The wave of new London bike shops

See above

Still no apology for calling him a miserable cunt in a forum you thought he wouldn't read?
I've baked some humble pie if you want it.

incoming

See above

in the next few minutes

By the way Wilkinson stores sell the cheapest bicycle accessories. It is OK for puncture repair kits and lights and the other odd accessories but not for bike tyres. Clas ohlson stores are also good for cheap bicycle accessories too.

But aren't punctures your big bugbear, don't you use solid tyres yet?

By the way!

Guys, 1st my apologies if I am stepping on the wrong toes and/or if you are friends / fans of this LBS I am talking about, but I feel I have to say something about my recent and one and only experience with Sea Bass in Peckham, as they could have caused me serious harm. Also sorry for the long post.

Background story is that I have had a lot of trouble with fitting a Pelago front rack onto my new bike, so the LBS that built the bike found a way to fit the rack on not following Pelago's instruction: they fitted the plates onto the axle pointing forward rather upward* (this is an important point which I will come back to), not ideal, but still safe enough. Then we put some 35c tyres on and the rack no longer fit as it was literally rubbing the tyre.

I called around a few LBS looking for some hard to come by plates to replace the Pelago plates, and Sea Bass says they have it and if that doesn't work, they will find a way to make it work. So off I went to see them last week... The plates that I originally went to get, they said won't work as the holes ain't big enough and it would be very hard to drill them bigger, I trusted them. They then told me to drop my bike with them one day the following week and they will find a way to fit my rack. The initial idea was to cut the Pelago plates and weld them back to an L shape or similar to allow to rack to sit higher. Sounded good to me.

Dropped my bike with them, went back end of the day, they didn't do what they said they were going to do, instead they simply added another set of Pelago plates (the rack comes with 3 sets - 1 for axle, 2 for eyelets) on top of the set I wasn't using, so basically, they used the same setup that my other LBS had come up with and added 4 extra bolts and still charged me what they said there were going to charge me for welding. *They told me having the plates pointing forward is the only way any of those plates would fit the rack, pointing upward as this is how the plates should go, would not fit so I can go back to Pelago and tell them how to fit they racks.

I didn't argue as it's LBS and we are not taking about a large amount of money here - £15 in total. However, I was already very annoyed that whilst they said they wouldn't be able to drill the special plates I want to buy, they were only too happy to drill my set of Pelago plates for eyelets, even though a blind could tell there isn't enough material to drill for a 10mm hole, so now I am left with some broken parts. I held my cool and left...

2 days later, I was riding to Central London in rush hours, I was hearing some sublte rattling noise from every bump on the road, about 4 miles into my ride, I decided to stop as it became clear that rack had come slightly loose... I thought it was the crown fitting for the fork that came a little loose... however, it turned out that neither of the track nuts on my front wheel was tightened at all. I could undo both of them with my bare hand. I had only ridden about 16 miles with an empty rack since leaving Sea Bass less than 2 days ago. Understandably, I was shocked and very angry as I could have been serious injured if I didn't know better.

I went back this weekend to inform them of what happened, they weren't sorry at all. I mean they did say sorry, but they didn't look at me when I told them what's happened and carried on fixing their bikes, the guy who actually fitted the rack was too happy to walk in and out the workshop and didn't seem bothered in engaging in the conversation, except at 1 point where he asked me if I might have left my bike outside unattended that someone would have loosened my nuts, the answer is no. The other guy told me it's always a good idea to stop and check the bike if in doubt, I told them I know my bike enough to be alert when I need to and carry some tools with me, but how many people realistically, espeically them fair weather communters who can't even fit a punchture or carry a kit know what noise is normal and what's not? I cannot believe 2 experienced bike mechanics in a supposedly well loved LBS try and shift the blame with bullshit excuses. Like I said, they did say sorry, but they did not mean it at all, espeically with they fact that they A. didn't stop what they were doing with speaking with me, and B. those excuses, come in, they need to try better.

I also told them whatever they did, they also left a big scratch on the headtube which they said they couldn't see due to having bad eyes, even with my fingers pointing right next to it.

I will not use the again even when I have a death wish. Good luck for those who use them.

I don't know how others feel about it, but I'd rather not use this thread for complaints about bike shops, as it was really meant for welcoming new shops. Obviously, no thread on LFGSS stays on topic, I know that.

I think we've had this once before in another shops thread (years ago), and if I remember correctly, the complaints were moved to a different thread at the time, although I can't find it now.

Sort of understand your point, but don't you do a quick check of your bike before you ride it? Especially after someone else has been working on it.

Takes all of 10 seconds to squeeze the tires, checks the nuts and turn the handlebars.

I usually bounce my bike up and down a couple times to listen for any unusual clanking.

I couldn't find a suitable thread for it, so if you can point me in the right direciton, all the better.

Maybe so. But if his story is accurate, the bike shop have failed it every area here. Don't blame @ExTra for not checking something obvious, so obvious a bloody shop should have done it correctly.

I couldn't find a suitable thread for it

In that case, the best course of action is usually to start one. :)

Shout out to Volt BMX in Stoke Newington. Not new, but sometimes forgotten among the roadie-geared shops in the area. They service a pretty big gap in the market.

If you do go to a bike shop I do find it helps not to mention you are on lfgss...

also

epic Crispy Fail.

bit sandy up there...

https://www.weareomnium.cc/

On London Road by Elephant. For the rest of this week only. They've got lots of nice kit (none big enough for me!) including some twin six stuff at 40gn a jersey and 40gn for bibshorts.

I have no connection with them other than passing them on my commute...

I also work in a bike shop and this annoys the tits off of me - It's common courtesy to switch your lights off before you get into the shop and blind the staff

New bike shop for Tottenham, website is a bit work in progress but great to have a local shop
http://bicyclebox.co.uk/

http://www.seventhsister.london/2016/12/15/bicyclebox-shop-passion-two-wheels/

Can anyone recommend a shop in London (preferably around Clapham or Bishopsgate) that would be comfortable drilling a frame for me? It's not a big job (old Cervelo P2 to run Di2 internally) - I've done most of it (bars/chainstay etc), so it would just be one hole in the top tube and finish the cabling.

London cycle workshop? or SBC cycles.

Great thanks, will give those guys a bell

Kudos to Stayer Cycles. Excellent wheelbuild.

^ Yes, and excellent frame building too.

(internal routing on the fork for the dyno is in the works)

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Hub Vélo in Clapton Pond has now expanded into the shop next door and has a lot more space for things, including a very refined-looking coffee machine and a café-like sofa corner, opening early (8am) on a Saturday morning to see off the club run. It was great to see the new shop (and good to bump into Orko42).

Yes, I've been in there a couple more of times recently; very friendly and helpful.

And the coffee is good, too.

^Need to get a gearing issue fixed on my Canyon somewhere local. Is Hub Velo good?