Mine gives me cake and bacon rolls.
Good at fixing bikes too.
Smee - MemberMine gives me cake and bacon rolls.
Good at fixing bikes too.
* takes a note to get them to up the arsenic dosage *
Mine are polite, know who I am (not really a good thing as I must have spent £££s in there) and do a good job for a fair price. That'll do for me.
Cooksons - If it will get me a discount Shaun.
Gives me discount! (I'll get my own cakes and bacon rolls) 😉
nothing, i never use them.
Put right the mess I make of my bike when I try to fix it myself. Don't rip me off, and know what/how I ride so don't waste my time talking to me about stuff they know I'm not going to be interested in.
(The much discussed recently) Two Wheels in Amblecote.
mine gives me unlimited coffee
and we ride togtehr 🙂
throw in free sweets when I buy stuff!
V. Friendly
Always get good discounts
Will service parts I buy cheaper/secondhand
Will do a lot of quick 5-10min jobs for free while I wait
In return I always turn up with a box of a dozen doughnuts from Greggs.
Top guys! (Alpine Bikes, Glasgow)
Mine found me a husband!!! 😉
I can't really top Foxy's tale above!
Mine gives me the best wheelbuilders in the world, great banter, great stock, sublime customer service, a place to go for a pee when I'm in town, use of their workshop when I need it, good friends and a lovely place.
Oh, and it gave one of my best friends a husband, if that counts!
Stonehenge Cycles, Salisbury.
Always give personal service with good knowledgeable advice. Remember who you are. Say "Hello mate, how are you doing?" as you walk in the door and they get me any bits I want at a good price.
Bicycle in Richmond, top bunch of blokes.
Lent me a Hope LED light and battery for a race.
Offered to lend me a (sadly the wrong size) Tandem!
Provide excellent route guides for the local area.
Above and beyond, really.
mine gives me free coffee, free advice, discount, take me on rides, share new rides, free fitting on parts that I purchases from them, does freebies while i wait 😀 All I have to do is spend all my money in their shop 😉 If carlsberg made bike shops it would be; http://www.bikecity.biz/
Same LBS for the past, er, 17 years. Knew the old owner well and the current owner has been a friend for 17 years.
Get Tea and Coffee (have to make it myself though, and for the others)
Use of the workshop and expensive tools.
Taught how to build wheels, meaning i never buy wheels from them! I do get asked to do the odd wheel build for them though.
Bowl of sweets on the counter to raid, post ride,
And best of all, a good bunch of mates and years of very good advice.
Westham cycles, Weymouth
Erm.... my LBS is Dave Hinde..... Nope cant think of anything.
Make me do half my own repairs using their kit.
Never charge for labour.
Witter on constantly so that if I go in for a washer, I'm still there 2 hours later.
Go riding with me.
Give me cake.
Make me tea, give me cake, let me use there workshop, free abuse of demo bikes, let me not pay for stuff for ages, give me cake, let me loiter all day...
Friendly, quick to discount, always willing to chat, helped the other half buy me some excellent cycling kit by trying it on other customers in the shop when she went shopping, first time I went in they fixed my bike up after a slip on some diesel, no charge, always have good range of high quality kit, and they are a 35 mile round trip by bike from my house past other good, but not as good shops.
...and when i needed a new bike, I went and they sorted all my demands and oddities out. With grace and politeness and good humour.
They are: [b][u]MK Cycles, Tonge Moor Road, Bolton.[/u][/b]
Unlimited coffee, chat, lets me use the workstand when it's quiet, discounts. All in exchange for me buying a few bits there, supplying cake etc. Top notch. 🙂
Cost a fortune and are quite rude.
I do most my own repairs.
Made me build my own bloody bike when it came in. Did stay open late for me though.
Wednesday night rides and weekend rambles.
Let's me use the workshop if they're not too busy.
Place to hang out, talk shit, drink coffee, read Dirt etc.
Beer:30 on Friday nights
Cyclingo, South Hobart.
Charge over the odds for stuff, unless I go home and order it online and get it delivered, and then it's cheaper 😕
Mine found me a wife!!
*way past cheesy* 😉
Mine will fit parts bought cheaper elsewhere - really friendly service.
Thatto Cycles in St. Helens (or Bikes You Like on t'internet)
would let me have components for free if i helped build bikes during busy periods
didn't mind me and mates hanging out all saturday
taught me how to build wheels if i made the tea and bought the chips for everyone
let me jump out of the 2nd floor window onto a huge pile of bike boxes 🙂 (pretty sure i broke a rib or two doing that, but it was still awesome)
sadly all that was years ago, i moved and now the most local bike shop is ribble cycles...so i have no local!
let me jump out of the 2nd floor window onto a huge pile of bike boxes
This is better than finding a spouse!
My LBS puts right my cock-ups while never making me feel stupid, and that's the most I can ask.
Always got great coffee and banter. Great knowledge of bikes and trails.
Kevin Dangerous, Escape Route, Pitlochry
There is a BRILLIANT article in the current Dirt about bike shop staff... you 'gotta read it.
To answer the OP:
Gives me a place to be on Sunday... and even pays me.
Know who I am. Allow me to indulge in my favourite past time of talking about random bike kit for hours on end. Fix my bike for much cheapness (or for free). Let me use their hose after a gritty ride. Great guys - well worth the extra effort to use them rather than my slightly more local LBS.
18 Bikes, Hope
Install headset cups for the price of a pack of biscuits.
[i]There is a BRILLIANT article in the current Dirt about bike shop staff... you 'gotta read it.[/i]
Goes off to buy Dirt...
Did anyone see the letter in there a couple of issues ago ripping the piss out of MBR/WhatMTB? Some reader letter which took up most of the page, it was funny as hell. 🙂
a big slate...
I really miss having the time to hang out at the lbs - darn kids taking up my "slack" time
Knocked a fiver off my Stumpy bearing replacement, as it wasn't ready when I went to pick it up and I spent a few quid in the florist/coffee shop round the corner while waiting.
Gave me a front QR on Saturday for £0 that I could use on the bike mount I made for the car at the weekend (to allow me to stick the bike in the car upright, sans wheels).
Terry Wrights in Market Deeping by the way...
Mine was liek jedi's one before I went to england/UK.
Now I barely ride with them as I don't think their attitude is correct.
They service my hydraulic brakes - which I'm scared to do.
In Cardiff:
Cyclopedia
- ALWAYS have the small part/bearing/washer/bolt/widget that I need.
- Are nice
- Build a fantastic wheel
- Give me a discount 🙂
- Lend me tools
- Run a club and organise rides/track days/TTs etc and don't require you to be a member to join in
Sunset
- have a massive range of bikes that they let you try out up and down the road
- do some good end of season bargains and have a lovely habit of slapping very nice shocks and forks on them for free (I got Marz 66 RC2Xs and a Fox DHX coil shock on a £1500 bike)
gets me out of a hole when I have crushed my only Hope olive after bleeding!
Answers product queries by email.
Applies mate's rates.
Distracts onlookers from my lack of finesse/fitness by riding a weirdy-beirdy, fixed, bendy-handle-barred, big-wheeled bike.
Williams, 'Nam, specifically our very own SingleSpeedPunk.
Offer good advice and chat, do some fixes for cheap/free, get me stuff i need, help me spend money i don't have.
Race Co in Stourbridge.
I use three and they are all excellent, in no particular order:
www.noahsark.co.uk
www.redplanetbikes.co.uk
www.thebigadventurestore.co.uk
(in order of url length)
coffee, bikes, bits & bobs, discounts, camera kit, etc etc