Evans take the piss; hold the front page!

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

GrumpyGregry

Here for rides.
So do you think they should price it a level that the customer can afford and make a loss?

I'd imagine that their policy is to replace anything at all worn in order to guarantee the repair, to avoid the

" Ever since you changed the brake blocks, and messed about with the back wheel, my gears keep skipping, you must have broken it"

It's a throwaway society we live in at the moment where labour costs exceed, material costs, especially mass produced goods.

I'm not saying it's right, but throw in consumer rights and the cost of bad publicity from unreasonable disgruntled customers, high rents and business rates, and this is what you get.
No, I think they should do what they've done, try to turn the potential service customer into a real retail customer knowing if they fail the potential service customer will turn on his heel and walk.

Which is one of the reasons why I service my own bikes.
 

Rapples

Guru
Location
Wixamtree
So do I:thumbsup:
 

MrJamie

Oaf on a Bike
Was there any kind of breakdown of what the £530 was for? that would be interesting. It could be that they have a policy of suggesting replacing everything thats worn and giving a full service afterwards, or were bulking up the numbers to try and show that the bike was approaching the point of being uneconomical to repair professionally.

Repairing yourself seems the way to go if youve got the time, so many bike parts seem to get increasingly easy to replace and service. As a relative novice ive changed my chain, cassette and brake blocks this week, for a total of £35 incl. cassette tool, RRP of parts alone was about £60 add in labour costs and obligatory gear/brake servicing and its expensive.
 

classic33

Leg End Member
At the end of the day, is there any business out there that can afford to lose either a consumer or customer through pricing themselves out of the market. (Banks aside)

We have only one side to go on/work with. However, if they were wanting to make the sale of a new bike to the person, would it not have been better to point out that the cost of the repair would have come close to the price of a new bike. And from there let the consumer/customer make their own mind up as to which way the y wanted to go.

Larger chain shops can buy in bulk, parts that a single premises LBS could only hope to have. They are also in a better posistion to get a lower price for the same items. So the overall cost will be lower, to them.
 

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
New bikes are very good value. I once thought that buying two at the same time would make sound sense. The second bike would make a very economical source of spares compared with buying them ad-hoc.

Brake blocks
Cables
Tyres
Cassettes
Chains
BB
Rims
Tubes
Frame
Shifters
etc
etc
etc
Add that lot up and another bike looks sensible
 

asterix

Comrade Member
Location
Limoges or York
If high maintenance costs are a worry then maybe it is a sign that you are riding the wrong bike? I'd guess that most keen cyclists learn how to do practically all necessary tasks or have a friend, such as the OP who can help them out. If you are a utility cyclist then either get a disposable BSO or something really robust with hub gears, chainguard and so on. I wouldn't consider for a moment going to a shop to get a service.
 

GrumpyGregry

Here for rides.
At the end of the day, is there any business out there that can afford to lose either a consumer or customer through pricing themselves out of the market. (Banks aside)
Yes. possibly Evans is a business that sees itself first and foremost as a seller of bikes and only provides service/maintenance as a necessary evil. Would hardly be unique in that business model.
 

dellzeqq

pre-talced and mighty
Location
SW2
I keep reading about this mythical friendly LBS for a road bike Anybody know one in Hammersmith, Ealing, or Battersea, (ish) ?

Thank-you and sorry for being a bit off-topic.
Luciano's in Clapham Junction know their stuff - although you do have to be very clear about what you want, and not neccesarily go for what they think you should have. Other than that..........go the extra two miles to Brixton Cycles.
 

slowmotion

Quite dreadful
Location
lost somewhere
It looks like Brixton then. Thanks.
 

GrumpyGregry

Here for rides.
Luciano's in Clapham Junction know their stuff - although you do have to be very clear about what you want, and not neccesarily go for what they think you should have. Other than that..........go the extra two miles to Brixton Cycles.
I go from Sussex to Brixton Cycles sometimes, to remind myself that the ideal LBS does exist. Just not around here,
 
Top Bottom