BIKE THREAD

200 watchers

LindsD May 2019 10:08pm, 20 May 2019 27,764 posts	0 LindsD
CStar May 2019 4:21pm, 28 May 2019 7,517 posts	0 CStar Seems hugely difficult to make an LBS pay these days outside of London. We had two local ones, but the upmarket one has closed. The other one appears to be doing ok and has specialised in electric bikes. Anyone buying on price tends to go online or Halfords and no one seems to be prepared to pay for decent service.
larkim May 2019 4:24pm, 28 May 2019 7,643 posts	0 larkim To be fair to Halfords, some of their bike ranges now are exceptional value for money, and their quality of service in some branches can be excellent. Not every LBS has excellent service, and it's rare that they can offer the best price, so there is a high bar for them to exceed to justify their existence. I've been into our LBS a couple of times and had mixed experiences. Mostly good, and they've also created some individual prices for me which were very competitive (without me haggling for it), but equally I've been given short shrift by them too in the past.
Mandymoo May 2019 9:40pm, 28 May 2019 8,442 posts	0 Mandymoo I much prefer to use a LBS but there prices are most times a lot higher. I have just brought new tyres and called LBS and they were twice the price of Wiggle. I dont mind paying a bit more but not that much. My last 2 bikes have both come from LBS and the service was excellent both times
megster May 2019 7:47am, 29 May 2019 474 posts	0 megster I’d be totally lost without my LBS! He is a bit more expensive but I figure I get that back in advice and all the times I’ve popped in and they’ve tweaked my gears or swapped a brake pad for me and I haven’t had to pay. I don’t find the Wiggle/Chain Reaction empire that competitive now, although I will pop to halfords if the LBS doesn’t have what I need (rarely).
Gobi Jun 2019 8:52pm, 2 Jun 2019 67,060 posts	0 Gobi Using the LBS in Leamington SPA, popped to the Stafford Concept store yesterday as well, I have a fine selection of Specialized bikes . Time to fully integrate in my local world and stop going back to Newbury to have them fixed.
Gobi Jun 2019 2:14pm, 3 Jun 2019 67,065 posts	0 Gobi www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org Can only be a good thing
GlennR Aug 2019 9:37am, 27 Aug 2019 44,408 posts	0 GlennR "On tarmac, it really doesn't make any difference to grip what shapes the designer has carved into the tread. Bike tyres are too narrow to aquaplane at speeds below about 200mph. But the lumps of tread in between sipes and shapes can squirm, and that increases rolling resistance. The best tread pattern is therefore a smooth, slick surface, but with rare exceptions tyre company marketing departments can't seem to get their heads around this." That's from the road.cc website. Any comments?
larkim Aug 2019 10:53am, 27 Aug 2019 8,398 posts	0 larkim Seems right to me, tbh. F1 cars run on slick tyres for max grip, the point of the grooves in tyres is to allow water to be squeeze out to the sides, and most tarmac would have more than enough grooves in it for water to be squeezed into / through by a bike tyre rolling over it. Though as the Vuelta TTT showed at the weekend, damp slick tyres can lose grip quite dramatically too, and that one example really surprised me.
simbil Aug 2019 10:53am, 27 Aug 2019 8,126 posts	0 simbil Agree with that Glen, so long as the road is clean. When a little mud/gravel/sand is added to the mix, tread helps to get to the road underneath whereas a slick just slips out - as a scar on my left elbow can confirm Tread patterns that have a slick centre line and then transition to tiny bits of tread are usually enough for muckier roads.