Dear LBS

ha! i know....but im not telling ;)

furious tiles The anonimity of the internet is a beautiful thing. If you meet me in person I'm more than happy to tell you where I work, were as on the internet I'm happier being unknown. That way I'm not dependent on a tea break to answer questions or be misunderstood from a typing erroid.

Valid.

kowalski Mr tiles has broken cover on this very forum.

The shop he works in could well be my LBS when I move in the next week or so, but I'd hesitate to call a shop that is part of a chain an LBS, TBH, BTW.

housenger! how's your new bike?

MrSmith, I start trends not follow them. So sorry if you think my wardrobe is a little too avant garde for you ;-)
As for my riding I never show my full hand outside of race day.
...Oh, you've seen me race :-o

Out of interest when do shops become chains? 2,3,4 shops. Or is it when the sevice you get between different branches varies greatly?

Two links makes a chain..

Did you ever work at Evans?

This is turning into a fixed game of

Furious Tiles, in the LBS, with the half link!!

Do I win?

velocity boy [quote]eeehhhh Off topic: anyone know somewhere good to get a Brompton serviced?

Their factory is only in Brentford, West London. Maybe you can see if they do it direct? I can't imagine you'd be able to find a better service than having them do it.[/quote]

Sounds like a plan.

Although Brompton are still in the dark ages and don't have an email address on their web site. They want me to write to them. :S

I might take mine to Putney Cycles. Near where I live, and I've been in there a couple of times and they seem like friendly guys. Although obviously friendliness doesn't make you a good bike mech.

d0cA [quote]kowalski Mr tiles has broken cover on this very forum.

The shop he works in could well be my LBS when I move in the next week or so, but I'd hesitate to call a shop that is part of a chain an LBS, TBH, BTW.

housenger! how's your new bike?[/quote]
Like Kowalski Towers, so close yet...

Frame ready to rock, forks otherwise.

Everything comes to those who wait.

great, so we'll see you on hallowe'en then :P

Cluedoengers!

So if 2 links make a chain hippy does that make the current flavour of the month cavendish/holloway a sell out corporate sell out whore?

Controvertial:-o

Oh, and I've never worked for Evans.

furious tiles So if 2 links make a chain hippy does that make the current flavour of the month cavendish/holloway a sell out corporate sell out whore?

Controvertial:-o

Oh, and I've never worked for Evans.

Evans
BLB

We can narrow this down, peeps.

:)

so, from what i can surmise, judging on the weight of claim and counter claim, this holier than thou rantathon against an LBS, or all of them, is by someone who works in a not independent, probably 'chain', bike store?

hmmmm, something smells fishy. and there's only two things that smell of fish. and one of them's fish.

furious of north london has so far declined to offer an opinion as to whether his place of work is part of a chain or otherwise.

I'm not sure where on would draw the line between an LBS or an IBD (Independant Bike Dealer?).

Since the tilester's company website states that it operates over six "branches", I would suggest it is part of a chain.

I don't necessarily think that being a branch of a large company precludes a shop from being one's LBS, though.

@pj: I don't think Mr tiles has ranted against an LBS. Yet.

my mistkae, genuinely, i confused tiles with the original poster.

sorry everyone.

furious tiles So if 2 links make a chain hippy does that make the current flavour of the month cavendish/holloway a sell out corporate sell out whore?
Oh, and I've never worked for Evans.

1. It makes them a chain (not necessarily in the bad "Maccas" sense of the word).
   
2. You aren't who I thought you might have been.
   

pj "elitist" was a word that came up more then once"

in which case BLB are only reflecting an attitude endemic to fixed wheel riding.

back to the OP, there's a relevant point in there somewhere, but i could do without the first person narrative and emotive reasoning.

it'd be interesting to see how many people are happy with the service in BLB. i think they're copping it a bit unfairly here. judging by the build quality of the guercotti on the wall, they do know what they are doing. for me, they've never, ever put a foot (or spanner) wrong.

that guercotti is on the wall, can't really tell if they did put a spanner wrong on it until you get to ride it innit? most mechanical issues with bikes can't be seen with the eye on a bike just on the wall.

fair 'nuff. the cinelli looks nice though. real nice.

I work for a couple of guys who own a few shops. Yes it's probably what most would consider a chain.

But as most of my customers would agree that doesn't mean we're not a LBS.

In the long run though you can probably get bad service from supposed good shops and great service in some branches of Halfords. Comes down to your requirements and the individual serving you.

Makes life interesting though innit.

Didn't want to start a new thread so....

Not going to name them for the time being, but got my road bike serviced at my LBS over the weekend. I left the house on it this morning and after pulling my feet out of the pedals on both sides within a couple of miles, realised that they had left them at their loosest setting.

I decided to carry on, taking it slowly, as I was already running a bit late for work. I hadn't changed gear (the OKR's pretty flat) but when I did I was out of the saddle and bike to threw the chain and kicked me out of the pedals. I ended up sliding along the road on my shoes, tearing the rubber bumpers off and putting some pretty deep cuts in the carbon, with matching cuts on my shins.

After putting the chain back on and cycling to the office pretty tentatively, my gears are all over the place - much worse than they were when I took it in for a service.

When it happened, I was all for going back to my LBS and having a bit of a rant, but from previous rants I know this tends not to get you anywhere (maybe I'm not doing it right!). Any suggestions or should I just HTFU?

This is awful Bettini. IMHO no, you shouldn't HTFU - you should go back there today and show them what their service has done to you and your bike!

^ that exactly

Thanks! Yeah I'll head down and see what they say, hoping they'll be reasonable...