BPA Seattle Bikes + Art

I've been to BPA several times in the last couple of years or so.  I have always found Eric and his crew to be friendly, helpful and professional.  My first experience with them was for a tune-up.  I spoke with Eric himself and since it was winter time he offered me a great deal to tune up my bike and my wife's.  They were finished on time and both bikes rode and shifted better than brand new.  

More recently I've gone in for accessories and parts and always leave happy.  

I understand that there was some kind of flap with the police a while back and someone was arrested and accused of theft.  I don't know if anyone was actually convicted or not.  The fact that an arrest occurred is not enough for me stop going to a place were I am treated well.

I bought a bike from here before reading all the negative comments. I came here for convenience and was happy with the service. I wanted to buy a used bike to save money and I like to see the reuse of perfectly good items.

Yes I would have be concerned with the comments about a chop shop except 3 stolen items in a second hand shop isn't as bad as it sounds in a city. And I am sure they cleaned up and it was 5 months ago without an new issue.

The staff were very helpful and let me debate what I was looking for without rushing me. After a few test rides, I got a great bike which they were happy to adjust to my tastes. Price made me happy and the ride was great.

Eric seemed like a good guy despite some other comments.

After posting my review I received multiple threatening messages from the owner "Eric Patchen".  He told me if I don't remove my review he is going to pursue legal action against me.  

Make sure you take a look at the (now) 20+ "reviews that are not recommended".  The owner took the time to threaten all of them and get the review surpassed to boost his ratings.  They are all 1 star reviews.

Please read a few reddit threads about this felon - reddit.com/r/Seattle/com…

If you value your life, STAY AWAY!

I will never go here again.  The next time my bike is stolen i'm letting the police handle him.

Walked into the shop and immediately singled out the road bike I thought would be perfect. We struck a deal and within a about a week it was immaculate. Use it everyday without fail. Eric and his guys are solid bike-smiths.

I bought, through groupon, a $32 bike tuneup. The instructions said to call for an appointment. When I tried this the guy said to just bring it in. Ok, cool, I thought. Yeah... not so much.

My first tip off should have been when I walked in the front door. There were four of us that walked in together. How one does not notice four people when one is less than 8 feet away and one is completely alone in the shop kinda blows my mind, but that's what happened.

The guy who finally noticed us after a few awkward minutes said it would take two days, three at most. When four days passed with no contact from the shop I decided to call them, thinking maybe they got busy. My conversation with who ever answered the phone said it would be done tonight and can be picked up tomorrow. Ouch, seems to me like it wasn't even looked at until then... after I called to remind them I dropped my bike off for a tune up and I'd like it back, ringin' any bells here?

So, finally after 8 days of my bike, which was only supposed to have a tune up, was in the shop I decided to go pick it up. Keep in mind that I NEVER received a call from them and that they seemed to remember my bike only because I called them. When I pull out my ticket at the shop, the same guy who I dropped it off with said there's a charge. Huh??!! They replaced a part which they wanted to charge me over $50 for. It's pretty customary everywhere else on the planet to call the customer before any extra charges are incurred. I feel the need to reiterate, I didn't receive any notice of the extra charge or that they were doing anything other than the tuneup until I showed up to get my bike back. Also, the guy asked for cash. Suspicious, no?

It's amazing how businesses like this stay open. I guess if you care about your bike and want it back in a reasonable amount of time and not be surprised with extra charges then you shouldn't be a customer of this shop. On the other hand if you like being confused, disrespected, ignored and being taken advantage of, it's a great place.

I've been in this shop a few times and have been extremely underimpressed by their skills, knowledge, and got the distinct impression that they weren't to be trusted.

Most notably, when I test rode a pedicab - it was in dangerously bad shape (no differential, one wheel just dragged in turns).  The owner, Eric, told me about the fatal pedicab accident at a company he was involved in.  His tone was boastful, like it made him cool.  I was disgusted.  Also they referred to certain bikes for sale as "30 day bikes" - forfeited, because customers had failed to pick them up.  I found this highly suspect, because of their flip attitude about it.

As for the source of this review, I have over 10 years experience working as a bike messenger and in bike shops.  Trust me, these guys are worth avoiding.

I gave these guys $40 and my extra chopper handlebars as a trade to fix a cracked weld & adjust the seat on my OCC Stingray.

After a week of not hearing from them I stopped in and found my bike on a rack being ignored. I was than given the same seat off a different bike as a loaner & was told that "they were still waiting on there welder to come in". That was over a year ago.

Avoid them at all cost and find a more reliable bike shop.

Eric and his crew have always been really helpful with all my bike needs. I've bought a bike and had several time ups over the past few years. As a casual/commuter rider I appreciate the wide variety of used gear. I occasionally drop in and have a question or need advice and hardly have to wait, even when they're busy. Also, the apparel and random items are a nice touch!

BPA brings a lot of character and great service for all things bike to Belltown!

I made the mistake of having my bike rebuilt at Belltown Pull-Apart because it was closer to my home, and now I have to take it somewhere else to clean up the mess that Eric left in his wake. I wasn't impressed with the service that I got there to begin with, Eric got my bike back to me over a week later than he said he would and the gears made a mysterious clicking noise when I would ride them. Not to mention that the shop always smelled of pot smoke, which doesn't bother me per se but when you're stoned all the time AND your work is shoddy and late, then you have a problem. All of that didn't really bother me enough to complain until yesterday when I was riding down Pine Street and the entire pedal and crank arm just FELL OFF! Eric just installed that 3 months ago and it just done fell off! Thank god I wasn't pushing up a hill when that happened or I could have seriously injured myself. I think I'm going to check out 20/20 cycles, they come highly recommended from some very experienced riders.

tl;dr

Don't go here, they're all too stoned to put a bike together safely.

If you're looking for used parts and bikes, I highly suggest making the trip out to the U Dist. to Recycled Cycles.

Update:

After taking my bike to a new shop here is the list of things that were wrong:

1. Apparently whoever installed the bottom bracket used one that was too short for the crank set. When fully tightened the smallest gear would grind against the frame, to solve this problem they just decided not to tighten it and leave it loose so that it would fit but eventually fall apart. Eric decided that he would just compromise my safety by leaving the bracket loose enough to fit the crank set that he happened to have in shop.

2. The front dérailleur was too low which was causing the aforementioned grinding noise. This is just lazy workmanship because it took the guy at the new shop about 1 minute to adjust.

3. The quick release on the back wheel had been tightened down so much that it was broken and fell apart in the bike mechanics hand as he tried to loosen it.

I asked him to give my bike a look over to see if he could find any other problem areas. Again, all of the above problems with the bike are due to lazy workmanship and cutting corners on safety to make a buck. I wish that there were more that I could do to warn people to stay away from this guy.

I took my bike in for a tune up and am quite pleased with the service and the work. The owner was happy to explain the work that was completed, including what might need to be done at some point soon, and they even replaced a part at no cost. He also said I can bring it back if there are any concerns when I get to ride again.

There isn't a great selection for accessories, but I don't blame them since they probably couldn't compete with REI or online retailers' prices.

It's always worth noting when a business doesn't get annoying about trying to push additional sales. They did what I asked and did it well, so I'm happy.