Bike shops

[Cuchilo]

Sounds as if you where just having a bad day Though I am not sure that the bike shop should be branded as a "Dick"

I wasnt having a bad day , i was having a great day and bumped into a club mate to make for an extended ride . Was more than happy and capable to sort out my own problems and did so , then cracked on with my ride .
Putting the price of the tube up by £1 knowing how much i had . I think "dick" is very tame .

 

[TissoT]

I wasnt having a bad day , i was having a great day and bumped into a club mate to make for an extended ride . Was more than happy and capable to sort out my own problems and did so , then cracked on with my ride .
Putting the price of the tube up by £1 knowing how much i had . I think "dick" is very tame .

Then good to hear your ride wasn't to interrupted.... I thought that it was only us poor Northerners that ridden round with a fiver in our pockets

 

[biggs682]

George Hall Cycles, in Mkt. Harborough, were exactly the opposite.
When I had multiple visits from the p*ncture fairy, on a canal side ride, they let me use their workshop to fit new tubes etc.
Mind you, I did have the ££ on me to buy the new tubes.

I wish they were my local bike shop as a great bunch of lads for sur e

 

[si_c]

Very short sighted of them tbh. Making no sale vs £5, especially given that the whole transaction would have taken them less than a couple of minutes and they could then get back to whatever they were doing before.

Bike shops bear as much responsibility for their success or failure as anyone else. Yes we often choose to buy stuff online as it's cheaper, but sometimes they make it too easy.

 

[Rooster1]

I would have loaned the cyclist a tube and asked them to come back later / another day and reimburse the shop. And with that incredible gesture the OP would have likely returned and bought a new carbon road bike, or one that does not crack in sub zero temperatures.

 

[mjr]

And only carrying £5, was that on purpose or a lapse?

I occasionally set off with that or less. There's nowhere to get cash in this village. I usually stop off on the edge of town or in a neighbouring village that has a post office, but not always, especially if pressed for time or it's evening/weekend when post offices are shut. I carry a card but some shops still won't accept cards under £10 - I'd be surprised if somewhere like South Creake Cycle Centre did.

It's not like the OP was stranded, but the shop apparently putting the price up was a dick move even if only a misunderstanding.

 

[Randomnerd]

Marathon-plus tyres
Patch kit
Spare tube
Tyre levers
Pump
Multi tool
Spare chain link
Twenty pound note tucked in my saddlebag and left there - so it's always there

And, happily, a wonderful bike shop in town! Handsome Bicycles, in Hastings - I couldn't even imagine them behaving like that.

I'm sure all this smuggity-smug-smuggery reassures the OP, but the point I think he was grasping for - which some won't, we hope, ever need to consider, having breakfasted at dawn to allow time to pack their Pandora's Saddlebag for every eventuality - was "Aren't some bike shop owners dicks?" And I think the consensus among cyclists is (one at a time now, trollikins, don't all crowd round yapping), "Yes OP, that's like life isn't it! Some people are just dicks. And don't give you stuff when you need it. Sorry to hear about your plight. Had I been passing you could have had my rolled-up tenner I have stuffed up the crack of my arse For Emergencies (in a ziplok of course - wouldn't want faeces anywhere would we, ha!ha!?) so as to rescue you from your unfortunate embarrassment and see you on your way, all plumply retubed and inflated."

And breathe, everyone. And relax.

 

[screenman]

I would have loaned the cyclist a tube and asked them to come back later / another day and reimburse the shop. And with that incredible gesture the OP would have likely returned and bought a new carbon road bike, or one that does not crack in sub zero temperatures.

I have given away free and fitted maybe over a dozen tubes in the time I have lived in this spot, two people have written thank you notes, not one has ever come back and offered to pay.

I will continue to give out free tubes and this post has reminded me to get some more long valve tubes in.

 

[stalagmike]

I'm sure all this smuggity-smug-smuggery reassures the OP, but the point I think he was grasping for - which some won't, we hope, ever need to consider, having breakfasted at dawn to allow time to pack their Pandora's Saddlebag for every eventuality - was "Aren't some bike shop owners dicks?" And I think the consensus among cyclists is (one at a time now, trollikins, don't all crowd round yapping), "Yes OP, that's like life isn't it! Some people are just dicks. And don't give you stuff when you need it. Sorry to hear about your plight. Had I been passing you could have had my rolled-up tenner I have stuffed up the crack of my arse For Emergencies (in a ziplok of course - wouldn't want faeces anywhere would we, ha!ha!?) so as to rescue you from your unfortunate embarrassment and see you on your way, all plumply retubed and inflated."

And breathe, everyone. And relax.

You better change that rolled up tenner for a new one...

 

[Salty seadog]

Then good to hear your ride wasn't to interrupted.... I thought that it was only us poor Northerners that ridden round with a fiver in our pockets

Yeah but yours are sewn in......

 

[winjim]

I would have given the OP an inner tube, let him use my Rennkompressor, lent him an extra fiver, given him use of my toilet and made him a cup of tea. Unfortunately he didn't have the temerity to have his puncture happen right outside my house so it's a moot point really.

 

[NorthernDave]

It does sound like unnecessarily dick-ish behaviour on behalf of the shop to put the price up, but that's some people for you isn't it?

And I find it hard to believe a bike shop couldn't have turned a decent profit on £10 for a tube fitted (or even £5 just for the tube).
I can buy 4 tubes for a tenner retail, so I'm fairly sure that doubling your money on an item is a fair mark up, and they'll have almost certainly made more.
And how long would it take a skilled bike mechanic to change a tube? 5 minutes? Maybe 10?
They'd be capable of churning out 6 of them an hour so prospective earnings of £30 an hour at a fiver a pop (no pun intended) - nice work if you can get it.

If I'd been about the OP could have had one of the two spare tubes I carry - I give on average one a year away to other cyclists and have never asked for payment in the belief that I'll probably need someones help one of these days.

 

[screenman]

It does sound like unnecessarily dick-ish behaviour on behalf of the shop to put the price up, but that's some people for you isn't it?

And I find it hard to believe a bike shop couldn't have turned a decent profit on £10 for a tube fitted (or even £5 just for the tube).
I can buy 4 tubes for a tenner retail, so I'm fairly sure that doubling your money on an item is a fair mark up, and they'll have almost certainly made more.
And how long would it take a skilled bike mechanic to change a tube? 5 minutes? Maybe 10?
They'd be capable of churning out 6 of them an hour so prospective earnings of £30 an hour at a fiver a pop (no pun intended) - nice work if you can get it.

If I'd been about the OP could have had one of the two spare tubes I carry - I give on average one a year away to other cyclists and have never asked for payment in the belief that I'll probably need someones help one of these days.

£30 an hour is fine without overheads, rubbish if it costs a grand a week to open up.

 

[Tim Hall]

I was once given a tenner from the till at Chas Roberts in Croydon. I didn't have a puncture though, so this story might not be relevant.

 

[Sunny Portrush]

I once found a tenner but I wasnt on my bike so my story is completely irrelevant