As if it weren’t enough that Box Dog Bikes has the cutest mascot in the city, they also have maybe the best bike shop staff I’ve ever met. Is it just me or are bike shop staffs usually at least a little bit mean? I’ve been getting made to feel dumb at bike shops all my life, and I’m tired of it. I may be dumb, but you don’t have to rub it in my face. In any case, Box Dog’s staff is nothing but pleasant, all of them, every time I go in there. It kind of blows my mind.
They also have an awesome blog.
Full disclosure: A member of the staff happened into my birthday party yesterday friend-of-a-friend style, and we became friends, but that had nothing to do with this. I wrote this post on Saturday but was sitting on it for lack of a picture I liked.
Happy (belated?) Birthday!
But the dog is never there! Apparently he just gets in the way so he’s never at the shop anymore
I saw Taco on Friday.
Worthless shop unless you ride a fixie. I have found the staff to be both clueless and rude if you come in with a mountain bike problem. I’ll never set foot in there again… if you cannot work on any types of bikes, you shouldn’t work on them at all.
They could at least be friendly about it!
What?! I have never seen Taco and I feel like I’m there a fair amount. I’m so sad!
And I don’t know about mountain bikes, but I take my non-fixie road bike in there all the time and they’re super nice and very helpful.
I love this shop… They have always been nice to me…
Does anyone want to get into a discussion about how there are NO bike shops that cater to vintage bikes? Now that’s fucking annoying.
its because there’s no money in vintage bikes and really difficult to find the right parts for them. the market is so small that there are not many companies who manufacture the now out of production parts so its really hard to work on them. if the cost of living wasnt so high in san francisco and bikes were considered vehicles instead of fashion accessories you would see more of shops that cater to vintage bikes.
there’s no money in a lot of things, and they still exist. Too bad there’s not some Bicycle junk yard & salvage in SF. OMG! that’d be awesome.
Also, if i could find the right stuff for my old Schwinns, then i wouldn’t have to hold up the valencia street bicycle traffic.
Not sure how helpful these will be, but fun to read regardless:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chicago-schwinns.html
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/varsity-shaddox.html
This one looks like it has links to parts:
http://www.thecabe.com/
$11 to fix a flat? Sports Basement did that for the cost of the tube for me the other day. Three fiddy! Not that giving labor away is a sustainable business plan but still… eleven bucks.
Hey Hey everybody,
Just thoughts.
I wish we could have helped Sam with his MTB, I wish we had more vintage bikes and parts, I wish I had my wages subsidized so I could fix your flat for free. Lets face it “you can’t please everybody all the time, you can only please some people, some of the time.” BDB is really working to hook everybody up with what they need and want.
Taco comes to work on Wed. and Thurs. If you would like to visit, she likes visitors.
The guys at Yuba Expedtitions probably can’t help prepare you to tour Central America. I am sure they could overhaul your suspension and hydraulic disk brakes before your next Downieville shuttle. I just hope to help you with what I can when I can.
J Black
I agree with phlavor, Sports Basement does offer better prices along with friendly service.
i bought my used road bike (with gears) at box dog a few years ago and i’m still happy as a clam with it
thanks box dog! a friend of mine needs a new bike (got doored and just got her beat up bike appraised) and we will be visiting this weekend!
im pretty meh about this place. its close to my house so i go, but im still not sure if i like the place. sure they’ve got the hip dudes working there, but every person in boxdog you talk to tells you something different about whats the problem with your bike.
they also replaced my back axle with one that is too large.
and yes, they are pretentious and rude but what bike shop in sf isnt? le sigh. at least they have a cute little dog there.
I do not understand anyone hating on the good people at box dog. This is certainly the most laid back bike shop in the neighborhood. Not to mention a great example of a successful worker owned co-op. There’s rarely a wait to get something worked on, reasonable prices and they don’t try to sell you the high-end products that you don’t need. I lived down the block from these folks for a number of years and watched them transform a former meth den into a clean friendly and competent bike shop.
BTW, if you aren’t willing to make the minimal investment in a set of tire irons and an allen wrench, then you should be happy that anyone is willing to change your tire for you – at any price.
it’s all true! I love my refurbed Centurion Le Mans, I love that they fixed the seatpost because it was too small for the bike and kept slipping (for free!), and that while they really know their stuff, they don’t attitude it all over that sleepy little part of the mission.
thank you, missionmission, and thank you box dog!