Evans Cycles

Staff not appreciated = Staff that don't have much to lose = staff that don't really give a shit about the customer.

Yup and in turn do the bare minimum/barely follow the guideline and procedures, even the law.

It's true. At the Cycle Surgery, although it's also a big chain company too, I had better reaction by the staff and the girl who repaired my bike at the King's Cross store once did a good job. (I honestly doubt if they even touched my bike at the Evans at Chalk Farm when the story above happened..). You can feel it when a bike is greased and cleaned properly and rolling smooth like butter..
Anyway. Yes, ditto, local bike shops are the best option for bike services, they may take longer to get components as they don't have as much stock as the big corporate shops have, bit it's worth the wait. ;)
The plan is to eventually repair as much as I can on my own and send it over only for the hard bits (bottom bracket replacement, it's pressed, not threaded on my roadie, headset checks etc). Some of the rest I can do on my own and planning to book myself in for some classes at LBK (wheel truing and building, hub rearing, gear indexing, etc).
Hoping to not need to send my steeds out ever again eventually...
😉

The Evans Chalk Farm branch is closing down. I wonder if the two events are connected?!

Business rates are killing the retail sector slowly and are decimated the once thriving high-street.
Stores that were marginally profitable are now running a steady loss even more so when you factor in the uncertainty around Brexit and economic slowdown, Llw and rents, etc.
Unless we all make a conscious decision to move away from Online and support existing brick and mortar businesses it is only going to get tougher (just look at BHS, HoF, Maplins, etc etc.).
Who is going to service our bikes when the big chains are all out-of-town outlets and LBSs have gone the way of the dodo?

I used Evans Chalk Farm in the past. They were okay but nothing to shout about.
The most frustrating thing about going into Evans/big chain store wanting to "buy a new bike" (e.g.) is that pretty much always you get redirected to their damn website.

local bike shops are the best option for bike services

I feel like this is a bit final and don't necessarily agree with it. I've done my stint in Locals and they can be just as bad or simply antiquated. As @edscoble said as well, it's down to the individuals, and if people have nothing to lose, your health could be put at risk by unsafe working methods at worst. At best, you just lose money innit.

Locals are also getting pushed out by extortionate costs that bike shops simply can't afford; who's gonna afford rent to run a shop in zone 1? No one. Which means people don't have a tangible feel when buying a bike, or when most people need a repair as a bike is just a mode of transport for them.

It's why I'm quite sad to see things are sliding down hill. A bike shop is always a good thing, and this seems like a hint towards worse times.

Big up on fixing your own stuff, it's always the best way.

Big up on fixing your own stuff, it's always the best way.

@GwGs refuses to buy the crown race tool

Agrees, bad services are bad services, just that some shop are more predominated in this than other (such as the low wages in Evans).

Management in the last lbs I worked in was just as clueless and way more racist/misogynistic than the management in the Halfords I started my career in. Wages were pennies above minimum wage in both instances.

Dear lord! How will they ever be able to install that Titanium Chris King headset they're building a bike around! Sickening stuff.

@edscoble Amen man. Wish more people saw it this way.

I think the future for bike mechanics has to be the self-employed "tradesman with tools in a van" model like for every other thing in your house or garden you pay people to get fixed.

Bring my bike to you? Fuck off it's not a car.

"tradesman with tools in a van"

Is only broadly plausible as the likes of Toolstation/Screwfix/ your good local builders' merchant has on-shelf of 'everything', (within reason).
Bike mechanic in van has increasingly fewer stockists to call on. Out here in outer north west London the only new stockist of bike components is the nearly year old Decathlon in the Intu shopping centre, (with chargeable parking). Fine for those wanting replacement HG 7/8/9 speed cassettes, but nothing better on the shelf.

So you're saying you can see an opportunity for Evans to change their business model?

They need to get into coffee !

So if you were to start a bike shop what would you do?

I've been working as a self employed mobile mechanic offering a collect/delivery service working out of various self owned garages for the last 4 years and never found a way to make the business grow further than just me.

I'm going to Gran Canaria for the winter to work fr one of the big rental companies and hoping to see how a proper shop runs with the eventual plan to possibly come back and open a workshop/coffeshop in north London.

Best of luck with that. I really hope you see something new. Been out in Mallorca for a while now and it really isn't the utopia for cycling as the image it instills.
I would go as far as saying cycle shops in the UK are significantly more progressive than here. The mentality is just very different.
Would like to hear some updates about what you think. Keep us updated if you can.

I was surprised to discover that this does exist - a wealthy acquaintance with a ridiculously flashy mtb (which he rides once a year, on a foreign trip with other, similarly moneyed, once-a-year mtb enthusiasts) casually informed me that "the man" would be coming over to see to his steed. I considered suggesting that he could probably pump up his own tyres, but thought better of it.

I've no idea what a typical Evans outlet maintains as stock.

@Chak Yeah I'm not getting carried away. I'm very realistic that working in the bike industry is more of a lifestyle choice than a grand money making plan. On a side note the move is to see if quality of life improves as getting a bit sick of the aggression and expense of London.

This is a revolutionary new idea. You could call such a business 'bring me my fix'.

Only Jedis and men of the cloth is their own crown race tools. When the LBS all close we’ll be fitting our headsets on with our teeth.

The future of retail is not a shop.

There are mechanics on here saying their shops order stuff via Wiggle and Aussie mobile mechs who actually advertise "we will fit your Wiggle parts".

@dubtap you still need a workshop actually have somewhere to fit the stuff.

A work stand is what you need for most jobs, a work shop not so much.

Where is the workstand going to go? And the truing stand, and bench, and tool boxes?

In the van