Evans Cycles

I get mixed opinions on Evans..

Evans Waterloo Cut have a new manager and he is could do with displaying a greater aptitude for customer service.

Ed's been promoted already?

Guys in Nottingham are pretty pants, made me prove to them that they sell pumps online cheaper than they do in the shop for a price match. And they weren't too happy when they realised I was right. Also, have nice stock but I have heard of instances when people have gone in looking at stuff in the window and several employees didnt want to get them down. I'm not talking about a heap of shit, At least a grands worth of bike. Boo to Evans, also on another note. Freewheel in nottingham is the worst shop around, full of cnuts. Literally to the rafters, I'm not even going to get myself started about the number of times I've gone in and got shitted on for no real reason.

Evans Waterloo Cut have a new manager and he is a cunt.

Did he refuse to buff your brogues again, Neil?

the only two evans i'll ever visit is Evans Waterloo and Evans Rathbone Place
they're very nice in there, albethey a bit slow...
nonetheless, TFG is my, and has been since the day they opened, my go-to for everything - Ashima brake pads retailing at a whopping £11.99 at Evans going for a fiver at TFG.
simply the best.

About 2 years ago whilst going to croydon on my singlespeed my chain snapped,walked along the london road till i got to evans and asked if i could borrow a chain tool.blank no was the answer,so asked if i bought a chain could i borrow a chaintool.no was the answer again,so i went to a dry cleaners and got a free wire coathanger, fixed it with that till i got home.

just before xmas i went to EVANS in clapham high st,asked the shop assistant that if i bought 2 kryptonite 3000 locks what sort of deal could he do for me,to which he replied "is it a mountain bike",i replied "no its a big yellow lock".he then tapped on the computer and said as didnt have a price match printout,hed give me 10% off

HA! I know the manager and assistant manager very well - I'll pass on the compliment!

Story, such as it is:

I popped in the other day whilst searching for a torque wrench in order to not ruin some moderately expensive carbon components.

I chatted to the fellow behind the counter, who I have a nodding acquaintance with as I've been going in to the Cut branch for around 8 years, and have bought a number of bikes from them.

He had a search under the counter and came up with a Ritchey Torqkey, which he sold me for around £13 or so.

I went home that evening and found that the torqkey had a 4mm hex-bit that was not removable, and all the bolts that I needed to torque down were 5mm.

I resolved to take the torqkey back.

Around a week passed, and I must have filed the receipt somewhere secure, but I thought this would be ok as they had taken my postcode and identified me on their system when I bought the torqkey, plus they know who I am.

So I popped in, spoke to the chap behind the counter- pointing out as the very first thing that I did not have my receipt- but that the chap over there had sold the torqkey to me, and recorded the sale with my name as I asked for and received the LCC discount.

Chap behind the counter took the torqkey, went off, came back and said "no, sorry, manager says no".

Now I admit that I did not have my receipt (I'll probably find it in the next five minutes), but it would have been nice for the manager to have demonstrated a little adaptability here.

I was going to buy a CAADX Cyclocross bike from them, but I'd rather go elsewhere if that's how they treat someone who has shopped with them for a long time, and spent a lot of money with them.

That is pretty shit service tbh.

I'll edit my original comment if you edit your quote?

I wrote it when cross earlier.

Done…

what about cycle surgery???nice customer service????workshop??

Was in the HSK branch yesterday, nice folks... Fellow LFGSSer, well is it, works in there...
#secrethandshake #almostaspowerfulasthemasons

Guys in Nottingham are pretty pants, made me prove to them that they sell pumps online cheaper than they do in the shop for a price match. And they weren't too happy when they realised I was right. Also, have nice stock but I have heard of instances when people have gone in looking at stuff in the window and several employees didnt want to get them down. I'm not talking about a heap of shit, At least a grands worth of bike. Boo to Evans, also on another note. Freewheel in nottingham is the worst shop around, full of cnuts. Literally to the rafters, I'm not even going to get myself started about the number of times I've gone in and got shitted on for no real reason.

Nottm bike shops are some of the most inept I've ever been in. I went to evans and freewheel when I was home at christmas, looking for something specific, and got treated to patronising and pushy service in both. Didn't buy anything from either in the end.

...
#secrethandshake #almostaspowerfulasthemasons

I lolzed. Excellent idea Joe! Srsly.

Was in the HSK branch yesterday, nice folks... Fellow LFGSSer, well is it, works in there...
#secrethandshake #almostaspowerfulasthemasons

is that trade discount I can smell?

Great experience when I bought my MTB from Evans (on CTW heheh). £2k bike but £300 off as it was last years model. When I got there they had got in the new model by accident (worth £2300) but gave it to me for £1700 anyway.. on top of that I managed to blag a £60 set of pedals, £60 set of new tyres and a £50 stem plus keep all of the original kit :o)

Evans Ludgate Circus is pretty spectacular in just understanding how a bike actually works. I needed my cranks removing from my dirt jump bike as I was selling the frame I didn't have the tools to do it (most had been relocated to a safe place when I moved house) I asked instore how much it would cost and was quoted £50. I asked why it would cost that much to do this very simple job and they said after we've done it we'll then need to set up the gears. I responded that there are no gears as Im not bringing in the rear wheel/chain? I just want the cranks taken off.

It will still cost £50.
thanks bye.

I then went to Edwardes to buy a profile chain tool...

I just popped into Evans Westbourne grove for a light that I needed and Evans had a good price online.
The older guy there is the saddest most sarcastic angry cnut I've dealt with in a bike shop, and that's saying something. So much so it's just funny and you feel sorry for him because he hates his job so much.

Any face to face retail experience will mostly come down to how helpful/friendly/efficient the staff are. Opinions of a chain like Evans will come down to the individuals working in the branches so some will have good experiences others bad.

I found the staff in Croydon very helpful - they all seem to ride SS/fixes too - offered to get any bikes I wanted to test ride set up (although I ended up buying a s/h bike), and I took advantage of their 'fix it' session which was really helpful for me. They organise rides and bike demo days and stuff that gets people involved which is great so as a customer I'm quite impressed with them.

When I was looking for a bike I went to several branches of Cycle Surgery and they were really dreadful - I'd gone out that day intent on buying a bike. Evans didn't have the one I wanted in stock and I was feeling impatient. I fancied a Charge Plug I saw in CS even though I hadn't intended spending that much. First branch, guy on the phone talking to a mate by the sound of it, even though I was obviously waiting for service I was ignored so left - he paused his conversation to shout 'bye' as I left though, which was very nice of him. Wanker.

Next CS branch, assistant talking to woman with dog about dog, comes up to me and I explain I'm interested in a SS, he tells me I really don't want one of those, says I must have gears and suggests I pick a catalogue up on the way out and come back once I've read up on the bikes they have for sale!!!! Double wanker.

I gave up at this point, planned to go back to Evans Croydon the next day for a bike I'd seen there, but then browsing ebay that night I found I liked the look of.

That was my bike shop experience anyway!

I've always found CycleSurgery to be unhelpful, and more importantly unfriendly. Rarely so much as an acknowledgement in both the Holborn and Spitalfields branches.
Evans Waterloo and Cut I've always found to be really efficient without being overly friendly, London Bridge seems to be a 'friendlier' store, but it may just be less busy. Spitalfields have always been helpful too.
Tokyo Fixed wins it for me, hands down every time though. Probably my favourite bike shop in London.

There is a guy in the Spitalfields Cycle Surgery who is really helpful. I was looking to find out the right grease to use in a coaster hub, Evans told me not to use any grease at all so I asked in Cycle Surgery. The mechanic said to just use a bit of GT85 but the shop guy agreed that didn't sound right, and spent about half an hour going through books to help me find out the right answer. Eventually found coaster grease in their inventory system, and when he found out it would take a week or so to order in he pointed me in the direction of some other shops that might have it in stock.

he is could?

• @ Dammit
  

I spoke to Evans customer service who offered me a £25 voucher, which I thanked them.for but declined - I did not complain in order to make some money from this situation.

They spoke to the shop and when I went back this afternoon the assistant manager gave me the £13 back in exchange for the tool.

So, a happy ending.