Bikes and Life

Awesome shop. Just bought my first mountain bike here, a Giant and love it. New to mountain biking so got an entry level bike. Neil and his team are awesome, definitely took the time to go through everything with me and was out riding that day. Will definitely return again when I’m back in town as I was up visiting family from away.
Worcester has some great places if you know where to look. Keep up the great work Neil and Team.

Friends of Bicycle Alley, fear not! Though Dave is gone and the name on the building is different, Bikes and Life is indeed a worthy successor to the name and tradition.
The core of a bike shop is always it’s people and service, and Bikes and Life (or as I like to call them BnL) scores highly here. The shop is well staffed and several employees are holdovers from Bike Alley, so they’re familiar with the area and the local cycling scene. As I was looking at their road bike selection, they made some really insightful suggestions based on not only what I had told them about how and where I ride, but based on their own experiences. There was never any pressure to buy or up sell on anything that I was looking at.
Of course, what is a bike shop without bikes and accessories. Here the shop falls a bit short of Bike Alley, especially in the clothing department. Bikes and Life seems to have fewer options when it comes to road bikes than it’s predecessor, whether or not that’s a function of the Giant and Cannondale lines they carry, or the fact that they’re still sorting the shop out. The bikes that they sell are top quality for sure but it’s a bit disappointing compared to the huge range that Bike Alley presented. The top quality does come at a price though, and unfortunately Bikes and Life doesn’t deal in used bikes. If you’re looking for a $ 200 beater road bike you probably wont find it here. While this isn’t a bad thing per se, when other shops in the city do maintain a stock of used, good condition bikes in a smaller space, it is a bit disappointing.
The clothing situation is a bit more dire, with far fewer offerings that were available before or compared to the other Worcester bike shops. Once again, I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt because they’re clearly still sorting themselves out a bit. That said, the changing rooms are significantly nicer than those that Bike Alley used, which is a big big plus for anyone who remembers having to use those.
Overall, I’m excited that Bikes and Life has decided to take up Bike Alley’s mantel and show a renewed commitment to cycling in Worcester. I’m sure time will address many of my issues here and make Bikes and Life into a true 5 star bike shop.