[Closed] Has anyone used Evans cycles suspension servicing?

Never used them myslf but as far as i was aware they send then off to mojo

I would sooner repeatedly slam my gentleman's vegetables in a kitchen drawer than trust Evans with anything more technical than, well anything, actually. They are mechanically inept.

Try Mojo, as mentioned above, or TF Tuned. Avoid Evans.

I'm currently in dispute with Evans\Altura\Zyro over a warranty replacement so I'll reserve judgement for the time being.

Not used them before but £54 and free postage at the mo

http://www.pearcecycles.co.uk/workshop_info#fork

[i]Never used them myslf but as far as i was aware they send then off to mojo[/i]

No, they do it in house, there's a mechanic at Evans Kendal and another one at Gatwick who have been on specific Cytech suspension courses. Don't know the guy at Gatwick but Robin in Kendal is excellent, a very good mechanic. Used to be head wrench at Wheelbase in Staveley before moving to Evans Kendal. If you take the forks into any other branch they simply get sent to the nearest suspension service centre.

Mojo won't touch Pace forks and as far as I know TFT aren't Pace authorised either (although they're probably capable of stripping and rebuilding them).

ok doesn't sound to bad, i did think that mojo and tf wouldn't touch them, cheers for all the help

What's the workshop set up by the former Pace mechanic - 'Fork English' or something isn't it? Yup, just checked; [url] http://www.pace-racing.co.uk/newsstory.asp?id=249 [/url]

i think my forks are too new for him to do, specializes in pre 2003, thanks anyway

I can vouch for the general aceness of pearce cycles for everything although haven't specifically used their suspension tuning. Really good guys.

What Captain Flashheart said!

Send away to TF or Mojo.

Evans is Halfords but only just better regarding stock.

*slight thread hijack*

So what about suspension fork servicing in London? Any recommendations where I should take my Marzocchi MX Comp Airs?

I've been given quotes from Evans and Moose, and wondering what other options there are, or if I should send them off.

Thanks..

So how many people have actually used Evans then?
Did you get a good service?

give fork english a call - they do service more recent forks than stated on the Pace site and the guy (whose name escapes me at the moment) used to work for Pace. He's a good bloke and knows his stuff.

[i]So how many people have actually used Evans then?
Did you get a good service? [/i]

My brother took his Klein Palomino in for a service: total bill was £200, think they serviced the rear shock and replaced the chain. Its a taboo topic at family events 🙄

Seems like a bit much for just a shock service and chain replacing, should be more like £120, surely they replaced more stuff or adjusted a few more things, if it was a full service there would have been a charge for the labour and parts.

akira - Member
So how many people have actually used Evans then?
Did you get a good service?

My old man got his bike back from a full serivice which they didn't do and gave bike back!

They didn't beat Halfords when a customer fell off bike due to pedal not tightened! 🙄

Eldrik - I used "On Your Bike" on the South Bank to service some Pace RC36 forks 3 or 4 years ago. They seemed like good guys and I had no problems with the forks afterwards. Nice shop too, although they haven't really embraced the internet age!

n Your Bike London:
52-54 Tooley Street
London Bridge, SE1 2SZ
Telephone: 020 7378 6669
Fax: 020 7357 7600
Email: london@onyourbike.com

Regarding Halfords, although I have never used them for any service work (do they even do it?) Bike Hut opened a new shop in Twickenham and the guys in there couldn't be nicer and more helpful, including ringing round the "competitors" when I was looking for a service kit for my XT disc brakes. I was amazed. (I have no connection, by the way!)

Fork English, guy called Tim Price. Top fella, call him on 01751 476815. Will do anything Pace.

Moose are a very good bunch, hihgly recommended.

I don't use Evans, but can relate some other tales from people including a warranty replacement on a frame bought frmo them for which they wanted to charge £200 or so on labour costs to rebuild! A King Headset being put in with a hammer to a Spesh M5 frame, not using a headset press and f**ing the frame up totally. Brake pads fitted, but retaining pins optional.....etc. etc. etc.

Avoid them, please.

I don't use Evans for the same reasons I don't shop at Tescos - they treat their customers, competitors and suppliers like sh*t.

Just got my old sid's serviced by evans, yes they were sent off, only took 4 days I think but they did a great job! New decals also, Wicked!

Chatting to the Guy's in the CW store a couple are really clued up, I'm looking to go back and buy my nice new Commencal meta 6.6!! from them.

I think it's horses for courses really, I tried On your Bike in London, but they couldn't get the bushes needed for my forks or summit, so I tried Evans on the off and got an absolute result!

£200 on a Klein must to be more to the story, possibly summit to do with the crap shock me thinks. But for me so far Evans have been fine if not Brill! Will wait and see when I get my Meta!!!!!

go to Evans - especially if they go to Robin up in Kendal. Rob was with Wheelbase in Stavely and Biketreks Ambleside before that - top bloke and best mechanic i've used - proper stickler for detail and an OCD type attention to detail . . .

I have quite a few friends who work in Evans.

I wouldn't let Evans pump up my tyres, let alone take my forks apart. One of them was telling me how their new 'mechanic' neglected to put a mech hanger bolt on a new frame, resulting in the customer returning five minutes after buying the bike with a reshaped mech and rear wheel.

Hi c_klein87 ,

I am the technician that runs and manages the Suspension Service Centre for Evans Cycles.
Having read the above posts and seen that very few responses are actually relevant to your original question i have a simple solution.
I will be happy to carry out a full service on your Pace fork completely free of charge so that you can see for yourself the quality of the service i offer.
My purpose built workshop is fully stocked with all the spares from Pace, Rockshox, Manitou, Marzocchi, Fox, Headshok, and Lefty.
Every suspension service from our 31 stores is carried out here by me and most work is done within 48 hrs.
If you wish to take me up on this offer you can call me directly at the Suspsension Service Centre and i'll be happy to discuss this with you further.

Regards

Robin Walker.
Manager of Suspension Servicing @ Evans Cycles
Tel. 0870 142 0104

Result!

For what it's worth, I think evan's is the victim of it's own success, purely by the nature of their size means that they sell many more bikes, and this results in a higher number of unfortunate cases of poor customer service/mechanical sensibility. As a percentage I would say I and my friends have experienced a lot more positives from the staff we come in contact with than bad. I would say don't tar everyone with the same brush, Robin here is obviously very experienced and knowledgeable.

In short, why doesn't everyone take each experience on it's own merits, if you have a bad experience with one member of staff, make a complaint so they can be trained out of it, then nobody else need suffer the same fate. Likewise, if you find a knowledgable staff member, regardless of whether it's in Evans, Halfords or the smallest LBS, feedback on the good service and tell your friends about the good ones.....this way the good ones get all the custom, the poor staff hopefully learn there lessons and get better and everyone gets better service in the long run!

Sorry, rant over. 🙂

wow thanks robin that sounds very kind! I shall contact you tomorrow if thats ok!?

Always had good service in Evans, although theyre not too good at getting spares in quickly to the branches the work has been of a good standard and they did a great job mending the mess Cycle Surgery had made
As someone mentioned larger multi store businesses will always have their critics but I for one will continue to use them

Hi c_klein87 ,

Yes that will be fine. I will be contactable 9am-5pm

Regards

Robin

Well said Dickie S.
And Rob, talk about above and beyond the call of duty! 🙂

im just waiting for captain wots his name to comment again.......

Now we are all wishing we had started this thread 🙂

[i]im just waiting for captain wots his name to comment again....... [/i]

Why?

One post from Evans and the offer of a free service and thats it, all those customers who have had poor service must have been wrong and those that did complain are the minority. Fair credit for the OPs free service but it hasn't changed my opinion on Evans

[i]Robin here is obviously very experienced and knowledgeable.[/i]

...and how did you deduce that?

[i]and those they did complain are the minority[/i]

Believe it or not, yes they are. Evans (like any other large chain store) deals with hundreds of thousands of customers a year. The same 10-15 people on STW crop up on every single Evans thread with the same tired old stories. I don't doubt that, on occasions, things go wrong, the customer is let down etc etc but the same can be said of every other shop in existence. For example, I've had dreadful service from Condor in the past to the extent where I won't consider buying anything from them again but some people think they can do no wrong.
Statisically, you'll hear far more about something when it goes wrong than when it goes right - the vast majority of people who have no problems will just get on with life and say nothing, the few who are let down will shout about it to all and sundry, that goes for Evans or any other shop/service.

[i]Robin here is obviously very experienced and knowledgeable.

...and how did you deduce that? [/i]

Perhaps from my post, 'hopevalley', 'magic cyclist' and Robin himself? As Robin pointed out, very few of the posts above actually answer the OP's question. I'm sure that when the OP has had his free fork service, he'll post back on here to let everyone know how it went...

[i]The same 10-15 people on STW crop up on every single Evans thread with the same tired old stories.[/i]

Generally I find that's not actually the case in that if a thread on any shop is started and people have an opinion, good or bad, they will be happy to share it.

Frankly the most important thing for me is my own experience and I am sorry to say that Evans have consistently disappointed me with their level of service and, if I was spending my money on a fork service it would not be at Evans. If you happy with Evans, then good for you, I'm genuinely pleased for you but, as previously stated, my opinion has not changed.

Robin offer was very kind and i intend to take him up on his offer, and i will let everyone know how it goes, hopefully it may change some opinions.

why? because the captain loves bashing evans no matter what, along with "the other 10-15 people" that crazy legs rightly states love slagging evans..........

[i]because the captain loves bashing evans no matter what, along with "the other 10-15 people" that crazy legs rightly states love slagging evans.......... [/i]

No, he's got any opinion as have I and as have many people, good or bad, and everyone is freely entitled to post their opinion and allow others to come to their own conclusion.

[i]Robin offer was very kind and i intend to take him up on his offer, and i will let everyone know how it goes, hopefully it may change some opinions. [/i]

Good luck with the service and credit to Robin/Evans although they would have to be nutters to get the good publicity that your free service offer brings and then screw up the servicing of your fork 😉

Had nothing less than excellent service from the suspension servicing dep't at evans. Robin certainly makes a better suspension servicer than DJ.

Hi Robin (evans suspension), Can you send me a contact email address to philoneill AT talktalk DOT net? I've just contacted Pace regarding a service on a set RC39s and would would like to send you some details for a quote also. Cheers

c_klein87, Any update on the service received at Evans?

Just to follow up,

Had my Talas forks serviced by Evans (Robin) last week, and My Genius shock last year.

Fantastic service and servicing. Cant see why you would use anyone else.

Simon

got my fox forks done at the kendal branch for £70 last year and they're spot on. The forks are the terralogic ones too so thought they might shy away from them. Great service, I live lancaster so dropped them off and picked them up post/pre rides on consecutive weeks, but if you go to any other Evans in the north they post them off to the Kendal branch, as previously stated.

highly recommended.

Dave