Wheelgirl
1717 4th Street
Store C
Berkeley, CA 94710
(4th @ Virginia)
service@wheelgirl.com
510.524.1400
Ride Because It Makes You Happy
We are a brick and mortar bike shop located in Berkeley, California. As you may know, there are many excellent bicycle shops in Berkeley. With rare exception, these shops do what they do very well.
We are doing something a bit different. We like designing bike and taking the time with customers to customize rides in steel, carbon, and titanium. We like educating customers as to why stainless steel cables cost a few dollars more and, for the price of a latte, will change your bicycle maintenance schedule and riding pleasure.
We like to hear stories about your first bike. We are in no rush. We're happy to work with your schedule and set up convenient times to perform tunes ups, services, and repairs to your bike.
We can overhaul, winterize and weatherize your bike. We can re-build the hubs you got as a gift 24,000 miles ago or build you a fixed rear wheel while you wait for your next payday before having us build a matching front wheel. We can work with you to get your custom frame designed for your specific riding needs or help you to pick out a new set of commuter tires.
We can design the bike of your dreams, but we are also happy to help anyone who walks through the door looking for a quality tune up.
We like working on bikes. We like being a small shop. Growth isn't bad, per se, but growth isn't always good.
Look for the light-blue signs on 4th Street on the weekends, and you will find us; give a call; drop an email. We are happy to help.
We commute to work by bike, and we build each bike as if it were our own. We are advocates of mixing new, used high-quality parts, and "newsed" (new + used) parts (put on a new bike, but taken off shortly afterwards with little to no wear).
It is kind of crazy to spend lots of money making parts when often there are perfectly good parts already on the earth. All of our customers work hard for their money. We try to make sure whatever your budget, you get the most effective components for your needs.
We like to eat cupcakes from Bette's Dinner and drink tea in the afternoon. Some of us eat vegetables. Some of us eat meat. We all like coffee.
We ride Wildcat Canyon and Tilden Park, Grizzly Peak, Old Tunnel Road, and the Berkeley Hills, the Three Bears, Marin, throughout the East Bay, the Penninsula, and all around San Francisco whenever we can. Some of us ride 65 crazy hilly miles in 2.5 hours. Some of us ride 38 hilly miles with a lunch stop, a cake stop, and a Gatorade/Fig Newton break in 4 hours. Different goals. Same happiness.
We've traveled throughout the world. We are happy to share with you our experiences and the gear/gearing that helped make our experiences memorable.
We test most of the products that we sell. We are open to and actively pursue new products and technologies. But we put everything through the paces. We do not stock anything that we would refuse to put on our own bikes. We align all component choices and price points with the purposes and goals of the rider. The right tool for the job is a good way to think about bike builds.
We currently are only advertising by word of mouth and with postcards that we give out when we attend cool bike-related events. We have an amazing location, one of the two most successful outdoor shopping destinations in America, and many of our customers are walk-ins wanting to talk to someone about an idea or issue related to a beloved bike.
We do believe you get what you pay for; however, there are some really good component and frame values for the money out there. Sometimes it only takes a bit of research. We would like to thank the folks at Google (you know who you are) for their search engine.
We are about making sure your components have the correct specification for your use, are installed correctly, and can be serviced effectively.
We can pretty much get anything you see online at a competitive price. But you get what you pay for. And if you are not a mechanic, you may not know that EVERY wheel needs to be trued when it comes out of a shipping box. And most hubs need to be adjusted as well. So, paying for the fab wheelset plus shipping and THEN paying a bike shop to true and adjust the wheelset, well, add up all the costs before deciding if it really is a screaming deal. (Don't get us wrong. There are some great values out there. We are always looking on Craig's List and Ebay, but too good to be true is usually too good to be true.) Often there is a reason an item is being discontinued. It might be unreliable, or have had wicked horrible reviews, or it isn't compatible with new technology and isn't supported or maintained easily. If you find a great bike component that is reliable, has great reviews, is compatible with new technology, and is supported and maintained easily, and is at a good price point, only then, should you brag to your friends about the great deal you got.
We respect and support the committment of those racers who are spending 15-20 hours a week in the saddle. But if you are not in need of saving seconds on a climb, we can usually build you the bike that you want within the budget you have specified. If you have dreamed of a set of wheels that make you feel like you are flying, we can build you those, too. If speed around on your fixie like you are a star in a bull-riding rodeo, come talk to us about an appropriate wheelset for urban joy riding.
We carry lots of top quality components for custom builds and repairs for all categories of road, track, mountain, and BMX racing and many items for the non-competitive and transportation-oriented rider:
Shimano, Campagnolo, Chris King, Mavic, Lynskey Performance Custom Titanium Frames, Independent Fabrication Custom Frames, Castelli, Redline, KHS, FreeAgent, Dahon, Bike Friday, Sapim, Tufo, Sugino, MKS, Michelin, Hutchinson, Panaracer, Maxxis, Schwalbe, Selle Italia, Velocity, Park Tools, FMF, Odessey, Primo, Profile, ACS, Paul Components, White Industries, Phil Wood, Cinelli, IRO, Brooks, RaceFace, Atom Lab, WTB, FSA, White Industries, Truvative, Stronglight, Kenda, Suzue, Formula, DT Swiss, Chrome, Cinelli, and MANY, MANY more quality brands. If you don't see a brand, just ask. We can usually get whatever you need.
