Wade Simmonds, Geoff gulevich, john Cowan, shaums march, richie schley, Josh bender, Robbie bourdon, Joe schwartz, Darren butler, rob Warner, Jason McRoy, Bob Haro, Matt Hoffman and a number of other colourful ‘characters’ from bmx and mtn biking over the years 🙂

I work in a ‘brand store’.for 2015 we have 17 demo bikes split across mtn, road and men’s/women’s models.

We charge for demo bike use because we had to buy the bikes, albeit at a reduced rate from the distributor. At the end of next autumn we’ll try to sell the bikes to claw back some of this money.

We also have to clean, service and repair the bikes to keep them serviceable. Last bike we lent out came back dirty and with a bent derailleur hanger / scratched rear mech .

If a customer buys a bike from us, the charge is refunded.

When I worked in 2 specialized concept stores we had access to 100+ bikes held by specialized UK. We were charged £40 for delivery and return shipping, and had to clean the bikes before return. Of course this cost was charged to the customer.

When I worked for Freeborn we did it differently taking customers on guided demo rides in Surrey hills, at no charge. Surprising how many time wasters this weeded out compared to when people wanted to take bikes away just to have something bling to thrash for a few days.

This happens regularly in many industries

Years ago my fledgling suspension frame company was approached by a well known Northern fruit-themed bike company with a view to us selling our designs. Our riders had been spotted at an NPS DH doing very competitive runs.

We declined but crude prototypes appeared at the next DH race, until the realisation that we did not own the rear suspension design but were licensing it from a well known American company (who ended up selling to Specialized)

No further communication from my company but the prototypes were not seen again….

Never had a problem with it, and where I ride off-road in NW London its notorious for dog walkers with packs of 8-10 dogs running around like mad

just slow right down, stop or dismount. let them pass, say hello to the dog walker and more often say hello to the dogs who are very friendly and interested in saying hello back and jumping all over me which I don’t mind as I’m usually covered in mud

had a ride on this, awesome machine!

started using tubeless conversions years ago when I was working for Freeborn – the original importer of Stan’s No Tubes to the UK

been using it ever since with great results and few if any problems

key is good preparation and careful setup. I stopped using the over priced “rim strips” as I found they often leaked, and if you ruined the tire by slashing it open on some glass (requiring an inner tube to get home) you’d end up with a sealant covered rim strip and a naked rim bed which could easily puncture your tube!

Found the best setup is to degrease the rim bed with iso alcohol, wrap several times in electrical tape, then twice with tubeless tape, prick a tiny hole for the valve, use a good tubeless valve core (the best have o-ring under lock ring) and be liberal with the sealant to ensure a good seal and long running life.

If you do ruin the tire (this has happened 3 times in 5 years to me) you can just remove the valve core, and install an inner tube with the rim bed protected by the tape

Used this setup on Mavic, Sun, Stan’s and Roval rims, found Specialized Control 2-Bliss tires the best for easy setup

Still using Stan’s sealant as I found it the best. Worst was Specialized or Bontrager.

Speak to hope customer service – usually very helpful with this issue

Most recently happened twice with aluminium body on my road wheels, replaced foc. Third time they gave me a steel body foc.

Also happened on all my pro II Mtb wheels even with sram pg990 or XT spider style cassettes.

Filing does not address issue because once the splines are worn the cassette becomes a loose fit which can cause creaking and shifting “noise” under power even with locking at 40nm. Problem only gets worse with time..

Filing will allow the cassette to be refitted easily though 😉

I’ve put this matting system into the last 4 workshops I’ve managed.

It’s bought from slip-not.co.uk

http://www.slip-not.co.uk/productdetail/Anti-Fatigue-Tiles-A

Fantastic product to fit and work on, will take a heavy load even in commercial workshop, and each panel (approx 3 x 3 foot) can be replaced seperately if damaged. Its fully modular and can be easily cut to fit your space. Has an air cushion construction which makes kneeling on it very comfortable and stops back ache when on feet wrenching all day 😉

Banshee rampant for the win 😉

Long or short sizes giving 14″ or 12″ seat tube length. You could get a 30.9mm dropper post in there no problem which would give adequate extension for trail pedalling.

Wicked frame 100mm travel excellent pedalling with active braking, designed for slopes type so will take a beating without flinching

Had 2 rampants, run with u-turn pike 110-140mm

I have 10kms of Mtb trails in the NW of London, just 2km from my house

Surprisingly steep climbs and descents, fast singletrack, tree roots and fire roads.

Ride them 2-3 days a week

Well known saying in bike industry:

“to make 1 million, start with 2 million”.

Good luck……

@D0NK

I’ve never seen a bike rider so focused on chain tension as Liam Philips was during his setup.

Seems simple, but he said it needed to be ‘just right’ and judging from the number of times he set tension and then had to reset the axle position he knew exactly what he wanted.

He then moved onto the rear V-brake which he set up in his own manner.

He was running Chris king hubs, which I’d assume to be much more sensitive to chain tension into the driver, than the relatively crude driver/hubs most bmx use.

Part of the small details, I guess, which helps someone take the Uci bmx supercross #1 plate, and also #1 at an event like Parkour Ride.

As an aside, it was refreshing to see the 2 women (Manon carpenter and Anna Glowinski) kick butt at the event!

Unless I have this completely wrong, under distance selling regulations, are retailers not allowed to take payment until goods are ready to despatch?

@jameso

I hope what you say is true because Evans have been through periods where good staff quit in droves. It can be impossible for people who care about their working environment, to continue working for a company that throws their staff under the bus on a regular basis.

Staff are everything in a customer focused business, it’s shocking how few big companies seem to understand this basic idea, under pressure from investors and shareholders.

@kryton57

Thanks for your input. It’s often surprising how many big companies have terrible customer service yet keep trading?

Is this because there are so many new customers coming to that company, that it offsets the customers they have lost?

Or are these companies so large in scale that it takes months or years before bad CS has a measurable effect on the company?

@wynne

The power you have as a consumer is to vote with your wallet, and also realise that ‘value’ and price are separate concerns. I often see people concerned with getting the ‘cheapest’ price

If you consider the time you have wasted chasing your order, cost your time during this purchase, and figure in the hassle / stress it’s probably worth paying a little more to buy goods from a more reputable retailer next time?

both Evans and Cycle Surgery have experienced an exodus of good staff since they changed their business model to the mutiple outlet, chain retailer style

the old saying in retail, “Don’t worry about the staff leaving, worry about the ones left behind.”

In other words, ’employable’ people easily find jobs with other retailers.

‘Less employable’ people do not easily find jobs with other retailers, which means the retailer retaining those staff, suffers from an ever decreasing overall quality of staff, which has a measurable impact on customer satisfaction and sales

Which in a customer facing, technically orientated business like cycle retailing, does not bode well for the long term future of that retailer.

If you look at Evans and Cycle Surgery as examples, all appears well on the outside, from the inside you could perceive they have been “hollowed out” as part of an increasing drive to reduce staff costs by minimizing the numbers of full time salaried staff (i.e. knowledge) and increasing numbers of zero hour staff (i.e. inexperienced).

Most large retailers seem to operating this model, Maplin comes to mind as another example of a technically orientated business that has shed good staff over the years.

this is what happens when small companies “play” at being “internet retailers” and rely on their stockists warehousing, rather than ponying up and purchasing / holding their own goods

the best advice? salvage this situation, and vote with your wallet, in the future

The thing about the brake mount is that I would not expect a chain retailer to carry them in store?

My store has brake mounts simply because we sell mainly Shimano disc brakes and they don’t come with a brake mount in the box.

I am responsible for stocking the “service parts” and so make sure we have what I believe we will need if a customer coming into the store and wants a new brake fitted on the spot.

We also sell the cheap Avid DB1 brake, which again does not have a brake mount in the box, so I made sure to get some mounts when we stocked the brakes.

Also, I can order a brake mount from Madison or Fishers and have it in stock the next day.

Staff working at Evans (or Cycle Surgery) cannot do this, as they don’t have any access to the Madison / Fisher B2B sites or authorisation to make purchases.

Different setup, different scale..

I attended Parkour Ride as a technican working for one of the sponsors and found the event very interesting because it was the first time anyone had put different types of bikes / riders together, let alone in an urban environment.

Met some good people, including Liam Phillips who spent some time in our pits getting his BMX dialled, and caught up with some old friends who were racing or helping out.

They also attracted some good riders to the event including a good mix of BMX racers, fixed gear, roadies, 4x and MTB

including the #1 BMX rider in the World and the #1 MTB DH women’s champion, not every day you see them go head to head

This was the “proof of concept” event (i.e. prototype) and it was felt to be successful gauging from the feedback from the riders, spectators and sponsors.

The track was actually quite difficult to ride at high speed, bearing in mind it was lots of short sprints, flat / tight corners and obstacles dotted about. Numbers of crashes including one of the fixed gear riders going high side over the barriers on the roof

Probably the best thing about the event was the great atmosphere, the riders told me they were somewhat cautious at first about the track but found it very good fun to ride, and the racing got very fast / aggressive as the event whittled down to the best riders

Evans Cycles has become a massive operation with £100+ million yearly turnover and 50+ stores

They won’t stock every item, but will stock what sells based on their sales data.

As a company, its certainly way beyond a “local bike shop” since becoming a chain retailer.

If you look how their stock ‘range’ has changed in the past year, they are stripping the high end bikes and components from their stores in favour of selling entry level and mid level stock; that is where they make their money.

The high end and niche stock is held in their warehouses and shipped to store as needed.

The range plan is not under control of either the store staff nor the store manager, its done by their head office staff and area management.

I would not expect them to hold a disc brake adapter in store, but know I could order it “click and collect” and it would be in the local store within 48 hours – probably the most useful function of Evans.

I won’t be giving them anymore of my money after an incident with a ‘used’ wheel set missing some hub parts, sold as new and then I was fobbed off for 8 days, but that’s another story

Evans Cycles are what they are – and know their place in the UK bike market

Is the spesh 650b still a bodge with the 26″ front end installed with headset spacer to accommodate the bigger front wheel, and 29er rear end bolted on?

I rode that blue stumpy fsr released 2014 and it felt weird too short and tall with high bbh

Or have they actually made a true 650 frame for 2015?

I also bought a cx bike thinking it would be a good compromise – that’s what it turned out to be as I was not racing cx.

Slow / undergeared on road – not as capable off road as my Mtb hardtail.

Did not make sense for my needs, of course if racing cx then a different need.

Arguing about suspension designs is so 2013, don’t ya know!

It’s all about bamboo hardtails with 27.5 wheels..come on people, get with the programme 😉

Photo fail!

Get in touch with Keith at banshee bikes if you have any questions about sizing, geometry or which model is right for your needs?

I worked with Keith for several years, also count him as a good buddy, he is happy to hear from any potential customers.

Regarding the durability of pivots, since Keith switched the bikes to ks link using sealed ball bearings, it’s been solid compared to the old vf4b using igus nylon bushings.

Quality cable cutters to shorten the hose, slide the new olive down the hose, enlarge end of cut hose with bradawl or smallest key of park aws_10, clamp with mole grips the Shimano yellow plastic blocks 10mm down from the cut end, tap the insert home with hammer, slide olive to end of hose and screw the lever/hose fitting using spanner whilst pushing the hose against the stop.

Rode 5800 in June and was not impressed as I’d already ridden ultegra 11 speed and ride 6700 on my own bike but with 6800 Teflon cabling.

Found 5800 felt a bit plastic, rougher shifting and braking (probably the standard cables compared to Teflon), and the chainset feels softer when standing on the big ring or shifting up under power which is not surprising as the ring is not ‘hollowform’ like 6700 / 6800 but a plastic infill version.

Not bad as a groupset and great value but noticeable difference to ultegra, whilst 6800 does not feel far off 11 spd dura ace.

We had a custom painted ‘Specialized’ two speed when I worked at concept store in Covent Garden. Apart from quick test rides on customer repairs when I worked for Evans, I’d never spent any proper time on a Brompton.

We constantly used the store bike from Covent Garden to pick up stock from the other cycle surgery stores across London, which often involved riding through gridlocked traffic. Very nippy, efficient and super fun to ride.

Absolutely fantastic bit of kit, ours had the flat bars, lock on grips, marathon tires and a body geometry Road saddle plus beanie flat pedals.

Would love to own a Brompton, but no need at moment and they are certainly expensive. Some of the guys I worked with at Evans had pimped out Brompton with Shimano cranks, race Face bars, skateboard easy wheels, even custom wheels with profile hubs. One guy was making machined fittings to replace the stock nylon parts.

The non USA made Trek frames are certainly good quality – all made by Giant 😉

started riding mountain bikes in 1986

still riding mountain bike

still enjoying the riding, “despite” my current bike being a carbon fibre 29″ wheeled steed, its still fun in the dirt and that is all that matters!

I run Specialized S-Works Turbo in 26c size on my Tarmac and they are fantastic tires in terms of crazy grip and low rolling resistance, also very comfortable around 100psi

only downside is terrible durability, but it is a racing tire 😉

@mtbcowboy

the edges of the groove in the top cap (where the o-ring sits) is responsible for scoring the fork steerer, as the headset moves under load

narrowed it down to 3:

road bike

mountain bike

commuting hybrid with mudguards

no need or room for any more 🙂

when I worked for Freeborn, we could sell a Rockhopper with Rockshox fork (with oil damper) and Avid hydraulic disc brakes for £600 this was probably a 2008 model?

If you look at what you now get for £600 its barely more than an entry level canal path capable “MTB”

things have gotten expensive…

I’d say road bikes have caused a decline to MTB market because:

-£1000 road bike has better spec than £1000 MTB. £1000 MTB feels cheap. You need to spend decent money to get a quality MTB.
-road biking much more accessible, roll out of your front door, time is short = good ride!
-less wear and tear I.e. ongoing costs
-ageing population, wants lower risk during riding
-social growth, more people riding road = more riding buddies
-road is less technical, requires less skill, more fitness. Fitness easier to develop than skill.
-fashion/Zeitgeist, road is all over TV. Everyone knows Wiggins, Cavendish, Kittel, Froome. MTB? Not so…who is British MTB champion?

Cutting guide and new 24 tpi hacksaw blade (32tpi for carbon, not carbon specific blade as I always assumed until put right by largest bike manufacturer in world).

Pipe cutters designed for softer metal used in plumbing, not aluminium alloys or cromoly steel used in metal steerer tubes 😉

Trick is to twist the saw frame clockwise into the cutting guide whilst cutting to run the blade hard against the guide plate, angle the tool at 45 degrees and soft pressure whilst cutting, should ensure a clean, square cut.

Finish outside and inside diameter with semi-round file for steel/aluminium or wet grit paper for carbon

Easton got sold in USA and the new owner dumped existing distributor saddleback for silverfish

Would recommend contacting Easton directly for help, they have been helpful in past when I needed some seat post clamp parts

Hope have great after sales support.

I had problems with severe notching of the aluminium free hub on my road bike, replaced the 1st foc, after the 2nd one went the same despite following all their advice, they gave me a steel body foc

The steel body makes the wheel feel more solid under power, its also less noisy, but people who commented about the big difference in weight of the steel body were not wrong, so the wheels have gone onto my commuting bike 🙂