APEX Cycles & Service

338 G Street Downtown Davis, Ca 95616Aaron, 'lil Aaron, Princess & Alex2010-2011 Cinelli MashThis bike was stolen from APEX on 11/21/11Basso ConversionDolan PreCursa 2010Aaron Chase w/ 'lil Aaron & Alex '08Aaron, 'lil Aaron & Alex w/ Jeff Lenosky '08'lil Aaron's first race... He got 4th place in a field of 40+ on his FIXED GEAR!!!

Location
338 G Street
Tucked away between Little Prague and Davis Academy Driving School
Summer Hours	Winter Hours
Feb - Oct	Nov - Jan
Monday - Friday	Monday - Friday
11:00am - 6:00pm	11:00am - 5:00pm
Saturday	Saturday
12:00pm - 5:00pm	12:00pm - 4:00pm
Sunday	Sunday
By Appointment	By Appointment
Mobile Service and other times are available by appointment.
CALL OR EMAIL TO SCHEDULE
Phone
(530)750-2739
(530)475-2739 After Hours
(530)750-2453 Aaron's Desk
Web Site
http://www.apex-cycles.com
Blog
http://apexbikes.blogspot.com
Facebook Page
APEX Cycles Facebook Page
E-Mail
<info AT apex-cycles DOT com>
Owner(s)
Aaron.Curtin and Family (Princess, 'lil Aaron & Alex)
Established
Home Business 2004, Shop 2006
Payment Method
Cash, Check, Visa, Master Card, American Express, Discover, Davis Dollars
Services Offered
Tune Up Price Chart

APEX Cycles & Service is a locally owned bike shop with the goal of keeping your bike on the road while saving you money. They offer Student Discounts, Team Discounts, and additional promotions. APEX Cycles is a proud sponsor of davisfixed, the Davis Bike Club and the Cal Aggie Cycling Team.

If you can't get your bike downtown, they provide Mobile Service & BIKE PICK-UP/DROP OFF.

Don't let our small size fool you. We fix just about anything from old 3spd cruisers to full carbon TT bikes. We can get everything from 8spd freewheels to Zipp carbon wheels. If you need threads cut or chased, we are one of only 2 shops in town that have the proper tools to do the work... but at least we'll do it right the first time... Guaranteed. - Aaron

They will work with almost any budget, to get you riding. If lack of money is a problem, they have lots of USED parts available or you can volunteer your time in the shop in exchange for labor credits.

They have all kinds of goodies for your bike. If you don't see it there, just ask, and Aaron will be happy to find it for you.

They are the ONLY AEROSPOKE dealer in the area and a great local source for Chrome Bags. Almost all of the guys who work or hang out there have at least one of the bags or backpacks. So if you want to get some real world feedback on these great bags, this is the place to go.

They stock and order Complete Bikes along with Aluminum, Steel & Full Carbon Race frames from:

Argon18 Bikes - Full Carbon, Aluminum, and Multi-material Road, Track, Cross & Time Trial
Biria Bicycles - Easy "Step Through" hybrid cruisers and comfort bikes
Cinelli USA - Classic and modern Road and Track Frames
De Rosa - Boutique bikes to say the least, when you want the very best
Dolan Bikes - Beautiful Track, Road and TT bikes used by many of the European National Teams
IRO Cycles - Inexpensive Steel Track frames
Kona Bikes - Full line of bikes from road to mountain to hybrids and kids bikes
Lapierre Bikes - Tour proven frames ridden by the Francaise des Jeux Pro Team, Road & Mountain
Lynskey Titanium Bikes - Hand made Titanium bikes for all disciplines
Merckx Cycles - One of the greatest names in cycling history... Eddy Merckx is a legend
Pake Bikes - Inexpensive Steel Track & CX frames
Redline Bicycles - BMX, Cyclo-Cross and unique Mtn, Commute and Fitness Bikes
Ritte Racing - Strikingly beautiful Road, TT and Cyclo-Cross bikes
SOMA Fabrications - Quality Steel frames
Stevens Bikes - Quality Road, TT & Cross bikes with full custom options
Torelli Bikes - Handmade frames built in ITALY, semi and fully custom options, Road & Track
Van Dessel Bikes - Innovative Track, Road, and Urban Bikes
Torker Bikes USA Inexpensive commuting and recreational bikes
Vellum Cycles USA - Full Carbon Road, Mtn. & Time Trial frames

All frames can be custom built into the bike of your dreams or ordered with OEM specs.

Custom 2012 Merckx EMX-5Lots of goodies!!!.More goodies!!!Even more bicycle goodness!!!Mountain bikes too

• Aaron (Owner) - USAC Licensed Pro Mechanic - Experience: 10+ years - Aaron specializes in Custom Builds & Advanced Repair on all makes and models
  

• Princess (Reception) - Princess is in charge of bookkeeping & customer files. She is usually the voice on the line when you call. She enjoys riding around town with Aaron & the kids.
  

• 'lil Aaron & Alex (Aaron & Princess's boys) - Once in a while, you'll see the boys hanging out in the shop before their Karate classes at Baciarini's Martial ArtsDon't mess with us 'cause 'lil Aaron can kick you in the head!!!
  

• Shop Interns & Volunteers - Come in and help clean the shop while earning Discounts
  

Click for Youtube video of 'lil Aaron

• Bicycle Shops — other bike shops in Davis
  

• Bicycling — a good starting point for your bike-related inquiries

Comments about APEX Cycles on other sites

Great bike shop; saw my bike when other shop said they couldn't take it for a month, and fixed it on the spot. Fantastic service, knowledgeable, good prices - highly recommend! - Ellen

After getting the run around at other shops, a friend of mine told me about this place. Not very big, but best service around by far. Prices are better than most places in town, and what they lack in stock on hand, they make up in customer service. They took my bike in and got it back to me within a few days as promised. Way faster than everyone else. They have lots of cool road and "fixie" parts that other shops don't stock. Totally recommended!!! - Chris

In my quest to be hip I have started a fixed gear bicycle project. It's what all the cool kids are doing these days. I've not sworn allegiance to any one bike shop lately and have visited about six or so. Apex is in a back alley garage and looks just like that... a back alley garage. They do stock merchandise but the rest of the shop looks like they're working on bikes. Every time I go into a bike shop to ask questions I have usually already researched it on the Internet so that I won't sound stupid when I go in. Here at Apex, the owner was very knowledgeable and prevented me from buying some stuff I didn't need.
Prices are on par with other shops but this guy had time to talk to me and give me suggestions. I liked that attention and his honesty. It was a place that I felt I could go in and hang out and chat and compare bikes and ideas, sort of like a bike gang, er... I mean club. - Hunter G.

Fantastic Service!
Emailed the owner after hours and received a quick reply back that I could bring my bike in the next day, after a comparable shop had claimed they couldn't see me for a month. Took it in and Aaron fixed it right on the spot; took it for a test ride and when it still felt shaky, he and the volunteers took a look at it again and now it rides better than when I first got it! Amazing service, friendly, knowledgeable, and reasonable prices. Will definitely take my bike here again if it needs it. - Anonymous

I love Apex Cycles, they are so helpful in there. Numerous times have I dropped by to get my tires pumped up or my seat adjusted - they'll do it for you with a smile. The staff are friendly and professional, and I particularly appreciate that they always give you good and honest advice - no bullshit just to try and make you buy things you don't need or go for the more expensive option for no reason. Though I haven't inspected their selection of bikes very carefully, they seem to have a good range of different kinds of bikes, new as well as second-hand. They also stock all kinds of equipment and accessories, anything you'll ever need. You'll sometimes be able to get second-hand parts as well (though I don't think they stock them specifically); they were happy to sell me a second-hand wheel once, as they happened to have one lying around. Their repair service is quick and very reasonable. Normally you have to book a slot beforehand, I think, but they also do repairs on a drop-by basis on the weekends - so if you get there early you'll get your bike back within hours unless it's complicated. I couldn't say whether bike shops vary hugely, but I have no doubt that Apex beats them all in virtue of their fantastic service alone. - Walker D.

• Reviews from 2007-2008 - Great reviews since the beginning
  

• Reviews from 2009 - Raising the bar
  

• Reviews from 2010 - Still going strong

Comments:

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2011-01-04 16:36:45   I've been to APEX thrice, once just to look ("oh, there's a bike shop here! neat!"), once to buy a lock, and this time to get a tune-up. I don't know ANYTHING about bikes, I walk into a store and buy the one that looks pretty and is in my price range. Because of this I have felt like a complete dumbass at some shops ("uhhh... yeah... you know... that thingie, that goes into the other thingie... and um, how do I put this on the bike?") and like I was invisible at some, (B&L, I'm lookin' atchu and your crappy customer service) while all of my experiences at APEX have been 100% comfortable. I've dealt with the owner and with the "others" and they all have the same friendly, non-judgmental of us more ignorant types, open demeanor which I think is a testament to what is probably really great employee training, or maybe awesome owners just attract awesome employees. And I took in my bike to get tuned up at like, 11, 12 o'clock today? I get a call at 2:30ish saying it's ready. Whuuuuuut. I was unprepared for such quick service. Badass as always. —rrenati

2011-04-26 16:39:46   I took my old, beat up, craigslist purchase here for a full tune up. After looking at the bike, Aaron said that his $90 option would be the best choice for my situation, so I agreed since I don't know a whole lot about bikes. I returned for my bike when he called, and it seemed to be in good shape. After riding it around for a day or two, I noticed a few things that I wasn't 100% satisfied with, my brakes weren't adjusted as well as they could have been. My gears shifted OK, but they didn't seem perfect. I would of graded the repair as OK, not good, but not bad either. Then, 9 days after this tune up, a weld on my frame broke. I'm not sure if this is one of those things that can be seen prior to it happening, but I decided to take it to another bike shop. At this bike shop, the workers there were talking to me as if I hadn't serviced my bike in years. When I told them I had it tuned up a couple weeks prior, they laughed and said hopefully it wasn't a bike shop in town that had done this. Apparently, there were some very simple things that Aaron didn't care of, such as greasing various parts on the bike. This ticked me off, I don't think I'll return to the shop again. Later that same day, my roommate took his bike back into APEX to get a rear wheel put on that Aaron suggested after a tuneup. Aaron told him to return in ~20 minutes, so he did and Aaron told him he put a different wheel on, not the one he ordered and this one would cost $40. So, my roommate agreed, and it turns out, Aaron put on the different wheel, along with a different tire, and the wheel he put on had a different gear set. My roommate was pretty angry that Aaron didn't tell him about all the differences between the two wheels. We're still not sure why he put on a different tire, apparently, he said it was 'easier.' I'm pretty unhappy with both our experiences here, and I feel like he took advantage of both of us. Certainly will not return. —rcrane

• In response to this comment, APEX does not offer a $90 tune-up. Student pricing is $40, $70, or $110 and I only reserve the later for race bikes. I have to say that I stand by my work. If you weren't happy at the time of delivery or within 30 days after, you are were always able to bring it by to get checked free of charge. As for your weld breaking 9 days later, that is something that can happen at anytime with no real preemptive notification. Overall condition and structural integrity is always a concern when buying a used bike, especially from craigslist. I'm sorry that I didn't foresee your frame crack or prevent you from making the purchase in the first place. As for greasing parts, I only use grease on bearings, pressed cups, or areas of sustained metal to metal contact. Everywhere else, ie. chain, cable and housing, joints, pivots and such, get doused with a thin teflon based penetrating lube. It will not appear to be "greased" but it is well lubed. As for your friend, I ordered him a wheel based of the description of his bike over the phone and budget. After seeing his bike in person, I realized that he needed A different wheel. When he came to get the wheel, it had not come in yet, but he had to get to class, so I offered to LOAN him a nice ($129 new) used wheel I had until his came in so he could get to class (what other shop does that... hmm?). He asked if he could just buy it. I went ahead and sold it to him for $40 with a BETTER tire than he had on his other wheel and spaced it for a 7spd cassette (also included) vs his 7spd freewheel. I never took advantage of you guys, on the contrary, I went out of my way to help. —Aaron.Curtin

OK, then maybe you should consider greasing other parts or just do a better job in general, because for a price of $50, another bike shop in town welded my frame and adjusted/greased my bike where you did not, and my bike has ridden much better after this $50 repair than your $70 +$20 in parts = $90 tune up. as far as greasing goes, its funny you say that you grease the bearings when the guys from the other shop looked at my bike, they said that the bearings especially lacked grease. so, as far as i am concerned, you did a poor job on my tune up considering my price. second of all, you did not offer to LOAN him anything. you told him the wheel came in, told us to come back in twenty minutes, so we did. you put on a different wheel, WITHOUT asking him, and he did not offer to buy it, you told him he could buy it, and you did not explain to him the differences between the two wheels OR inform him that you swaped out the tire as well, you simply told him that this other wheel would be sufficient and somebody else had used it for a while, but not for an extended period of time.

• Well, at this point, it is their word against mine. I know what work I did and did not do. And as for your friend, yes I did offer to loan him the wheel until the suitable one came in. I've done it before and I will do it again. Hell, I've lent out compete bikes free of charge. Its one of my way of trying to make the situation better. I apologize that your experience was not up to your expectations, but perhaps you should have considered vocalizing your concerns directly rather than running to another shop. I could have fixed your bike free of charge, and made arrangements to fix the weld if thats what you wanted. In the end, with a little better communication on your part, you could have saved on spending an additional $50. —Aaron.Curtin
  

2011-05-08 18:11:11   Just wanna say, I LOVE THIS PLACE. I've only been here once, but the demeanor of the owner and the concern he took for me and my bike was awesome. Most places are trying to sell me a new bike, but here he comes telling me how to get integrated shifters onto my old Trek 1220 and offering me what I think is a REALLY reasonable price. Definitely coming back here in the future for all my bicycle needs. —JonathanHong

2011-06-20 17:18:15   At first, the owner of APEX impressed me with his friendliness. I asked for a custom build, and he gave me more options than I could choose from. Upon placing my order, I was satisfied. However, my experience went downhill from there.

First, the open hours are pretty inconvenient so going early in the morning or later in the evenings were not an option. Upon receiving my order, there were multiple problems and the build was not to my specifications; and the quality of several parts were seriously lacking. The guy who was there could fix one issue, but I didn't have any more time to sit around for them to redo the build. Finally, the price that I was quoted was seriously low-balled; about 50% less than what they handed me the invoice for. The employee there at the time basically gave me the 'I can't do anything about it' attitude.

I wholeheartedly support small businesses like this, but I'm sorry to say I will not be going here again because of their poor service. —BreadBaron

• I apologize for your experience, and hope that you will reconsider visiting us again. I am sure that in the time you had picked up your bike to the last point of contact that I made every attempt to resolve any issues. In the past, I have done everything from swapping parts, rebuilding wheels over and over again, to the point of stripping down a bike, bead blasting and powder coating out of pocket because the frame color wanted was no longer available to try and keep customers happy. I will make it a point to try and live up to everyone's expectations and to ensure that the bike you wanted is the bike you get. I have learned recently that it is becoming harder and harder to work within some budgets, and that there comes a point when I just have to say no. Usually low prices started as an optimistic quote, but has since been eliminated from the processes, as too many times the price has skyrocketed to the point of the build becoming a financial loss on my end. Aaron.Curtin
  

2011-08-03 16:13:07   This place seems really hit or miss. I went in because I had a Groupon for a bike tune-up and I needed a part on the back of my bike replaced. It took them a while to get the parts in which is understandable, but they could have done a better job communicating with me. They would tell me to come pick it on a certain day, so I would leave work early to come in before they closed at 6, and then I'd get there and they would tell me it wasn't ready yet and they forgot to call me. Annoying, but understandable. When I went to pick it up I was told they replaced the chain which would cost me $10, even though I just had a new chain put on a few weeks earlier. When I told the guy working that I didn't need a new chain, he offered to replace it with one of the old ones from behind the counter. After I told him mine was pretty new and I'd like it back he remembered where he put it and put it back on my bike. Annoying, but understandable. I spend the next day thinking I was really out of shape from not riding my bike in a week before I realized the brake was rubbing against the back tire the whole time. I had to bring it back and have it fixed again which was done pretty quickly at no cost, and the guy even offered to stay late in case I didn't make it before closing. I guess he didn't tighten something enough when putting on the new tire. Annoying, but understandable. On my way out I accidentally left my bike lock in the shop and did not realize this until I got home. I tried to call the shop but no one answered (understandable since it was after closing), but the phone never went to voicemail. I sent an email saying I would stop by in the morning, a Saturday morning, and pick it up. I showed up at 12 on Saturday, since that is when they are supposed to open, waited for 15 minutes and had to leave. Someone else was waiting outside also. When I came back later around closing time, the store was still not open and there was a note on the door from the other guy waiting that said "I waited for you until 1pm, where were you?" I guess the shop just didn't open up at all on Saturday even though the hours are posted on the door as 12-5. This part I don't understand. It's not the worst place ever, but there are definitely better places to take your bike for tune-ups in Davis. —jlbernst

2011-08-08 23:14:46   In response to all the recent questions and concerns about the shop. I have to say that this is still one of the best little bike shops around. They are going through some tough times right now as it is a family business and I overheard one of the volunteers mentioning that Aaron has been dealing with his mother's Alzheimers and has had to close the shop periodically to deal with that. I rolled past tonight, and there he was working late into the night to try and make up for not being open during the day. He said he won't be around again tomorrow since he has to follow up with doctors and find an assisted living facility for his mother. If you need to get something done with your bike, he's still one of the best local resources. He hopes that all his loyal customers understand and that he will try to have the shop up and running regular hours by the middle of the week. Feel free to call him or shoot him an email with any questions. —Your2Cents

2011-09-03 21:58:53   What do you do if you have a flat and no way to get your bike to a shop for repair? Call Aaron! Just having moved to the area with a bike that had a flat and a car in which the bike wouldn't fit, I called Aaron and HE DROVE TO MY APARTMENT THE SAME DAY to fix the tire. He took the tire off, fixed it at his shop and drove back the same day to put it back on my bike. A bike shop that does house calls is awesome! Aaron was friendly and professional and gave great recommendations about the local restaurant and bar scene. Im so happy with the service he provided and will definitely be visiting in the future for any of my biking needs! Thanks Aaron. —RobinCepparo

- That doesn't surprise me! He seems very willing to go above and beyond. —FiCubbage

2011-10-02 21:43:35   Okay, it's about time I weighed in. I've Used Apex as my primary bike shop since Aaron has opened the place, and seen him move through several different locations. Aaron and Princess have always been helpful, flexible and friendly. I have also experienced parts delivery when I've encountered flats or other mechanical failures at work.

About 10 months ago, I broke the frame of my 20 year-old Trek hybrid. My fault entirely, as I was hauling bags of dog food and buckets of kitty litter (at the same time, along with some other stuff!) on a weeny little Mountain Rack. Anyway, since the crack was in a location not conducive to welding, Aaron guided me toward a cargo bike, which I'd been considering for some time anyways. Now, I'm not talking about the conversion kit, but the real deal: a Kona Ute. The price he gave me was beyond fair; it was excellent.

Unfortunately it took some time for the bike to come in. Although this was on Kona's end, not Aaron's, he realized that I was getting frustrated (biking with a broken frame feels like your bike is mounted on a poorly inflated yoga ball), so he located the model I wanted, and drove to pick it up from the dealer who had it in stock — in Oakland!.

Now that I have the bike, I love it (except for the kickstand, but, once again, that isn't Aaron's fault). I never have to drive while I am in town, or even trips to Winters and such. I have put somewhere between 6000 and 7000 miles on it, so I am in for repairs and adjustments fairly regularly. Aaron and his crew are always professional, friendly and do great work. When I need a new part but can't afford it just then, they understand and don't pressure me. Rather they do the adjustment to buy me some time. Sometimes it can take a while, because the shop has a very loyal clientele, and is quite busy, so there are often interruptions. That is the nature of a small family-owned business — Aaron can't very well ignore all his other customers while I am there. The other reason is that sometimes the parts come in slowly. Again, that happens with smaller businesses. Big shops will often get better service from distributors in any industry.

I will keep supporting Apex as a fine example of a well-run local business. Thanks Aaron.

—StephanTelm

2011-10-19 09:46:26   I called the other night, 10 minutes before 6:00, and explained I had a flat tire. Aaron had me bring my bike in right away (he stayed late!), and he noticed it may not have been a flat at all...the valve was crooked, so it was impossible to pump air into the tire. He straightened the valve, pumped up the tire, and didn't charge me. It may be fixed, or I may still have a flat, but he recommended trying that first, before spending the money on a new tube.

Another bike shop (yep, here in Davis) quoted me a much higher price, didn't attempt to straighten the valve, and recommended I replace the whole tire and tube. The Bike Barn wouldn't even touch it. Aaron saved me a bunch of money, and fixed the problem in minutes. That's good customer service in my book. I'll keep coming back for sure! —FiCubbage

2012-01-09 17:11:54   I think of myself as a pretty handy guy, who does a little maintenance on my bike now and then (e.g. brake adjustments, tire replacements, and the occasional derailleur work). But when I bought a 1969 English utility bike with an old 3-speed Sturmy Archer hub, i felt a little out of my league. I tried tuning it myself, but always came up with problems here and there. So i took it to a local bike shop and they said that i needed to work give it an good tune-up that would set me back about $60 and take about two days to complete. However, when i took it to APEX, Dan took one look at it and addressed the problems right there and then! The best part about it, he didn't charge me for any of that work! Instead, they installed a bike stand for me for cheap, and sent me on my way. Great shop. Support your local business! —SteveWong

2012-04-23 21:31:00   My daughter inherited a used bike from a family friend. It was a bit worse for wear, having spent the last couple of years outside. I dropped it off for the "red" service at 1PM, and Aaron called me to say it was ready at 5PM the same day. In addition to the regular service, he installed 2 new tubes and only charged for the parts (no extra labor charge). Everything is working smoothly now, and my daughter really likes her "new" bike! —RobWestergaard