Like Tom Cruise on Oprah, I am feeling all loved up at the moment.
Without sounding too schmoozy, they are the nicest bunch of blokes I have ever met.
Ladies and Gentlemen the wonderful Bike Shak Altrincham also to be found on twitter if thats your thing....
@Bikeshak
I called knowing they were probably too busy to help me. Their workshop is so popular (cos its good) its normally booked up for a fortnight. But no, bring it down, lets have a nosey.
I have been having indexing problems for sometime and during the Manchester 100 it meant for a few miles towards the end, I couldn't get on my big ring.
H brought his Toddlebike and sat and watched Joe while he worked away.
Bless him, he was still shouting "BYE JOE" by the time we had got three miles down the road.
Whilst there, we talked about their lack of female customers. It has got me thinking why it might be. The easiest answer, is just the lack of women cycling. But hang on......I know hundreds of women cyclists around the Manchester area. Hundreds.
OK, so they're all not local to Altrincham, but where are they going?
One problem a lot of Indie Bike Shops have, is they're tucked away. Often you find the only people who know they're there are other cyclists (if that makes sense). Is it a lack of high street presence then that manifests itself in a lack of female customers. Do they prefer to go to a big chain (like Evans)? Does it feel more like the Tesco shop? I realise I am in danger of being sexist, but I think its an important issue.
I am going to ask the other Breeze Ride Leaders and the ladies from Glow what they think and report back.
I don't regard Altrincham Bike Shak as a real 'local bike shop'.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't a good old-fashioned bike shop like Threadgolds in Wythenshawe or Braithwaites in Altrincham, and it isn't an out and out road cyclist enthusiasts shop like Harry Hall's or Eddie McGraths in Urmston.
It is more like a cycle boutique for affluent people, perhaps new to cycling, who don't repair their own bikes much at all and buy lots of new, expensive, fashionable stuff quite regularly.
There's a bike shop in Knutsford which is similar, and I regard places like Evans and Edinburgh cycle co-op as simply larger versions.
For simple adjustments like correcting indexing I suggest googling for advice and you'll probably find someone has made a Youtube video about it. Why pay for something anyone can do themselves?
Most bike mechanics are quite simple and require no special skills and few special tools.