put my money where I am treated rudely.