Rubbish LBS

ibebanging

Visited fitzcycles in Stillorgan yesterday looking to buy a set of standard 55mm caliper brake shoe. Was told that they didn't have them but could order them in and "most people only want the rubbers"

Got them up the road in Hollingsworth Kilmacud where they had several on display without even having to ask, reasonably and visibly priced to. Have also used Harry's Bikes and have had no problems !

So save yourself a journey don't bother with fitz or phone them first.

happytramp

What!!! A shop you visited didn't have something you wanted! Absolute bastards.

rp

I find Fitzcycles to be very helpful and provide a good service - they don't have a huge range of stock of parts its true, but like the OP said, they'll get stuff in fast enough. I bought a light off them and couldn't get on with it (needed a screwdriver to change the batteries), and they happily took it back used and gave me a different one.

Lusk Doyle

ibebanging wrote: »

Visited fitzcycles in Stillorgan yesterday looking to buy a set of standard 55mm caliper brake shoe. Was told that they didn't have them but could order them in and "most people only want the rubbers"

Got them up the road in Hollingsworth Kilmacud where they had several on display without even having to ask, reasonably and visibly priced to. Have also used Harry's Bikes and have had no problems !

So save yourself a journey don't bother with fitz or phone them first.

I went to the local grocery store to buy some lemons but they didn't have any. Rubbish shop. Never going back.

ibebanging

happytramp wrote: »

What!!! A shop you visited didn't have something you wanted! Absolute bastards.

Well it was something pretty basic and they to advertise as a bike shop !! **** mabey I was in the vegetable shop instead !!!

Surveyor11

Fitzccycles are great, so what if they don't have what you wanted? Not the first shop not to stock everything, chill

C3PO

Funny but Fitzcycles usually get very positive reviews from posters here! But thanks for the advice OP ..... the next time I'm looking for a 50mm brake shoe (not just the rubber!) I'll avoid that "rubbish" shop!

ibebanging

Surveyor11 wrote: »

Fitzccycles are great, so what if they don't have what you wanted? Not the first shop not to stock everything, chill

My experience was rubbish. I wasn't looking for everything, just a very basic consumable bike part.

Beasty

ibebanging wrote: »

My experience was rubbish. I wasn't looking for everything, just a very basic consumable bike part.

Did you ring them before? - could have saved you a wasted journey;)

As has already been highlighted by a number of posters you really cannot expect a shop to have every possible part you may need in stock all the time. I guess your complaint has backfired a bit though, as it seems a lot more posters have positive experiences of this particular shop...

Rovi

I too have had nothing but positive experiences with Fitzcycles.
Just sayin'

DirkVoodoo

ibebanging wrote: »

Visited fitzcycles in Stillorgan yesterday looking to buy a set of standard 55mm caliper brake shoe. Was told that they didn't have them but could order them in and "most people only want the rubbers"

Got them up the road in Hollingsworth Kilmacud where they had several on display without even having to ask, reasonably and visibly priced to. Have also used Harry's Bikes and have had no problems !

So save yourself a journey don't bother with fitz or phone them first.

A rubbish shop would have ignored you, told you to get lost or tried to sell you a whole new set of calipers.

They offered to order in something they didn't have in stock. Yes, most caliper brakes use inserts these days, only the lower end ones (and some campag) like to use a completely replaceable brake pad and shoe.

This is hardly a reason to badmouth the name of the shop, is it? I mean seriously, sit down for a second and think about how absurd this is.

CardinalJ

Any time I've been into Fitzcycles they've been really helpful and a few parts/tools I've got in there have been cheaper than CRC, wiggle etc. The rest have been similarly priced. Also they can actually fix things well which is important.

In fairness to the OP one time I went in there they didn't have the disc brake pads I wanted, but when I went to Hollingsworths they didn't have them either and told me to come back in the afternoon when they'd deffo have them, when I went back they hadn't arrived. THat annoyed me far more than a shop not having them in the first place.

Dunno how you can class them as 'Rubbish'.

ibebanging

I would class them as rubbish because they don't sell standard brake shoes. I don't think I've ever been in a bike shop (advertising road bikes) that does not see them. Find another reputable bike shop in the area or online that does not sell them ??

godtabh

I (and half my office) bought my bike there on the bike to work scheme. They have sorted me out on my occasions.

DirkVoodoo

ibebanging wrote: »

I would class them as rubbish because they don't sell standard brake shoes. I don't think I've ever been in a bike shop (advertising road bikes) that does not see them. Find another reputable bike shop in the area or online that does not sell them ??

They do sell them, they just weren't in stock, otherwise they wouldn't have offered to order them in for you.

Complete overreaction, I wish you would see how potentially damaging your comments are...and for what? If it was that much of an inconvenience, why didn't you ring ahead? Or check their website?

Personally, I wouldn't blame a shop for not having something, even something I might assume to be "basic", if I didn't have the forethought to call ahead. You wasted your own trip, not them.

ibebanging

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

They do sell them, they just weren't in stock, otherwise they wouldn't have offered to order them in for you.

Complete overreaction, I wish you would see how potentially damaging your comments are...and for what? If it was that much of an inconvenience, why didn't you ring ahead? Or check their website?

Personally, I wouldn't blame a shop for not having something, even something I might assume to be "basic", if I didn't have the forethought to call ahead. You wasted your own trip, not them.

No point in checking their website, at the time the shop first opened I was looking to buy a set of pro-lite wheels. They where competitively priced and not marked as out of stock, but when I arrived in the shop I was told they didn't have them but they could order them for me !
Also the staff didn't say the brake shoes where out of stock, they said most people change the rubbers, I'm well aware of that but on this occasion I needed the shoes. I hope this thread saves someone else a wasted journey.

DirkVoodoo

ibebanging wrote: »

No point in checking their website, at the time the shop first opened I was looking to buy a set of pro-lite wheels. They where competitively priced and not marked as out of stock, but when I arrived in the shop I was told they didn't have them but they could order them for me !
Also the staff didn't say the brake shoes where out of stock, they said most people change the rubbers, I'm well aware of that but on this occasion I needed the shoes. I hope this thread saves someone else a wasted journey.

I'm sure most people reading this thread have the common sense to ring ahead. I normally would unless I just happen to be passing by.

Icyseanfitz

lesson here, ring ahead before traveling, they cant stock everything all the time ffs,
they told you they didnt have the pads, they then told you most people prefer a different type of pad, and when they realized this wasnt what you where looking for they offered to get in the pads you where looking for, seems pretty good to me

Junior

Worst. Thread. Ever.

bcmf

Lusk Doyle wrote: »

I went to the local grocery store to buy some lemons but they didn't have any. Rubbish shop. Never going back.

Wow.I always found Lusk to be full of Lemons!

gman2k

I asked for a lend of a lemon pump in a vegetable shop one time

ibebanging

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

lesson here, ring ahead before traveling, they cant stock everything all the time ffs,
they told you they didnt have the pads, they then told you most people prefer a different type of pad, and when they realized this wasnt what you where looking for they offered to get in the pads you where looking for, seems pretty good to me

They basically said go to a proper bike shop !

ibebanging

Anyhow I experienced bad service there twice, I won't be back. Didn't intend to upset anyone just voiced my opinion about my experiences with that particular bike shop.

RossieMan

ibebanging wrote: »

Anyhow I experienced bad service there twice, I won't be back. Didn't intend to upset anyone just voiced my opinion about my experiences with that particular bike shop.

Atleast if you need lemons you know where to go.

ibebanging

RossieMan wrote: »

Atleast if you need lemons you know where to go.

I'm bitter enough !

smacl

ibebanging wrote: »

I hope this thread saves someone else a wasted journey.

Ah c'mon, your basically having a pretty serious dig at a retailer here in one of the few times of year they might make a buck, by suggesting in a public forum that potential customers should avoid their establishment. Wise up, that's highly unpleasant behaviour just because they didn't have an item you were after in stock. Never been to the place myself, but must make a point of popping in if I'm in the area. Reports here on balance seem pretty favourable, and as one that buys way to much stuff on-line, I should make and effort to visit a few more LBSs.

AstraMonti

Just change the title, this is ridiculous. The fitzcycles guys are awesome, always eager to help any way they can.

Mycroft H

They're good but expensive enough. Wanted 25 euros to press a lower and upper headset into a frame. Went elsewhere.

Jawgap

Pack of tw@ts in that shop. I went to get some bar tape from them and they asked if I wanted them to fit it.

I took them up on their offer to they fit the tape and the feckers made me drink coffee while I waited - it took them ages and I found out why afterwards - they only went and tuned the gears and brakes.

And to add insult to injury they charge me 0.00 - I was so mad I bought a Morvelo t-shirt while I was there to teach them not to offer them at 40% discounts! W@NKERS!

ibebanging

smacl wrote: »

Ah c'mon, your basically having a pretty serious dig at a retailer here in one of the few times of year they might make a buck, by suggesting in a public forum that potential customers should avoid their establishment. Wise up, that's highly unpleasant behaviour just because they didn't have an item you were after in stock. Never been to the place myself, but must make a point of popping in if I'm in the area. Reports here on balance seem pretty favourable, and as one that buys way to much stuff on-line, I should make and effort to visit a few more LBSs.

I buy a lot online, also try support LBS but a bike shop that dosent have break shoes, the mind boggles !

kenmc

FFS it wasn't like they ripped you off, or sold you something you didn't need or want. You went in looking for a particular item, which in their experience there isn't much demand for, and then you come on the internet badmouthing the "experience" you had there.

I could understand if you'd left a bike in for repair and they scratched it, took off the dura-ace and replaced it with Sora and then charged you for loads of work you didn't ask for and they didn't do, but their only crime was not stocking a specific, apparently relatively niche, spare part. The mind does, indeed, boggle.

If I was to tell everyone to boycott all the shops I've gone into and they didn't have what I wanted, well then there'd be very few shops left indeed.

And for what it's worth, I've never purchased anything from Fitz, but the few times I popped in out of curiosity or just for a time-kill I found them helpful and friendly, unlike the bike shop which I can see from my bedroom window.

DaveyDave

I can't count how many times I've been in town and gone into big shops looking for a specific fizzy drink only to not find it then to find it in a small corner shop. The amount of times I've gone into Cycle Superstore looking for a bike part only to not find one then got it elsewhere, then when I went to buy the new Saint flat pedals from CRC they were out of stock yet CSS had them. This is why we have more than 1 bike shop. Deal with it.

If they don't have something you want, it's their loss as you got it elsewhere. Why is this such a big deal with you? Generally staff are helpful with this kind of thing. If I was in a bike shop and they didn't have what they need chances are they'd tell me the next bike shop might have it or even order it in for you.

Chartsengrafs

I'm rarely out that side of town so never heard of Fitz Cycles.

This thread however has brought it to my attention and posters have painted it in a very positive light. Which is ironic.

letape

ibebanging wrote: »

I buy a lot online, also try support LBS but a bike shop that dosent have break shoes, the mind boggles !

This is just plain ridiculous! Give the shop a break and use some common sense,

Please read the responses you are getting and stop digging...

rollingscone

Really it's time to admit that the original post was petty and stupid and stop trying to justify it with lame excuses.

Image matters to small businesses more than large, and trying to torpedo them for not having done anything wrong is weak sauce.

doozerie

ibebanging wrote: »

I buy a lot online, also try support LBS but a bike shop that dosent have break shoes, the mind boggles !

Ah, you should have asked for brake shoes, they might have had those.

(Yes, picking out spelling errors is petty, but that's in keeping with the basis of the thread to be honest).

ckeego

Best advertising thread for Fitzcycles ever!!!

I have called into them countless times and as LBS go, they could not have been more helpful. Tips, hints and reasonable prices, what more do you ask for?

They have in the past had an awesome Thursday special which would put some of the online superstores to shame.

More power to the little guys of Kilmacud, IMHO;)

ibebanging

Anybody know of another bike shop that dose not sell them ?

Captain Havoc

C3PO

ibebanging wrote: »

Anybody know of another bike shop that dose not sell them ?

No photo attached but I'm sure most of us don't need one to know what a brake (break!) shoe looks like!
As somebody suggested .... stop digging!

Beasty

ibebanging wrote: »

Anybody know of another bike shop that dose not sell them ?

FFS - how big a hole do you want to dig for yourself?

This thread comprises one poster attempting to use a very minor issue to slag a shop off, and a whole host of other posters relaying their positive experiences or otherwise defending said shop

I think it's best to close the thread on the grounds of a Technical Knockout

EDIT - and while I was drafting that 2 others came on with similar sentiments!!