Luxury upmarket bike shop.

tangled_metal

That Ings biketreks is a nice place on a hot day. Did I see a coffee machine there too?

I think push cartel has a coffee machine. It can't be truly posh without a coffee machine. Espresso obviously if you're a proper cyclist, right?

tangled_metal

PS push cartel is too posh for me to even go inside. Let me tell you it's a scary shop to be in with a very young child. Every bike seems precariously stood up in display. What's the law on a damaged £10,000+ road bike? Do I have to buy it?

slowmart

Tangled Metal wrote:

PS push cartel is too posh for me to even go inside. Let me tell you it's a scary shop to be in with a very young child. Every bike seems precariously stood up in display. What's the law on a damaged £10,000+ road bike? Do I have to buy it?

You looking for excuses for the Mrs to drop £10k on a bike? At the very least they should offer you the trade price as it's ex display.

'it was a bargain babe"

Forgiveness is easier to get than permission.

tangled_metal

I harder to get purchases past than my missus. I've had a kind of protestant upbringing (from a Catholic and CofE/some American version of Christianity). Basically every purchase as a kid had to pass several strict criteria basically to prove I needed it. That ethos has lasted my whole life so even a big lottery win won't result in such a purchase.

However on China shops you used to see a sign saying "you break out you've bought it". If push cartel follow that policy then after that one visit with a four year old and the not very stable bike stands I don't think I could cope with the stress of another visit. I haven't got a spare ten thousand.

Plus have it ever been to a shop and thought it was too expensive or too posh for you? I'm not quite a Halfords guy, more evans, biketreks, leisure lakes or Wheelbase person but push cartel is beyond my comfort zone.

jeatsy

Bicycle Ambulance in central Cambridge is pretty high end. They stock Velo Orange, which makes me happy. Take a virtual tour round their physical shop at https://bit.ly/2KCAD36 or order online at http://freshtripe.co.uk/

kingdav

https://ingearcycles.co.uk/ in Forrest Row is up-market with Pinarello, Factor and Cervelo

Superdomestique was mentioned earlier and he does have somewhere you can go by appointment, Elliot is worth a visit at Hex in Shoreditch, there were some nice Colnagos on display last time I popped in you could see if you don't have an appt or he isn't there.

It depends what you want from your visit really, if you're planning a tour and want as many venues as possible we can continue to list some. If you want a load in one hit, the city/shorditch area is a good bet (Condor, Swift, Bespoke, Super Domestique (plus cafe stops at look mum no hands and rapha sptialfields), there are other quirky bike shops round there too like Brick Lane Bicycles, Isambards, SBC, cyclelab, + normal ones with bling stuff in like cycle republic and the giant store, London Bicycle workshop).

If you want to buy a luxury bike, there are a lot of different styles of shop who can and will sell you one at the luxury end of things - more and less made to measure. If you want a bespoke frame made just for you it's a different set of places, to if you want a top brand like a Parlee or a Pinarello frameset built up with all the bling bits.

Talbot frame works who I think are at Crystal Palace is not somewhere I've been, but their paint looks amazing from what I've seen.

rick_chasey

jeatsy wrote:

Bicycle Ambulance in central Cambridge is pretty high end. They stock Velo Orange, which makes me happy. Take a virtual tour round their physical shop at https://bit.ly/2KCAD36 or order online at http://freshtripe.co.uk/

Thanks for that.

Will have a nosey.

When I was growing up that was where you could catch homeless people brewing up some smack. How times change eh?

shirley_basso

Looks like tourers and fixies, Rick.

Primo sells posh stuff but the shop is like a jumble yard

rick_chasey

So probably is still where you find people brewing smack .

Camcycle1974

Shirley Basso wrote:

Looks like tourers and fixies, Rick.

Primo sells posh stuff but the shop is like a jumble yard

Think Rick might have a slightly biased opinion of Bike Ambulance! However it is a nice shop and the guys are very helpful. Also true that Primo looks like a jumble sale. They have no idea how to run a shop. Nice kit strewn everywhere so it looks cheap and nasty. There was a Passoni and a C64 dumped in a corner last time I was in there. I don't go in much as I am not about to drop 5k plus on a bike so not really their type of customer.

rick_chasey

Yes yes, to be clear, the smack brewing was there before there was a shop (to my knowledge anyway).

Back in early '00s.

First.Aspect

Rick Chasey wrote:

Bespoke.

Rude enough that they laughed at me when I said I was looking for some handlebars that didn't cost as much as £400.

Yes, I was in there once and they turned someone away who had been walking for miles with a puncture. They definitely have a no riff raff policy.

tbh they are w@nkers in there, and I wish them all irreparable mechanical failures in bad weather without mobile phone signals.

shirley_basso

They were nice when I went in, albeit with a posh bike.

Mechanic looked at my stem issue FoC, the assistant did some research and contacted the distributor for said stem but sadly spares weren't available and they also said they would order in some bottle cages for me as the official distributor had gone bust.

I don't want to say they are all sunshine and rainbows, but the shop is set up for people who are willing to spend lots of money (I bought my cages from Ali Express in the end!). If you want regular/affordable/cheap stuff, there are plenty of shops doing that.

First.Aspect

Shirley Basso wrote:

They were nice when I went in, albeit with a posh bike.

Mechanic looked at my stem issue FoC, the assistant did some research and contacted the distributor for said stem but sadly spares weren't available and they also said they would order in some bottle cages for me as the official distributor had gone bust.

I don't want to say they are all sunshine and rainbows, but the shop is set up for people who are willing to spend lots of money (I bought my cages from Ali Express in the end!). If you want regular/affordable/cheap stuff, there are plenty of shops doing that.

Well I did spend a lot of money, just with someone else in the end. And yes, they were obsequious and attentive to me.

I understand their business model, but turning away passing cyclists in distress is breaking an unwritten rule in my view. Possibly they are concerned that it would be off putting to the customers in my position, whereas in fact it made me very uncomfortable and set me off on a path towards being someone else's customer.

Perhaps they've realised this in the last 3 years and softened the "dress code".

I mean, if you are out on a ride on your wonder bike, and you are flagged down by someone who has a puncture and needs help to get going, do you say (a) I will only help other super bike riders (b) there is a road a mile or so away where you might flag down cyclists of your own class, or (c) would you help them because its the normal, decent thing to do?

shirley_basso

Agree that’s pretty despicable

cougie

My LBS has a a couple of colnagos in for service. They're ten grand plus and on the same rack as BSO from the supermarket in for fixing.

It's an everyday bike shop for everyone. He can build up whatever bike you want so why not go there than to a bike shop that won't entertain commoners for repair.

I don't see how a shop like that can keep in business.

We did have one shop that was like it round here. Very flash. It lasted a few month.