Is your LBS L?

[simonali]

12 years, my how time flies! The Wycombe branch is the one I referred to in my first post. I never went in the Marlow one. I did cycle there one day and it was shut! (half day closing, iIrc). I won't say the name of the shop I went to HW to avoid, but it was in Slough. You may know of it.

 

[PrettyboyTim]

There's a bunch of bike shops I use. The closest one is just across from the library where I tend to take my son on Saturday mornings, so I'll sometimes pop in there if there's something small (in size) that I need to pick up. However, although they can give some fairly good advice the main guy there is rather abrupt and prone to give you a withering look if you're not obviously rather knowledgeable about bikes, so they've fallen rather out of favour with me. The next one is Finsbury Cycles near Finsbury Park tube station, and is the shop I got my bike from. They're very friendly in there and are the place I go if I need something done to my bike that I can't do myself. They're also not that far off my commuting route, so I can sometimes pop in on my way to or from work. Also directly on my route is a Cyclesurgery, which is open until 7 two days a week, so I sometimes pop in there on the way home.

I've got an Evans Cycles close to work so I can pop in there at lunchtimes, and they've got a bigger selection of stuff than the other shops I know. Also close to work is Velorution which is great if you happen to want something a little unusual, like rainlegs. BikeFix isn't far off my commuting route as well, so I've picked up a stand and handlebars from them in the past.

I guess I do pretty well for bike shops!

I do order some things on-line, but not much so far (just two lights and a child trailer).

 

[walker]

my Local Shop (Sidcup cycles) is quite large in comparison to other LBS shops and even hold's its own club runs and even have Parktool Workshops. I've only ever had technical stuff done at a LBS and bought most of my stuff on the net

 

[redfox]

I won't say the name of the shop I went to HW to avoid, but it was in Slough. You may know of it.

Sorry, I don't know Slough well at all and I am happy to keep it that way!

 

[domtyler]

Nowt near home but Evans, CycleSurgery and Brick Lane bikes near work. I use Brick Lane Bike for any repairs or work I want doing and cannae be arsed to do myself as they will always do it on the day and be ready for 5pm to pick up.

I generally use the Internet for purchases though as I can spend all day browsing while at work in order to make my choice from anything available at the best price.

 

[ChrisKH]

I've got an Evans Cycles close to work so I can pop in there at lunchtimes, and they've got a bigger selection of stuff than the other shops I know. Also close to work is Velorution which is great if you happen to want something a little unusual, like rainlegs. BikeFix isn't far off my commuting route as well, so I've picked up a stand and handlebars from them in the past.

I guess I do pretty well for bike shops!

I do order some things on-line, but not much so far (just two lights and a child trailer).

I used to go to Bikefix with the Brommie, but the staff were so rude and standoffish the last two times I went, they can go swivel. They all need a good lesson in client service IMO.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

i have two lbs' in macc that i use. bikes of park lane is great for maintenance and all the basics, chester road cycles have more of a roadie range and sell planet x bikes. i'd recommend both.

 

[John the Monkey]

i... chester road cycles have more of a roadie range and sell planet x bikes.

That's well worth knowing (for me, anyway ) thanks for sharing the info!

 

[piedwagtail91]

local shops round here offer a better service in some cases.
three clubmates had trouble with campag freehubs ( a pawl fault) all under warranty in the same week.
one from a local bike shop, he was pushed to the shop and the shop sorted it out and he rode home,
the second was mail order so he had to get home and parcel everything up, go to the post office etc.
the third was from one of the biggest road bike/parts mail order places in the country, 15 or so miles away, so he drove over and dropped it off and is still waiting for a replacement/repair whilst it tours the warehouse to the relevant departments.

in my experience a local bike shop ,if you use them regularly, won't see you stuck.

 

[Joe24]

The bike shop i go,TSW cycles, isnt my localist bike shop. Infact i normally get a lift down if the bike is going down for a service. But if i'm on a club ride, then i could call into it on the way back, so it is sort of local. The one that is closest to me, i have never bought anything from, but i have been in, they make their own bikes. But the one i go to gives good deals, he can order things in, and he gave my bike the free service after a couple of weeks and fitted my mud guards for me, and he will often knock money off the things i need. Which is something that the other ones dont do.
I will go to Evans though if i am in Town and need something, or if they have a sale on.

 

[tdr1nka]

There are several lbs's in the Lewisham area but I've either had bad experiences or they are just poorly stocked.
I tend to go out of my way to Bike Shop in Lewisham or Brixton Cycles if I need something a bit less 'Halfrauds'.

T x

 

[barq]

My options are an old style shop which caters for lower down the market than I want or a newer MTB shop which has enthusiastic staff, but they are just mad on making new sales. Ok, fair enough I'm sure they want to stay in business and everything, but they honestly scare me away.

However there are two other reasons why I've become less LBS focused:

1. I've learned how to do virtually all my own maintenance so from that point of view I only need shops if I want to buy parts urgently and they have stock.
2. I've become increasingly specific in my needs and more aware of different product lines. I couldn't realistically expect an LBS to stock it all. From an LBS perspective they aren't just competing against Wiggle, they are competing against the whole internet.

If there was a shop that offered excellent service then they'd good a good slice of my bike spending money. I want a good LBS and I keep visiting my mine with money burning a hole in my wallet, but mostly it doesn't translate into sales. Even ignoring the higher prices, they just don't sell that much stuff I want.

 

[longers]

I've been getting excellent service from my LBS. They hit a rough patch a bit back, sold up and relocated to smaller premises. I felt it important to support them as much as possible as having a LBS in my town was priceless. They're good people and I use them as much as I can, as with the un-asked for discount I get they are comparable with most prices out there.

 

[simonali]

I don't actually have one in my home town. The 2 nearest neighbouring towns both have bike shops, but neither are much cop. The shop where I ordered my new steed is around 15 miles away, so isn't all that local and isn't a particularly nice bike ride to get to and would involve a fair few stretches of NSL roads.

We're thinking of moving to the Hungerford (Berks) area soon and I don't think there's a bike shop there either!

 

[bonj2]

I've got two, one of which is good for service and if I ever want an "odd bolt" for something, but to be honest both those are quite rare so I don't go in there that often, they're actually a bit shite for parts, also aren't open on sunday. The other is good for service but has a long waiting list and can't get anything done for about 2 weeks, however they are pretty good on parts/accessories, they also price match so I'll often just go in there and buy it without even bothering looking online first. Online's still a better choice, but often I don't WANT that big a choice, otherwise I'll never decide, and I often want to see it in the flesh/try it on/have it that day.

My LBS is either Halfrauds or 'Paul's Cycles' (spit, spit) neither of which I will willingly use. I do, however, go into Norwich and use the finest LBS in East Anglia, that is Specialised Cycles in Connaught Road, Norwich. Not as big as Uncle Madgett's Magic Emporium in Diss, but Specialised know their stuff and for bike bits and 'stuff' Specialised can't be beaten for quality of service.

Halfrauds isn't generally regarded as an LBS. I don't think - is it?