8 of Vienna’s best bike shops to pimp, buy, or repair your ride

This is the ultimate place to pimp your ride. Walking into the Citybiker feels like entering bicycle heaven. This space is filled with beautiful city, racing and touring bikes, and stylish accessory items, like the KleanKanteen water bottles.
Located in the charming passage between Lerchenfelderstraße and Neustiftgasse in Vienna’s 7th district, Citybiker has been around for ten years and is known for its vast supply in bikes and biking accessories, as well as its super friendly and helpful staff. As Gernot explains to us: “We like to be able to inform our customers about gearings, as well as dog baskets for their bikes.”
Citybiker also offers hard-to-find brands like Mission Workshop, Gilles Berthoud, Schindelhauer and Pelago (we really accomplished some name-dropping there, didn’t we?), while it’s also the biggest Brooks dealer in town. Should you be looking for something specific, the staff will be happy to order it for you.

Tip: Don’t come here if you’re in a hurry – the team really take their time with their customers. But no worries, there is plenty of cool stuff to look at in the meantime, like bicycle chains in every colour, messenger bags, and retro handlebars.

They specialise in… city bikes and touring bikes, as well as hip bike accessories (psst, we heard the stylish biker this season goes for plain colours and leather saddles).
Need your bike repaired? Radek and Gernot will fix it for you in their workshop.
Best pimping item: We just can’t get over the Brooks Cambrium saddle – it’s made from natural rubber, therefore water-proof and elastic. And it looks damn sexy.

The unmistakable orange facade of IG Fahrrad stands out like a bear riding a bike on what is fast becoming one of Vienna’s premier bike streets, Westbahnstraße. The sign and the pretty bikes in the window practically pull you inside by your lapels (even if you’re not wearing any), and they’re service stands out as much as the sign. IG is a store and workshop bursting with both bikes and knowledge (the bikes are piled two stories high). With new bikes also for sale, and many accessories to feast your eyes upon, this store is more than a mere workshop.

They specialise in… advice, repairs and fancy new bikes
Need your bike repaired? The workshop enjoys a healthy reputation
Best pimping item: An impressive range of lights – enough to start your own disco.

The first thing that will strike you when you walk in here is how chaotic it all seems to be arranged, but that’s just a facade. Believe us, in this workshop there is some serious magic happening. The general service is stellar. They’ll even take on the difficult jobs, like fitting a dynamo hub or dynamo lighting on any sort of bike.
Sending your bike here is like sending your bike to a wellness spa where it will be pampered by a trusted mechanic. Situated on the Hernalser Hauptstraße, it’s not quite as accessible as some of the other shops on this list, but that’s not a problem: they’ll pick up your bike from any location and deliver it right back to you all fixed and shiny new! Now that’s service!

They specialise in… a variety of specialised services that other bike shops would say ‘no’ to.
Need your bike repaired? Give them a ring and use their pick-up and delivery service, or pay them a visit.
Best pimping item: the Shimano Hub Dynamo. Everyone needs one.

Self-proclaimed as ‘the best bike shop in Vienna,’ Reanimated is the brainchild of two cycling enthusiasts, Pete and Rich – one of whom used to race bikes professionally, and the other who professionally fixes them. The shop itself is an incredible monument to their mission of putting discarded and rundown, yet otherwise solid bikes, back on the streets. Rich says the raison d’Être of Reanimated Bikes is to stem the rising tide of popularity for cheap ‘supermarket bought’ bikes.

“You can tell just by looking at them that to replace their crap parts will cost you more than you paid for the bike!” The entire stock of more than 500 bikes is donated. Sources range from the city’s waste service, the MA48, to members of the public. Each bike is then fully restored and given a new lease on life. Their bikes come with a year-long guarantee, and if you buy a lock when you buy your bike, you will receive a free replacement in the event that your bike is stolen.

Their sexy ‘city bike’ range (starting at €600) sees a second-hand steel frame fitted with new features, like elevated handle bars, making them optimal for city riding. And talking from experience, these bikes ride just as good as any new bike. The bike storeroom a few houses further down is also a sight to behold.

They specialise in… the full restoration of old bikes, with an incredible attention to detail.
Need your bike repaired? Well, it’s just as well you left your bike with two of the most capable people in the business – full service will cost you 49€.
Best pimping item: We’d have to recommend their fully pimped and beautiful ‘city bike’ as a pimping item in itself!

Having stumbled upon this small, but special little shop in the middle of Josefstadt while researching for this article, we think we may have found a new contender for one of the best (at least most passionate) bike shops in the city. Sure, there are bigger, fancier and better stocked shops, but the familiar and informal service from the owner/chief mechanic/mischievous Mistelbacher, Gerhard Döltl, makes this a special place for any biker. It’s the kind of place  you’ll stay and talk bikes for hours – which we actually ended up doing with Gerhard.

The service performed on our bike is thorough, lightning quick, and also cheap at 45€, including a changing of the brakes, a realignment of the gears, and an overall recovery program from the months of winter neglect we’d subjected our bike to. Gerhard concentrates mainly on servicing, but he also sells renovated bikes. As an enthusiastic collector of old road bikes (he’s an amateur racer, too), he has also collected an impressive collection of old-timers.

They specialise in… bike repairs, without the frills and the high prices.
Need your bike repaired? The proprietor, Mr Mistelbach himself, is reliable, friendly and extremely competent. His prices are also ridiculously competitive.
Best pimping item: You won’t really find many accessories at Mistelbiker as it is more of a workshop than a store.

Once a week, a co-operative of left-leaning types, with their colourful jumpers, dreadlocks and facial piercings, meet at a unmarked, hidden workshop on Goldschlagstraße to fix bikes (you’ll be sure to find it, as there are always a lot of people hanging around on the street outside).
The workshop is always packed, and the communal spirit and enthusiasm of the people who work there is strong. The mantra of the place is all about keeping the costs of owning a bike as low as possible, and although you’re expected to fix your bike on your own with the tools provided, help is at hand if you need it.
Make no mistake, for the people who come here, it’s also about having a good time. Beer is on the menu, as is goulash, and it’s not uncommon for the Thursday gatherings to stretch late into the night.

They specialise in… the free sharing of advice, tools and bike spare parts.
Need your bike repaired? You’re on your own here, but fear not: help is at hand.
Best pimping item: This is not a place to pimp your bike, but to repair it.

Since opening in November 2015, Velobis has quietly been building a reputation for itself. This bike shop-cum-bar-cum-restaurant is owned by a passionate cyclist, Anthony Chira, who has owned bike shops in Vienna for the last seven years – so he knows a thing or two about life on two wheels. There’s everything you can imagine and more in the bike department – eBikes, mountain bikes, city bikes and road bikes.

The workshop itself is pretty special, too. They have taken a dedicated mechanic from the well-known Viennese biking institution Cyclopia on board, ensuring that your bike is in good hands. Outside, there is a workshop station equipped with tools for those who like to get their hands dirty. In addition, the restaurant is extremely good (read all about it, here). So why not grab a bite to eat while you wait?!

They specialise in… pretty much everything.
Need your bike repaired? An excellent workshop combined with knowledgeable, passionate staff and even the facilities to fix your bike on your own if you feel confident enough.
Best pimping item: the craft beer in the attached bar.