This page is for archiving comments for Ken's Bike & Ski from 2004-2007
2004-12-06 18:18:17 I've had really good luck here. I've shopped for both snowboard and bike stuff here, and as the man says, the staff has always been very friendly and very helpful. If I need to buy backpacking stuff, this is pretty much the place I do it in Davis. The only reason I didn't buy a bike or a board here is because the particular ones I was looking for were elsewhere, but both times I wished I could have given them my business. - EricKlein
2004-12-07 12:49:53 I bought my snowboard, bindings, and boots here three years ago and have gotten it waxed and tuned every year since. Good selection of equipment, just a bit lacking on the quantity womens jackets. Good service and friendly staff! - AshleyOrsaba
2004-12-15 02:03:56 I go here for all my biking needs. Now that I have a snowboard I shall be bringing it there too. The staff is awesome, friendly, and knowledgeable. - AdamMoerschell
2005-01-01 02:38:05 I used to work here. This is THE best ski/snowboard shop in, or anywhere near Davis. —PaulThober
2005-01-31 14:43:10 I agree with Paul, this is the best shop in the area. I also worked at Ken's for like 4 years and the staff is awesome, everyone rides. It is one of the best places to work in Davis. —ScottNaguwa
2005-05-08 11:26:54 Does Ken own The Open Bible next door? —ArlenAbraham (Yes, but there's no interaction between the two - KSN)
2005-06-02 14:56:15 I used to have good luck here and enjoyed the staff and service, but the last few times I've come in, the staff have been uncooperative and their service very poor - so much so that I had to bring it back twice. After I get my bike back it's all Bike Barn for me. I must say, however, that their generosity with spare parts is noteworthy, though far offset by the fact that they charged me for a flat tire my bike got WHILE IN THEIR SHOP. I hate them and I'm never going there again. Bitter, yes I am. —DanielMedinaCleghorn
2005-07-05 01:08:20 How can you get a flat when you're in the shop. It's an air-conditioned, carpeted, track mall store. They vacuum. Enjoy the meat heads at the bike barn. The mechanics at Ken's are the nicest and most informed bike geeks in town. Not to mention actual frame builders, well two of them anyway. They've always treated me well. —BenTaylor
The Ken's tagline is, "We're Serious About Your Fun." Well, I can tell you that we're definitely serious about our fun. That means we're all really in to the sports we sell. On the whole, I feel we're the most knowledgeable staff in Davis for the stuff we carry: bikes (road/mountain/town/whatever), skis and snowboards (and the appropriate winter accessories), hiking/backpacking equipment... It's a fun store to work in. We do have a lot of employees, so not everyone knows about everything we carry — but everyone is pretty friendly and will get the right person to help you.
If you need to rent skis or snowboards, you should definitely give us a call. Renting on the hill is a pain. Adult ski and snowboard rentals are $29 plus tax for the first day, additional days half price. You pick up the equipment the afternoon before your first rental day and return it to us by 2PM after your last rental day. —KenNeville
2006-06-01 15:56:53 I have been to Ken's three times recently (fixing up two older bikes). I have been helped by four different employees, all of whom were friendly and helpful. I will continue to go to Ken's for my cycling needs! —JeffieBaby
2006-06-20 14:02:00 I've had a bike on order there for nearly three months now, and the estimated time of filling the order was originally only 10 days. It seems everyone's had great experiences there except for me. —RickEle
2006-10-12 9:44:00 It seems the phone number has been disconnected. Did Ken forget to pay his phone bill, or is it something more dire? —BrettHall
2007-01-30 15:13:05 It seems Ken's Bike & Ski has taken a turn for the worse. I've been there twice in the last 2 weeks for snowboarding accessories, and had one good experience and one -very- bad one. To Ken's credit, I had a very friendly and knowledgeable employee give me good advice on snowboarding wax one day. A week later, however, things were worse: another guy, probably lying, recommended some poor quality wax, OVER a product I had ALREADY chosen (really bad form). Then, at checkout, a new employee proceeded to overcharge me for some gloves, getting the wrong product on the receipt. I came back in to get my money back for the price difference, but I narrowly avoided being overcharged by 10 bucks. On the plus side, the gloves I got were good quality; so the bottom line is, the stuff there is pretty good (except snowboards, which are all subpar to low quality) but the employees throw their weight around and will outright screw you over if you're not careful. —YomibitoShirazu
2007-02-07 17:51:13 Be VERY careful about renting gear at Ken's - I was charged $20 extra for scratches on a snowboard that were there when I got the gear. Inspect anything you get from them and make sure they note existing wear and tear before you leave the shop. The snowboard person accused me of doing rails and hacking up their board, and insisted I was given a perfect board, which was not true. I will not rent from Ken's again if I have an alternative. —DaveSimmons
2007-05-19 06:45:40 Not so good on bike tools, I couldn't buy a 16 tooth widget to remove my shimano bottom bracket. —BillBroadley
2007-05-21 14:43:53 Great buying experience! I recently purchased an expensive LED bike light there, and the sales guy was more than happy to take apart their whole display to show me the top 5 lights side-by-side so that I could compare brightness, warmth, etc. Also, they're the only shop in town selling 26 x 1.25 slick tires based on my telephone calls to every other game in town. Very patient and knowledgeable folks, and no stuffy attitude. —unHookt
- Impressive salesmanship with the lights, but more research shows B&L to also carry 1.25 slicks (and 1.0 and 1.125 along with the much more common 1.5). - BrettHall
2007-07-05 22:12:22 Suprisingly expansive selection of freeze-dried backpacking food! Also I've had nothing but awesome experience renting skis from here. Maybe the staff members are primarily skiers, and are just taking their frustrations out on you darned powder-murdering boarders? —BillyBudd
2007-08-06 16:59:24 only place in town that has any knowledge on bmx. —piratechef
2007-09-03 18:03:42 Ken's was recommended to me by Davis "bikies", and I was quite pleased with the helpful employees and decent prices. Good place. —AlanMiller
2007-10-09 19:10:35 This was the first bike shop I tried when I moved to Davis. I wanted to like them, but after being treated dismissively due to my older department store bike, I decided to go elsewhere. They are a cheap place to rent skis and a good place for ski acessories. When out of towners come to visit, I always rent them skis here—its cheaper than Tahoe. Also, they usually let you pick up the skis the day before, and return the following day. —SusanCameron
2007-11-05 17:22:56 Friendly employees, flexible policies. Limited selection of road bike pedals. Convenient hours and location. —JoFeuerstein
2007-12-06 15:17:57 A few months back, I was in the market for a new wheelset. I had some rather unique requirements that no area bike shop could meet with an off-the-shelf pair. Ken's offered to custom build exactly what I wanted, but said that I could probably get them cheaper premade online in my particular situation. I went this route and took my rear wheel in to be respaced for my bike. This involves redishing the wheel. Eight hundred miles later, the wheel is in as good shape as it left the shop in.
They have a pretty decent selection of stuff. They have the standard selection of parts and accessories out in front. The shop has all sorts of random parts in back. They've consistently had the parts I needed when other places didn't even know what I was asking for! Just ask and they'll get you what you need, even if it isn't out on the floor. The mechanics are a friendly bunch and will answer any questions you have about bike maintenance and repair.
Prices overall are reasonable. If you're buying new tires there, they generally have a coupon in the Little Green Coupon Machine that gets you free tubes with your purchase. They also have coupons up on their site that are usually worth using.
Ken's has always done me right. I can't speak to their ski/snowboard/winter gear selection, but they do know bikes. Highly recommended. —WilliamLewis
2007-12-16 22:09:22 ***SNOWBOARD RENTAL WARNING*** - I should've read the reviews here before I rented. The person in charge of renting boards out accused me of scratching up the snowboard rental and charged me $35 in damage fees. You could tell he was nervous when he said, "I'm sorry, but I have to charge you $35 in damages." Not very confident when he imposed the fee that he knew he shouldn't have. That's too bad. So be sure to double check the board..and you might want to go the extra mile to take pictures of the board before signing off on the rental. You might just find yourself in the same boat writing a review here like me. =/ —rchiteck
