their website will tell you the weight of just about any mountain bike you may want.
Here's another, there aren't any anywhere near where I live...
...he knows how to suffer?
They price match in shop to the online people like wiggle and crc et al...
They actually have pretty bloody good sales, rather than just permanently advertising that they've got a sale.
That Trev in the Deansgate Branch is a decent, knowledgeable, spot on bloke..
That Trev in the Deansgate Branch is a decent, knowledgeable, spot on bloke..
Hi Trev 😉
- They always seem to have what I want in stock and will price match.
- errrr, there are lots of restaurants including a Subway within a few doors. (*might be specific to my Evans)
(disclaimer: Evans and JE James are both my closest LBS's)
🙂 I thought this was going to be a thread about Cadel
Bregante - Member
Hi Trev
Trust me fella, I'm not Trev... As many on here can vouch for...
the prices they charge at the till are often cheaper than those on the tag, particularly clothes 😀
he has a sale, even with a cracked elbow!
lots of restaurants including a Subway
I think you need to raise your standards.
their website will tell you the weight of just about any mountain bike you may want.
As long as what you may want is one of the brands they sell, of course.
restaurants including a Subway
Since when has Subway been a restaurant?
I like Evans a lot. Stock very nice kit and always have plenty of it. Some shops havent always been staffed by the most knowledgable folk but they do their best.
New one in Crouch End is one of the nicest bike shops I've ever been in.
Sorry if they arent niche enough for you.
The dislike is not about them not being niche, more their aggressive retailing - opening new stores very close to existing bike shops.
The new one in Crouch End is indeed a nice and big store, but is less than a 2 minute walk from an existing independent cycle shop, Two Wheels Good. Crouch End isn't exactly the most obvious location for a store the size of the new Evans.
Funny how the one they opened a couple of doors down from Condor Cycles didn't survive.
The Evans in the Metro centre (gateshead) has always been very helpful and has some very knowledgeable staff. They even gave me free pedal washers after trawling every bike shop in the Newcastle area. Every other shop reacted with a puzzled look, the chap in Evans said "we don't sell them but I imagine the mechanics have some lying around". And they did. So top marks to Evans in Metro centre, so far the best bike shop in the NE for customer service, parts and bikes to drool over. I'd like to say that there is a good independent one in Newcastle but have yet to find it.
The one in Bristol where I used to live however was gash on every level. And from friends comments who live there still is.
two wheels good good, evans bad. 🙂
Well you make my point. Some of the lads in Two Wheels Good are good guys, know plenty about the sport. Problem is they stock close to zero parts and way way overcharge for entry level components. Plus the owner needs to work on his people skills. All in all it is not a great LBS.
The dislike is not about them not being niche, more their aggressive retailing
If by aggressive retailing you mean giving the customer what they want by way of economies of scale I'm all for it. Evans Crouch End has been open a month, I already get greeted by name by a couple of fellas in there.
The one in Bristol where I used to live however was gash on every level.
sounds more like the tagline for a multi storey brothel. 😀
Free test rides bike (well...they charge 1p to your CC to make sure it is kosher before letting you run away with it).
Seem to remember everyone complaining about not being able to, or being charged for, test rides...
Price matching excellent never fail you don’t have to jump through hoops to get it and genuine sales.
gash on every level
I went to a club in London like that once
<ah, to be young again>
[edit] arse, beaten to it
Mcboo - you obviously live very close to me. Where do you ride?
By aggressive retailing I mean opening in very close proximity to existing shops, like Starbucks did. They even tried did the same in Spitalfields with Cycle Surgery, which I know isn't exactly a small independent shop any longer.
I only went to Two Wheels Good once, and wouldn't dream of going back. Was treated by a guy I presume was the owner like an inconvenience for trying politely to buy some pedal cleats.
I think I was charged more than RRP for the privilege as well.
If I'm ever in need of a bike shop in Crouch End again I'd be going to Evans.
Ginger headed DJ on radio2 (nowt good to say about him)
opening in very close proximity to existing shops
that policy didn't work in grays inn road, next to condor!
evans' online shop seems to work pretty well, faster than crc in my neck of the woods at least.
Mcboo - you obviously live very close to me. Where do you ride?
Yeh I'm in N8, love Crouch End, wouldnt want to live anywhere else. You? Ride Sundays in Epping mostly.
Speaking of Evans I saw this earlier [url= http://www.evanscycles.com/products/ortlieb/zip-city-courier-bag-ec005566?query=Ortlieb ]Ortlieb Zip City bag[/url] luckily I brought mine from [url= http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Ortlieb_Zip_City_Medium_Courier~Messenger_Bag/5360022383/ ]Wiggle[/url]. I can see why they have the price matching now. Yikes!!!!
Sadly Epping is the only option without transport, although I do occasionally do a bridleway loop around Bayford. Otherwise its on the road bike out into Herts and Essex.
Off to Epping this evening as I need to get the miles in for the Kielder 100. Amazingly it was dry and dusty last week. Probably not now.
Whoever served me in TWG a few months back was a surly git - it's technically my "local" bike shop, but I pass so many others in Central London it's easy to avoid. Nice to know there's another option if I need something in a hurry on a Saturday though - hadn't realised it was open, I don't make it over the hill to CE very often!
Evans can be variable - the one on Mortimer Road I was wanting a Brompton, tried for 20 mins to get any kind of service, got fed up of being ignored and nipped to Cycle Surgery around the corner where they were chatty and enthusiastic, no problem taking a test ride 30 mins before the shop shut, and I bought it there and then.
OH's previous bike (GT Outpost) came from Evans, next to the skiing place at the Trafford Centre.
Being new to MTBs (last one I bought was fifteen years ago), my OH who is a fuller-figured lady enquired as to its suitability. The young lad serving us laughed and said that we could fall off a drop "the height of the door" and the bike would be fine.
It lasted about a month before the crappy Suntour shock failed, hacking through a rooty bit of singletrack behind a local park.
We took it back to Evans, where the mechanic told us that he'd bodged it and that if we carried on riding as we were doing (gentle off-road trails), the fork would break irreprably.
Shocked at the disparity between this advice and what we'd been told when we'd bought it, I wrote to the shop. I got a reply essentially calling me a liar, and offering to waive the labour charge if I bought a new fork from them.
I figured, blox to that, and bought a second-hand Reba off a mate instead.
...gone downhill since tfi friday.
Evans in Braehead Glasgow once sold me a bike which had rims upon which all tyres were impossibly tight, to the point of being unable to fix punctures or change tyres without hours of manual labour.
They didn't care. One phone call to the bike manufacturer got the issue sorted with alternative wheels. Dawes 1 Evans -10.
If they were the last bike shop in the world I'd take up walking.
Online sales is great.
In shop customer service is great.
Call centre customer service team are trained along the lines of "call the customer a liar until they give up complaining." Luckily I'm not the type to give up, and I am the type to write very long and tiresome complaint letters 😀
Like most shops of this scale, they're a bit hit n miss depending on which department or location you're dealing with.
I've walked out the Glasgow one on at least 3 occasions despite having goods in my hand waiting to pay at the till. The service is just atrocious.
eeerrrrmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?
With the massive amount of information available on the internet about even the most obscure of bikes/components (MTBR etc.), why would anyone now go into a bike shop and hand over money for a major piece of kit (e.g., more than £20) without having researched its suitability for intended purpose online? I can see that it's the shop's fault in some cases above (broken Suntour), for volunteering completely wrong information, especially if no information about the product was available to the customer online. But ultimately, put it this way, I'd rely on the assistant's advice if he was old with a beard, but not if he was some kid who'd been riding for maybe 3 years and working in a bike shop for 6 months.
With the wheels, I dunno - it would never have occurred to me (as a bike shop employee, or as a customer) to check that you can remove the tyres reasonably easy before selling. I'd say that's a situation where caveat emptor applies...chalk it up to experience. I can see why the shop didn't offer you a completely new set of wheels in that situation - they're quite a big piece of kit, and it's a really low margin business (at least for hardware, not so much for clothes). I can't imagine any independent store treating the situation differently but I might be wrong. Of course, the customer's always right...
I used to work in one of these stores (years ago) and we worked very, very hard to leave the customer happy, and some of the shop assistants really knew their stuff.
With respect, we did research it, though in hindsight not enough. The GT was recommended by a mate who's ridden at a fairly high level for years as being a really good frame and the rest can be upgraded. We'd decided it would be a good starting bike.
Part of research is knowing what questions to ask. I know, now, that the fork is one of the most important parts of the bike and also one most likely to be underspecced in order to lower costs. Back then, it didn't occur to us that it was even a question needing asking.
To be fair though, you're right, and it was naiive to trust some spotty oik for advice. Nontheless, they've a legal obligation to sell goods 'as described' under the SoG act, and this clearly wasn't.
TBH, I was more annoyed by the sh1togram I got back from the manager than the duff advice at point of sale though. Mistakes happen, but being accused of lying when I try to make a complaint is inexcusable.
Anyway, f'k em. If we hadn't had a bad time with Evans I'd never have discovered two fantastic LBSs, so it's all good.