The wave of new London bike shops

There's something on the door.

Here's a photograph I found on Twitter.

Bloody hell. Just what London needs, another overpriced boutique bike shop staffed by nobbers. Oh well.

I don't think it was just business rates and a cunty landlord that killed London Fields. They'd also just spent a tonne of money on a refit and a lot of expensive stock...

Is Velorution no good? Their site has tons of Genesis bikes for sale and I was thinking of using them for my C2W scheme since they take Halfords vouchers, but when I called them up to see about a test ride they had no stock except one medium CdF at Marylebone (wasn't actually looking for a CdF and wanted the Essex Road store since it's closer) which then turned out had been sold anyway. Nice enough guy on the phone though.

LFC were pretty upmarket and weren't cheap either. Then they had a fire which knocked them right back and they never really recovered from that.

Velorution are a typical new bike shop, in that they're backed by venture capitalists who will always want a return on their investment sooner rather than later - it's why Cycle Surgery and Evans etc always seem to be changing hands and closing or opening stores (CS have closed 6 stores recently). Velorution took over the old Mosquito shop in Essex Rd about 18 months ago after Mosquito went bust, and one of the main reason Mosquito went under was because they ignored their core customer base and went high end - the original Mosquito was a bike co-op founded back in about '84 and was properly rough and ready, but all the better for it.
Velorution seem to be following the same path that led to Mosquito's demise. I ride past the Essex Rd branch most days and there never seems to be anyone in there.

Also, don't buy a Genesis, they're shite.

^ Good post.

Mosquito were great, back in the day, but then went wanky.

Also, don't buy a Genesis, they're shite.

They're just fucking Ridgebacks, and they were always shit.

ignored their core customer base

They also specialised in ignoring any customer who ventured into the shop.

And you couldn't bring your bike in either from memory?

They're just fucking Ridgebacks, and they were always shit.

The Ridgeback Genesis Day 1 was a great bike for the time.

Didn't the chap who designed it break away from Ridgeback to form Genesis the bike co.?

The Day 1 was a Ridgeback bike, and then Madison took the Genesis name and set them up as a standalone company back in about '07, I think. But essentially, as 606 says, they're just Ridgebacks.
They used to be ok-ish, but the later bikes are just horrible; well-specced in most cases but the frames are awful. Supposedly Reynolds steel, but they're the most unresponsive, heavy, inert things you can get. They never fail to amaze me how badly they handle and just how dead they feel. There's no life, no spring in them at all. I've no idea how they manage to make them like that.

they're just Ridgebacks.

What's that supposed to mean though? That all mass produced far east frames are garbage? We know that's not true. What similarly priced / finished steel frames perform better? Surly? Brother?

The Ridgeback Solo I use every day has been fantastic. Perfect city bike if you like fixed / ss and lock up around town all day.

What's that supposed to mean though?

Possibly this?

They used to be ok-ish, but the later bikes are just horrible; well-specced in most cases but the frames are awful. Supposedly Reynolds steel, but they're the most unresponsive, heavy, inert things you can get. They never fail to amaze me how badly they handle and just how dead they feel. There's no life, no spring in them at all. I've no idea how they manage to make them like that.

What's it supposed to mean? Exactly what it says. Nowhere did I say that "all mass produced far east frames are rubbish", because that's demonstrably bollocks.

If, like me, you're in the trade, you'll know that Ridgeback bikes have a rep. Not for nothing are they known as Ridgecracks. They're cheap yes, that's not unique, but there's cheap and very cheap. A lot of RB frames are now made not in China but Laos, Vietnam and Indonesia. Quality is patchy at best; welding cheap steel and alu still needs care, and I've seen a lot of failures around the BB areas where excessive heat through bad welding has weakened the tubing. This isn't unique to RB of course, but they're the worst of the brand named bikes, imho. It's got to the point now that if I get a bike bought to me for a service the first thing we do before we do any work is clean the frame and check for cracks. I'm glad you're having a ball with your Solo, it's not a bad bike. It's their lower end stuff that's not so good.
Genesis frames are just odd. They should be good, they claim to be using Reynolds 530 etc, but fuck knows what they do with them. They just shouldn't be that heavy and unresponsive. Maybe it's bar, not tubing?

As for options, for steel I really like Surly frames. Decent quality steel, well specced in terms of braze-ons and reasonably priced. They're frame only of course, so you can do a custom build on one. Brother are nice too. Alu? Go for a good brand - you can't go wrong with Trek or SBC, with their lifetime warranties. Carbon? Caveat emptor. Go for the best you can afford. Avoid cheap shit like Planet X like the plague - cut one open and you'll see why. There's a reason they're cheap and light. I wouldn't put their forks on a wheelbarrow, let alone a bike.

Will stop now, I'm rambling.

Have you ever ridden a Surly? Because your description of the ride of a Genesis applies equally to Surly frames, in my experience at least.

Maybe it’s a factor common to all mass produced, cheaper frames?

Nout wrong with Genesis.

Reynolds 530, that a new tubeset then? "in the trade". Lolz

My 2012 day one rides a treat. I've raced and toured on it, it is unexpectedly heavy for Reynolds "520" but doesn't feel so weighty when it gets going

It's typo, give a man a break. I thought that was an otherwise splendid piece of alcoposting.
In the trade for 35 years on and off, yeah. I remember this place when it was all fields.....

I have yup, and sell them too. I like them a lot. Good vfm too. Prestige tubing is also good stuff.
My point in my overly long slightly pissed ramble was that I can't work out how Genesis manage to make such lumpen frames out of what is supposed to be a reasonable tube set like 520.

Apologies. It was a grant rant 10/10. You realise Reynolds 520 is just bog standard DB 4130 Chromoly with a sticker, right? Smoke and mirrors, Columbus Cromor, Tange Champion, etc, etc...

As for when steel frame got heavy and dead riding, well, you can thank the emergence EN/ISO standards and testing for that - compliant frames are massively overbuilt.

Quite often the labelling refers to the main triangle only.
I've seem mountain bikes labelled reynolds 853 but massively heavy because they've used shit rear stays. This is usually because they want to shape them, thin wall are harder to shape and big manufacturer can't be asked.

The main triangle part is true - generally x3 main tubes to get the sticker is the requirement. That said, chainstays/seatstays aren't going to make a whole lot of difference to the overall weight as they're such a small diameter it's going to have a negligible effect on overall frame weight whether they're 0.9 PG or 0.8-0.6 DB. I think this is essentially why x3 main tubes for the sticker came about - there's not a really a whole lot of sense in opting for posh stays. I'm sure some will say DB/thinner stays ride better though.

The stays are 4 tubes I'm sure it'll make a big difference in terms of total frame weight.
Otherwise if there hardly any weight difference between plain gauge or double butted why does anyone spend 1000s on top end tubing for a frame.