Farina’s

I have been looking at several different brands of bikes, all of which are sold at different shops, so I have been visiting a lot of places lately. The staff at Farina’s was very friendly and responsive, let me browse and then asked me if I wanted help, set up a great test ride for me, and followed up on an email request for me. Paula (one of the owners) was very knowledgeable about the products she sells.
Unfortunately the bike I want is out of stock everywhere at the moment, but unless I find something else first I will be back to buy a bike from them. Friendly and solid shop.

I have been here a few times seeking bike equipment and having a tune up. Always really friendly and knowledgeable. They had everything I needed and a fast turn around on my bike. They are the only place I go now.

I love this shop. Friendly and knowledgable.
Take their time with you and help you understand what you need to know about bikes etc.

Great experience. They set my bike up perfectly and sold me a mount for my SUV. They even installed it for me. However, they do send a lot of follow up e-​mails. Makes me feel popular.

I am horrified at my experience at Farinas today and last week.
Incident #1: I came in last week to ask about bike fittings and take a look at merchandise. I asked if I needed an appointment for a fitting and was told no. While I was there I took a look at some merchandise and decided to buy a windbreaker in the sale section. I asked how much the price was and was told it was full price even though it was in the sale section and the reasoning was «someone must have put it back in the wrong place» (that same item in other colors was marked down). I decided this wasnt worth the argument and I paid full price for the item however it was clear the associate just didn’t feel like taking a look at his merchandise and offering me a fair price.
Incident #2: I went back in today after crashing my bike over the weekend and I have a triathlon this coming Saturday and the gears needed to be adjusted. I walked in an hour before closing and no one was there asking if I could take up the sales associate on his former offer about not needing an appointment for a fitting and to see if he could tighten the gears. The sales associate told me there was no time for a fitting because it was too close to closing (the store didnt close for another hour). I understood that reasoning and asked if he could tighten the cable on my gears (roughly a 5 minute task) since I have a race this weekend. I was told no because «he was too busy and if I saw how many bikes he had in the store I would understand». I told the associate that I noticed there was no one in the store, there was another hour before close and this was a fairly low level of effort adjustment and since I had a race in 3 days could he fit me in. Again I was told no.
I am a triathlete living in Watertown. I spend a lot of money on gear and my bike. I am horrified at not only the unfriendliness of the associate and the lack of customer service. I want to let the Tri community of Watertown and Boston know that Farina;s is not worth your time and there are many other bike shops in close proximity that will be getting my money and repeat business.

Just moved here from Chicago and was looking to buy a couple new bikes for my Fiancé and I to explore the greater Boston area. We came by Labor Day weekend to find out they closed at 2 on a Saturday and the rest of the weekend. Not only did they not post these amended times online, but when we arrived at the shop at 1:50 they closed the doors in our faces (literally). Didn’t even bother to ask what they could help us with or what we were looking for.
Needless to say, we took our $ 1,200 worth of business to Harris’ in west Newton that day (which is a great place and has an incredibly accommodating/​kind staff). We also stopped by the bicycle exchange in Cambridge, which was also very helpful and had an excellent, secluded parking lot to take a bike for a test run. Not as expansive of a selection, but would definitely recommend these two shops over Farina’s if you’re in the area.
Two stars: one star because I ended up coming back here to buy a helmet during the week and it was conveniently located off the Charles river. And another star because the woman who helped me was really kind and wasn’t working the previous Saturday.

The best bike store i have being with a nice show room with a lot of variety bike supply’s. The attenders are the best :-))

I’ve known the Farina’s for 23years they are really good friends they were my first bike shop I bought a nishiki mountain bike from them back in 1991 and I’ve been friends with their family ever since I’ve bought six bikes from them since I’ve known them about to buy a 7^th bike this summer they are a great family and great friends when you go buy a bike from them they take the time listen to you and what your needs are they don’t just try to sell something because they want get rid of it also even though I’m a bike mechanic when I’m busy and can’t work on my own bikes I will always take my bikes to get them serviced at Farina’s because they are really good and honest they are best also they’ve been in business since 1975. 39yrs of helping keep people’s bicycles on the street’s of Boston

Took my snowblower for repairing a leak. Got it back just to find out that not only the leak was not fixed but my blower no longer work continuously as was the case before the repair! I am waiting to return it (a pain) and see what they do next. Will update this review accordingly.

This review is for gardening equipment. I just purchased Stihl battery powered tools (chainsaw and weed whacker). The staff there was great. Knowledgeable and friendly, they helped me buy the right products. By the way, Stihl products are always light years better than the low end, but cheaper, tools you can by at Home Depot. The quality is definitely worth it in the long run. I’ve been buying garden tools from them for years and if I’ve ever had a problem, they fix it right away.

Management here is unethical. Don’t bring your equipment here for warranty service.
I purchased a Honda snow blower for my parents about a year ago. Long story short, they used it once and it wouldn’t start up this winter, so I asked them to bring it here for warranty service.
Basically they said my father forgot to drain the gas from the tank, which is why it wouldn’t start, and that they would charge my parents $ 100 since there wasn’t anything mechanically wrong with it. My parents understood this is the price of business, and were happy to pay.
A few days later they called back and said there was an issue with the carburetor due to my father not draining the gas tank, and that it would have to be replaced, and that it would cost them $ 175.
Unfortunately for Farina, my father is a trained mechanic and called them out on this. Leaving gas in the tank doesn’t cause the carburetor to fail. And if the carburetor fails, it’s a mechanical issue and is covered under warranty.
My parents told Farina that they weren’t going to pay the extra money, and to call Honda and sort it out.
They call back a few days later and say okay, we’ll just charge you $ 100, and threw in a «tune up» for free… right.
I grew up in Boston and I can’t support businesses like this hat try to take advantage of people in the community, and especially retirees like my parents.
Thanks.

We had visited several bike shops before settling on Farina’s to get brand new bikes. The owner Anthony is extremely nice and in no way pressures you to buy anything as you’re walking around looking at everything. The other salespeople don’t follow you like a hawk, which is a nice change from some places.
We had taken advantage of the tax free weekend in the summer and Anthony was great about letting us buy everything in advance without having to come in on that busy weekend. He let us take as many test rides as we needed and helped make sure everything fit properly by putting the bikes up on the trainer.
They have free service within the first 90 days and we took advantage of that already with no issues. We’ve also stopped in twice with simple questions/​problems that the service folks took care of quickly without trying to charge us any extra money.

I had a good experience with Farina’s. I went in a couple of weeks ago to buy a bike for my two-​mile trip to work. Paula was pretty knowledgeable and helpful. I liked that she didn’t try to upsell me a much more expensive bike after I told her my price range.
A week after I bought the bike, I went outside one day and the brakes were frozen! I mistakenly forced them to move, which did something to the cable on the right lever, causing my rear break to malfunction. To be clear– this was entirely my fault and NOT a result of shoddy construction. I should not have been keeping the bike outside in such bad weather. When I went back, the guy fixed it right away, no questions asked. My lock also malfunctioned and they replaced it, again with no questions asked.
I gave it four stars instead of five because I wish that their selection of lower-​priced women’s bikes were bigger. I spent $ 350 on my bike, which I know is reasonable. However, they told me there is a different version of the same bike that is $ 300 but that they didn’t have it in. I would have rather had the $ 300 one but hey, what can you do?
I can safely recommend Farina’s for both initial purchases and subsequent fixes.

Look at these reviews — many new riders and someone even compares them to Walmart! Simply comical. That woman who bought a bike for her tri-​athlete husband? I don’t get how any shop can sell a bike to someone who they have never seen. How do they know it’s the right size, or the right type of bike for him? Especially if the woman knows nothing about bikes? Sell her a gift certificate you dodo’s and let the guy pick out his ride — that’s what they should have been talking about with the lady. That’s a huge bad business move for a bike shop in my opinion. And those saying they have the widest and best selection? What?! Have they been to any other shops? The selection is fine — but very from the widest or the best.
This shop may be good for a strict newbie or those who know absolutely nothing about bikes but if you ride for more than 5 miles at a time, this may not be the best place. I bought my bike here. I knew what I wanted (it was on sale) — called ahead of time, had them build the bike, came in and test rode it for about 1 hr. Made the purchase because it was on sale. The sale price was pretty good — so definite points there for them.
They didn’t seem very knowledgeable though. I was questioning the appropriateness of the top tube length and saleswoman said I could move my saddle to adjust that — wrong! You change the stem to adjust for that. I’ve only been riding for a couple seasons and know that. They would really benefit from spending an hr researching bike fit on the Internets. Maybe they should make that a standard part of training for their staff.
So I kept questioning and they set me up on the trainer to appease me I guess. The guy (Anthony) pointed a camera at me and had me watch myself. Yipeee — interesting but so what? I can do that at home too. Are you a professional fitter man? Fit me dude. I mentioned getting a fitting (Basic or Pro) and he really didn’t say much about getting one done. Why not? I am saying I want one. It should be the norm with a road bike. What adjustments should be made? Ease my distress over the size of the bike. Give me some insight. All he mentioned was the saddle height. Yeah, thanks, I know that my knee should have a slight bend at the bottom of the downstroke. But my questions have to do with my reach to the bars. He said it was appropriate. Why does it feel awkward then? Do I need a different posture? Do I need some time in the saddle to get used to the reach? Address the concern with real information. Dunno, it didn’t seem like they were really knowledgeable on fit, which is really the most important thing. Anyone can go buy the FitKit system and take the certification class. I just didn’t get a sense that there was a good fitter on staff. I was OK with the size but will be getting a real bike fit somewhere else.
Oh, lastly, who cares about book donations to schools? Sure it’s nice to do but we are reviewing their bike shop right? I stink at cutting hair but maybe if I make a donation to your school you’ll let me give you a bad cut and then tout my skills on Unilocal

Last year I got my bike fixed here when I was living in Oak Sq Brighton. I biked up to Watertown sq and then took the 57 bus back to Oak Sq. I was amazed how quick they were and they were very nice. Price was good too.

I has been a number of years since I have been to Farina’s but I have purchased two bikes from them and they have a great selection and staff that were very helpful.
My last purchase from Farina’s was a mountain bike and after a month of riding I found this fit not quite right. I stopped by Farina’s with my bike and they took the time adjusting my bike and even recommended changing my seat for a better ride. After their adjustments to my bike it made a big difference in the comfort and ride quality.
I plan to make another bike purchase in the future and Farina’s will be my first stop.

In an effort to support local businesses, I went to check out Farina’s a few weeks ago. I’ll be honest when I say this place looks nothing like a bike shop from the outside. The first floor of the two story building is devoted to lawn mower and snow blower sales. At first glance you might never know this is a bike shop too. As I frequently pass the storefront I was able to bake out the road bikes dangling in the 2^nd floor window.
Upon arrival I was skeptical as I entered the snow blower show room. I proceeded up the staircase to the 2^nd floor where I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of stock in the showroom. They have it all– mountain bikes, road bikes, single speed commuters and children’s bikes. What impressed me the most was their large selections of women’s specific bikes and clothing. I’ve been to almost all the bike shops in the Boston area and I can say with confidence this is by far the largest selection of quality apparel for women. Go Farina’s!
Anthony Farina, one of the owner’s was very please ant to talk shop with as I had questions about proper bike fit. He gracefully helped me and at no point suggested I purchase a FitKit bike fitting with him. He gave some great advice that had improved my ride.
Farina’s lacks the the final star due to their lack of Triathlete gear. However, this should not keep triathletes away. Anthony will order you anything you need!

Farina’s is owned by a family who has lived in the area for decades. I always prefer to support local businesses and have purchased bikes for my entire family.
The bikes they sell are more expensive than what you’ll find at Walmart, but the quality AND service are much, much better.
They will spend plenty of time helping you pick out the right bike and then make sure it’s all set up and adjusted for you before you walk out the door.

I came in here because I was on my way to pick up an order of sushi from New Ginza. I have always walked past this place and decided to check it out because i was in the market for a bike rack for my car.
Normally, I would purchase high-​priced items like this on Amazon because the shipping is free and it’s usually cheaper than getting it from a store.
I went in and was looking at the bike racks. For someone like me who didn’t know a thing about bike racks, the salesman was very helpful. I already knew that the two major brands, Thule and Yakima were really good, but I didn’t know why.
The salesperson helped me compare the different brands and types of racks and i understood why there was difference in price between the name brands and the other brands. I asked if his prices were competitive with the other stores and he said that they were.
That evening i went to another bike shop and to my surprise, Farina’s prices were lower. I went online and saw that the prices were about 15 bucks less.
I really wanted to get the bike rack because i was going to need them for a trip in a few days. Farinas had the Thule, lower end model available for a great price. I went in the following day to go and buy the mount and there were none available in the lower end model. The salesman decided to offer me the middle model at for 12% off. I thought this was really nice of him to do so and I purchased it.
I checked online and the mount was only $ 2.00 more than what Amazon offered, which is a great deal. I was very happy with my purchase and very happy with how helpful he was.

Series of events:
1. My husband got squashed between a moving MBTA bus and a parked SUV the other day while riding his bike. He was okay but got a flat out of the deal.
2. I watched him try to change said flat tire the other night for close to an hour, to no avail. He said things like «Damn, I can’t do this. What the hell is wrong? I have changed bike tires my whole life! I can’t go to a bike shop and have them do it for me, I’ll be too embarrassed.»
3. Then he said, «Wait, there’s a bike shop near your work. You do it. Just tell the guy it’s your bike and that you got the flat.»
4. Cut to me in bike shop the next day telling the guy I got a flat and asking him to put in a new tube. He then said «Your tire is shot, look here. I can’t just replace the tube.»
5. He asked me how it happened and I froze. I couldn’t lie anymore. I came clean and admitted to the guy that my husband was too embarrassed that he couldn’t change the tire himself so he told me to pretend it was my bike. I am a terrible wife!
6. The guy sold me a new tire, new tube and put it on for me and it cost me $ 65! Serves me right for being a bad liar I guess.
The guy in there was really nice and they were fast and it was pretty painless. So, I don’t know about buying a bike here but as a repair shop, I was pleased.