For me, it was my old chums at Stonehenge Cycles in Salisbury. It was ace! Didn't need to buy anything, just popped in to say hello. And to buy them ice cream as it was a rather hot day!
Although, with hindsight, I wish I'd bought one of the lovely Endura merino T-shirts they had in...! Maybe next trip.
The BIke Factory in Whaley Bridge. Really good LBS to have, super friendly and good deals on bikes. It was Unusually busy last time i was in 🙂
Phil Corley's in Milton Keynes to pick up a pair of freshly built (thanks for another set of cool wheels Steve) SS road wheels for a bike under construction 🙄
All round good eggs and worth taking the occassional boxful of homemade brownies in on a Sunday
popped into Peter Sansford this afternoon in Winchester, about 5.30 so helpful and great service, bought a lovely new thompson stem 🙂
great service and nice guys.
dales bike center................very nice
but i did not buy anything.
mcdonalds cycles in edinburgh - i was having some trouble with get my race onto my forks - they sorted it FOC 🙂
Stif and it was like a morgue.
Nice staff, bikes and layout though.
Bike style in clevedon, very well stocked for such a small place!
Fox, Intense and Yeti (plus others). Good shop.
stif..............what the hell were they thinking moving all the way out there.
loads of passing trade in summerbridege midweek.............. 🙄
their marketing man must be well proud.
condor in london - very pleasant place to be, v shiny bikes, very good clothing stock level.
not that i could afford much of it!
Jon @ 'The bicycle Smithy' in Hazel Grove on the dreaded A6 that evetually goes out to the Peak district.
He kindly lent us his own personal tandem to 'try before you buy', top chap.
TheBikeChain in Edinburgh. One of the best I've been in.
18 Bikes - today, collected new soul, just back from first ride and totally converted.
It was, as ever friendly and full of shiny bits
Wight Mountain in Newport IOW last weekend. Great bunch o' lads like. Very reasonable prices and always a quick turnaround on repairs and bodge rescues.
Geoff Smiths in bolton yesterday, nearly my LBS, been going for ooh 20yrs. Roadie shop, always seems to be atleast 1 customer in and plenty of them chat aswell as purchase. Nice place, doesnt stock much high end MTB stuff but has basics and can order most stuff in quickly.
I-cycles in Innerleithen, top bloke Stevie that runs it, the bike shop for people that want a good independant dealer to flourish rather than the chain store round the corner.
The Bothy bike shop in Aviemore were great a few weeks ago, sorting us out with some local trails. The least we could do was buy a map.
Was in loads in BC last couple of weeks; Tantalus in squamish, Cove bikes in Van, Fanatik in whistler, Gerik and sacred ride in Nelson.
Bunnyhop- There has to be no road i hate more than that one! never been in the shop though.
The Bikeworks in Edinburgh at lunchtime today, to pick up my Enduro which they'd had since the weekend but have now decided they can't do the work on. 😥
Samways in Derby, as usual a pleasant experience, had a chat with some of the assistants. Bought a Mobi pressure washer (price matched down to tinternet price - Thankyou). Looked at a rather smart 2011 Kink Gap bmx for my son (also at a good price) who is now working out how many times he needs to mow the lawn to pay for it.
Sadly, I have to admit to buying too much over the internet and not using my local bike shop enough.
today i was in nirvana cycles.
redshed in williams lake is a coo, shop as is sacred ride, cove bikes etc...
Primera - Charminster, Bournemouth.
It's the model upmarket LBS.
I bought a Spesh pump for me and a Spesh multitool for my dad.
BikeScene in Guisborough. It's always nice!
Interesting question... I actually visited 2 today. Went into Hargroves (which I consider my LBS) after work and couldn't get served. They did have a sign up saying "staff wanted", but I was going to spend about £100 and no-one was free to serve me. They didn't even acknowledge my presence.
So I left and went to Cycle Surgery, which is more expensive. But they served me straight away and I got to gaze at a rather tasty Yeti 5 hanging from the ceiling while waiting for them to find my bits. Friendly service too.
It did make me realise why I do 99.9% of my shopping on the Net though.
Not particuarly because of the service in the shops, but the bloody driving around to get to them!
Evans in gateshead today, price matched ukbikestore which was nice and took it straight home. Ha some craic with the guys in there. 7/10 for the experience.
epicsteve - i took a hope tiglide rear hub to the bikeworks to get the bearings changed and they returned it saying they were super-smooth (on ten year old bearings!) - they guy even spun it infront of me. got it home, had a spin and it was like the bearings had been replaced with gravel. took it back and they were everso apologetic.... hmmmm
Forgot to say Corely's have one of these hanging (green and white) in the shop......looks v nice.....possible next cycle to work bike
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that would be shit off road! 😉
Twelve50 in Frodsham, cracking shop, nice guys walked out with my shiny SS 😆
jedi - Member
that would be shit off road!
LOL....it would be ok because it appears to be able to float a few inches of the floor so it doesn't need suspension
Ride or Bikelab in Poole, excellent as usual.
good point ken......... flowspension!
Teh bike chain in Edinburgh. Bought a nice shiny Hope BB at a nice shiny price. Got the piss ripped out of me again the swines. I think I get "comedy value" discount or something
Leisure Lakes in 'Nam today. It was, as ever, jam packed with stock. I bought some lube.
[i]18 Bikes - today...
It was, as ever friendly and full of shiny bits [/i]
I realise that I'm probably in a minority of one, but my experiences of 18 Bikes have not been great
street life in lowestoft smaller than the norwich store but twice as nice and the staff are real easy going and know there stuff but since i left the crap shop i worked at going into street life has seemed all the sweeter even if i only go in for bits and a cuppa
Bicycle Repairman Edinburgh, friendly and enjoyable
The Bike Shop in Skipton. Tiptop blokes and service and I purchased some Endura Hummvees which had an inaugural outing last night round Wycoller. They were excellent.
The Bicycle Works - Edinburgh
Very small shop with workshop/mechanic working right in the centre of shop. Gear all over the walls and hard to make sense of where stuff is and what they actually have. That said, the guys were great and they charge a lot less labour costs than some of Edinburghs bigger bike shops.
steve_b77 - Member
Twelve50 in Frodsham, cracking shop, nice guys walked out with my shiny SS
Not been in there, but the Indian used to be good about 10 years ago!
Does Halfords count?
Got a call this morning to say my Charge Plug (on the cycle2work scheme) was in, went to pick it up this evening, they got it out, failed dismally with the paperwork and wouldn't let me have it!!
I didn't swear at them, there was already someone else there doing that!
I calmly (externally) went downstairs and asked if there was a manager in the store, no surprise there wasn't, but I got the "duty manager" I think he was identifiable by the fact his hair was red and black instead of a single colour! He said he'd sort it though - and FAILED!!!
Eveything was in place for me, I had everything I needed, I even logged in to THEIR website in THEIR store to find my NI number that they needed for some reason, which showed my application was approved, which it must have been to order an unusual bike.
Despite having 2 forms of photo id, my bank card, credit card and letter of collection they wouldn't let me take the bike!
It cost me an hour of my life, the hassle of putting my bike carrier on the car and evenwhen offering them my credit card details by way of gaurantee, I've still got to go back on Monday - ****3RS!!!!
The only person in there of any use was a guy in a B&Q shirt who'd popped in for some paint (from the B&Q store next door) and ended up adjusting someones gears and talking a girl through giving a refund on a till as he used to work there!!!!!!!
Sorry, that might have turned in to a bit of a rant!
IHN, remember: "if we do a good job tell everyone else, if your not happy with our service tell us!" I'm sure the good chaps at Eighteen bikes would like to hear your constructive criticism. What aren't you happy about?
knobblies.. Exmouth
twas the same as usual.. very helpful and plenty of banter about strange handlebars
My LBS alticoopvtt it was like every time, nice, set of for a night ride with one of the two owners. We get to the top of the local hill, full view on the countryside of Nice, nice dark red and grey sky.
Nice ride down too 😀
Escape Route in Pitlochry. On the way back from the 'Puffer Lite. Stopped in for a blether and a caffine fix to keep me awake for the rest of my journey home. It's about 40 mins from home but I'd consider it my LBS before any of the others (7 or so) that are less than half the distance away. Service is everything and they have it down to an art there.
Paul.
west end cycles, colwyn bay. have always been helpful and sorted any prob I've had.
Bad Ass - for new brake lever fitting and general fettling. And they are good.
Pedal Power in West Calder. Picking up my mothers bike and buying some Endura Equipe shorts. Cracking blether with Jonny and Gary - thanks for the discount 🙂
Pedal Power is where I used when I worked in Livingston - good little shop.
Royles in wilmslow - came away with new brakes, shop was heaving and is a great looking store, staff always helpful
Cooksons. Probably just bought some s#1t shifter and had a chat.
TheBikeChain, crap service, I only got the one coffee and I was there half an hour 😉
Certini bike shop in Saltash near Plymuff. Great service as always from the staff & lots of banter.
We chewed the fat over a ride I guided the week before for the guys & they gave me some advice on a small problem on my bike. For once I managed not to buy anything which is very hard as it's also a Specialized Concept Store & full of very shiny lovely biking stuff 😆
I have always found them very helpful & they are the only bikeshop I would trust with my bikes.
Popped into The Bike Chain in Edinburgh last Wednesday for an inner tube. Nice and friendly, and the chap didn't even roll his eyes when I couldn't work out the Schwalbe sizing on the box.
Prior to that, Flying Fox Bikes in Alva cos they let me borrow a super-swish Argon 18 Gallium road weapon for the week.
Noah's Ark in Chalford/Brimscombe.
Forgotten how good it is to have someone service your bike for you and for it to come back all working properly...
Could have bought lots (Cannondale TT bike, Spesh cross bike) but just happy to have my bike working well again.
There's a bike shop called badass? Where's that. Badnewz might have to get his badass down there.
Don Skene Cycles in Cardiff - bought a pair of Renthal dirt bars. Always very helpful and top service - I do most of my maintenance myself but it's the only local shop I'd trust for bearing replacement and the like. Like an Aladdin's cave of stuff - I could spend hours in there. Wish they'd stop hanging Intense, Santa Cruz and tiny jump frames in the shop though - like a blinkin' carrot to a donkey 😉
Badassbikes is in North Somerset (Burrington Coombe, Mendip Hills) and it is indeed good, owned by the legend that is Rob 'Box' Cooksley!
I went to BIKE in Bristol yesterday, full of nice bikes of all varieties and i had a nice long chat with one of the shop managers. Looking forward to having them as my employer.
IHN,
Popocatapetl is right, we'd definitely like to know what we did wrong so that we sort it out and don't do it again, send us a mail/call us if you can
Thanks
matt
Race Co in Stourbridge. As ever, very friendly, lots of nice things to look at and they sorted me out with a new tyre and a good price. Really good LBS in my eyes.
Volt bmx shop in London, to buy a new frame. It's a brilliant frame and a decent shop.
So no-one has a shitty local shop then?
I do several in fact, low stock, un interested employees etc, I live in Maidstone, however the last bike shop I went to was Bromley Bikes, and they were ok, well stocked, relativly friendly it has potential tohugh tey don't stock my faourite brand of bike.
Jamie - Member
So no-one has a shitty local shop then?
I do. I will ride past 5 shops to get to my LBS. How many peoples local bike shop is actually their closest bike shop?
Bicycle Repair Man in Prudhoe - don't like them at all. Never been very helpful, always feel that they think I'm wasting their time, spoke to my missus like she was dumb
Bought something most times I've been in, but the last straw was the last time where I enquired about what cycle scheme they used and the lad had a massive sigh before answering.
I will go to the lads in Newburn from now on for any bits that need doing or buying
Jamie - Member
So no-one has a shitty local shop then?
I do, but you'll probably never see it (it's in Sweden). No organisation in their displays, mostly cheap nasty stuff on the walls and the 'expensive' stuff (several year old bits still at full price) is piled in old shopping baskets on the floor. Apperently they have a good mechanic but the guy who wrote the work-order the last time I needed them got it wrong and refused to accept it, charging me £40 for the privilege of leaving the store with a fork whose steerer was 30mm too short.
Their one redeeming feature was when they dumped all their 'gnarr' stock (in favour of more darkside stuff) for ridiculously low prices, and when the owner berated some idiot who came in complaining that when he paid good money for a Scott Sub 10, he'd expect it not to need as much maintenance (i.e. chainlube) as a cheapo bike cos the drivetrain "should be made of stainless steel"!?!
Chelmer cycles,good lads, good stock, helpfull, and happy to waffle for a while
I betrayed my usual locals (the bike chain and edinburgh bikes) to have a sniff round the local roadie emporium Velo Ecosse.
Very nice, they were never very interested when I went in asking for suspension fluid or other mtb stuff, but get the guy chatting about Assos, Giordana or Rudy Project and he was very helpful.
Big pictures of the Assos girl on the wall were nice too 😀
Pack and Pedal, Auckland. It was pretty cool. A bit pricey but good stock of bike and kayaking stuff.
This should make everyone feel better. Popped into my LBS, and saw quite a few bikes made by a Brasilian brand - I forget the name. They did have one or two Scott bikes and I asked how much for a Scott 70 Scale HT. Brazilian taxes are something like 50% compared to our 17% vat. So it came out at pretty much twice the price it would be in the UK, around £1600 for what would be an £800 bike in the UK.
Red Planet Cycles - Swindon - this morning, Ordered some wheels Bought a new disc rotor and a Caliper adapter.
Very good Helpful friendly shop just wish my tuesdays were free to go out on their Tuesday ride outs
I lied! I forgot about the magical bike fixing abilities of Jon at The Bicycle Smithy in Hazel Grove last week. A repair I thought would be about £30:00. Got charged £7:00, I gave £10:00. I felt quite guitly.
I'm hoping one of the brands that Jon stocks is going to bring out a nice road bike in the autumn so I can buy it from him.
Matt - YGM
IHN - YGM
Bothy Bikes Aviemore. It was emotional. In a good way.
They once gave me a bike for nothing because mine broke and they chased my warranty claim even tho I didn't buy it from them. And the bike they gave me was much better than the one I broke! They are wonderful people for many reasons. 😀
Big Adventure Store - Swindon
Uber helpful- cant do enough for their customers, Brilliant.
Gear, in Gibson St, Glasgow.
It was a hot day, so I popped in just before closing time with a six-pack of cold beers to have a bit of a blether and catch up on P7 progress and to see some of the fixie custom builds.
A very busy shop, but you'll always get attention.
Highly recommend it.