http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Tag: Grease Monkey - Recent Topics en Wed, 13 May 2026 02:11:50 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=517#post-3858 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:45:42 +0000 Wilmington's Cow 3858@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Have we done this before? What are your impressions of the bike shops in Edinburgh?</p> <p>For my part:</p> <p>Edinburgh Bike Co-Op<br /> Looooaaaads of stuff and generally very friendly and enthusiastic staff. But can be a bit hard to get a member of staff when it's busy, and there's no particularly obvious 'queue here to pay' kind of thing that somewhere so busy probably should have (yes, I know they have counters, but they're not always manned and you wind up hanging about like a spare part. There's a fairly hefty mountain biking bias as well.</p> <p>I have to say I reckon the servicing can be a little patchy. Most of what I've heard is secondhand, but a few years back I put my MTB in as I just didn't have the time. When it came back it felt worse than before and I ended up redoing everything a couple of weeks later.</p> <p>Velo Ecosse<br /> Not used them much, given the proximity to the Bike Co-Op...</p> <p>Bike Trax<br /> Such a nice range of bikes, I could spend an hour just window shopping those. Quite a limited range of parts, but usually at decent prices and the staff are friendly and helpful - except on one occasion when I was told that a certain type of brake lever wouldn't work with a certain type of brake, which was completely wrong.</p> <p>MacDonald Cycles<br /> Always feels very 'yoof' and I tended to avoid the place - very very limited bits and bobs range. Last time I went in, though, I got served by a very nice young chap. Slightly odd that bikes seem to be serviced out in the shop floor.</p> <p>The Edinburgh Bike Chain<br /> Only used them once, years ago, to install a headset. And a very good job they made of it, and were very very happy to stop and chat about the planned build. Nice shop as well, felt airy and open. I don't really ever have cause to go by (I used to live in Trinity so had a route into town past it), so can't comment on the last few years!</p> <p>The Bicycle Works<br /> Hit or miss depending on who you get serving you! But, they tend to have those parts that no-one else has (save one place to come) AND (this being the big bonus) they're open relatively late meaning a stop ont he way home from work is possible.</p> <p>Bike Station<br /> Old parts galore in the refurbished premises - utterly chaotic place, but a joy if you're into your old bikes, or just bringing bikes back to life!</p> <p>Not been to the Leith Cycle Co. or Eastside Bikes (still up for sale?) or BG Cycles, so can't comment on those.</p> <p>We've got the whole gamut though. Edinburgh Bike Co-Op is sort of the Asda Walmart of bike shops, down to the locally-sourced organic Bike Station. We're kinda spoilt for choice really. </p>