Anybody visited Winstanleys?

.blitz

I know Winstanleys have a reputation as the mail order Anti-Christ but I've never had any problems with them. Me and jr and his mate are going up to Wigan tomorrow to get some BMX bits and first call is Alan's but we were thinking of dropping by Winstanleys.

Is it a 'proper' bike shop or is it a warehouse/depot?

FSR Si

Dont bother they are shit!!!

I went last year to buy one of there discounted zaskars, i turned up at 1.30 on a monday afternoon went in had a look round, couldn't see what i was after so asked an assistant if they still had any 16 inch ones in stock yes was the reply, so i asked if i could try one out to make sure it was the right size....Call back wednesday was the reply, i asked if they would get one out for me to have a look at and i would pay cash and take it away boxed and build it myself.... I was then told call back at 5 and they would see if they had time to get one out, so all in they wanted me to hang about round wigan with my 2yr old daughter for 3 and half hours for a maybe and they wasn't interested in the fact that i was paying cash and saving them the hassle of building it. In the end i just walked out.

.blitz

Err...OK that's pretty much what I was afraid of. We have a shortlist of stuff they allegedly have in stock and I wanted them to get the bits out so we could have a look at them first. Alan's it is then...

FSR Si

not to sure how they would treat you on parts as they do have a small counter in the shop with parts in, but like i said bikes forget it. Good luck

Dirtydog11

I went up there a couple of weeks ago.

My mate bought a Mongoose Cannan off them.

We rang them up to check it was in stock and they where happy for us to have a ride around the car park.

They swapped both the pedals and saddle over for him.

The same day we also visited Merlin but they weren't prepared to swap the stupid I beam post and saddle.............. Sorry, that's the one it comes with we where told!

I would happily buy of them myself. Just ring them before hand and check that its in stock.

They have a small sales counter with the showroom upstairs. Yes it a warehouse/depot on an industrial estate.

.blitz

OK thanks for that. I tried to ring them earlier and there was no reply but guess what they just rang me back and they were really helpful.

Winstanleys 1, Alans 1

Dirtydog11

.blitz wrote:

OK thanks for that. I tried to ring them earlier and there was no reply but guess what they just rang me back and they were really helpful.

Winstanleys 1, Alans 1

The guy (Gary) we dealt with had a really good attitude. Unlike Merlin Cycles where I got the distinct impression they thought we where just Dreamers!

.blitz

Dirtydog11 wrote:

Unlike Merlin Cycles where I got the distinct impression they thought we where just Dreamers!

At least Merlin are consistent. Everytime I ring them it's "yesyesyesyesyesyesyes kthxbye" :roll:

delcol

blitz

i had a few bikes off of alans many many many moons ago i used to get all my bmx stuff of him...

winstanleys it hit and miss as to weather they have the stuff you want.. i had a simlar expierance to si were they said they could get the giant from their warehouse and build for me to look at but it would be 3 pluss hours or come back tomorrow..

i would recomend you ring them first to see if they have or will have the item items instock when you visit,.. especially if your traveling any distance to their shop..

its not to far from alans either..

The Northern Monkey

Winstanleys is a shed.

You go in, there is a tiny reception.... thats if you can get in, as you have to be buzzed from inside.

There's a few bikes upstairs.... no components, no information.

at the reception you can ask for what your want... if you've seen it in stock on the website, you only have a 50/50 chance of them actually having it = wasted journey.

After all the bolloks with them getting my frame, and the trouble my bro had when attempting to try/buy his Kona.... I won't go near them....

delcol

benji

is their new shop your refaring to i know they moved to a new place.

i only visited their old shop the one above the pram shop...

The Northern Monkey

delcol
ummm.. not sure, the one I went to was on a trading estate.....

delcol

was it near jjb stadium on challenge way if so that their new shop.. it's on an industrial estate,, i never been to it...

The Northern Monkey

delcol wrote:

was it near jjb stadium on challenge way if so that their new shop.. it's on an industrial estate,, i never been to it...

i'm not talking bout their new shop then

fred2003

In my experiance with winstanleys they often dont have the stuff you want but you can order it in and they will call you once its arrived. I have recently been building myself a new rig and bouncing between merlins and winstanleys, tbh the few guys i have seen in merlins didnt seem interested at all where as the winstanley guys was a great help.

I live in worsley mesnes which is 5mins away in car from the new place and was 5 mins from the old place so its ideal for me where it is.

If you want a big fancy showroom where you can see plentyfull amounts of bikes and eye candy then winstanleys isnt the place to go, the visible eye candy is laughable and might aswell be non existant, same goes for the rather boring and plain bike showroom upstairs.

Winstanleys are a mail order company its just they havent realised it yet.

If you remember the old place up pemberton dont expect to see much more than 5% of what was shown in there. The only other draw back with winstanleys is the fact that no matter what time you choose to visit on a saturday you WILL be queing outside for a stupid amout of time as the place is small and is pretty much full with 5 people inside (with bikes etc) maybe 6-7 people (without bikes etc).

All in all i cant knock either winstanleys or merlins although I do prefer winstanleys even if the owner (carl) is a pratt and cant stand me (the feeling is mutual)

Good luck to anyone visiting either.
Fred2003

P.s Both merlins (buckshaw village / matrix park) and winstanleys (challenge way / near jjb warehouse) are on industrial estates

dave_hill

Dirtydog11 wrote:

The same day we also visited Merlin but they weren't prepared to swap the stupid I beam post and saddle.............. Sorry, that's the one it comes with we where told!

Whilst I've no direct experience with Merlin (and neither am I a fan of I-beam), I'd say that their response was completely appropriate in this case.

If they swapped it, they'd then have an I-beam seatpost and sadlle going spare. What are they going to do with it?

.blitz

Well we went and they were great :P

The guy behind the counter was mega-helpful and kept disappearing into the warehouse to get stuff just so we could look at it. And the snack bar outside sells awesome cheeseburgers

Alan's were also very good, although they were in 'party mode' at 11am

fred2003

Been in winstanleys today trying to find an headset for my xsl's, the guy was running around the back trying to find anything that looked right and eventually we agreed on one but unfortunately when i got home it doesnt fit so i'll be back up there 2moro with the frame (i was on the mtb today so didnt take it with me).
While i was there i picked up a sram x7 for one of my other bikes and inquired about a set of brake levers that i was struggling to find (shimano lx servo wave) as they are pretty old, the guy went off into the back and when he returned to my suprise he had a set in his hand still in the original packaging, i asked how much and i was even more suprised to be told "just take them, no charge".
Yet again another thumbs up from me for winstanleys

FSR Si

Nice to hear you guys are getting decent service from just wished theyed have wanted my money as i really wanted one of there Zaskars, oh well such is life....

mea00csf

to be fair, if you look on their website it sdoes say......

We are not just an established mail order company! We have over 3000 bikes in stock. Please call to arrange to view specific models & sizes.

That means to me, if you do just turn up, don't expect to fget to see exactly what you want unless you've warned us. Not exactly the best way of working but they have warned you so you can't really complain!