bicycle repairs

[bailey]

anyone know a bike repiars shop near lordship lane ?

[dulwichmum]

Dear Bailey,

The London Recumbant bike shop in the park have always helped me out with regard to punctures and spare parts.

DM

[sprocket]

Always friendly service from Herne Hill bikes opposite Brockwell park. Or try cheekie chappies at Edward's in Camberwell.

[tiddles]

there is a small bike repair shop in peckham high street - opposite peckham square and round corner from Lidl

they are pretty good

[not2late]

I would add my hearty recommendations of Herne Hill Bikes and also Brixton Cycles which is further. (I previously posted about this here.)

But I think we ED cyclists should get together and set up a cycle coop of our own. There's a lovely shop going begging (ex-Browns antiques) on Upland Road. Any offers?

not2late

[citizenED]

Finches in Forest Hill have a room at the back for bike repairs - it's behind the station on Perry Vale. 25 - 29 Perry Vale, Forest Hill, Tel:020 8699 6768

[ktm]

Is there a really strong demand for a bike shop in the ED area? I know someone who has been thinking about giving it a shot for a while. I know a lot of cyclists in the area who would use a store, but could I get a quick ED Forum show of hands of people who would use a bike shop for repairs and picking up bits of kit. Also what sort of services would you need? Predominately for repairs and spares? Road or mountain bikes? Bikes for the kids? Apologies for using the forum for informal market research...

[Damo]

As a lurker on cycling forums, the topic of starting your own bike shop pops up regularly.

Unfortunatly the universal response seems to be runnning an independent bikeshop is a very hard way to make a living.

Most of these comments are from those working in the industry and seem pretty sincere.

With reference to the talk of big boy chain stores on this forum, Evans seem to be opening a new shop a week. They are regarded as the Macdonalds of bike shops, I think they have one opening in Clapham soon? It'd be very hard to match their stock and price. Is there enough money in fixing punctures?

The internet is also taking a sizeable slice of the higher end market too.

Sorry to be doom laden and would hope to be proved wrong.

FWIW I would happly patronise a local facility.

[kingtubby]

I agree with Damo, have often read many articles on the independent cycle shop and the profit margin is very low (even on selling a whole bike, as they arrive in bits). But also again I would use one for parts etc.

It might be worth asking the people in the Up & running shop (tri place near the station), which is how much bike stuff they actually sell (I suspect not much, but it is quite specific)

KT

[EKB]

Maybe I'm just extra lazy as well as a huge fan of independent shops, but I'd really like a bike shop/repairs close to home, i.e. ED and not Herne Hill or Forest Hill, not Brixton or Clapham or Peckham. Besides, though HH are friendly and helpful when you go there, it's happened at least a couple of times that when you ring with a problem you can't fix yourself or to book in a service, they're so busy they can do 'only cycles bought from us'.

Hope that'll do for market research.

EKB

[not2late]

I think it's generally accepted that no one gets rich running a bicycle shop. On the other hand, a good quality shop doing servicing and repairs, could be a success if it was run the right way. I think the emphasis would be on road bikes and lower-end mountain bikes.

But given the population explosion in SE22, really anything aimed at children and families has to be a winner. Not only children's bikes but child seats and trailers, children's helmets. Much of this is already being done by London Recumbents but the market is hardly saturated.

Not only would I be pleased to patronise a good, local, independent bicycle shop but I'd be willing to help out in any way I could.

Think about it!

It's not2late

[louisiana]

I too would patronise a local shop, but...

I don't really care how large a shop is. It comes down to attitude and knowledge. At Evans the other week, the guy spent considerable time with me, and was knowledgable but also friendly and patient. I took several bikes out of the store for a tour around the neighbourhood, he went around with me looking at different things in the shop, he lugged bikes in and out of stands and checked them, and so on, and all with a friendly, happy face, though the shop was busy (Easter weekend).

AW in Reading are good, but we recently went to a cycle shop near Newbury, and the staff could not have been more hopeless. They really didn't care much about anything except mucking aorund with their mates. At times, it was almost like you were getting in their way. I really wasn't keen on spending my money there.

For too many independents, there's a prevailing air of 'we don't need your custom'. This is probably down to hired staff rather than owners (I suspect), but I sometimes think if owners realised what some of their staff get up to, they'd hit the roof. Though this is a consequence of inadequate staff training.

The worst example was a clothes shop (not in ED), where the staff told a friend 'I don't think we have anything for you in here' to her face as she came into the shop. The shop has now shut down.

[ktm]

Thank you so much for your suggestions. I think another visit to Up and Running is in order to see what sort of services they offer; last time I went it was very Tri-specific on the bike front. To sum up a small shop offering spares, servicing and maybe a limited stock of basic "get-about" bikes for all, with friendly knowledgeable staff. Sounds reasonable enough. Will keep the forum posted on any progress!

[citizenED]

Dear ktm,

As another regular cyclist I would love to have a decent bike shop for sales, repairs and spares in ED. The whole point is that if there is something amiss with the trusty machine I want to walk it down for the repair and not have to squeeze it into the back of the hatchback and drive anywhere.

I think said shop should play Radio 2 form the back room and have a nasty automatic coffee vending machine for punters

Citizen

[beatnic]

It would be great to have an ED-based place to get my bicycle serviced.

My commute is around 24 miles per day so I should be getting a regular service but distance (ergo hassle) to get to places that do services means I don't do it and I don't do enough myself.

I'd imagine there'd be quite a market round here given the number of people I see commuting from, through and to East Dulwich.

[Damo]

Despite my earlier pessimism, I commute to work everyday by bike and have a stable of 5 bikes.

So will be in need of a LBS (local bike shop) for servicing and spares.

How about doing some nice coffee rather than nasty?

[ktm]

Coffee and cake, what a good idea!

[andrewc]

Up and running near east dulwich station are really good.

[Huguenot]

Someone should propose to run this as a spin off from the Barry Road car sales house so you don't have to hire shop space.

It'd be a pretty effective saturday only service I reckon?

[teg]

I have to say, as someone who commutes a fairly short distance on a daily basis, but who loves a bit of mountain biking at the weekends, I'd love an ED-based bike shop.

I agree that every time I've been into Up'N'Running (admittedly, usually with a running query) they've been very lovely, but my bikes are more have-a-go heroes than sleek tri-machines, so they wouldn't be my first choice for bike repairs. I'd love to be able to patronise somewhere local though.

T.x