Karim Cyclery-Berkeley

DO NOT GIVE THIS SCOUNDREL A DIME!
Stay away! He buys and sells stolen bikes. He has been busted in the past. He also sells faulty old Krypto U-locks to unknowing Cal students. I have personally seen the proprietor buy a stolen bike from a man riding back from the Cal campus with two different bikes (that clearly were not his) hawking them to Karim for 40$.
To who ever reads this, please tell others to avoid Karim's... Put this despot out of business.
Ken

Posted 12/11/07 | Report Abuse

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NEVER go here. He has thousands of bikes that he's not selling and will try to push you on the ones at the door. He showed up late and then even when I helped him unload his inventory, he still felt free to lie to me about the bikes (for example, he tried to tell me that some fat mountain bike tires were "hybrid tires"). I paid him $100 for used wheels and tires and when I came to pick up the bike, the tires were not the tires he said they would be and were fitted so poorly that the reflector was scraping against them. The bike was impossible to ride this way, proving he didn't test run them at all. His answer was to remove the reflector. These same tires were so worn out that they only lasted three month and the wheels were so out of whack that the spokes made a funny noise. When I first had to change the tube it was actually stuck to the inside of the rim.

Furthermore, this guy has a reputation for dealing in stolen bikes. I suspect the reason he doesn't let people walk around the shop is because he got raided a while back.

I love riding. I don't have a car, my bike is my freedom. But if I had no choice but to shop here I would never bike again.

Posted 11/05/07 | Report Abuse

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If you're in the market for a used bike, do yourself a favor and go to Bent Spoke or Missing Link. This guy's prices may seem attractive, but the bikes I saw looked pretty messed up. He's just got piles and piles of bikes strewn around and you ask to see something and he says, "How about this bright orange one instead; it's easier to get to." While I was in there, a woman with a kid in a stroller was coming in the door. The guy (Karim?) shouted at the woman that she couldn't bring her stroller in the store and would have to leave it outside. If you want a crappy bike from a guy who probably needs medication, by all means by from Karim.

Posted 06/22/05 | Report Abuse

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