May 2018 - We've Moved our shop - but just next door!

We opened our bike shop in 2008 but our 10 year anniversary sees us having to leave our location and move to a new unit. Thankfully the new unit is only next door but it still means a lot of turmoil for us as fit out and get used to our new surroundings.

The bike sector has changed in the 10 years since we opened. The increasing use of online and of course the increases in rent, rates and other costs unfortunately has signalled the death knell for many smaller cycle retailers, seeing their doors close for the last time.

For us, the changes across the sector sees us taking the decision to no longer sell bikes but to focus on our workshop and parts retail. This means we've relocated to a smaller unit and we're now focusing all our effort on continually improving our technical skills to ensure we remain up to date with the latest technology and techniques.

We will of course continue to deliver what we believe is a service offer that is second to none and we will be refocusing our parts and accessory lines to meet the needs of our customers.

We have been in our new unit for a week or so now and we've been amazed at the fantastic reception we've had from our customers old and new. We're a bit smaller now but we think our new unit better suits us and will serve us and our customers well in the years to come.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

10 March 2017

A Mobile Workshop - Take our Quick Poll

Thanks to everyone who took part in our quick poll on Service Collection and Delivery and the useful comments we received. As a follow up, we'd like to explore the idea of a Mobile Workshop offer where we would visit clients with a fully equipped mobile workshop and offer our full service menu to clients at home or at their workplace.

March 2017

Here comes the Sun?

We're emerging from Winter now and looking forward to the season starting again. As ever, as soon as we start to get some light on the sky we can expect the workshop to get busier with service work. Don leave it too late to get your bike serviced, especially if you have an event coming up!

Training

As always we're looking hard at how we can offer our clients a great service. This of course means that we're always keeping up to date with our technical knowledge and training and always looking at new tools and cutting edge processes in our workshop. We were the first workshop locally to have an extensive Shimano & Campagnolo professional tooled & trained workshop. We were also the first local workshop to use a Bio-remedation cleaning system and we're now looking at extending our arsenal even further. We will keep you posted on our updated offer soon.

Service Collection and Delivery?

To keep ahead we're looking closely at offering our clients a Service Collection & Delivery option. This means we're looking at offering clients a Home pick up/delivery time freeing clients of the hassle of bringing their bikes to us. Before we can develop this concept and bring an offer to clients we of course need to see if there's a market for the service so we've set up a quick Poll on our Home Page. If you would like to take part please go here.

Bike Pod Hire

We've had our first Bike Pod Hire of the season already so expect the cases to be doing the rounds again this season. Don't leave it too late to book your case if you are travelling to events this season. Popular dates get snapped up very quickly. If you are interested in booking a box please go here.

January 2017

Back To Work

Now the Holidays are over its back to work for us too. We've taken a little time recently to refresh some of our technical knowledge going into 2017 and are proud to say we are the only Cytech 3 Qualified workshop in Tooting. Were striving constantly to upgrade our existing knowledge and skills as well as keeping up to date on all the emerging technology and, of course, the tooling and knowhow to fix it if it goes wrong.

As ever our workshop is picking up after the Xmas and New Year break so get your machine in early to keep up your cycling resolutions.

New Year - New Us

Were going to be bringing in some great showpiece machines over the coming months so our showroom will, hopefully, start to look and feel a little different going forward. This will mean we don't carry as many everyday machines on the shop floor, but we can still source the everyday commuter hybrid, mountain or road bike from our current great partners over at Marin and Cinelli Bikes. Keep your eye out for our green Marin Rift Zone that should show itself in our window in the first week of 2017. Were looking at bringing in another quality brand for 2017 so watch this space for news.

Make Us an Offer

We are still running our Make Us an Offer promotion on any non 2017 bike in store in order to make some room for our new line up. Some machines are already discounted, but we'll consider any offer that isn't insulting! Check out our clearance page or pop in store to see all our current models. You might get yourself a real bargain!

Other Clearance Items

We've got plenty of clothing  and cycle shoes left in store that we need to clear. Again call in and pick up a bargain. We're already discounting up to 50% on many items, but make us an offer and you might pick up armfuls of bargains!

Social Media

Were a bit new to the world of social media and still finding our feet but if you're interested in following us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram where you can keep up to date with any news items we've found interesting, helpful, funny or just plain weird, then please follow us by clicking on one of the links.

We also use social media to keep our friends up to date with our current work, offers or other particularly relevant issues.

Advocacy

We work hard everyday to bring our 'A' game to any services or repairs we undertake for our clients. We need to grow our business so we can compete with other channels and continue to bring what we feel is an excellent professional service to our customers.

If you have used our services before and we met or exceeded your expectations then we'd really appreciate your taking a moment to review us online. It really helps small businesses like ours to stay on the high street and still be here for you in the future.

Black Friday

Black Friday

This Friday, November 25th is Black Friday so we've got some serious savings on stock bicycles across the store; more than £300 on some models!! All our stock bikes have a minimum of 10% off.

We have Marin, Cinelli, Merida and Scott bikes in store that must go to make way for new stock. These Black Friday deals are only eligible for cash, credit or debit card sales. If you are looking for a quality bike at a great price then call in and see what we have in store.

August 2016

Feeling Inspired?

With the success of our Olympic athletes bringing home a record number of medals across the board, we hope that this has inspired you to get active and particularly to get on your bike. As ever we're on hand to get that old war horse into the best shape to take on the miles so drop your cycle in to us and get it serviced by a professional and certified cycle mechanic. 

Bike Pod Hire

Unfortunately we've had a few occasions recently where clients are returning our pods days late (and not wanting to pay the late fee), badly damaged (and claiming it was like that when they picked it up) or missing parts (and debating the costs of replacing the parts). We don't want to argue the toss on your return so this means that our T&Cs are changing. We will now ask you to specifically read and sign all our T&Cs before you take a Bike Pod away.

August Bank Holiday

We will be closed on Bank Holiday Monday, 29 August 2016 thru to Wednesday 31 August  2016. If you have any service work remaining with us for collection that you need you need to collect in by 4pm on Sunday 28 August 2016.

MARCH 2016

Revised Opening Times

We've had to make some changes to our staff roster so need to change our opening times for the short term while we reorganise ourselves. The changes mean we need to open a little later from March 1st. So for the foreseeable future I'm afraid we will open on weekdays at 9.30am and will also be closed on Wednesdays! Please see our opening times for full details. We are sorry for the inconvenience but needs must I'm afraid.

February 2016

Time Flies, Time to Reorganise!

We're already in February, days are getting longer (if not warmer) and we're having fun here at the workshop. If you call in you will see that we're a bit disorganised as we try out some new shop layouts in store which we hope will make us more customer focussed. New slat-wall is coming in, new displays are going up and we hope you will like the finished result. It's taking time as we're doing it ourselves, but please bear with us!

Clearance

To help us with our reorganisation we've got loads of clearance items such as shirts, shorts, helmets, shoes & some bikes still. We've got to get rid of them so we can put our plans in place for the future so call in and pick up some bargains!!

Quality Wheels

Under the reorganisation the first thing we did was get rid of that monster cabinet that used to house our helmets & shoes! Now we are getting more helmets in less space. We've also put our Campagnolo wheelsets on a proper display and we think they are looking good. A great compliment to the Campagnolo Groupsets cabinet that we have in store.We hope to have a similar display for Mavic wheels set up in the next number of weeks. We will still carry the more run of the mill wheels of course as before!

Displays

We will be binging in new cycle displays in the next couple of months to better display our bikes, we're thinking less (but better) is more! We have some new spot lights on order to show off our lovely wheels etc and we're reorganising our skateboards displays.

Vacancies!

We're now actively recruiting for a skilled Mechanic/sales person to join us from March 2016. The details are on our Jobs Page. If you think you would like to work in our small firm then please have a look there. We look forward to hearing from you.

TootingDailyPrss

We occasionally do a cycling related article for our friends over at the on line TootingDailyPrss. For January we did a small thing on cycling safety which wentdown pretty well we think; with most people. We encouraged at least one person to get back on their bike after some time away! So Happy Days. Next time I think we will be doing a little piece on choosing the right bike.

January 2016

New Year, New You?

We're now a couple of weeks into the New Year & we're already seeing our workshop filling up nicely with services & repairs. The costs of travel and gym memberships can be crippling, so getting your bicycle out of storage and serviced to carry you into town and back on your daily commute will save you a mint of money and help you with your fitness.

New Bike?

For those of you that don't already have a bike or are thinking of upgrading your current ride there are plenty of options available through us in brands such as Trek, Marin, Merida and Cinelli. We sell new and used machines and carry an awful lot more machines than we can possibly display in store. Call in and have a look at what we have, or if you are just after some advice about the types of machine to suit your needs, we're always happy to talk bikes.  

Sales

It seems as if the Sales are going on and on. We too have some great offers still in store, but all good things come to an end. Right now we are offering whacking savings on some stock Cinelli Saettas, a whopping £327 off! We also have one more Cinelli Zydecco left which has a mad £274 off! Also available still are some Scott race bikes with a minimum £100 off. Clothing is still on offer with 50% off, but we've got to stop this madness soon.

Competition is Good

We've attracted some competition to the neighbourhood with another bike store opened up very close to us. Specialising in Single Speed machines isn't really our thing but we do carry budget Single Speed machines that we firmly believe are superior in quality to those offered elsewhere and our Cinelli Single Speed track bikes like the Vigorelli are in an entirely different league. Incidentally our stock Vigorelli has £100 off the RRP today.

Our service work is also under attack from the competition but we're more than a match for any workshop in London. Our mechanics are first class, are qualified to the highest standards in the industry and between them have nearly 50 years experience. We have a fully equipped and insured workshop and our parts are also quality originals sourced through recognised distributors in the UK and which carry all the warranties you would expect. Remember to check what you are getting for your hard earned when it comes to your service!

Thank You for 2015!

As we're just into 2016 we'd like to say a massive Thank You to all our friends who've supported us again with their continued patronage. We're now in our 9th year and looking forward to working with you all again. Things are changing in the coming year as we move to offer more hands on services. Keep your eye out for news on the new services in the coming months. Don't forget also that we have a Twitter and Facebook following that we'd love you to join and if you've liked our service and feel the need to tell the world through one of the online review sites, we'd love to hear from you there.

See You in 2016!

November 2015

Winter Service

With the arrival of some foggy mornings it seems that Winter is here. That means for many that the bicycle is put away until we get to next Spring! For the more hard-core riders, there are the joys of Winter cycling ahead be it the commute in to work or the rigours of Winter Training.

If you are putting your bicycle away don't forget to prepare it for storage, get it cleaned up (don't put it away dirty, it'll only spell trouble!!), lubed and ready for next season.  Don't forget to cover it if you are leaving it outside as otherwise, come Spring, there will be a hefty service waiting. We have single, double and triple bike covers in store from £22.99..

If you are riding through the next few months then we're here and ready to service your cycle throughout those tough Winter days! Good Luck and ride safely.

Turbo Training

For some,  the arrival of Winter means the dreaded Turbo trainer! We carry any number of turbo trainers to order from Minoura, Tacx and others as well as the tyres designed specifically for use on your turbo. If you are thinking of turbo this season then why not pop in and see if we have anything to suit your needs. If you are in an upstairs flat, you might want to get some high density weight training mat to deaden the sound while you are at it!

Lights & Hi-Viz

Talking of Winter still, don't get caught out with the early sunsets! We must all show lights front and rear and you can pick up emergency set for about £10 a pair! Or why not push the boat out a little  and pick up a good set of USB re-chargeable lights for about £30 a light. The better the lights the more they tend to cost, but it's dangerous out there so, be prepared with lights, helmets and something Hi-viz.

Mudguards

Not for everyone I agree, but for many the use of mudguards throughout the rainy months is a must. You can pick up a clip on mudguard set from about £20.

Bike Pod Pro Hire

If you are planning some warm weather training this Winter, don't forget to book your Bike Pod Pro transit case early. Although we have a large fleet of cases, they do get snapped up well in advance!

Locks

Don't forget that we need to secure our bikes if we are leaving them unattended ever. With the nights drawing in, that means more time for that bike thief to get your bike away. Any lock is better than no lock, but think about £30 or more for a reasonably secure lock. If you buy it from us we'll even fit it for free!

Talking of Thieves

We had our Air Ambulance Charity box lifted from us a few weeks ago! It's a s*#t thing to do but that's life unfortunately. We grabbed the thief's image from our CCTV (check out our Twitter and Facebook page if you want to see the culprit) and that's with the Police now! He came back last week and tried to get our Poppy Appeal box this time, but we were on to him and he had to leave empty handed.

September 2015

Winter is coming

Well judging by today's weather Autumn is well and truly with us and Winter is just around the corner. That means that our bikes are due for a pounding over the next few months as we slog in and out to work. As ever though, we are on hand to service your bikes and of course to carry out running repairs. As usual we are here 7 days per week and our workshop stands ready to carry out a regular service or fix that emergency puncture for you. Drop your cycle to us any day and we will get any repair of service done as quickly as we can!

Scott Bikes

We've taken a decision to streamline our bicycle offer going forward and after an eight year relationship with Scott Bikes we've had to say goodbye to the brand. We are super grateful to Scott for supporting us since day one and wish them well in the future.

Campagnolo

We're now fully loaded with our Campagnolo inventory and we hold a fair amount of Campy spares in store, including wheels, chainsets, levers, EPS, derailleurs and of chains and cassettes. If you have a Campagnolo set up that needs service then drop by and let us look after you.

Bike Pod Pro Hire

If you are thinking of getting away for some warm weather training, don't forget to book your Bike Pod Pro early to avoid disappointment. We charge them out at £7 a day or £45 per week.

July/August

Busy Season

In common with most bike shops we're now into our busiest period of the year with the workshop busy all day, every day. If you want your bike serviced for a specific event then please give yourself plenty of time to get the service completed. We always try to meet all deadlines but if you leave it to the last minute you may be disappointed.

Bike Pods

If you are off on a trip, don't forget that we hire transport cases to protect your pride and joy from those rascals man handling your luggage. Check out our page for more details. We've got a fair number of cases for hire, but again, don't leave it to the last minute to book yours. Last week all our cases were on their travels!

50% off shirts and shorts

We're still offering 50% off our shirts and shorts to free up room for our Bike Fit area. Call in and grab yourself a bit of a bargain.

Our mate Martin

A few weeks ago our mate Martin was smashed very hard just outside our shop by a motor bike. He's still in hospital with a lot of injuries but we hope he makes a full recovery. Our prayers are with him and his family.

Accident Black Spot

You may have read a number of articles in the local press lately about three or four traffic incidents on the stretch of road between Tooting Bec tube and Ritherdon Road. Yesterday we had a motorbike wheelie 50 meters! Impressive I guess, but you should keep those tricks for the track as your luck runs out sooner or later. Perhaps it's time to put some sort of traffic calming measure in place before someone gets killed!

Abusing our staff & nicking tools

Of course 99.99% of people we meet are lovely and we very much appreciate your custom. Unfortunately we do get the odd character through our door who feels it is their right to use our tools and, if we refuse, they think we're fair play to get some abuse.

Abuse of our staff will not be tolerated. Just like anyone else our staff have a right to come to work and not be abused or threatened. This week we've had to deal with a chap who felt it was his right to use our tools and would not take no for an answer. Though we said no he just grabbed a tool and threatened our most junior staff member as he made off. That's not on.

We have a full CCTV system in place and we record 24/7, needless to say we pass all such images to the Police.

June 2015

Jobs

We are currently recruiting for a skilled mechanic/sales person to join our team. See our jobs page for more info. If you feel you have the skillset we're looking for please drop us a line with your CV along with salary expectations by post or email. If you want to discus the role on offer call us or call in to the store. The job will be advertised in the trade press in the next few weeks.

Campagnolo Pro Shop

We are well on our way to being a Campagnolo Pro Shop which means we're trained and skilled in all things Campagnolo, as well as keeping Campagnolo Groupsets and wheelsets in store. Our first delivery of Veloce Groupo and Zonda, Khamsin and Vento wheelsets arrived last week and we expect another four wheelsets and groupsets including the  really sexy EPS to be with us, in store, within a matter of weeks.

Bike Pod Pro Hire

Don't forget to book early to secure a bike pod for your travels as dates are going fast!

May 2015

We've been super busy these last weeks with hardly any time to sit down and update our website, but here is a little bit of news!

May Bank Holiday - 25 May 2015

We will be closed for the Bank Holiday on Monday 25th May 2015. If you want your bike serviced before then you will need to get it to us in good time as the workshop is already brimming over with work!

Campagnolo

We've been building up our reputation as an all round service one-stop-shop for a little while now and we're really pleased to say we're soon to be recognised as a Campagnolo Pro Shop! We're already trained to take care of the Campagnolo EPS electronic shifting groupset and we're soon to complete the technical side of the process on wheels and other equipment. That means we're almost fully trained and equipped (by Campagnolo in the UK) to supply and service your Campagnolo group set as well as your everyday non Italian equipment. We will also be holding, in stock, 5 full groupsets and half a dozen sets of Campagnolo wheels.

Bike Pod Pro Hire

As with last year we have a fleet of bike transport cases in store for hire. Our rates are £7 per day or £45 per week. Check out our Bike Pod page for info.

Reviews

We work really hard to do our very best for each person that visits with us and we're really chuffed when we receive a review from a satisfied customer. In the last month or so we've received a very welcome set of reviews and, as ever, we're really chuffed. So thanks to those who took the time to say some nice things.

Not all things go our way of course and we try to learn from any interactions where we've somehow not lived up to our own high standards or somehow not met expectations. We welcome any feedback, positive or not, as we always learn more from our failures than we do from our successes.

Bank Holiday 5/6 April 2015

We will open for business as usual on Good Friday 3rd April 2015 (closing at 4PM) but will be closed for the Bank Holiday over 5/6 April 2015. Any completed service work not collected by 5.30 pm on Saturday 4th April will not be available until we return on April 7th.  Have a good Bank Holiday break!

Our re-fit is taking time...and other matters

We're leaking!

We were hoping to have much of our refit carried out by this stage, but unfortunately our roof has developed a leak which is setting us back weeks. Builders come and builders go, but in the meantime we look to the heavens wondering if the next downpour will see the ceiling cave in on us! No matter, we press on regardless with our daily sales and services.

Our website

We revamped our website at Christmas and that seems to be much more user friendly, a bit clearer we hope and more navigable. It's a work in progress but it's getting there we think.

Bike Pods

Don't forget we offer bike transport cases for hire if you are going away to events and want a secure way of transporting your bike. Hire periods are by the day or by the week, check the web page or call us to reserve a case before the dates are snapped up.

Our store is getting a makeover

We must apologise to our loyal customers for the state of our store just now!

As we've already trailed, we're bringing in new displays, lights and other goodies over the next number of weeks which will mean a measure of upheaval for us as well as a limited amount of stock until we have our space sorted out and can display items properly.

The next couple of days will see our new BBB problem solver wall and our new Topeak display going up. Following that we've got lights on order and new slatwall panels arriving that will all need to be mounted and stocked properly.

Website up and running and other matters

Website

We had a few false starts but the website is finally up and running. Still a work in progress but the bones are all in place for the future. It seems to work as we intended, you can view it through mobile devices as well as desk tops and it has a contact page. All in all its not so bad. More improvements to come of course.

Services

We've got a new set of service levels designed to more readily meet the needs of customers so check out the Services section of the site.

Online service booking

We're looking at offering an online booking service, which is not easy to arrange so watch this space for developments here.

Shop improvements

We are now into our 8th year and are now turning our attention to improving the store itself. It will involve a shift around of some things in our store, more display areas, improved lighting, painting and a refreshed set of displays with clearer merchandising. There will be some upheaval of course and it won't happen over night but we're determined to make shopping with us a better experience all round.

Clearance

Part of the refresh is a decision to not carry certain items in the future so that means we're still offering savings on shirts, shorts and gloves, so pass by and pick up a bargain. We're also offering 10% off any of our stock bikes!

Website , what website?

All the best plans can fall at the last hurdle. When it comes to IT we're not blessed with understanding how it works, we just want to have it work! Our new website should have gone live over the New Year break, but we're still waiting for the tech people to get it together. It's not rocket science as far as I can tell, but we're still waiting.

There's a new look as well as some major changes to the website that we want people to have at their finger tips. More telephone calls tomorrow I guess to see what the delay is.

Almost there with the website...

We've been spending our time sorting through our website. We thought about hiring a professional to do it but, hey, we've done it ourselves. 

There's still a shed load to do but we feel at least we have some control over this if we do it ourselves.

Our next challenge will be getting our in-store bikes listed rather than just pointing potential customers to our distributor sites.

Must press on!