"Do you have the hybrid in a medium frame?" "Can I test ride the gravel bike on Saturday?" "How much is a full service, and when can you take it?" "Do you have a 700c inner tube with a Presta valve?" A bicycle shop takes these questions all day, often while a mechanic has a bike on the stand and greasy hands, and the person on the sales floor is adjusting a saddle for someone else.
A bike shop is really three businesses: selling bikes, selling parts and accessories, and running a workshop. Customers want to check stock and sizes before they travel, try a bike before they buy, and book a service slot without a long phone call. A full e-commerce site with shipping doesn't fit a shop where most bikes leave after a test ride and a fitting.
An online store for bicycle shops can bring all three together. Aiva Chat's store is a searchable catalog of your bikes, parts and accessories, with frame sizes, wheel sizes and brands on every product. Customers reserve a bike or part to collect, order on WhatsApp with the size filled in, or send a quote request. Aiva Chat bookings take test rides and service slots, and the AI assistant answers calls and chats from the same catalog and calendar. This guide covers how that works, and what Aiva Chat doesn't do: it takes no online payments and doesn't ship.
The bicycle shops and scenarios in this post are illustrative composites, not real customers. Brand names are used as everyday examples only.
What is an online store for a bicycle shop?
In Aiva Chat, the store is a catalog at your workspace address under /shop that customers search, sort and filter by brand and product details. The AI assistant reads it when it answers calls and chats. It's not a checkout. Customers can:
- Reserve for pickup: keep a bike or part to collect today or tomorrow.
- Order on WhatsApp: one tap opens WhatsApp with the product, size and quantity filled in.
- Request a quote: send one list of up to 30 products with quantities, useful for a commuter kit or a club order.
- Ask about this: send a question about a product to your dashboard.
Each product has up to six photos, a price, up to three options such as frame size, colour and groupset, a stock status, a brand, a model number, a condition and up to 20 details of your own, such as wheel size, frame material, gears, brakes and weight. Details are shown as a specs table, read by the AI and sent to Google. See the store feature list.
Test rides and workshop jobs are bookable services, with your demo bikes, mechanics and workstands as resources so nothing is double-booked.
How the store and bookings work for a bike shop
Step 1: Set up your categories
Nest categories two levels deep: Bikes, then Road, Hybrid, Mountain, Kids and Electric; Parts, then Tyres and tubes, Brakes, Drivetrain; Accessories, then Helmets, Lights and Locks. Up to 200 categories in all.
Step 2: Add bikes with sizes as options
One model is one product with frame size and colour as options. Put the maker in the brand field and fill in wheel size, gears and brakes. Customers and the AI search on them.
Step 3: Bring parts in by spreadsheet
Parts and accessories run to hundreds of lines. Import them from CSV or Excel, or from a Shopify or WooCommerce export. Matching SKUs update existing products, and new rows arrive as drafts. For items without a sheet, take a photo and AI drafts the product for you to check.
Step 4: Add test rides and services
In bookings, add "Test ride, 30 minutes" with your demo bikes as resources, and workshop services such as "Basic tune-up", "Full service" and "Puncture repair", each with a duration and price. Add mechanics as staff with their own hours.
Step 5: Let the AI answer and book
On calls and in website chat, the assistant answers "do you have the hybrid in medium?" from the options and stock status, and books a test ride or a service slot with the same rules as your booking page, in 13 languages.
Step 6: Share it
Print shelf QR labels for the bikes on the floor, put the store link on your social profiles, and share it with local cycling clubs.
Benefits for bicycle shops
Fewer stock and size calls in the workshop
When sizes are options with their own stock status, the assistant answers size questions. Mechanics keep working and the sales floor stays with the customer in front of them.
Test rides that turn into sales
A booked test ride on the right size bike is the strongest sign a customer is ready to buy. They get an email reminder with a link to move it, and you see who's coming in the calendar.
A workshop calendar that matches your capacity
With mechanics or workstands as resources, the calendar never books more services at 10 AM than you can work on. Spring tune-up season stops being a pile of handwritten tickets.
Parts reserved before the trip
A commuter with a flat can reserve the right inner tube and collect it on the way home. You accept or decline, and they're emailed your answer.
Used bikes listed honestly
Mark second-hand bikes as used with their own photos, and set them to sold when they go. Customers and search engines see what's what.
Most bikes are sold on a test ride. The catalog's job is to get the right size waiting at the door.
Bicycle shop use cases
These examples are composites of a normal season at a local bike shop.
The first road bike
Problem: A new rider isn't sure which frame size suits them. How Aiva Chat handles it: The assistant shares the height-to-frame guidance you've written for that model, shows which sizes are in stock, and books a test ride on two sizes for Saturday. Outcome: The rider tries both, and your staff fit the right one.
The spring service rush
Problem: Every commuter wants a tune-up in the same fortnight. How Aiva Chat handles it: Services are booked against your mechanics' hours, and the AI phone agent offers the next free slots when this week is full. Outcome: A full but manageable workshop instead of a queue of bikes in the corner.
The flat tyre on the way to work
Problem: A commuter needs a specific tube and a tyre lever before evening. How Aiva Chat handles it: They search the store, reserve both for pickup today, and you accept. Outcome: A five-minute collection on the way home.
The family buying three kids' bikes
Problem: A parent needs bikes for three children of different ages, plus helmets. How Aiva Chat handles it: They send a request list with sizes and quantities. Outcome: Your team replies with a quote and a time to come in and fit them.
Catalog and bookings vs. full e-commerce vs. a phone and notebook
| Phone and notebook | Full e-commerce site | Aiva Chat store + bookings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bikes with frame sizes and their own stock | No | Yes | Yes, up to 3 options per product |
| Test ride bookings | By phone | Rarely | Yes, on demo bikes as resources |
| Workshop service slots | Handwritten | Usually a separate tool | Yes, against mechanics' hours |
| Reserve parts to collect | No | Sometimes | Yes, today or tomorrow |
| Answers calls from the catalog | Only when free | No | Yes |
| Online payment and shipping | No | Yes | No, pay in the shop |
If you ship bikes and parts across the country, a full e-commerce site fits better. If riders come in to test ride, get fitted and leave their bikes for servicing, a catalog with bookings matches how a local bike shop already works.
How to set up your bike shop in Aiva Chat
Step 1: List the bikes on your floor first
Count your plan's limit: 50 products on sale on Starter, 200 on Growth and unlimited on Pro. Sizes and colours are options, so one model is one product.
Step 2: Write your shop information
Opening hours, warranty terms, finance or exchange offers, assembly and fitting, test-ride rules such as ID and a helmet, and payment methods. The assistant answers only from what you write.
Step 3: Write sizing guidance
A short chart of rider heights against frame sizes for each type of bike lets the assistant help on calls.
Step 4: Set up test rides and workshop services
Add demo bikes as resources, mechanics as staff, and decide which services need your approval, such as major repairs where you want to see the bike first.
Step 5: Connect the assistant
Create an assistant with your OpenAI key, connect a Twilio number, add your WhatsApp number in store settings and add the chat to your website.
Step 6: Test with real questions
Ask for a frame size you don't have, a service slot on a full day, and a part you don't stock. Check the answers match your store and calendar.
Common mistakes bike shops make
One product per frame size
Separate products for every size clutter search and use up your limit. Use options.
No buffer between workshop jobs
If every service is booked back to back with no gap, one stuck bolt delays the whole day. Add buffer time to services that need it.
Letting the AI diagnose faults
A creaking bottom bracket or a buckled wheel needs a mechanic's eye. Add a rule that books an assessment rather than guessing at a repair price.
Leaving sold used bikes on sale
A second-hand bike that sold yesterday but still shows in stock wastes a trip. Mark it sold the same day.
Expecting texts
Reservation updates and service reminders go by email. Texting is paused in Aiva Chat while US carrier registration (A2P 10DLC) is completed.
Best practices for bike shop catalogs
- Fill in wheel size, gears and brakes on every bike.
- Write sizing guidance per type of bike.
- Use quantity tiers for tubes, cables and brake pads.
- Use pre-order with a date for bikes you're waiting on.
- Price common services openly and book an assessment for anything uncertain.
- Check Insights for parts customers ask about that you don't list.
- Get listed on Aiva Find so riders nearby find your shop and booking link.
Add a website with booking and the store built in
If you don't have a website, the AI website builder writes one from a few questions, with your store at /shop, your test-ride and service booking page at /book, and the website chat built in. It's sent to Google and lives at your workspace aivachat.io address. If you also rent bikes out, our post on equipment and vehicle rentals covers multi-day hire, and the post on two-wheeler service centres covers service bookings for motorbikes and scooters.
For riders who want to understand frame sizing before they visit, Sheldon Brown's long-standing guide to bicycle frame sizing is a useful reference to link from your own sizing notes.
Conclusion
A bicycle shop sells bikes that riders want to try, parts that commuters need today, and workshop time that fills up every spring. An online store for bicycle shops built as a searchable catalog, with bookings attached, covers all three: frame sizes and colours as options with their own stock, reservations for bikes and parts, WhatsApp orders, test rides on demo bikes, and service slots against your mechanics' hours. The AI assistant answers calls and chats from the same catalog and calendar.
The limits are worth stating plainly. Aiva Chat doesn't take online payments or arrange shipping. Reservations don't lock stock, so set the bike or part aside when you accept. And the assistant only shares the sizing guidance and prices you write; it won't diagnose a fault.
Start with the bikes on your floor and your three most common services, then add parts as you go.
Ready to put your bike shop online?
Start a 14-day free trial with no card, add your bikes and a test-ride service, and try a booking from your own phone. The pricing page shows product limits for each plan, or book a demo to walk through your catalog and workshop with us.
Written by
The Aiva Chat team
Aiva Chat
Posts from the people building Aiva Chat in Rajkot — how the product works, what we have learned building it, and guides for getting the most out of an AI receptionist.
Rajkot, India · at Aiva Chat since 2024
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