Why are so many LBS like this?

[Chris S]

My LBS couldn't count. £8 for a chain splitter plus £6 for a spoke wrench doesn't come to £15.

 

[Chris-H]

I got my Spesh MTB from Grafham, very pleased. The shop was very busy when I went in, but they acknowledged me when I arrived and that someone would be with me soon. I had my eye on a few MTB models, and with a bit of help by the techny guy who was assisting, I walked out with a £600 bike, £100 more than I had orignally intended to spend.

If you mean the route, i have no idea, sorry!

Where else do you go in the Bedford area? Priory Marina Cycles are good for advice I find, although they only seem to stock higher end roadies and kids bikes. I have yet to experience Peddles in Biggleswade, but have heard poor reviews. Bedford Halfords is crap (from experience), the store in Biggleswade is much better IMO which the Bike Hut staff knowing a bit more than the Bedford store.

I use Priory marina when i have to,very knowledgable but fairly hefty on price,forget pedals in Biggleswade,arrogant,way overpriced and tbh crap all round (quoted me £15 to fit bartape,not even supply and fit),fully agree with Halfords which is way i do a 10 mile round trip further to use B/wade,Cycle king are ok ish,if you get Paul he's a nice bloke and you'll have a pleasant experience,any of the others and you might as well forget it,Transition are good but too expensive for me.I'm still looking for that ever elusive LBS,well stocked,friendly,knowledgable.A further drive away to Higham Ferrers and you'll find A J cycles,bloody brilliant,they do cater for the more expensive ranges but they certainly know their stuff,i'm off for a bike fit there this week.

 

[ufkacbln]

Eeee - I remember Southsea. I got my first tattoo on the pier there and got an unwelcome memento from a club called Joanna's.

Joanna's - otherwise known as the "Royal Naval School of Dancing"

Having worked in the STD clinic at HMS Nelson when I was in part 3 training, I can assure you that you were not the only one!

Of course including Joanna's widens the topic to a completely different type of local "bike" shop

(Not that I have ever set foot inside the doors of course)

 

[ufkacbln]

I remember the manager of Velocity as a mechanic in the now defunct "Wheels" in Lee on the Solent. Unfortunately Braziers in Gosport has also closed.

Although not as big and specialised ......for simple reliable stuff try Solent Cycles in Portchester, Fareham and Lee on the Solent. They have a fair range of bikes and kit, but you may have to visit a particular shop.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Having worked in the STD clinic at HMS Nelson when I was in part 3 training, I can assure you that you were not the only one!

I found it all rather communist, sitting in the waiting room there beside a Hooky, a Subby and a full blown (probably) Commander.

 

[I like Skol]

My lbs sold me my new carbon toy, and spent hours and weeks helping and answering all my emails.

I went to pick it up yesterday and their whole computer system was down, so they let me walk out of the shop with it, without paying

Let me say that again, I walked out with a £3000 bike with their blessing and just a promise to call them today ( I did of course)

They will be getting All my future business

That's nothing! My local commercial Mercedes dealer delivered a brand new unregistered spinter chassis cab to my home address for me to cut up and weld bits into the chassis before it went to the body builder to have a luton body fitted. That's around £22k (+VAT) of factory ordered vehicle and I never even signed a contract and didn't pay a penny until the completed vehicle was registered and ready for the road, now that IS trust

 

[Drago]

I went to school with his middle son, who didn't ride a unicycle! Haven't been in their shop since they moved to new premises but will do next time I'm over that way. Phil Corley cycles was my LBS before Pinks' opened.

Corleys was my LBS too when I lived in MK. Bloody awful customer service back then.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Corleys was my LBS too when I lived in MK. Bloody awful customer service back then.

Bit late to the party, Drago?

 

[andrewsdad]

My LBS is called Halfords - never anything but good service, prices checked online before I go and never had an issue with refunds when needed.
The 5 small independent bike shops within 10 miles of me are overpriced, pretentious and mostly very unhelpful.

So, guess where I shop?

Lucky you, my local bikehut did a gear service for me, forgetting to check that my chain had stretched, wouldn't touch them again.

 

[screenman]

My LBS is called Halfords - never anything but good service, prices checked online before I go and never had an issue with refunds when needed.
The 5 small independent bike shops within 10 miles of me are overpriced, pretentious and mostly very unhelpful.

So, guess where I shop?

Bit odd that as the 5 local you might talk about are the same I use, I would not trust or use Halfords on my bikes. Halfords the place where a 27.2 will fit in a 27 by using a large hammer, seen it happen at the Carlton Centre shop and the Tritton road one. They used to mix paint for me, even that was very hit and miss as the only had scales down to one decimal point, where as mixing successfully down to 100ml needs at least 2.

Not forgetting when I was looking for a rear mech alignment tool, Carlton Centre said no such thing existed.

 

[ayceejay]

m
My local is run by a Polish guy who knows all about it and can't stop telling you totally steam rolling any knowledge you yourself might have. When in the market for a new bike he tried to sell me one that was clearly too small, Tony Mills could do this kind of thing but not this guy, Tony ran the kind of shop that I was happy to spend money in. Tony could look at you and fit you up a bike that was spot on he and the boys would welcome me make the tea suggest a few goodies I 'needed' and I would give them some money - isn't that how it is supposed to work?

 

[BigCoops]

I must be lucky...

One small LBS, one smaller (Not a Bikehut) Halfords and a Spesh Concept Store, all within the same smallish town.

All of which I've bought things from, all of which I've taken excellent advice from and all of whom are happy to 'shoot the s**t' and swap war stories when the shop is quiet.

Oh, I also buy things online...sometimes the prices are just too good.

 

[Squid lips]

My lbs in kendal ( Bruce's bike shop ) is superb run by two really great blokes friendly , don't look down their noses at you not itmadating , happy to talk will order you anything . I'm getting a nice viitus framed bike off them next ,they are steel fanatics btw ,and extremely cheap for eg full strip down service is £25 .00 and won't replace anything with out permission and point out why it's goosed ,they always get my custom

 

[screenman]

People will only talk down to you if you let them do so.

 

[Drago]

Or if you're much shorter than them.