Pacific Coast Cycles, Oceanside

Don't bother with this place if your looking for a classic 70's style road bike, like a Schwinn, Peugot or Huffy, because you won't find one here. The fellow seemed to have a real disdain for them, guess I might too if I was looking for a huge profit margin on my stock.

I was in the market for a new bike, did a bit of research and found that Pacific Coast Cycles carried the model I was looking for. I wanted support a local bike shop (LBS) and this seemed like the perfect place to spend my hard earned money. The shop itself is unique and retro, has some neat bikes and owned by a seemingly friendly couple (Gretchen is very sweet and a good diplomat). I rode a couple of bikes and came back the following weekend with my wife. We both rode and purchased two bikes. I wasn't really looking for any discounts, but figured that by buying two bikes and adding some additional items to one of the bikes I'd get something off. No dice. Ok, not a big deal. Paid for my wife's bike, put a deposit down on mine. In total we spent around $2,300. No itemized receipt was given. First off, Chuck the proprietor has a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type personality. He can be a nice guy one time you see him and downright hostile and confrontational another time. No rhyme or reason to his behavior. Through numerous encounters with him during this process, I found that as time passed I was hating/dreading buying a bike from him. I wish I would have heeded the other reviews on the Internet about dealing with him and walked away earlier. But, I'm the type of person who follows through on commitments and I don't want to screw anyone over, so I kept on going. Chuck was rude to both my wife and myself on several occasions both in the store and on the phone. Questions were met with blank stares and curt responses. It felt like I was bothering the guy. He was more interested in talking with his buddies that would come in the store or sit in the back of the store than to help my wife and I. He would send Gretchen to help us and communicate through her - to us...while were were standing right in front of him. Strange. It goes beyond the attitude though and really into the service and attention to detail. Frankly, it just isn't there. Everyone raves that Chuck is a great mechanic. But when I received my bike, it had a misaligned brake lever, rusted bolts in the stem and fenders and a badly scratched up stem. It was supposedly 'new.' They promised to replace the stem, which would have meant yet another trip to the store. More than that, after riding on the bikes for a week, both my wife and I realized that the frames we were recommended and eventually sold were way too big for us. Chuck blamed us for picking out the wrong size bikes and said we had ample time to ride around on them at the shop. The point of going to his store was to have an "expert" help us figure it out and make sure we had the right fit - not guess based on riding around the block a few times I could have bought a wrong size bike on the Internet with no help for $300 less. This was probably my biggest disappointment with the experience. I called Chuck to ask about switching my wife to a smaller size and I figured I'd just live with mine since he'd replaced some of the components and I didn't want to burden him. His response was crazy. He immediately said to bring my bike back because "he'd lost too much money on selling it to me" and would switch out my wife's bike for a smaller size. I took both bikes back and he wrote me a check for mine and switched out my wife's. Unbelievable. I immediately deposited his check. Then drove down to Cal Coast Cycles and met some truly friendly and helpful people. Configured the exact same bike, in the correct size and walked out paying $25 less than what I spent at Pacific Cycles, plus lifetime tune-ups included. More importantly, I felt a rush of relief knowing that my money went to support a LBS that cared about its customers and focused on making my buying experience simple and non-confrontational.

I was in the store last summer and wanted to turn a 21 speed bike into a single speed, b/c I had a new 21 speed and just wanted something to drive on the beach, the guy was not helpful at all, clearly wanted me to leave the bike there and he would do the work, so I went to a bike shop less than a mile to the east and they were easy going and friendly and told me how I could do it myself I had never been back again, but then my mother visited for the month of december and wanted to get the kids all new bikes and the grouch was not interested in helping her at all, I didn't know she went to the shop but when she got home she said he was belligerent and surly, almost angry she asked a couple of questions about kid bikes I took her to walmart and she spent $500 on 3 kid bikes and boocoo accessories and was happy as a clam it's his shop and he can run it like he likes but gee wiz, have some common sense when dealing with people, you are in a "neighborhood" where people walk or ride in somewhat casually, a superstore attitude is not what south o wants or needs stop being a grouch!

I have been dealing with Chuck for over 15 years. I commute by bike and race Ironman triathlon. I feel comfortable putting my life in his hands. Have you ever been in a bike store waiting for help and the person ahead of you is asking an inordinate number of in-depth questions? You know they are just trying to get enough information so that they can buy the right part on-line and save a few bucks. Yeah, well Chuck knows, too. I've seen people pick his brain for 10 minutes, find the right part number and then immediately walk out the door. Can you blame him for wanting to fix bikes instead of being tech support for the on-line stores? The reason he doesn't have time to coddle every browser who comes into his shop is that he only sells the parts and service that his customers really need. If he has a fault, it would be that he may write off a potential customer when he thinks that they are just milking him for free advice, whereas a smooth salesman would handle the situation more diplomatically. When you are screaming down Palomar Mountain at 40+ miles an hour, would you rather have put your trust in a sweet-talking salesman or an excellent mechanic?

I stopped in for some advice on installing some road brakes I bought on craigslist. I waited patiently while the owner spoke to his wife. He finally asked me what I wanted and I said "just some advice on some brakes I bought". He then said (without smiling or being the least bit friendly) "why don't you ask the person you bought the brakes from how to install them". I knew right then he was not interested in being nice or helpful. I said politely that the person I bought the parts from suggested I come here for any technical questions. He still did not care to give me any advice. I told him thanks for his time (all 5 seconds) and left. I will never to step foot in that shop again. I have two places I do recommend for their friendly attitude, free advice, and customer service, Performance Bike, and Bicycle Warehouse. Their shops are clean and the staff makes you feel welcome. They also stand behind their products in regards to refunds and exchanges. They are not owner run where you most likely will have to deal with an attitude.

If you want good advice with no BS, no pressured sales, experienced knowledge...then look no further than this place. Consider this place the bicycle shop equivalent of the record shop in HIGH FIDELITY. You'll be better off for it if you buy a bike or have one serviced by Chuck, the owner. From novice to pro you won't go wrong here. Michael M. Los Angeles

Pacific Coast Bicycles in Oceanside, CA is the place to go when you want a reputable store. I bought a very nice used bike from Chuck Hoefer, the owner. He checked the bike out before I took off with it and made sure that it was right for me. And the price was right, maybe a little bit more than I wanted to spend for a used bike, but I've been using it for several weeks and am very satisfied. Chuck told me that if I had any problems, just come in and he will fix it. I felt very comfortable and secure buying from him. I recommend him highly.

Chuck Hoefer is probably one of the best and most knowledgeable bike mechanics in the US. If you need repair service, this is the shop to go to. The shop specializes in new and old technology bikes. You won’t find rows of new bikes like some high volume stores but they have a good selection and if they don’t have it they can get it. If you need repair service, this is the shop to go to. For vintage types he has a great selection of parts and bikes.

I have been going to this shop for about the last 20 years. Always friendly, very knowlegable, and we share the same name. You might be able to get it cheaper, but not with the same amount of help. Charlie

Like the previous poster, "Chuck" pretty much gave me the impression that I was invading his space. I got no smile or hello, and had to go out of my way to get his attention even though there were no other customers in the store and he was casually working a bike. I came to ask him about a specific bike, and told him he was listed as a dealer on the manufactuers website. He became combative and was distrustful of the things I was inquiring about. He was unfamiliar with the particular model I wanted, and after he begrudgingly looked in the catalog and mumbled something about "yeah, that looks right" he gave me an unconvincing "sorry if I offended you". I asked him if he wanted my business. Seriously, I felt I had to justify myself as a customer. I'm looking elsewhere. Too bad...it looked like a cool little shop.