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Wow, mine's second! Good lads!
No. But I still love them. In a non gay way.
No as we don't really have one in Gloucester
Why is Wiggle's mail order in there (10th)?
What does mailorder need cytech mechanics for?
Building bikes?
Dimmadan, I'm sure i drove past a decent (had decent bikes in it - I think) bike shop in Gloucester the other day when I was working there. Trouble is I can't even remember where I was working.
Quite a few Evans branches but no Halfrauds ?Hmmmm .
13th and 24th
Did Evans Cycles run this poll by any chance?
Ive dealt with a good few shops in that list. By my experience - Evans Cycles would be lucky to make the top 100 ..
I`d certainly expect to see 18bikes somewhere in the top10.
Mines fourth, and also a specialized concept store next door,nice bikes,good pricing,and freindly.
Dear God, there are some appalling shops in there very high up the list. Does "highly qualified" mean "up their own ar*es so can't be bothered to actually sell anything or even acknowledge their customers"?
ACT compiles league of the UK's 50 most qualified cycle stores
Isn't this just a list of who has the most qualified staff? Qualifications don't necessarily mean good customer service, you'd hope the training would covered it though!
Isn't this just a list of which shops have spent (the most) money on cytech training courses in the last twelve months?
What's the Hub in GT doing there, it's always been poor
wot Dave Hinde not in the top 50? shocking 😉
Err NO.
Only three Scottish bike shops? What does that tell you?
Interesting to see thoughts on this. We were happy to get top 50 - not sure how we'd manage top 10 at our size! It's based on number of Cytech qualifications (different levels, different "points") plus extra points for being an ACT member. Much of Cytech training is funded, certainly has been for us.
I'm sure there are capable mechanics/shops not on the list and vice versa.
And there was I, trusting the local family run bike shop that have been building bikes for generations, when I could have gone to one of cytechs top 50 and let some spoty 18yr old whos done a weeks course service my bike. 🙄
Mines at 44.... well my old one, they were never very helpful so stopped bothering 👿
The 2 best lbs' round here aren't on there but the one with a rep for poor service is 😉
Looks like some of them need more investment in customer service. One I had trouble with aren't in there though thank god.
No and glad about it too, long live Ride On in Rossendale................
benji_allen, striking bikes on Bristol road.
They are not great. Limited stock and expensive.
If the score is based on the number of staff going through Cytech certification does it also allow for staff retention? Could a shop make the top 50 because of it had a high turn over rate?
Both on actually. But i wouldv'e put no 37 a lot, lot higher & definately higher than no 24.
The only Evans I've ever been in (C.a.s.t.l.e.f.o.r.d.) Isn't there! What a surprise.
Simply counting the number of qualifications held by the staff doesn't seem like a good way of judging a shop.
Surely a shop with one mechanic with a degree in bike repair is better than a shop with five mechanics with a GCSE Grade D each.
What's a local bike shop...? 😕
Whoop! Mine are at number 2 - well deserved in my opinion.
Buckingham Bikes are in there in Aylesbury, but I don't rate them at all. Complete rip off merchants.
New cassette fitted, asked for a new chain to be fitted on top. Charged me for fitting the new chain as well. "Hang on", it should be in the price as you had to take old one off and you would have had to refit it as part of the price.
I personally recommend Mountain Mania in Tring. I will drive the extra distance NOT to give my money to Buckingham Bikes
Mine (Cooksons) isn't. They are ace therefore that list is pish.
It may not be an indication of customer service (it's rare in bigger shops that the mechanics serve the customer anyway so it's kind of unrelated). At least it shows which shops are investing in improving their service by having more highly qualified staff and the shops involved should be praised for at least trying.
None from Edinburgh - no suprise there.
mcmoonter - Member
Only three Scottish bike shops? What does that tell you?
that to train on a cytech course you have to travel into england?
Seems to be ones with high population areas near by or trail centre so probably a lot of voters who haven't a clue about bikes.
Skyline cycles (Glyncorrwg) not on the list, despite some very able staff, excellent service, reputation etc.
The other striking thing is the large number of shops in areas not particularly famed for MTBing. Ipswich, London etc.
Only three Scottish bike shops? What does that tell you?
That England has far more bike shops than Scotland?
Drac - MemberSeems to be ones with high population areas near by or trail centre so probably a lot of voters who haven't a clue about bikes.
Voters?
Number of qualified mechanics does not equate to decent mechanics. There are some bike shops who will employ a single mechanic of near God-like abilities but who won't make the list because a big shop has ten newly qualified inexperienced staff.
To be honest, the whole article read like a press release and will not influence my choice of LBS.
Only three Scottish bike shops? What does that tell you?
If you are an English shop you can send under 21's on Cytech for free, paid for under some kind of government scheme. In Scotland, to send someone to do Cytech lvl 3 is around £3000, which is a lot of money to a small business seeing as in most cases it won't get you a better mechanic, and it is easier to build a good reputation by turning out consistently good repairs than hanging a bit of paper on the wall.
nearest to me is at number 50 and i wouldn't pi*s on the place if it was on fire they are the biggest load of fu**ing sh*t ive ever had the displeasure of using 😈
Yup, CRC and Wiggle both there 😉
Don't have much in the way of a 'Local' shop round my way 😕
A piece of paper does not make a great cycle mechanic.
That's a good article. "Bike" in Bristol have a good culture and tradition of training their mechanics was with them when I completed Levels One and Two in 1999. And promptly legged it down the road to work for BikeTech 😕
No. 2 'Bike' - Bristol.
Take my Whyte E5 to 'Bike' but my Cove HJ to another more local shop for some reason. Always found the mechanics at 'Bike' to be really good in my opinion. A lad used to work there handling sales I wasn’t overly keen on but he's since moved on, that’s a separate issue anyway. This is to do with Cytech accreditation.
Obviously you can be a good mechanic without having the Cytech qualification.
It's all very subjective in any case. A person I rate might not be preferred by another. Me - I have no idea how to fit/fix stuff, which is not good really. I should invest some time in getting to know how to put a bike together.
I’d be interested to know what actual bike shop mechanics think on the subject.
My LBS isn't on that list, but that doesn't bother me. What does is the presence of Evans, surely next year they'll just have half the list full of Evans stores if all it depends on is number of staff and Cytech training.
My LBS is a family run affair, that employs another 4 guys, all of whom have worked there for some time. Service is excellent, range stocked is good, prices good. That make it number 1 on my list.
i can breath a sigh of relief...........the rigid named worst shop in leeds did not get in........... 😉
Utter, utter, utter bobbins "top 50". I don't see how you can draw a correlation between "best bike shop" and "spending with Cytech".
I hate propaganda driven lists/surveys like this.
this was not driven by act or cytech and for some the technical certificate can be an 18 month study not a week.
the retailers that i have spoken with seem happy about the best 50 challenge and who knows, it might introduce some healthy bonding/competition between shops or lead onto encourage tigh fisted shop owners to train their staff to newer levels of competence-we will see.
as for Scotland and Wales-the governing bodies do not yet want to release funding for training so it is a little prohibative for retailers to train their staff. i wish this wasnt true because this is where the riding is. if you want to see more Scots/Welsh on the list next year-i know i do- then lobby your councillors or m.ps to allow young people to be trained to gain a valuable qualification in the cycle trade..please.
In the top 20...
The ACT has published a list of what it believes to be the UK's top 50 most qualified cycle stores.
Er, what? What is the point of this list? Evan's Cycles suck balls, and they seem to make up a significant portion of it 😐
Eh? A clawhammer and a set of allen keys is the only school of mechanics one needs 8)
Oh look - large company chain appear to have most rankings.
I've dealt with 1 & 2 - I have nothing but praise for 2 on the list and I'll take the cheap prices of 1. I guess having a large hire fleet maintained by teenage chimps (although evidently qualified teenage chimps) gets you to the top of the rankings. 🙄
Tootall, I disagree.
Although not on the list- Evans Deansgate Manchester have some very competent mechanics.
JE James have monkeys putting their bikes together imo, yet Stanley Fearn's excellent mechanics don't get a sniff.
Utterly pointless list. In fact one of the most pointless I've ever read.
Buckingham Bikes are in there in Aylesbury, but I don't rate them at all. Complete rip off merchants.New cassette fitted, asked for a new chain to be fitted on top. Charged me for fitting the new chain as well. "Hang on", it should be in the price as you had to take old one off and you would have had to refit it as part of the price.
I really sympathise with shops having to deal with this sort of nonsense. Why on earth would you think that they have to take the chain off to fit a new cassette? If you've ever even fixed a puncture on your back wheel then you should be able to figure out that fitting a new cassette and fitting a new chain are completely separate jobs. They're both pretty easy and only take a few minutes if you have the tools and the know-how, but you clearly lack at least one of those. There's nothing wrong with being a bit dim or not knowing much about bikes, but in that case you should at least accept that the mechanics might know a bit than you. You should also accept that it's only reasonable that they should charge you for their time, equipment and experience.
Strong represenation from wales in that list!
Looks like a roll of loo paper that report to me. "these shops are the best because they have sent the most staff on a cytech course" Utter nonsense. So if you have a huge turnover of staff because mechanics are either crap or constantly leave then you have to train MORE staff. Doesnt make you a good LBS! far from it!
Teenage chimps LOL! Have you not seen the chimps on madagascar!
Utter, utter, utter bobbins "top 50". I don't see how you can draw a correlation between "best bike shop" and "spending with Cytech".I hate propaganda driven lists/surveys like this.
I totally agree; one of our best wrenches came from Portugal and was the best mechanic I have come across. He had no idea what Cytech was and wasn't interested in doing courses on how to assemble a bike-in-a-box with spotty teenagers.
No and glad about it too, long live Ride On in Rossendale................
+1
Really don't think Andy needs a Cytech qualification and if Craig can design his own frames I think he may already know a thing or two about bikes.
genesis - MemberThe 2 best lbs' round here aren't on there but the one with a rep for poor service is
Very true, though thankfully I don't require the services of spanner spinners
absolutely pointless.
evans stores staffed mostly by groms who can't tell one bike part from another compared to my LBS (not on the list) with some very competent mechanics and lots of experience/knowledge about repairing/building bikes.
This brings me to recall a story from JE James one day. A shop monkey was fiddling with a bike on the shop floor and on finding the forks loose, attempted to tighten the threadless headset by repeatedly and frustratedly spinning the top race. He tried telling me it hadn't been assembled correctly. I shook my head and walked away.
Mines top 😆
As far as i know it goes on a points based system for the number of current staff with CT qualifications. Everyone here that works in the workshop is at least L2 with a few L3s as well and we have lots of staff.
Doesnt mean much though, its all about experiance in my eyes.
If you look at this another was this could be a list of the worst stores as they treat their staff so badly there is high churn and they are always having to train new ones?
I would say that Bike Bristol is a good store though.
No and glad about it too, long live Ride On in Rossendale................+1
Really don't think Andy needs a Cytech qualification and if Craig can design his own frames I think he may already know a thing or two about bikes.
Does he also design SPD cleets for webbed-feet?
Could do with SPD crampons at the moment - it's ace here.
I was under the impression that many shops are mainly getting their mechanics Cytech accredited more for insurance/liability purposes should anything go wrong with a new bike or repair.
Massive props to Bike Bristol and totally deserved. They're not big by any means and they get and deserve most of my bike expenditure.
ChrisB 'Evan's Cycles suck balls', I guess you've been in all those Evans stores and dealt with all the mechanics, otherwise you couldn't reasonably make such a claim.
I work in one of those stores and know the mechanics are excellent, they work very hard and then someone who hasn't set foot in the store claims they are crap.......bit annoying for the guys working hard every day really.
Ladies!
I'm no lady. 😉
i have to rate melksham cycle centre as a great bike shop.i have just p/x'ed a bike for a new 2010 spesh stumpy fsr comp.even though i am unemployed,the manager has let me take the bike,whilst i still have £530 to pay on it.also they are always happy to check my bike over,give me bike lubes in lew of payment until following week e.t.c.a great shop with friendly staff. 🙂
19th and 2nd but as I hardly ever use the workshops I'm more interested in getting a good price.
Bike - i'm surprised it's voted no.1 in Bristol but it is a good shop. thinking about it my last few purchases have all been from there. it's improved a lot over the last few years (unlike it's nearest arch rival!)
that said, how credible is the list when you look at the amount of Evans branches on there
