Balfe's Bikes - Hackney Avis 

Great products & friendly staff!

Purchased a Trek Domane electric road bike from Balfes in Hackney recently. The bike had a number of teething problems which necessitated returning to the shop on a couple of occasions. These were;
1. creaking carbon seat post
2. Tubeless tyres would deflate within a few hours of being pumped up.
3. The electric gear change failed in the middle of a ride.
They sorted all these issues out, but arguably points 1 and 2 (particularly 2) should have been spotted had the bike been thoroughly checked before being released. The mechanic did try to convince me that it was normal for tubeless tyres to deflate and that he pumped his tyres up every day. This is of course bulls--t, the tyres didn't have any tubuless sealant in them, but it took two visits to the shop to get this rectified.
Overall very helpful staff by they seem to be a bit too busy to really provide exceptional service, hence four stars, not five.

All the staff were super friendly! Everyone I spoke to was helpful, the guys had great knowledge of products, and I’m stoked with their recommendations.

Very friendly staffs and customer service.

I bought my son’s Procaliber 8 from Hackney recently, and after looking at Balfes online I was impressed with the range and choice of products, many of which were actually in stock. The website is easy to navigate and I liked the logical automation with regards to customer reward point useage.

I ordered a couple of garments for myself on their easy to navigate website and, so far, have had good communication re order confirmation, shortly followed by another communication informing me that my order had been dispatched dispatched. So far, so good.

They know what they are doing. Good shop

Very poor customer service. Costs were't communicated properly and and i challenge them i was treated rudely and threaten that they'd undo the work. Real shame as they fixed my bike well.

Amazing service, staff so helpful and experienced, would definitely recommend

The guys are super knowledgeable and help with confidence making sure you’re set up and safe - thank you!

I came in with a flat tire I’d been cycling on for a while. I really thought I’d need a new wheel! The guys were super helpful had me fixed and on my way within 15 minutes! Like it wasn’t a problem

Very disappointed with my experience at Balfes Bikes Hackney.
I took my bike in to have the pedals replaced, and the work was carried out by Constantin. On my ride to work shortly afterwards, one of the pedals completely fell off, leaving me stranded. As my bike is my main way of getting to work, this was a huge inconvenience.
When I returned to the shop, I expected the issue to be resolved professionally. Instead, I was told I was trying to make him a "scapegoat," which I found dismissive and unprofessional. I was also quoted a price to fix the problem, even though it happened immediately after the repair.
I then took my bike to Hackney Cycles, where they identified the issue, rethreaded the pedal, and had it fixed in around five minutes. Thank you to the team at Hackney Cycles for sorting it out quickly and professionally.
Based on my experience, I was disappointed by both the quality of the repair and the way my concerns were handled. Unfortunately, I won't be returning.

Customer service is subpar, people don’t really say hello, ignore you, walk away without saying anything. all 3x i’ve been in, ive ended up paying nearly double what is quoted

Super helpful team - lots of good advice about my bike purchases

Usually Balfes service is great. But this time was a bit so so.
Problem: broken spoke

1. I needed to wait 3w+ to hand in my bike (you have to make an online appointment).
2. then the actual service took again quite long ( 3w )
3. I told Balfes that I don’t want my cables replaced and they replaced them reglardless
4. they forgot to screw in my padels properly. A day after i picked up the bike they just fell off lol
5. they didn’t tell me that after cable swap you have to come back for indexing a week later. I was cycling around with an un-adjusted cable for a couple of days until it drove me mad and had to complain with them. only then I was told that this is expected and helped me to adjust the cable

Love my local Balfes. Only really kind and helpful humans work there. New electric air pump and exceptional brake service. Very happy

Excellent service from placing order to collecting bike. Couldn’t be more happy. Thank you.

They managed to fit me into a tight schedule and did the work within a week.. now I'm back on my bike which is riding better than before.

ordered a great bike, pick up was easy and explained how one of the locks works