Feedback is very valuable to us and last month’s article on bicycle comfort certainly brought plenty of it. In particular, we had a number of people visit us who were riding the wrong size of bike. Rather disappointingly many of these had purchased bikes on-line, after first visiting a shop to ascertain the size of bike they required. Every bike manufacturer will quote a size for each model they make, sometimes they will use: Small, Medium and Large, sometimes they will use metric measurements (cm’s) and sometimes imperial measurements (inches).
However, there is a wide variation of interpretation between manufacturers and it is very important to try the bike that you are buying and not to simply assume that because you are a medium on a bike that you tried you will be a medium on all bikes. The best advice I can give is to try before you buy and, at The Bike Shop we always offer this service to you. We will help you to get the right size and adjust it for your needs.
In recent weeks we have seen the demise of High Street names such as Austin Read and British Home Stores, as I write this, the news is reporting that the My Local chain of convenience stores (formally part of Morrison’s) is also in difficulties. It takes faith to be working as a retailer! There has been a lot of change in retailing over the last few years and no doubt there is more to come.
Mike Ashley of Sports Direct and Sir Phillip Green of Arcadia (Top Shop etc.) have both been interviewed by MP’s in the last month. Both have highlighted the massive changes brought about by the internet. As an independent retailer it would be foolish to try and compete with these massive retailers on line. What we can do is compete on a local level by offering quality products and a level of service that the multiple and online retailers can never hope to achieve. This must be our strength and should give you confidence as an existing or potential customer.
We are aware of the new “Multi-Channels” that exist and use them to the best of our abilities. At The Bike Shop we use several methods to keep our customers informed of our products and services: Our website, www.leedsbicyle.com, displays a wide range of our products and offers a Click and Collect option so that you can order a new bike and have it professionally assembled before riding it. The website has recently been adapted to work on all major mobile platforms. From our website you can also subscribe to our regular newsletter.
We use Facebook, The Bike Shop, and Twitter, @Leedsbicycle, to promote special offers.
EBay, The Bike Shop Clearance Outlet, to dispose of older or slightly damaged stock. All these channels can be accessed with a single click from our website. Please have a look at our different channels and we would welcome any feedback that you have.
We are open 7 days a week to offer you the best advice and a great range of products and services. We also have a late night on a Thursday when we are open until 7pm. We hope to see you soon.
