2nd Cycle

"I wanted to change my 1971 Sekai ten speed to a 15 speed so I could more easily pedal up hills. But you can’t just slap on a 3 inch granny gear. The front crank of a ten speed isn’t designed for 3 front gears - sprockets. However, I had an old broken down mountain bike, and those all have 3 gears on the front. I wondered: could I swap the front transmission from the 21 speed mtn bike to my ten speed? I looked online and there is no information on going from 2 to 3 sprockets. In fact, lots of people are going from 3 to 1. So I carried my two antique bikes into Second Cycle and explained my crazy idea. They didn’t bat an eye. “Try it!” they said, “it might work”. The mechanics showed me how to mount my bike in the bike repair stand and pointed to the wall of Park brand specialty bike tools. They explained the hourly rental rates, which were very low, and said to grab them if I had questions. I’ve worked on bikes for 50 years, but this was uncharted territory for me. I’d completely forgotten how to remove links from a new chain, or how to pull a stuck crank. It was super nice to have friendly and knowledgeable mechanics available when I got over my head. They showed me what to do, but made sure that I did the work. And tools, wow, they had a tool for everything! Whenever I needed a new part or cable, they had one on hand. One part isn’t even made any more, so they found a 50 year old used part in a bin that was perfect. I was there 3 hours, but when I saw that new transmission working perfectly, I was pretty stoked. Second Cycle is a great resource for Tacoma. There are a few other bike shops in town, but this is the only one offering rental work space for DIY people who need access to specialty bike tools. I was very impressed and will be visiting them again."

"A bad "community" bike shop. Myself and my partner bought bikes from here during the spring and summer of 2023. We have been incredibly disappointed with interactions with staff and services provided every time we have gone to Second Cycle. Staff are not helpful, condescending, and at times misogynistic. My partner is a former triathlete and went to the shop to get help replacing a tire that has gone flat 3 times in the past couple weeks. Instead of checking for punctures in the tire and lining these up on the rim/tire to find the issue, the worker told her she needs to pump her tire every couple days. He was rude and condescending during the entire interaction. He replaced the flat and within 4 hours her tire was flat again. Also, prices seem to be steadily increasing. When we were there last week, nearly all of the bikes displayed were being sold for +$700. Fancy and expensive bikes are being resold in a community that has little need for them. Hilltop needs a community bike shop that reflects their community. WOULD NOT RECOMMEND."

"Friendly and knowledgeable staff. Awesome selection of new and used stuff. Bikes are all in great shape. We bought a bike for my 5-year-old and they offered to the training wheels on there free of charge. Can’t recommend enough."

"I’m super disappointed. Recently I got a brand new Schwinn beach cruiser and brand new Thule child’s seat for Mother’s Day to take my grandson for rides. I had called about them installing the seat and the guy I spoke to said yes as long as it was still in the box, had all the parts and it would cost $20. I called back and told the guy who answered that I had a Saris car rack, did they have an adapter bar that I needed and was told yes and it was $10. Cool! When I went to pick it up, the owner Noah (I learned later) was at the counter. I told him what I was looking for and he pulled out a different brand that was $40. I explained that I just called and was told that there was a $10 Saris one. He went back over and brought out the right one. His mannerisms seemed annoyed. When I came back later with the bike and seat, he came out from behind the counter and pointed out various things that were wrong I.e., the handle bars were too high, the brakes were not right and it was going to need a new bike rebuild. I was surprised but asked for an estimate. He abruptly went to help another customer without even saying anything. I waited until he was done, but when he came back he didn’t even offer an estimate he took one look at the box that the seat was in (without even opening it to check) and said, “Nope, can’t do it.” Stating that because of the luggage rack on the bike, it would never fit. I tried to tell him that I was told it would work, but he just said, “No it won’t.” He then abruptly walked away from me without even a sorry I can’t help you or let’s get that estimate though, and started talking to someone else. Anyway, my daughter-in-law and I were actually able to mount the seat in about 20 minutes. I guess I saved myself $20. **** on a personal note, I was actually looking forward to working with this shop."

"Went to drop off my bike to get an estimate to get bike fixed for the brakes and rewiring cables and in return, got it back worse than how I left it. I asked for a quote simply for brakes and rewiring cables, and when they got back to me with a higher quote than they mentioned originally, including stuff I didn’t ask for. I was not willing to pay the high price, they gave me so I went to pick it back up. They gave it back to me, with wheel not in the same place it was, cable now broken and one of the shifter not working anymore. Really disappointed with the service at this shop. Completely felt like they were just trynna scam me and get me to donate the bike with the way they gave it back to me. DO NOT RECOMMEND AT ALL!!"