Forgot to say – On Your Bike is the competitor to Evans at London Bridge. I was in there once when an assistant told a woman with a broken spoke that “wheels can’t really be repaired” and she needed a new 130 quid one. Big wave for the LBS!!!!

” I’m just back from a nice day on a yacht on the Solent, and am now back in my well appointed flat in one of the finer parts of London, eating good food and drinking good beer.”

konabunny – London Bridge?

Correct, although in fairness I get the impression there are two types of Evans, the satellite showroom shops and ones with workshops etc.

London Bridge has (or at least had) a workshop in the basement.

I like my local branch of Evans (Kendal) – do I need to join Evans Anonymous ?

i hope Evans is paying STW for all this advertising

Good ‘Evans, this thread has gone on……

IGMC

DrP

The chances of any bike shop having what Ton wants at this precise moment in time are vanishingly small. For most of last week, for example, he wanted a Stifee 69er, of which there were only ever 69 in the world. By the end of the week he didn’t want it anymore. It is unclear that the entire bike industry stands a chance, forget one branch of recreational non-specialist shop. 🙂

😀

I’ve seen the classic ‘Oh, you’ll need to buy XYZ product’ line given to noob customers numerous times. Bike shops (chain and local) seem to make a lot of dishonest money this way.

I mangled a rear mech a few years ago, and the nearby chain store didn’t have the jockey wheel and pin that would have fixed it. Instead they told me I could buy a whole new mech and they’d fit it for about £60. I walked home, and they got nothing. Stocking the bit I needed couldn’t have been too difficult, could it?

To be fair, the guy in the shop was helpful and friendly, and lent me a chain breaker from the workshop, which he didn’t have to do.

Braehead seems to be fine. You do know bike shops are there to actually make a profit and are not government funded services?

Evans Cycles Rethreading a crank or two. When everyone else was SHUT! Apparently they are all left hand dreads. Sorry Threads. Cosybike has Cool Mechanics. They wouldn’t take any money either so I will promote them.

Ive had pretty good experiences of Evans in Milton keynes when I have need bolts and or olives/inserts recently. Someone nips upstairs to the workshop gets what I need and i end up paying 50 p for it. Only go in there when I am heading to the cinema though

mmm, the only bike store I wont go near! one of there staff in the Kendal store took delight in ridiculing everything I suggested when looking for a bike for my missus and proceeded to tell me in length how brilliant he was at crossing the bars when jumping (lord knows how he got onto that subject) and how ‘my problem was that i’ve been riding crap bikes’, what for 20 years? – oh no!a prize prat shop. Avoid!