The Bike Chain (Edinburgh)

Still got my number aye? Just drop me a text sometime. We can test the lines in the Spylaw and Goose and Bridge Inn and ….

Edit – double post. Oops

Yeah, still got it. Spylaw lines are good, I gave them the once over the other day. Cheers

Gutted. Only rented a go pro from them but they did give me some amazing disc brake advice at the same time!

Good luck

Good luck for the future, Mark at al

Whether it’s for better or worse is immaterial, a small LBS being swallowed up is never ‘happy’ news. I’ll always have fond memories of TBC; though I only bought one bike from there, it was a bike that I had the best of times riding 😀

Jason

As I said on the other TBC thread Good luck to Mark and the other staff , Im guilty of buying from cheap online shops instead of spending a bit more at the likes of the bike chain. It must be hard to make a living working in any retail shop in this day and age but with the likes of Chain Reaction and Planet X being so competitive bikes shops must be really hard hit.

I’d imagine Mark would make a success at any new venture he takes on as he has always came across as a genuine and helpful guy so best of luck in his new role at 2 Pure.

Personally I’ve never had any bad service from the bike coop and bought 2 bikes from there . Im not saying Its a good thing that Bike Coop has taken over the shop but the way some folk are reacting on The Bike chain facebook group is a bit OTT. Surely It would be worse If someone had bought the shop and turned It into a bloody ‘Ransdens gold merchant’or B & M bargains but then It is Stockbridge after all. 😆

Hm. My experience of EBC is excitable young staffers who value ‘new!’ mixed with a suspicious old roadie who practically chases me out of the shop with what is probably meant to be attentive service but *really* isn’t… The obsession with moderne is fine, but hanging off my elbow and following me round basically guarantees no sale.

I tend to use other shops as a result…

I didn’t buy much from TBC but Mark (and other staff) always made me feel welcome in the shop and were up for the crack. I’ll be sad to see them go, but good luck to the new guys.

Best wishes Mark et al.

Thanks for all the help and patience, and especially the trade-in – completely unnecessary on your part, but just confirms what most others have said above.

Good luck with 2pure, sometimes in life it’s nice to be a bit of a salaryman.
As long as they’ve not handed you the job of Crank Bros warranty support.

My experience of EBC

Mine…is I was watched as though as I was pilfering but then they did open a store in Rusholme.. 😆

Shame to hear of another independent LBS closing up. Only had one dealing with TBC and that was the use of their demo Cotic Rocket (for no charge!). They seemed to be really nice, clued up guys. I went on to buy a Rocket frame from EBC as I work for them. Granted EBC are more commuter orientated but don’t write them off as they do have some very good staff dotted around the business.

Sad to see TBC close and all the best to Mark and the team in their new ventures. Only bought a few things from them (admittedly two were quite big) but hugely appreciate the service I got from them. Hope the new role gives them more time to ride more and do more of the stuff you enjoy doing outside of work.

Let’s hope the bike Coop hang onto tbc ethos too.

This is sad news, good luck to Mark, Brad and all the others that have given marvellous service at the finest velocipede emporium the world has ever seen.

By the way if you still want TBC levels of service and advice rather than having to deal with the coop, and haven’t come across them yet, Pedals in Bruntsfield is great, I tend to get little bits like brake pads from them on the way home from work.

http://www.pedals-edinburgh.com/

I’ll definitely miss the place, not my local-est of LBSes but was always worth going out of my way to visit.

I doubt the new owners will ever achieve the ‘above and beyond’ level of service that TBC’s staff delivered as standard, but hopefully they’ll give it a shot.

ojom? rubbish user name

It’s the way he rides his bike. 😉

Yoo hoo. It is indeed sad that TBC is no more but have no fear! Brad doesn’t disappear 🙂 stay tuned

I’m going to make some big assumptions here and say it’s not as sad for the TBC guys as it seems. I suspect that with Mark leaving the other owners didn’t think it was worthwhile keeping the shop going given their other concerns and that is was a good time to sell up. I doubt Brad wanted to work for something like EBC and Mark will have wanted to spend more time with his wife (which, if you’d seen her, you would completely understand). So while it’s sad for we customers it’s not so sad for the guys who have been keeping us so happy for the last 3 or 4 years. They probably deserve a bit of happy time.

As for the comment about Brad earlier, as another ex shop mechanic Brad was a breath of fresh air. Brad didn’t cut corners, knew his stuff inside out, was the only person I know who could spot a full suspension rider borrowing a hardtail at 500 yards and would fix a bike to the best of his ability and not fob you off with naff quotes, but would also try and bring things back to life for people.

From what I saw of Brad he hated seeing people on crap bikes, and building a crap bike for someone is a sad thing. And, while it’s expensive, a Surly Long Haul Trucker is a crap bike. I got a similar feeling every time I built a Trek Pilot for someone- one simply doesn’t need that much headtube.

There are only 2 people in the country I would let fix my bike (other than myself) and Brad would be one of them.

Best of luck to all concerned, I know we loved being your customers but I imagine sometimes it was hard keeping so many people so happy and no doubt you’ll have fun doing whatever you’re up to now. I know Mark’s off to something fun and no doubt Brad will do something rad (even if he’s got into archery, what the chuff?).

It’ll be Velo Ecosse for me when I’m back in Embra. I know they’re a roadie shop but they stock weird stuff that you need on a Friday before a ride while EBC stocks stuff to keep 90% happy.

Sad to see the Bike Chain go

That’s what happens when you buy online folks!

You want cheap or great service?

They may have bought online.. from TBC? Most bike shops, big and small offer to sell stuff ‘online’.

Another thing is people jumping to conclusions. If someone brought a part into an LBS and asked to get it fitted… only to get a death stare from the shop owner after telling them it was from CRC, how many shop owners would ever consider that the customer might have picked up the phone and rang the number from the advert in the magazine? Could easily be someone that’s never even bought anything online in their life.

Good luck in your new ventures Mark and everyone. Thanks for all your help in the past year. I still owe you a few drinks Mark – post Wednesday night rides if resumed would be good for that or you could join our little pub based bike club. It’s a slipery slope that one though.

I’ve yet to meet Mark but he is on my bucketlist of people to meet. You’d better not disapoint me.

ojom – Member
Woah. You leave jimmy out of this.

Nobody puts jimmy in the corner.

I’ll be hanging around E(T)BC this Friday with bottles of beer from next door out of sentimentality, if anyone cares to join.

Do you need to borrow some brown paper bags Jimmy? 😉

Who, oh who, is going to step into the role of Stephen Merchant impersonator? 🙁

A fellow Daniel Radcliffe impersonator could pull it off.

Daniel Radcliffe – pulling Jimmy off..???

Harry and Ron, shower wing at Hogwarts, Secretivum lovinum spell works every time.

Househusband I smell your jealousy.

Jealousy isn’t a strong enough term…

The smoke & mirrors striking home already – brief message for the new owners; Facebook Linky. disappointed as haven’t had any issues with EBC before.

Gutted to miss out on the (very) competitively priced Enduro service deal by 4 days.

That’s disappointing Rob, do you mean they didn’t even squeeze your tyres?

BOSH! Have no fear about the Enduro service, Brad is going to be running the same services to the same level at ‘Edinburgh Cycle Company’ with a brand new, kitted out workshop. Basically everything available at TBC will be available at ECC (Granton road) starting April.

Thats good news, that enduro service is a bargain. If I hadn’t just done my forks and shock myself I would have booked it in. Hopefully take advantage of it when I get back from the alps….it’ll need it! 😀

Good to know – suspect I’ll be an early bookee.. Thanks, Brad.

Edinburgh Cycle Company FB page

All about the customer service.
Which must be of the highest standard all of the time, nothing’s too much, ever.

The customer is sacred. Worship them.

But that’s just me . . .

See you soon everybody… 😉

If you are very small, or very big, the coop in bruntsfield is flogging the tbc stock at 50% off. Seems to be only the brands they don’t stock themselves, but half price poc, madison and some other bits and bobs are there if you are a funny shape. Couple of maxxis ignitors too