Another LBS bites the dust.

[raleighnut]

Agree.
In Leicester there was four what I call proper bike shops Leedhams Cedric Clayson Sid Mottram had two shops

I thinkmost of these closed mid seventies to late eighties.
I now use a shop in Loughborough not exactly local to me but give good service and appears well patronised.

The Guy in Syston is good, Cyclops I think it's called.

 

[EltonFrog]

Mountain Mania and Road Room. What's a squirrels club? Anything wrong with getting out in the sunshine, rather than sitting waiting to respond instantly to CC posts Carl? ;-)

http://www.mountainmaniacycles.co.uk/

Why are you having a pop at me? I Never mentioned squirrels. And for you information I was out running 5 miles today and cycling around London. I only asked what bike shops. Mountain Mania Didcot is my LBS

 

[stephec]

Model and hobby shops have gone the same way. Nearly every high street had one, now they are virtually extinct unless they are large operations with an online shop too.

I was thinking exactly the same thing.

There's one about five miles from me who's embraced the new ways though.

As well as his shop, where there's always a kettle boiling, he has a Facebook group where he posts models at discount prices for members, he also does the same prices in the shop if you want to pop in.

He gets plenty of good comments from satisfied customers, and his prices are spot on.

 

[mark st1]

Mountain Mania and Road Room. What's a squirrels club? Anything wrong with getting out in the sunshine, rather than sitting waiting to respond instantly to CC posts Carl? ;-)

http://www.mountainmaniacycles.co.uk/

It was I that mentioned the squirrels club not Carl my bad just a school boy quip. The road room shop looks rather interesting. Obviously doing something right to have that little empire fair play to the bloke.

 

[bozmandb9]

Why are you having a pop at me? I Never mentioned squirrels. And for you information I was out running 5 miles today and cycling around London. I only asked what bike shops. Mountain Mania Didcot is my LBS

Sorry my bad! Hope you had a good run (and ride!)

 

[61070]

Agree.
In Leicester there was four what I call proper bike shops Leedhams Cedric Clayson Sid Mottram had two shops

I think most of these closed mid seventies to late eighties.
I now use a shop in Loughborough not exactly local to me but give good service and appears well patronised.

I've just come across this forum - Cedric Clayson was my Dad, and it's really pleasing that his shop (which was at 116 Belgrave Road) is well remembered. As a boy I used to help in the shop occasionally, although I was generally quite nervous about taking such responsibility. Sometimes I would give the wrong change to a customer, which was embarrassing; but they generally put me right very gently – no matter whether the error was to their advantage or not. (I bet today’s youngsters - and maybe even their teachers - would find £sd a bit of a challenge. I don’t think an electronic calculator would have helped, as they only count in 10s!)
More often I would help out ‘behind the scenes’ - unpacking stock which had arrived from wholesalers, or repairing punctures, or unwrapping and preparing new bikes which had come in from the cycle factories around the Midlands. Local wholesalers, or factors, included Walkers, from Wigston, and Ivan Keats who was nearer at hand on Wharf Street.
We used to get the occasional well-to-do businessman in the shop, and I remember Dad telling us that on one occasion a gentleman who wanted to purchase a fairly expensive bike asked to pay by cheque. Dad initially refused, as he normally only took cash or weekly credit payments (these were the days before cheque cards, let alone ‘Chip and PIN’!). However the man politely insisted that there would be no problem. When Dad saw his signature and the name printed on the cheque, ‘Nicholas Corah’, he realised that his customer was the chairman of the city’s largest and most prestigious hosiery company, supplier to Marks & Spencer. He gratefully accepted the cheque!

 

[raleighnut]

I've just come across this forum - Cedric Clayson was my Dad, and it's really pleasing that his shop (which was at 116 Belgrave Road) is well remembered. As a boy I used to help in the shop occasionally, although I was generally quite nervous about taking such responsibility. Sometimes I would give the wrong change to a customer, which was embarrassing; but they generally put me right very gently – no matter whether the error was to their advantage or not. (I bet today’s youngsters - and maybe even their teachers - would find £sd a bit of a challenge. I don’t think an electronic calculator would have helped, as they only count in 10s!)
More often I would help out ‘behind the scenes’ - unpacking stock which had arrived from wholesalers, or repairing punctures, or unwrapping and preparing new bikes which had come in from the cycle factories around the Midlands. Local wholesalers, or factors, included Walkers, from Wigston, and Ivan Keats who was nearer at hand on Wharf Street.
We used to get the occasional well-to-do businessman in the shop, and I remember Dad telling us that on one occasion a gentleman who wanted to purchase a fairly expensive bike asked to pay by cheque. Dad initially refused, as he normally only took cash or weekly credit payments (these were the days before cheque cards, let alone ‘Chip and PIN’!). However the man politely insisted that there would be no problem. When Dad saw his signature and the name printed on the cheque, ‘Nicholas Corah’, he realised that his customer was the chairman of the city’s largest and most prestigious hosiery company, supplier to Marks & Spencer. He gratefully accepted the cheque!

As far as I remember Leedhams were the first to go, and quite rightly so they were a right 'sarky' bunch of feckers, luckily John (Bob Warners)is still open although he must be in his 70s now.

 

[Drago]

Welcome @61070 Wonderful memories you have there.

 

[Mark1978]

A new bike shop has opened up in my home town of Downham Market. "M-bikes" it's called. Haven't been there yet but it looking at the website it is limited to selling a few makes of bike (which i think are pretty expensive performance road bikes), not sure if they do servicing or sell parts. Not sure exactly what their target market is in Downham to be honest, it's not the most "bikey" place in the world. Good luck to them though, I might pop in at some point to have a looksee.

 

[mjr]

A new bike shop has opened up in my home town of Downham Market. "M-bikes" it's called. Haven't been there yet but it looking at the website it is limited to selling a few makes of bike (which i think are pretty expensive performance road bikes), not sure if they do servicing or sell parts. Not sure exactly what their target market is in Downham to be honest, it's not the most "bikey" place in the world. Good luck to them though, I might pop in at some point to have a looksee.

KLWNBUG rode to their opening day after our Tulip Ride last month. They do servicing and they've got a pretty good display of BBB parts, topped up with little extras from the likes of Birzman and so on. They are indeed stocking Orro and Argon18 performance road bikes (and a few others?), but also Astra singlespeed town bikes and maybe others. Martin's seen out on rides with various local groups (I think KLCC and SWNC as well as KLWNBUG - not sure about CUK) if you'd like a chat while you ride.

Basically, I'd caricature it as a long-overdue bike-specific alternative to car spares shop AT Johnson and their stock of Raleigh parts. The main drawback for heavier bikes is that it's up a flight of stairs and the nearest surface cycle parking is in the Town Square and half-hidden behind a wall. www.m-bikes.co.uk