CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
For repairs and servicing I can recommend both Eastside Bikes and the Cadzow Place (London Road) branch of Leith Cycle Co. (formerly Sandy Gilchrist). Knowledgable, friendly, efficient and helpful.
BG Cycles in Portobello have been great too: needed an inner tube after a spate of punctures (old tyres worn out) and it was fitted for no charge which was kind and unexpected (I hadn't asked him to). Maybe they took pity as I had my son with me...
I'll revive this thread to put in a good word for Bicycle Repair Man who just made my Paper Bike's gears work like a tight, smooth well-oiled machine, with no chain jumping or missing gears or any of that tedious stuff. The bike had been getting a bit cantankerous but it's a pleasure to ride now, just glorious.
Not sure if this is the right thread, but noticed at the weekend that Hart's Cyclery is opening a shop on St John's Road near the Drumbrae roundabout. Will be great to get a shop at this end of town & plenty of commuters to hopefully keep it busy.
That shop had it existed a few years ago would have saved me many a walk of shame / wait for the missus.
I now need one in the Dalmeny Estate, anyone fancy opening there? Don't know if it would get through planning.
"Not sure if this is the right thread"
Yes.
Noticed online.
Must update -
Official opening 2 November, but open for repairs from tomorrow:
https://twitter.com/harts_cyclery/status/395537419333664768
Typically I've just put my bike in for repair elsewhere...
Cool, I may have some work for them...
Fantastic to hear a shop opening in Corstorphine. My neck of the woods and will be very handy!
I've had the pleasure of meeting Graeme Hart of the eponymous cyclery. Great guy and knows his ways around the spanners and workshops and has been building some interesting frames of his own.
OK> I really think hard about giving a bad review of a bike shop. Especially a local one.
But I have had such a terrible experiece from Grease Monkeys that I feel a real need to warn folks of this.
Apart from a lot of very inconvenient stuff (i would say this outfit are poor on the mechanics side and very poor on the customer care side), when my bike was returned to me the front wheel had been re-installed so slackly that it moved in the dropouts. this is not only very shoddy but is also very dangerous.
This just is an example of the very bad service my bike received from this outfit and I would say just avoid them.
There is very poor internal communication, a slap happy ethos of a quick turn over no matter what, and a scant regard for the wishes of the customer. I don't want to say too much here, but if anyone wants to contact me about just how bad my experience has been, please do.
I would NEVER let them any where near my bike again.
Lizzie.
And By The Way, I would second Kaputniks view of Harts Cyclery. I had a GREAT service from Graham last year, but this year he has stopped doing pick-ups and is so far out. Otherwise I would not have hesitated in taking my bike back to him again. The service was really thorough and delivered with a smile.
How can one place get it all so right and another place get it all so wrong?
Lizzie.
Lizzie, sorry to hear of this. The grease monkey staff were out at Heriot watt doing their workplace thing tonight as I cycled through. They came to my work and were very pleasant also free, which I liked. They were doing tune ups. As a promotional endeavour which is good but not if followed up by shoddy service.
You could write to the owner, he might not want bad press etc?
Just bike repairs at juniper green still doing pick ups. They have always done a good job for me.
Hi Gembo.
Yes I have written to Grease Monkeys. And I await a reply.
I paid £120 for a 'full bhuna' service and have ended up doing a lot of remedial work which is really unacceptable.
Lizzie.
Another +1 for Hart's Cyclery. I've used him a few times now for both full services and minor repairs and he's really good.
He also has a lovely handbuilt frame in his window and the "Derobement" bike he built is gorgeous. There are pictures on his website and I ogled it when I was in the shop a few weeks ago.
A fave point for Stickman (and Harts Cyclery)!
I'm not very mechanically minded (so I think that's why it irks even more than usual) but I've had some pretty slapdash experiences from "full services". The last time I took my bike in the one thing I asked them to concentrate on hadn't actually been touched. I rode it halfway home, turned round and got straight back into the shop. They were very apologetic and such but I don't know how this stuff can even happen.
Agreed dougal. I've had the same thing happen a couple of times over the years. Hence I prefer to do 99% of my own maintenance. With a family of 4 riders and 5 bikes, it'd get a bit expensive putting them into the LBS !
One of my trips to the LBS was to put right my attempt at home repair.
Another vote for Just Bike Repairs in Juniper Green, only had one job from them so far but they were quick, friendly and sensibly priced. Oh and a good job so definatly recommended :-)
"With a family of 4 riders and 5 bikes, it'd get a bit expensive putting them into the LBS !"
Oh, the economics of bicycles...I guess we're all used to riding bikes built in near slave labour conditions, so when we are faced with the prospect of paying someone living in the same society as us to fix them we seem to baulk at the price. And then moan when the work is rushed.
Setting a bike up properly isn't brain surgery, but it certainly is a skill. What's a fair rate for skilled labour? Well, certainly less than I earn, because I'm super-skilled...amn't I? Minimum wage is £6.31 per hour. Twice that? Four times? Eight times? And what is customer service worth?
"What's a fair rate for skilled labour? Well, certainly less than I earn, because I'm super-skilled...amn't I? Minimum wage is £6.31 per hour. Twice that? Four times? Eight times? And what is customer service worth?"
Good questions - and increasingly hard to answer.
Many 'small businesses' are increasingly being started by people trying to avoid being unemployed. They don't have to pay themselves minimum wage.
"
Average wage in Britain may be £3,500 lower than previously thought as figures miss self-employed
"
@gembo I'm intrigued to hear that Grease Monkeys were at Heriot-Watt last night given that I wasn't aware of it (although I wasn't at work yesterday in any case) - I subscribe to the university cycling mailing list and the Transition Heriot-Watt bicycle group mailings. The only Dr. Bike session that they have scheduled is for the evening of 20th August, which I suspect they will be running internally in any case, not Grease Monkeys.
I did however take my bike to a Grease Monkeys session on campus last winter and was fairly unimpressed with their cursory check-over (they missed some things that needed doing and highlighted others than didn't) - it seemed more like a quick way of drummning up business by highlighting work that supposedly needed doing and offering a short-term discount incentive for them to do it... The sessions that used to be run by The Bike Station were far more comprehensive and they generally replaced more common components (cables etc) for free.
@chdot
Average (mean) wage isn't really a good measure of 'normal' earnings in the UK. We have opted for huge income inequality, so the average salary is much higher than the modal salary.
Being forced into self-employment must be grim.
@jdanielp
Grease Monkey is owned by a marketing professional. He will likely be aiming to build a saleable franchise.
The Bike Station were far more comprehensive and they generally replaced more common components (cables etc) for free.
'Free' is a tough one to compete with.
@LaidBack
That does not, indeed, seem fair or reasonable.
@IWRATS I know that Heriot-Watt used to pay for The Bike Station to come out to do the Dr. Bike sessions so their 'free' work and parts were paid for by the university.
I wrongly assumed that Grease Monkeys would provide a comparable level of service when they 'took over', but apparently not. I wonder if they charge to be there too?
Grease Monkey do sessions at my work, branded as "Bike Love". The first one cost £5 and I used it, but it's subsequently increased to £15 which is a bit steep for a very basic check-up.
@Stickman We've had "Bike Love" for free at Heriot-Watt - I assume that means that the university must have paid for it, but I wouldn't use it again if I actually had to pay for it myself though.
Was about 6.45pm at the sports centre and still busy
We had dr bike at our work before and they were exceptional, as per above, replacing blocks etc.
Grease monkey more tune up
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