Universal Cycles

Apr 5th, 2022

This has been my go-to bike shop for 16 years. Huge selection, good prices, great service
Mar 27th, 2022

Shout out to Billy & Dustin in the repair shop for their expertise and great customer service! Stopped by for a quick brake adjustment, and even though they were busy, they were able to squeeze me in and send me on my way - literally - a few minutes later. Thanks y'all, I'll be back!
Mar 19th, 2022

EDIT 2022: I had a bad experience with their custom wheelbuilding service a few years ago. In hindsight, I believe that was a fluke, an honest mistake and not representative of their business overall. I've decided to add a couple stars because I've otherwise had good experiences with them and consistently come back to them for hard-to-find parts. I will remain shy about ordering custom wheels however, since there is no way to visually check their build quality unless you're picking them up in person. Original post: I'm disappointed. I ordered a pair of mainstream, handmade custom road wheels. The wheels weren't bad enough to send back, but were noticeably out of round. One of the rims was dinged slightly, and upon further inspection, a few of the spokes were way off the appropriate tension. The box they were shipped in was in perfect condition, so I don't suspect shipping damage. The rear hub, a Shimano 105, was strangely overtightened. It should have been buttery smooth. This may have been a manufacturing oversight, but the very reason to buy handbuilt wheels is to get more evenly tensioned, more precise, human-inspected, durable wheels. That costs a premium, and I can't recommend paying the extra for their service. Too many issues were completely missed as if they simply weren't paying enough attention to their work. Maybe I got their rookie wheelbuilder or something.... EDIT 2022: I had multiple local bike shops inspect the wheels I received and all agreed that it seemed like the wheels were simply unfinished before shipped to me. There had obviously been no final QA/QC, and one of the local shops showed me a few things that indicated whomever built the wheels had really not looked them over before packing them up. My best guess is that someone mistakenly thought they were finished, because no pro wheelbuilder would look at them and honestly think they were ready.
Mar 27th, 2022

I had another great experience at Universal Cycles today. I bought a Ritchey Ascent frameset from them at the end of September and built up my bike at home. I went in today to pick up a few things like tubes, a multi-tool, tire lever, etc. While I was there, talking to Kevin about the new bike, I was detailing some of the weird behavior of the rear derailleur I was having with the new build. Billy the mechanic overheard the conversation and said it sounded like a bent derailleur hanger. They asked me to bring the bike in so they could look at it. I brought it back and Billy checked out the derailleur hanger alignment and sure enough, it needed to be adjusted. He made a few tweaks and it was shifting better. Turned out my rear derailleur needed replacing as well. It's funny how you can really rack up the miles without thinking about it. Looking at my Strava data, I had put well over 6,000 miles on it through 3 Winters, lots of commuting, gravel and loaded touring/bikepacking riding, etc. It was pretty beat and the pulleys were really worn. So glad to have got this sorted. Thanks Billy! I've been buying from UC for about 5 years now. Always great prices, service and support. I had them build me a wheelset about 4 years ago for our 1993 Miyata DupliCross MTB tandem that I turned into a touring bike for my wife and I and they've been great: Staying true while holding up our team and touring gear. I was really happy when they moved out here to Beaverton this year. I can't recommend Universal Cycles enough. EDIT: Once again, Billy to the rescue! I was having some problems again with shifting the rear derailleur on the Ritchey Ascent. Ghost shifting, missed shifts, etc. My Deore SL-M510 shifter is pretty old and parts just wear out. I will replace this drivetrain with a new Microshift Advent 1x9 soon. Thanks again, Billy!
Mar 19th, 2022