A sad sad tale...

[Tippster]

I thought Id buy as much of my new bike from my lbs as possible. Its 200 yards from the flat Im living in and the guys is real friendly and helpful.

1st option:
Can I buy a Scott CR1 Team Issue RRP £4k in the UK
"sorry Scott UK have none left in stock..."

2nd Option:
Can you get my a Scott CR1 Limited 2005 or 2006 in medium
see answer above.


3rd Option
Tippster makes a wish list of parts and asks the lbs to quote on the items they are able to supply. 7 days pass by and no reply. Tippster calls and get a reply... we've been really busy I'll get a quote to you by close of play today. Another 3 days pass by and no reply so I call again and finally get a quote.

This leaves me in need to getting
CR1 Limited in Medium - 12 phone calls and 6 emails later I find the frame in UK, haivng tried Germany, Belgium, Scotland, England and Holland.

Extralite send the wrong headset. 10 days to turn this around. Italy to UK.

The guy from BTP is on holiday - another 10 days delay.

Finally I get all the exotic bits the lbs cant source and book in to have a groupset, wheels and a few other finishing items put on by the lbs. The lbs have the bike for a week and dont find the time to build it up - staffing issues!

At this point I change the spec having found a buyer for the CR1 fork, I ask the lbs to get me a Easton SLX fork. 2-3 days expected delivery time. I call after 3 days and am told the fork is in transit. I specifically ask the lbs to call em if there are likely to be any delays. No fork turns up and no phone call to warn me. I turn up 2 days later and calmly (god knows how) voice my concerns.

The fork finially arrives today and the lbs go to check the parts they have ordered and the "chainset" box doesnt have a crankset in it but rather the distributors have stuffed the inner tubes in there.

Im now stuck with the dilemma of going to the lbs and asking for my bike parts back and telling them I no longer wish to do business with them after a collection of badly managed ordering problems, or source a Record 53/39 Carbon Crankset from somewhere in the UK and cross my fingers that the lbs cant find yet another way to delay be riding my new bike...


the lbs are telling me that chicken the UK distributor have NO record 2006 carbon cranksets 175mm 53/39


you'd think that a lbs would put more effort into a sale of over £2k's worth of bike parts...

[col hicks]

change youre bike shop , that sucks wouldnt you rather build the bike up youre self

[nikh]

Thats to bad Tippster, very frustrating. Where in London are you located?

[Tippster]

Thats to bad Tippster, very frustrating. Where in London are you located?

I work in Slough and live in Newbury.

I dont pay for the fuel in my company car so, driving to anywhere within 2 hours of London or Reading to pick up bike bits is no problem.

Im on a knife edge as to whether I pick by bits from the lbs and get a friend more experienced than myself in bike mechanics to build it for me.

lbs were supplying:
Easton SLX fork
Full carbon record groupset excluding brakes
Mavic ES wheelset
Conti Attack/Force tyres
Conti ss tubes
rim tape and bar tape
Speedplay Zero Ti pedals
Specialized s-works road shoe


To make matters worse, Im now having to pull my finger out at work (one of our rare busy times) and its eating into my internet surfing time...

[RTW]

Wayne, I can't tell you a good LBS that isn't busy at the moment. I would suggest building the bike bit by bit yourself, or getting a more experienced friend to help you.

As for your LBS, speak to the manager, not the staff and tell him how let down you feel. Do this face to face and you might get some positive results. Don't do it on the phone though. Make sure he takes time out of his day to see you (as he should).

Are you talking AW Cycles in reading? I am still waiting to here from them about wheels. Seems they don't want to sell anything to me!

As for the chainset, I know the carbon is the one you want, although I know a lot of people who have problems with their Record carbon cranksets and creaking! What I would advise (given the availablity at the moment) is getting a Record Alu crankset for the short-term (I have seen them for as little as £42 brand new!) and then upgrading to Record 07 when available.

[nikh]

I dont pay for the fuel in my company car so, driving to anywhere within 2 hours of London or Reading to pick up bike bits is no problem.

Sounds like an expensive build to me. If your not 100% competent in building it I would source a high end road bike store. I can't recommend Sigma Sport in Kingston-Upon-Thams high enough. Very professional store. Dan is a great mechanic (tell him Nik sent you from San Diego!) and they also stock good equipment (Tune, Lightweights etc). Not sure if its to far from you? Within an hour from central London or shoot up the A3 from the M25.

I travel 10 miles myself to get to a mechanic I trust when I can't wrench on my own bike.

To make matters worse, Im now having to pull my finger out at work (one of our rare busy times) and its eating into my internet surfing time...

The cheek!!

[RTW]

Dan @ Sigma has sorted things out for me too.

[Tippster]

Are you talking AW Cycles in reading? I am still waiting to here from them about wheels. Seems they don't want to sell anything to me!

Its not AW cycles from reading, but Im not fond of slagging off lbs and naming them on the internet.

I can't recommend Sigma Sport in Kingston-Upon-Thams high enough. Very professional store. Dan is a great mechanic (tell him Nik sent you from San Diego!) and they also stock good equipment (Tune, Lightweights etc). Not sure if its to far from you? Within an hour from central London or shoot up the A3 from the M25.

take me maybe 45mins no traffic and an hour in rush hour to Kingston-Upon-Thames and Ive got a good friend nearby. Possibly give him a call in the morning. I work flexi hours so can finish at 4pm every day and pop over before they close. Thanks.

[BBAGDAN]

LBSs are pretty much useless for getting anything special/custom on time and for a decent price. I call it "BicycleShopitis". I think in all my years only one ordered item has been a positive experience.

I think bike store managers are too busy drinking coffee to actually look online and see the going prices for bike components. LBSs generally charge insulting prices for almost everything.

I try to shop as much as i can stomach at my LBS, because it sponsors my team and to support the local business community at large. It's really painful though.

ebay rulz!

[rockymtnway]

I've spent years choosing, rechoosing and now developing rapport with my LBS here in the states. We've finally come to an understanding about what I need, when I need it, and what I expect from them, but it's been painful for both of us and they still find a way to dissappoint me on occasion... Just not as often as every other bike shop I've ever done business with.

I don't know what the key is on that side of the pond, but on this side, it seems to be beer. If I want something done by the weekend, I bring in a six-pack of Canadian beer (they sell Canadian bikes) along with the bike. If I need something ordered that's going to take six months to source and hunt down...and I need it in five days, that's another six-pack and a Pearson's Salted Nut Roll (don't ask). If it's Thursday and I need a complete bike build by Friday evening, that'll take a 12-pack of the good stuff and Nut Rolls all around.

Sure, I feel guilty for contributing to the drinking habits of my mechanics, but frankly, they do their best work half-toasted.

[STARNUT]

I don't get it. I really don't...........seriously. A guy walks into a shop and wants to buy something crazy (pulsion cranks, lightweights, z series zipps, something out of the ordinary) and I bend over to try as hard as I can to get it. I make no promise untill have the supplier on the phone, verify avaliability, and charge my account. Then I make a promise about shipping time, install time, etc. Its not that hard. Rather than say "these should be here next friday" I try to give a finite anwser. I have a had a few situations where I got hosed by shipping, at no fault of the shop or the manufacturer. Mediocrity makes me sick, and the bike and outdoor industrys are full of it. Half assed is the speed most shops work at.

If you had come into my shop and asked for a CR1 frame, I would have found you one, end of story. I have gone as far to call other shops and buy a frame at %5 above cost (so they made some money, or let them sell it to the customer if they don't want to do that) pay to have it shipped and built at my shop, also have tracked down reps and begged untill they gave in and sell me "sample" frames. These were unique frames and circumstances, sufice it to say I was not ordering a Tarmac SL. In the end, the customers were so happy to get an "out of stock bike", that I still made my margin on bits and pieces, plus they know I can get, or try to get, anything. Its not hard........faced with prospect of loosing a $7000 sale, well, I make it work. Very rairly do I not come through, and I take a lot of pride in that and so does my boss, and my shop rats. Go to another shop that will do their job, take your money, and make you smile in the process. If I do my job half assed the locals have no reason to buy from me. I try to give them a reason to, not a reason not to. If I don't offer a service I'm no different than an online retailer that charges to much plus sales tax.


Starnut

[Provence]

Always thought it was called great British incompetence but apparently the disease is wide spread. This is one of the reasons why I do all my own repairs.

[CaptainWilier]

These guys have been good to me for ordering. http://www.totalcycling.com/ProductsLis ... curr/en-GB

[Amadeus]

Tippster,

Never go to this LBS again!!!!!

After the beginning in quotation fase, I would even NEVER have returned to this LBS.

For the Campagnolo crank set I think www.bike-palast.com in Germany stocks them and they send within a week. Is my experience?

[Oswald]

I've worked in two bike shops, and have been a customer in many bikeshops. You can't believe the stuff I've seen... Sadly, the only advice I can give is to learn how to fix everything yourself and look for the best price online. I don't let anyone touch my bike...