Evans new bike: service

Rob4
Rob4 Posts: 75
edited October 2007 in The bottom bracket
I just picked up a new bike from Evans (specialised tri cross).
The gears haven't been tuned properly so on the smaller rings of the cassette it jumps.
The back brakes were rubbing against the wheel.
On my first ride on it, which was up a bumpy canal track, the handlebar clamp nuts came loose after about an hour.
All this is not the end of the world, and stuff I can fix easily myself, but is that normal service for bike shops?

Also, I asked the salesman whether the tyres would be sensible for commuting on wet roads. He said: "I never ride in the wet. I suppose it's like car tyres, just push it as far as you can and find out how far they'll go."
So, if you end up under a car, you probably need different tyres!

Comments

  • tyskie
    tyskie Posts: 252
    Rob - Congratulations on getting a Tricross. I got a Tricross Comp through Evans on the Ride2Work scheme about 9 weeks ago and it's an excellent bike for commuting. Shame I got clobbered by a car about 4 weeks ago which wrote the bike off and nearly wrote me off as well.

    It's basically Russian Roulette dealing with Evans. For every 4 or so dud shop assistants there is one who knows what they are on about. They should carry out a through pre-sale check of the bike before giving it to you which should have picked up on these faults. On my bike, they didn't toe-in the front brakes which meant they 'squealed like a piggy' everytime I used them. Took it back and managed to get someone clued-up in the workshop and was sorted in a matter of minutes.

    So to answer your question, that sort of service is not surprising for Evans.

    p.s. if you see a guy on crutches hobbling around the Ealing Common area, say hello.
  • Rob4
    Rob4 Posts: 75
    jesus mate hope you get better soon!

    cheers for the advice - the tricross seems a great bike so far although the girlfriend couldn't understand it: "It's just like your road bike!" Haha!

    when you're bck riding I'll race you into work!
  • DomT
    DomT Posts: 648
    Basically with Evans their mechanics are only given 20-30 min to build a bike from scratch, and so inevitably corners are cut. They do however try to minimize this by following a check list and then signing of - in theory a bad job can be traced back to the individual. The follow up service is even worse, bikes are only given about 5min to check to see if there are any problems.
  • Chriscommuter
    Chriscommuter Posts: 238
    Rob,

    Bad luck mate, you've been Evansed!

    Buy the bike there 'cos it may be cheaper but for God sake get it serviced at a good LBS!
    In my experience and others i know, the average Evans mechanic seems to have about 2 minutes experience, its appalling.
    17 years commuting up and down the King\'s Road and i still don\'t get faster...
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    'Evans and Service' an oxymoron surely? Sadly, like most chainstores, you're often at the whim of 16 year old in the workshop being paid £3/hour and they don't want to put in the front of the shop for fear of putting-off customers - so they leave him 'out-back' to build bikes instead. Because his idea of cycling is BMX or hucking-off park benches, he clearly doesn't empathise with the needs of regular cyclists and so doesn't care. I service bikes for friends that are assembled by reputable shops - loose bolts, ungreased headsets and badly adjusted brakes are all too common I'm afraid
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • Gussio
    Gussio Posts: 2,452
    Some years back my missus had her bike serviced by Evans. On the way home, at the first set of traffic lights, she applied the front break and the cable stripped straight through the restraining clamp which hadn't been tightened! Luckily the rear brake fared better. I was pretty cross and went down to complain, pointing out that this verged on criminal negligence. Got short shrift from the manager (i.e. "Sorry, but what can you do"). We haven't been back and since then I've taken care of all repairs. Suggest either doing the work yourself or trying out an independent LBS who might actually care about customer service (and safety).
  • Spender
    Spender Posts: 87
    I’d just like to add my experience of Evans from last week. Just over a week ago I broke the rear hanger on my very old Cannondale mountain bike. I then walked home and went out on my road bike(just so you know I’m in the right place). I took my bike into a local Aberdeen cycle shop who had a look at it but had nothing in stock or no real clue what to order. I then went on to Evans and spoke to a guy called Ben. He went through the options of different types of hangers and in the end e-mailed me a template sheet so I could make sure I got one with the right dimensions. I picked the one which I thought was mine. Ben then e-mailed me back and said they didn’t have it in stock but could get one in about two weeks.

    This Saturday the item appeared in the post. It fitted and on Saturday afternoon I was out on my bike again.

    I found Ben very knowledgeable about my query and went out of his way to help me. The delivery wa quicker than I expected. I am very pleased with this service. And I’m still waiting for any kind of response from the guys in Aberdeen.

    I guess you get good and bad in every place.


    PS I’ve no connections with Ben or Evans in any way.
  • Mike Willcox1
    Mike Willcox1 Posts: 311
    I worked at Evans Gatwick for about 4 weeks last Spring. It is one of the busiest stores in the country and has a huge range of stock to choose from. They supply their other stores from the adjacent warehouse, so what is not in the store can be got, although there could be a delay as it has to picked by a warehouseman(out of bounds to shop staff).

    I found the mechanics in the workshop knowledgeable and skilled. All the staff were extremely helpful and kind to customers and gave them as much time as they required. There were the MTB staff who knew their stuff but when it came to road bikes weren't so sure and a couple of us who knew about road bikes (including me) and not a lot about MTBs. The Evans mechanics have to go on courses and gain qualifications but the sales staff learn on the job.

    It seems to me that the best LBS are staffed by enthusiasts who ride as well as work there, so you are always going to feel more at home there. It is what it is, so don't knock Evans too much, certainly where I worked their heart was in the right place.
  • Mike Willcox1
    Mike Willcox1 Posts: 311
    Monty Dog wrote:
    'Evans and Service' an oxymoron surely? Sadly, like most chainstores, you're often at the whim of 16 year old in the workshop being paid £3/hour and they don't want to put in the front of the shop for fear of putting-off customers - so they leave him 'out-back' to build bikes instead. Because his idea of cycling is BMX or hucking-off park benches, he clearly doesn't empathise with the needs of regular cyclists and so doesn't care. I service bikes for friends that are assembled by reputable shops - loose bolts, ungreased headsets and badly adjusted brakes are all too common I'm afraid


    Not my experience. See previous post.
  • Mike Willcox1
    Mike Willcox1 Posts: 311
    Chriscommuter wrote:
    Rob,

    Bad luck mate, you've been Evansed!

    Buy the bike there 'cos it may be cheaper but for God sake get it serviced at a good LBS!
    In my experience and others i know, the average Evans mechanic seems to have about 2 minutes experience, its appalling.

    Not true. See me previous post
  • Mike Willcox1
    Mike Willcox1 Posts: 311
    One thing I did find out that there was the odd Tosser of a customer who had some preconceived idea that he was going to get a bad experience and no matter what you did was going to be aggressive with you.
  • tyskie
    tyskie Posts: 252
    Mike Willcox1 wrote:
    Chriscommuter wrote:
    Rob,

    Bad luck mate, you've been Evansed!

    Buy the bike there 'cos it may be cheaper but for God sake get it serviced at a good LBS!
    In my experience and others i know, the average Evans mechanic seems to have about 2 minutes experience, its appalling.

    Not true. See me previous post

    Why isn't it true that in his and others experience, the average Evans mechanic seems to have about 2 minutes experience? They couldn't set my bike up right first time and they certainly seem to have made a bit of a mess of Rob4's new bike.
  • Mike Willcox1
    Mike Willcox1 Posts: 311
    I took my rear wheel in tt a LBS for a rebuild with a new rim and service. On my first ride with it after about 20 miles I went down nto a small rut in the road and the wheel totally buckled, unrideable. My wife had to come out in the car and pick me up. If it had been a weekday I would have been totally stranded.

    The LBS were very apologetic and they gave me a new wheel. Sh1t happens. It's how you deal with it that counts.

    You can make a sweeping statement about all Evans mechanics on the basis of one or two bad experiences but that doesn't make it true.

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