Bike shops staff aren’t so cranky
Mechanics: 'we’re not perfect but it’s not all black and white'
Friday, 18th August 2023 — By Frankie Lister-Fell
Cyclefit store lead Beth Taylor, second from left, with staff in Store Street
Frosty staff, patronising comments and hidden costs – these are some of the gripes that have led bike shops to get a reputation for being rude, writes Frankie Lister-Fell.
But mechanics in Camden this week responded to the criticism by saying “we’re not perfect” but “it’s not all black and white”.
Nick Freilich, who has worked at Kentish Town’s Giant Store for the past 30 years, including back when it was the famous Chamberlaine bike shop, said he was “absolutely” aware of the negative reputation mechanics have.
But he said: “I won’t say we haven’t experienced reactions from customers about ourselves. We’re not perfect and I’ll readily admit that.
“There are occasions when maybe we have got things wrong, where our approach hasn’t been as good as it could have been. We’re always trying to improve the way we do things here.”
But he said the reputation was not “black and white” and can be found across retail, not just in the bike industry, adding: “Bike retailers attract, I don’t want to say misfits, but people that don’t necessarily have experience in other industries where things are a bit more professionalised.
“In a way, that’s one disadvantage of the kind of old independent, family- run businesses where quite often the person running the shop has never worked anywhere else.
“There’s this sense of entitlement, ‘This is my family business.’ There can be a degree of arrogance and so on. Things have to change, otherwise you’re going to get attitudes that come from a different age when customer service was pretty poor.”
He added that staff are not inherently grumpy, but saltiness can often be a reflection of the last customer they served.
He said: “You get things that will potentially drag you down: when people try to knock you on price, or they’ve got an attitude that you’re ripping them off. When you’re public- facing you have to check yourself regularly, otherwise you can fall into a trap of being a bit ground down.”
“I definitely don’t think there are shops out there that are inflating work for extra business,” adding that shops are too busy to be making more work for themselves.
“There can sometimes be a knowledge gap. For the general population they don’t really attach value to a bike. It could be due to childhood associations when bikes were toys. Or people have had old tatty bikes in the past and they think, ‘Oh, I never spent any money on that and it was fine.’”
In January 2022, the magazine Bicycling surveyed riders – and 60 per cent of 718 respondents said they had at least one negative experience with a bike shop employee that made them feel unwelcome.
Whether it’s condescension at not knowing what size inner tube to buy or going in for a puncture repair and leaving with two new wheels and a saddle, a lot of cyclists have an unpleasant story to share.
Harry Heywood, owner of Crank Doctors in Mill Lane, agreed the industry’s reputation not “entirely undeserved”.
“ There are many fantastic bike shops out there, and I have worked with some great people in the past, but there certainly are some that put people off going in,” said Mr Heywood, who grew up in West Hampstead.
“I regularly get customers who are afraid of asking basic questions, presumably because they have had a bad experience in the past.
“I try my absolute hardest to be as approachable and friendly as possible – there are no stupid questions – and I do not tire (no pun intended) of hearing the same ones.”
Beth Taylor, store lead at Cyclefit in Store Street, agreed that unfriendly shop atmospheres were true.
“We hear it here all the time and it’s the whole reason we opened Store Street. To create a space and environment that is welcoming for everyone,” she said.
Ms Taylor said bike shops can feel intimidating to those not familiar with “bike talk ” terminology.
She added: “Also, having very little female representation within bike fitting, mechanics and sales can magnify this struggle for women.”