Brick Lane Bikes (BLB) Bike Shop

every day is a gamble for me... :-)

What is with the constant sniping at brick lane bikes on here? yes there prices are a bit high on some things, but other than that I have never had an issue with them or any of their staff, can't fault them on customer service/bike knowledge etc.

If you don't like the price, shop elsewhere. I'm sure if you had to pay the kind of rent and rates they do for that location you would be charging more than most online stores also!

If you don't like the price, shop elsewhere. I'm sure if you had to pay the kind of rent and rates they do for that location you would be charging more than most online stores also!
it's not rent and location. it's called mismanagement.

Yawn.

I've never been to BLB, but I heard they grind the bones of dead people, mix it with the faeces of an owl and make a kind of potion, which they force customers to drink..

no, that was just some liquor Fred left in there

I don't like using bikeshops in London, I actually machine all of my own bits. My bikes are all fakes. The affinity is "welded" together with sheese. The BMX is made from paper and the surly is actually a projection made by a little machine I pulled out of Tynan's trash.

As for my Peter Wood hubs and Carl King headsets, they're all made out of fimo, the bearings are cake decorations.

the stuff they have in there seems pretty good but the staff's idea of customer relations seems a little dubious at times. less about building a customer rapport and more about 'look just pay for what you've bought, who cares if you never come back'

Stop trying to keep this thread on track. BLB already have enough threads devoted to them.

I read somewhere that many atrocities against farmyard animals in Cornwall were perpetrated in the name of BLB..

ahhh yes ,the Beef & Lamb Buggery incident

fred, there are plenty of stories of bike shops in london. however, BLB does pop up more than others, for a reason.

because it's the most central?

central hipsterville?

u can't put cavendish and BC on the same level, they are way better or 100% trustworthy. BLB you gamble.

What is with the constant sniping at brick lane bikes on here? yes there prices are a bit high on some things, but other than that I have never had an issue with them or any of their staff, can't fault them on customer service/bike knowledge etc.

Defo can't put BLB on the same level as Cavendish and BC, BLB is far more variable and worst of all unpredictable, also don't seem to carry any of the basic stuff you'd expect a good LBS to stock.

Best example of this for me was when I had a brake pinch bolt shear and had to replace it. It took three of their staff to grasp what I wanted and they then said they didn't stock them, explained it was the same size/thread as a bottle cage/mudguard/pannier rack bolt, but no they still didn't keep spares of any of these! They are the ONLY bicycle shop I have come across that doesn't hold these kind of basic spares.

On the other hand BLB definitely carry a range of exotica that you won't easily find elsewhere, I bought a pair of H Plus Son rims from them last week and to be fair they were helpful and pleasant, making a point of packing them up really well. The stupid thing is, if I'd had more confidence in them I'd have had them build the wheels as well, instead I took the hubs and rims straight to Bikefix, just know that they're 100% reliable. Know I should have built them myself, but I wanted them quicker than I'd have been able to do it.

While BLB carry a nice range of exotic and classic stuff, a lot of their prices are just off the scale, especially some of their classic/2nd hand cranks and chainsets. Having said that they're doing the Dia-Compe shot brake lever for £26, which is cheaper than anyone else, bloody thing barely works, but that's another matter and hardly BLB's fault.

Yawn.

+

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qzjbV-yTomY

I've never been to BLB, but I heard they grind the bones of dead people, mix it with the faeces of an owl and make a kind of potion, which they force customers to drink..

With pineapple juice. You forget the pineapple juice.

I agree with you polybikeuser. Sometimes i've had great service but most of the times the just rude. I don't know why they're like it, it seems to be such an effort to serve anyone. And I'm pretty sure they guess a lot prices (which seem to be bloody high). £9.99 for a 15mm spanner, are you taking the piss. Last time I shop there.

I agree with you polybikeuser. Sometimes i've had great service but most of the times the just rude. I don't know why they're like it, it seems to be such an effort to serve anyone. And I'm pretty sure they guess a lot prices (which seem to be bloody high). £9.99 for a 15mm spanner, are you taking the piss. Last time I shop there.

Was it campagnolo ? Like this?
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=18862&src=froogle

Even if it's just a regular spanner quality tools don't come cheap. A Britool or similar spanner will easily be around £9

I don't get it, isn't £10 a normal price for a 15mm spanner? cause it's the same price as Condor really.

If it is a Campag tool, I'm getting myself down there pronto!

Mostly the tools in BLB are the ones who are complaining that their crappy bike is still crap after the mechanics have failed to turn them into GOLD in the half an hour they had to fix a rattly cassette on a late 90s 'claude butler' hybrid.

I've never been to BLB, but I heard they grind the bones of dead people, mix it with the faeces of an owl and make a kind of potion, which they force customers to drink..

They do! I had one, it tasted like a vanilla milkshake, and the next thing I knew I was in a back room naked, racing on a stationary bike like the ones in Bellville Rendezvou!