Revenge Fantasy Cycles - Los Angeles, California

Al T.

I am VERY reluctant to give anything but a five-star review to a small business that could be contributing good to the world but my own horror story combined with multiple friends' horror stories of this place and the attitude of the man who most often works there has given me no choice - I hope this either wakes up the owners to seriously change their business or encourages potential customers to be very wary. Every person I have talked to about this place has been shocked at how rude and patronizing the guy who works here is. This isn't a case of me wanting workers to be fake nice and cater to every whim of the customer, it's a case of him being needlessly, aggressively unfriendly for absolutely no reason except that he's apparently decided he doesn't like you and that you don't deserve some basic respect. Even a friend who is a bike wrench once stopped by to want to get to know a fellow person in the industry and was met with bizarre and aggressive condescension.

It would maybe make it worth it if the business model seemed fair, but when I took my bike in for some repairs, not only did it take literal MONTHS with me calling him multiple times to see if the bike was ready yet, it cost me over >>>$400<<< with him doing repairs on things I didn't ask him to do when I explicitly asked for only the most essential things to make my bike rideable again. I was too shocked to say anything except ask to refund me for the only thing I remembered specifically not asking for, which was like $30. No call to ask to approve the repairs, just a bill after like three months with a laundry list of costs I never asked for and would not have approved. Only after talking with some friends who know more about bikes than me did I realize how horribly I was ripped off and that it shouldn't cost you almost half of your rent to get a bike working. Maybe he thought I deserved to be ripped off because I'm not the perfect bike expert that apparently should be the only kinds of people who deserve to go to this shop? Maybe I have to be an aggressively rude person like him to be able to argue him down to not paying $400? This happened a year ago but after hearing yet another story of someone having an unusually bad experience with this place, I felt like I had to write my first ever one-star review. Again, to prospective customers: be very wary. To the owners: please take people's criticisms seriously and start having some basic respect for the people who only want to pay a fair price to experience the joy of riding a bike.

Rajesh S.

I had a similarly bad experience with this bike shop. I wish the pricing was transparent and they would be more communicative.

I took my bike in for a tune-up and the guy assured me that the bike would be ready in a week and it would cost about $230, which I paid at that time.

It ended up taking them 2 weeks which was fine but the repair cost shot up to $400. How difficult is it to shoot a quick text and check on the updated price before doing the job? Another red flag was they had no proper billing system and wouldn't give me an itemized breakdown of the costs.

To top it all, the bike is still not in a great shape after the $400 tuneup and he wanted another $200 to replace the chainring and sprocket. Very disappointed!

Justine G.

About a week ago, I purchased my first bicycle as an adult from this local shop. Megan was incredibly helpful and very patient when dealing with my indecisiveness.

She let me test ride two bikes and I selected the HKS Vitamin B. I couldn't be more happy! I've gone on rides every day since I picked it up and am recovering from an hour+ of Echo Park --> DTLA + hills as I type this.

Megan, thanks for helping me pick my first real bicycle, and for following your dream to open up your own bicycle shop and have it as accessible as possible to all who want to ride.

It was a pleasure to purchase from here and I highly recommend it 👌🏼

Johnny N. (.

My quest for a Surly lead me to one of the greatest bike shops I’ve ever been to: Revenge Fantasy Cycles. I was greeted out front by Brent, who by the end of this experience, felt like a friend I hadn’t seen in years.

The build process was a two parter. The first day we talked through everything: my wants, needs, components, etc. — it was a masterclass in bikes that helped me appreciate my bike even more. After a quick test fitting he got to building and ordering parts.

A few days later I came back and did the actual fitting, included with the purchase. Brent dialed the bike in while we joked about Voltron and giant robots. Soon after, the Straggler was ready to go and it rides like an absolute dream! I hauled it back to HB in rush hour traffic with the biggest, dumbest grin on my face.

If you’re looking for a bike shop that can build you the perfect bike (and awesome people to walk you through it) look no further. You’ve found it. Revenge Fantasy Cycles is the place.

Thanks for everything.

D P.

Great cycle shop, serviced my bike here and they'll hook me up with small screws or tiny missing parts when needed

Steve K.

I'm gonna be honest, the lady that runs the shop is the sweetest kindest person ever. The guy has a horrible attitude half the time. Twice now that I've come here and he rolls his eyes at me or gives me attitude over something super minor. I always have my fingers crossed that it's the lady when I show up or that he's in a good mood at least.
It's still a good shop don't get me wrong but the guy gets on my nerves enough that I felt the need to go Karen mode and post a review.

Jon S.

Brent and Megan run the shop and they are by far the coolest people when it comes to their care and service. I’ve been getting my bikes fixed there for years and purchased a bike from them. They taught me how to fix flats so that I only need to go in for bigger repairs. I could go on about the ways they have been cool, hooked me up and helped me out. It’s definitely that family vibe there. Go visit them. Get a bike or have them repair yours. Do it!

Ben S.

Getting the right new bike was personal to me - long story short, from having a tough experience at my local shop, I connected with a respected manufacturer, who sent me to Brent and Megan, and they were awesome, passionate, super-informed, patient, wise, kind ... what you want from your dealer. Good value, great quality experience, and good bikes at fair prices. I ended up driving to them for 45 minutes away more than once - really top quality bike store: I can't recommend enough.