Your once-a-week dose of retail therapy from Singletrack’s Premier Dealers, stockists and advertisers:
Tuesday Treats gives you a quality serving of independent bike retailing and a chance to win big in this week’s prize draw!
This week, we introduce: About Bikes
We are off to Evesham, Worcestershire. About Bikes‘ Adrian Johnson tells us more …
We opened for business in June 2006, starting off as a small team of two. I’m backed up by Emma Gladwin and we’re thankfully both mad-keen cyclists.
About Bikes offer a personal and honest approach, quality advice, priding ourselves on our service and repairs. We also offer qualified, professional bike fitting for MTB and road riders alike.
What’s new for this year, guys?
Having been primarily a Trek main dealer from the outset, we’ve recently welcomed British-designed Whyte Bikes into the About Bikes range.
How do you stay in touch with your customers locally?
The grass routes are as important to us as the messages we receive from within the trade, so we run twice-weekly MTB rides which riders are invited to join (there’s a email signup link on our front page). Being located on the outskirts of Evesham, there’s some great trails from our doorstep and it’s just a short ride to the edge of The Cotswolds for some longer days in the saddle.
What’s the one product/brand you always hold plenty of stock of?
We are nuts about the Bontrager XR Mud tyre (and 99% of our group riders agree). These are a very much tried and tested three-season tyre and an absolute no-brainer for the friendly British winter.
What’s hot in store now? Trends for 2015?
2015 has kicked off at pace with the Whyte T130 Works SCR and the Trek EX 29ers selling well for those starting off the year with new wheels. It seems the road bike rush following the high profile coverage in recent years has eased and we’re buzzing about sales of MTBs being on the up! Either that, or roadies have been looking in our direction and are keen to see what they’re missing out on.
Any Custom Builds of late spring to mind?
We had a recent trip down memory lane last week, when a customer brought in their 2002 Santa Cruz Superlight for some upgrades and hydro discs. It has been great working on a classic, as I recall my old Superlight very fondly – even with its flexy ride and super sharp handling. It might be a far cry from today’s torsionally stiff bikes with tapered head tubes and wider tubing, but it’s all part of the job here. We love breathing new life into well-loved bikes.
Are you planning any Demo Days this year?
We have our 2015 Whyte Demo Day coming up on 29 April at Bredon Hill and places are booking now for anyone wanting to test these award-winning bikes in the flesh. Our regular updates can be found here on Facebook, Twitter and ont t’interweb.
Lastly, to our loyal subscribers. What’s the deal?
Premier subscribers get 7.5% off bikes and 10% off accessories (excludes sale and CTW scheme). Free Nespresso coffee. Free smiley-faced staff who are passionate about customer service.
Tuesday Treats Prize Draw
Click here to win this week’s prize!