Brick Lane Bikes (BLB) Bike Shop

I think it's just an urban myth, à la Virgin Atlantic Business Class... ;)

I got my dick sucked the minute I walked in the door of my local Co-op. Not the BC type of co-op, the Co-op Supermarket type of co-op. Not really the minute I walked in the door, more just standing in the doorway, waiting for a bus. The classic Friday-night knee-trembler round Birmingham.

can't say i blame them for not wanting to work on a piece of total shit.

surely all bike shops have to do this all the time though.
have you seen what the majority of people ride? especially outside of london!
i think a "your bike is not expensive enough to grace the floor of my shop" attitude is not going to get them anywhere.
having said that, when i've been there (only on 2 or 3 occasions) the staff have been very nice. it must just depend who's working.

All "speciality" shops are full of shit.

When I first started bodyboarding, it was always shit being dismissed by the staff of the shops I was spending money in. Then I got good and sponsored, and all the shops and staff were bending over backwards to serve me.

Records shops have always been the same for me.

I have worked in both a surf and a record shop. I have never found that I need to be arrogant towards anybody who may know less about the a given subject than me.

Attitude if for wankers who feel they don't need repeat custom.

Retail's a tough gig, I think the service you get at any small specialist shop will be a reflection of your own attitude when you walk through the door... I'm always polite so if someone behaves like a cock towards me I simply vote with my feet and go elsewhere... Simple... I've never had a problem in BLB. Though the prices can be a little off-putting at times...

Can I borrow your oversize glasses when I visit BLB for the first time ; )

You get your dick sucked the minute you walk in the door?! I've never been to BLB I'm going there now! :)

Jan's beard tends to chafe the inner thighs, however.

Tickles, too.

+2, I'm just sick of twats coming on here and slagging places off just cuz they don't get their dick sucked the minute they walk in the door... Grow a fuckin' backbone FFS or shut the fucking fuck up!!! Ah, that's better... :)

im not 'slagging' it off.....i was looking for a general consensus of the place, i neither like or dislike the place as ive never had the chance to get a personal opinion of the place as thats what i judge a place on, my experience, not stories.

however i felt the story my friend told me for his experience was pretty rude, i could understand if it was a dickhead going in thinking he knew everything after only riding a bike for a week, however my friend like i said, is the nicest person who comes over as the opposite of a 'smug' guy.....i don't personally think its fair with the reply they gave him after him asking a serious question as a potential customer.

yes but does he still need his dick sucked please?

hmmm i imagine so, he is a single straight red blooded male, would you like to phone and ask him?

ooh yes, they're my favourite.. pm me?

just cruise around shoreditch, if you see a guy on a white unipack with yellow v's.....speak to him. ;)

ha!!

too many white and yellow unipaqs now - guess I'll keep my eyes peeled for a guy with a particularly decent, non-smug face...;)

and a broken bicycle.

you've hit the nail on the head with a hammer there.....

i prefer to use my eyeball.

only if your friend doesn't wanna remove his cranks and pump up his tyres there

brian did you just put a blindfold on and stick a pin in the computer screen and then take off your blindfold and reply to whatever you had landed on?

edit: oh I see, you were actually answering the question.....

oh yeah unipak with yellow rims???? i think it was me who said " yeah its a piece of shit!!" after being asked what he should upgrade.......and i was also trying to adjust his headset for free before i said that.......but unfortunately it was fukked...as is rest of the bike....why should i work on something which is not worth repairing and being accused later that it doesn't work properly......as happened before......thanks for listening

sorry for being an immigrant and having no manners

aha and also someone not so long ago posted similar question about the unipack and was told roughly the same but that is totaly fine becuz its not in the "retail business"....hmmmmmmmmmmmm

You should have sold him half a grands worth of hipsterccessorys and then shoved a bianchi sticker on it ;) (joke)

It is totally fine because this is an internet forum where people are free to talk shit, swear and give useless opinions etc etc, as exemplified by this thread, whereas you are a professional mechanic who is paid to fix up pieces of shit, working in a retail enviroment where respect for the customer and good service is expected. . . . anyway I think our advice was to buy a fixed wheel, use the unipack to learn on and spend your money buying up a frame etc for a proper build.

When i worked in a skate shop we had loads of kids come in with the arogs/toys r us complete set ups that were wank, but we put better bolts in the trucks etc, because we knew it would keep them going, and they would probably come back and buy a better set up from us one day. We told them that they werent worth upgrading, but come and see us if it breaks or you need some bits etc. The problem here seems to be the manner in which the customer was told his bike wasnt worth upgrading . .

Anyway i wasnt there so who knows what went down, prob six of one and half a dozen of the other, but the one thing this thread makes me think is that we def need some sort of unipack sticky to warn people off these pieces of crap

EDIT . .forgot to say that i can understand you for not wanting to work on it cos when it breaks BLB will get the blame, i work in construction and sometimes a building so fucked, that no matter what you do to fix it it'll still be crumbling next year and the last builders on site will get the blame, but unfortunately thats just the way it is

unipack failure scheme : 1. The sideplate of one link in the chain pops out. most likely same on each bike.possibly more links.

                                    2.Bottom bracket bearings are done.
                                    3.headset bearings are done.
                                    sometimes 3 is before 2.
                                    4.Hub bearings are done,

Average lifespan a month maybe two if weather is good.

Do you get a lot of unipackers through your doors?

recently yes.........one every coupla days....that why i have the lifespan knowledge

I have seen 2 in SW6 within the last week . . .the end in nigh

there is a few running along the fuxbridge rd.

When i worked in a skate shop we had loads of kids come in with the arogs/toys r us complete set ups that were wank, but we put better bolts in the trucks etc, because we knew it would keep them going, and they would probably come back and buy a better set up from us one day. We told them that they werent worth upgrading, but come and see us if it breaks or you need some bits etc. The problem here seems to be the manner in which the customer was told his bike wasnt worth upgrading . .

skateboard =/= bike