Evans Cycles - Yes or no? (Workshop/customer satisfaction)

cooldad

android125 wrote:

blablablacksheep wrote:

I think we need a new topic along these lines..

Name and Shame/Name and Rejoice Bike shops..

Saves time from the constant topics about whole shops/lines like halfords/evans.

Maybe a idea there. example of format:

Shop Name/Company:XXXX
Location:london

Customer service: 5/5
Comments:Good know how, good people

Quality of service/Work:3/5
Comments:Not bad quality of work though parts seemed loose fitting

Overall standard of service:3/5
Comments: not bad shop could be worse.

What you think?

Good idea blabla...

Rubbish idea. Most of the people with whinges seem to bring it on themselves a lot of the time.

RevellRider

Android125, I can tell you don't live in Nottingham. There is really only one decent LBS near the centre of Nottingham and it's a bit pricey. Evans to be fair to them price match against online retailers. Of course, if the Op had of taken the bike back rather than moaning about it on an internet forum he'd probably have it sorted by now.

As for the bigger retailers not caring about the customer, I'll just sit here and laugh at that comment. As far as I'm aware, the majority of bike shop staff be it a small LBS or a chain store are more passionate about bikes than most people who post on these forums and as long as you talk to them like a reasonable person they'll do almost anything to make sure your bike is running sweetly

cooldad

+1 reasonable potato

The Northern Monkey

Briggo wrote:

Holy cow £235 to do that? So glad I do repairs/maint myself or I would have spent a fortune if those are the typical rates.

my next car service is less than £235 :shock:

android125

RevellRider wrote:

Android125, I can tell you don't live in Nottingham. There is really only one decent LBS near the centre of Nottingham and it's a bit pricey. Evans to be fair to them price match against online retailers. Of course, if the Op had of taken the bike back rather than moaning about it on an internet forum he'd probably have it sorted by now.

As for the bigger retailers not caring about the customer, I'll just sit here and laugh at that comment. As far as I'm aware, the majority of bike shop staff be it a small LBS or a chain store are more passionate about bikes than most people who post on these forums and as long as you talk to them like a reasonable person they'll do almost anything to make sure your bike is running sweetly

Yeh youre right I dont live in Nottingham, live up in Scotland. Best MTB territory in the world.
Laugh all you want mate. Fact is the OP spent well over £200 and went home with dodgy gears. Not acceptable. Not here. Not there.

RevellRider

I wasn't saying it was acceptable, what I'm saying is that there are better ways to sort his issue out rather than coming online and complaining about it in a forum. The OP only lives 3 miles from the shop, if it had of been me and I had of noticed the issue whilst riding it home like he did. I would of turned around and sorted it there and then

And who's laughing about it?

Anonymous

cooldad wrote:

Rubbish idea. Most of the people with whinges seem to bring it on themselves a lot of the time.

And opinions of a shop can vary depending on the staff that was on that day and the customer's own standards. One person may be reasonably happy if the shop charges a certain price or has to send off for a part that takes 3 days, and another might be outraged by it.

Best thing is to just avoid the shops if you can. I just use them for browsing, get my stuff online and try to do the maintenance myself (even if I do screw it up sometimes. Still cheaper than £200+ for a bike service though!).

blablablacksheep

i think its well and "good saying do it yourself" but be realistic 99.9% of most people including myself will not attempt a lot of the bike workshop stuff due to it being complex and the amount of tools needed.

This is the simple reson people go to a bike shop also the fact if it goes wrong they have peace of mind, but mainly due to the fact they know it being done propperly.

to be honest most people dont bring it on themselfs and saying that is being rather cruel.

i think a shop review system would be a good idea as like you say it may differ day to day but in the end of the day that the whole point of a review system to get the overall review of the shop and hear what problems people had so that you can then deal with the shop in a better way.

End of the day people will allways need a LBS to do workshop repairs and fittings, prices will purely differ depending on how the shop makes their money. ie evans dont make their huge money based on bikes but mostly selling gear and their workshops....£13 for a replace flat tyre lol

Tbh a lot of LBS shops i know ripp people off with repairs,just so they can make money when online shops like wiggle/CRC/evans easly beat them hands down in price.

still end of the day its your money so haggle and get a good deal, nothin is set in stone and every other country in the world does so why dont we?

jayson

blablablacksheep wrote:

...
i think its well and "good saying do it yourself" but be realistic 99.9% of most people including myself will not attempt a lot of the bike workshop stuff due to it being complex and the amount of tools needed.

I would say the opposite myself, the only thing ive ever had the shop do for me was install a new headset and to replace a spoke in my back wheel because wheels are a black art and im not brave enough to start playin around with them.

Everyhting else on my bikes i always do myself and i dont mind sayin i do a good job of it too. I dare say there's a number of people on here like me that do pretty much ALL their maintenance themselves to save money and its also very satisfying knowing you've fixed somethin yourself.

cooldad

I think your figures are a bit dicey. Only .01% of people do their own maintenance? Rubbish. A bicycle is pretty simple, and most things can be done with basic tools. Even buying a few specialised tools (mainly odd shaped and size spanners) is much cheaper than paying to have the work done.
Facing a frame, wheel building, and possibly servicing forks/shocks are the only things that really need expensive tools or a bit of expertise, and even fork/shock servicing is not that hard if you follow the tech docs.

And obviously judging from the moans, people don’t know things are being done properly. Do it yourself and you know what has been done.

To state that most LBS’s rip people off is probably defamatory. Most have a menu of costs so you know before you start what something should cost. If not, ask them. They need to charge prices to cover their costs, the alternative is going bust, then you won’t have an LBS. The more stuff sold by cheap online shops, the more LBS’s will struggle to cover costs. Saying that I will buy as cheap as possible and do it myself.

And anyone who can’t be bothered to find out how to fix a flat tyre shouldn’t complain.

Arkady001

I've always thought that 90% of bike maintenance can be done with very basic tools: a hex-key set, a couple of screwdrivers, some proper cable cutters and some pliers.
Specialist tools for cassette removal, headset swaps etc can be purchased for relatively little outlay if you look around.
Parts are relatively cheap: labour costs. Anyone who owns a car will know that most garage mechanics charge about £80 per hour for anything these days - why should a bike mechanic's time be worth any less? His bills are just as high as everyone else's. The shop's overheads are just as high. People have a right to be paid a decent wage, yes?
That said, for most, cycling is a hobby - for me, part of that hobby is doing my own maintenance - or as much of it as I can manage.

Things I would leave to a shop-mechanic would be anything to do with suspension forks or disk-brakes (unless you're feeling ambitious). Since I still use V-Brakes, that leaves fork servicing for the shop to worry about: I do everything else myself and so should you.
Knowing how your bike goes together and how all the components interact will make you a better rider (I'm not talking faster or stronger here) - you'll be more in tune with your machine and learn to spot warning signs of failure or something needing adjustment earlier, meaning you may save money by addressing a problem before something breaks.
Drivetrain swaps and maintenance should be well-within everyone's abilities as it constitutes part of what should be any rider's trailside maintenance skill-set.

As to new parts needing bedding-in - well, some maybe - but a new cassette, chain and chainrings (and new cables) should perform flawlessly out of the box if correctly adjusted. It's only if one or two things are changed while keeping worn components in use that problems can arise.

Northwind

blablablacksheep wrote:

i think its well and "good saying do it yourself" but be realistic 99.9% of most people including myself will not attempt a lot of the bike workshop stuff due to it being complex and the amount of tools needed

I'd like to see the working for that statistic

Most bike DIY needs very few tools- a couple of allen keys and just occasionally a ring spanner. You can build a bike from loose components using a multitool.

Sure a lot of people don't ever spanner on their bikes- these are the ones always complaining that somethingorother isn't working properly, then complain when they put the bike in for a once-a-year service and it needs every last part replaced- but if you look at people who take it halfway seriously, most will do the basics at least.

Anonymous

cooldad wrote:

Facing a frame, wheel building, and possibly servicing forks/shocks are the only things that really need expensive tools or a bit of expertise, and even fork/shock servicing is not that hard if you follow the tech docs.

Basically about the only major things left that I haven't done are these three (aside from fitting new brakes and gears but that looks simple enough and doesn't appear to require expensive tools).

Wheel building is just hassle and the proper stands are expensive. I can live with paying for a built wheel.

Facing a frame I have doubts whether it's always required anyway. Chasing even, but from what I've been reading here and there it could be that a little cleaning of the threads with a wire brush is all that's needed if the BB isn't screwing in right, instead of taking it to the LBS and paying £20+ for them to do probably the same thing.

Shock servicing. Again not really requiring much in the way of tools, it's just it's an involved job. Got the tech docs on it and it looks scary when you see the exploded view of parts when you pull them apart, but the things to do don't seem all that bad, just there can be many steps. i.e. just hassle.

blablablacksheep

i not using those stats as accurate but just from speaking to people and seeing the amount of bikes going though the local shop, a lot of people send bikes into LBS for peace of mind when they have issues.

i agree a lot of things can be done at home, but unless you know what you doing, theres allways the issue of doing more damage which drives people to LBS to get that peace of mind that someone knows what they doing and doing it well.

Prices wise they are allways useally stupidly high, just look at evans price listings for london ......shocking to say the least,

If i get issue with bike id come here first as the know how here is probally as good as a LBS dude

end of the day it depends how confident you are in your own ability to repair, and having the right tools.

But that being said most bike owners will go to LBS for repairs as the ones who dont are useally quite hardcore bike fans and so the whole bike lifestyle is part of owning a bike, not every person with bike is that into it.

Just look at the popular hybrid bikes you see around the town, those are the people who mostly get LBS repairs for puncture 8)

still at the end of day if you happy with service and the workmanship that what matters

Anonymous

There's a difference though between people who are spending £300 on a bike they'll only ride a few times on a tow path, and those spending thousands.

The former group are less likely to bother doing their own maintenance and probably don't care. I doubt they'd bother spending £200 in an LBS for a service either!!

Best thing for them to do though is learn how to fix punctures, what to oil and basic checks, and otherwise ride it until it falls apart and buy a new one. Waste of money going to an LBS on a regular basis when the bike is so cheap anyway.

Nachimir

Suspension service and frame facing are the only big bits of maintenance I haven't done. Suspension looks fairly straightforward with the docs, and likewise facing, but the tools are so expensive I'll probably always get it done by someone else.

Built a wheel when I was 16, without a proper stand. Managed it, but it took me a few days and was never quite right... I'd like to learn properly, but would probably just pay for them nowadays.

mdavis, in future I'd try Freewheel in Hockley if you're unhappy with Evans. They've maybe tried to oversell things occasionally (i.e. Hollowtech for a bike I commute on), but have given me a load of good advice, and have never bullsh*tted when they've not known something.

edjo

OP, take the bike back, be polite and explain why you're not satisfied. ask for the mechanic and explain it to them and this gives them the opportunity to put it right and regain your trust as a customer.
on LBS usage, we have a good deal that I 'rent' their wheel jig for a packet of biscuits and putting the kettle on - for some things it's worth having a relationship with the LBS.