Bike Hub Howth -closed

Daroxtar · 21-11-2014 01:44PM #1

From their Facebook page...
"It is with huge regret and sadness that I need to inform you that as of this week The Bike Hub has closed it's doors and ceased trading. We would like to thank all of our customers for your loyal support over the last four years. Hopefully we will see you up the road!"

Shame to see a nice shop gone. I only popped in a couple of times to get a few bits but they seemed like nice guys. Maybe a tad expensive though. Still, I wish them well in the future

Raam · 21-11-2014 01:54PM

I'm sad to see this shop gone. I always had great service and a sound bunch of lads. I hope the future holds something bright for them.

Cyclingtourist · 21-11-2014 02:01PM

Bad news. Been in lots of times but never bought anything. Bit expensive and generally have only the price of a coffee and scone anytime I'm out there on my bike.

Think Sutton would have been a better location for a bike shop.

Jocry · 21-11-2014 02:09PM

Really sad to see it go. These guys were great and being local so convenient for everything. Hope the future holds well for them also.

Pigeon Reaper · 21-11-2014 03:20PM

I heard locally that it was a problem with the lease on the shop that forced them to close. It's a shame to think that a landlords problem closed a viable business.

disco1 · 21-11-2014 03:26PM

Always very helpfull this shop, stripped a bb out one day at is was creaking going up howth hill.popped it back greased and tight no charge.

Is a shame.

NeedMoreGears · 21-11-2014 04:00PM

Really sorry to see this. Always very helpful to me when I was picking up bits and pieces for the various bikes in our house.

arybvtcw0eolkf · 21-11-2014 04:06PM

Well I'm shocked at this news. I loved that shop and always had a good experience there.. I particularly liked the chit-chat, the discounts I got felt a little special because no matter what I bought it was always "will you put that on M*****'s account''.

Harry was sound, no matter how busy he'd be he'd make time to say hello ~ I think he knew everyone's name?.. I got some great nutritional & training advice from Paul.

Often I'd be wondering where to go for a spin, a round trip from my house to the shop was a 20k sprint and so I'd often find an excuse to drop out.

Sadly missed, I hope they re-open somewhere else soon.

Honorable mention to Martin the mechanic too, funny lad

07Lapierre · 21-11-2014 04:27PM

Sad news alright. It seems the only business that can survive in Howth are restaurants and/or pubs....

del_boy13 · 21-11-2014 04:27PM

That's a shame popped in a couple of times when I was out in Howth but never picked anything up.

To me its a reminder to buy local even some of the time because 1) IMO its important to support the local economy and 2) you never know when you might need something in a hurry and local almost always beats the web

Zyzz · 21-11-2014 04:51PM

Charged me a tenner to change a tube way back when..

Never went back :pac:

Harrybelafonte · 21-11-2014 04:55PM

Zyzz wrote: »

Charged me a tenner to change a tube way back when..

Never went back :pac:

Classy!

el tel · 21-11-2014 05:00PM

Cyclingtourist wrote: »

Been in lots of times but never bought anything. Bit expensive and generally have only the price of a coffee and scone anytime I'm out there on my bike.

It's great fun isn't it, shopping without the means to actually buy anything.

It's just like using the premises as a drop in centre!

:rolleyes:

arybvtcw0eolkf · 21-11-2014 05:52PM

Zyzz wrote: »

Charged me a tenner to change a tube way back when..

Never went back :pac:

I got stuck in Howth with a puncture and no spare ~ charged me a tenner too, I was glad of it, got me back on the road in ten minutes.

I went back lots of times afterwards.

Zyzz · 21-11-2014 06:23PM

Karlie Tangy Wish wrote: »

I got stuck in Howth with a puncture and no spare ~ charged me a tenner too, I was glad of it, got me back on the road in ten minutes.

I went back lots of times afterwards.

I had a tube and everything, no other customers in the shop and he said "well Im not doing else so Ill do it for you" ..did it..that'll be 10 euro please :roll eyes:

Thats just my experience, everyone is different

Borderfox · 21-11-2014 06:27PM

That's a pity, always enjoyed a browse and bought a couple of bits and pieces when out in Howth in the car

el tel · 21-11-2014 06:33PM

Zyzz wrote: »

I had a tube and everything, no other customers in the shop and he said "well Im not doing else so Ill do it for you" ..did it..that'll be 10 euro please :roll eyes:

Thats just my experience, everyone is different

He must have thought you were one of the multitude numpties who call to his shop incapable of of replacing a tube.:pac:

Zyzz · 21-11-2014 09:13PM

el tel wrote: »

He must have thought you were one of the multitude numpties who call to his shop incapable of of replacing a tube.:pac:

Not really..

Rim tape moved when I went into a drain going up the hill, ripped the valve so when I tried to pump it, very difficult to find the source!

12 sprocket · 21-11-2014 09:17PM

There might be a bit of a lesson here for all the people who shop on the internet to save a few quid, book shops are another group that are under threat from this. There is nothing as nice as going browsing and buying in a good bike or book shop. and the benefits of having a shop with people who are passionate and experienced about their business is surely worth more than the few quid that is sometimes saved.
its often false economy ... eh mister I bought this on the internet and cannot fit it will you fit it for me.......... of course I will, it will cost X and there goes the few quid that was saved and more with it...

Brian? · 21-11-2014 10:19PM

12 sprocket wrote: »

There might be a bit of a lesson here for all the people who shop on the internet to save a few quid, book shops are another group that are under threat from this. There is nothing as nice as going browsing and buying in a good bike or book shop. and the benefits of having a shop with people who are passionate and experienced about their business is surely worth more than the few quid that is sometimes saved.
its often false economy ... eh mister I bought this on the internet and cannot fit it will you fit it for me.......... of course I will, it will cost X and there goes the few quid that was saved and more with it...

I split my shopping equally between online and bricks and mortar shops, but the price difference is sometimes outrageous.

Hail 2 Da Thief · 21-11-2014 11:22PM

Zyzz wrote: »

no other customers in the shop and he said "well Im not doing else so Ill do it for you" ..did it..that'll be 10 euro please :roll eyes:

Crazy eh!..........I mean it's not like they were trying to run a business or anything :rolleyes:

a148pro · 21-11-2014 11:45PM

Sad to see this, was only in once and they did a good job putting bar tape on for me on the spot even though they were busy enough

Zyzz wrote: »

Not really..

Rim tape moved when I went into a drain going up the hill, ripped the valve so when I tried to pump it, very difficult to find the source!

Ah, so you required the services of a professional and you had to pay for it!

Changing a tube is a pain in the hole - can't see how people could really expect to pay less than ten euro for it

Raam · 21-11-2014 11:50PM

I hope that you have since learned to change your own tubes. The news here is not that someone paid a tenner for an on the spot tube change (so I hope not to discuss it further) but that 5 lads are out of a job and an important service is gone.

carltonleon · 22-11-2014 12:03AM

Hopefully will open back up somewhere around Sutton Cross which is probably a better location. Sad to see the lads out of work. Always comforting to know when doing hill repeats of Howth Head that if something went wrong with the bike they were close by for emergency fixes.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i · 22-11-2014 12:38AM

12 sprocket wrote: »

There might be a bit of a lesson here for all the people who shop on the internet to save a few quid, book shops are another group that are under threat from this. There is nothing as nice as going browsing and buying in a good bike or book shop. and the benefits of having a shop with people who are passionate and experienced about their business is surely worth more than the few quid that is sometimes saved.
its often false economy ... eh mister I bought this on the internet and cannot fit it will you fit it for me.......... of course I will, it will cost X and there goes the few quid that was saved and more with it...

It's definitely difficult to compete with online prices, but you can't beat the service you find in your LBS.

Sad to hear this shop go, however it was kinda expensive

ROK ON · 22-11-2014 01:31AM

I bought a frame on btw in BikeHub recently, they provided the parts and built up complete bike for me.

The price I paid for the frMe was €50 more than the price from the manufacturer. The frame was a 1250 frame. 50quid mark up is peanuts.
In terms of seatpost, bar etc etc the price was cheaper than online.

Christ these guys were trying hard - maybe too hard.

@12sprocket - I could nit endorse what someone has said more. Shopping local is more than a fabric of an economy in my opinion, it is part if society.

For a long while now Canada has been more resilient in the face of recessions than the USA - a lot of scholars are exploring whether or not this may have something to donwith the very high proportion of small local businesses in Canada and less reliance on global business. It is worth considering.

The stores that I buy bike stuff in are not significantly more expensive than online big brands. There is a perception as to the value of online. In a lot of cases that perception is reality. In many other cases not so in my own experience. Shopping is a social as well as an economic activity. Online shopping is purely economic.

Daroxtar · 22-11-2014 10:34AM

ROK ON wrote: »

Christ these guys were trying hard - maybe too hard.

@12sprocket - I could nit endorse what someone has said more. Shopping local is more than a fabric of an economy in my opinion, it is part if society.

For a long while now Canada has been more resilient in the face of recessions than the USA - a lot of scholars are exploring whether or not this may have something to donwith the very high proportion of small local businesses in Canada and less reliance on global business. It is worth considering.

The stores that I buy bike stuff in are not significantly more expensive than online big brands. There is a perception as to the value of online. In a lot of cases that perception is reality. In many other cases not so in my own experience. Shopping is a social as well as an economic activity. Online shopping is purely economic.

I had a quick chat with the owner about prices when I was looking to buy my bike. He said his prices were governed by the UK Wilier distributor owning the Irish distribution rights. The UK prices were far higher than those on the continent. This must have been a serious handicap to his competitiveness. I actually felt quite annoyed for the chap. The greed of the UK distributor cost him IMHO.
Obviously that's just one brand but if other brands had a similar arrangement you'd wonder how anyone could compete with online.

Raam · 22-11-2014 10:38AM

This story is nothing to do with The Bike Hub, rather a German bike store who stocks Specialized, or at least used to.

The store was dictated to by Specialized who decided themselves which bikes and how many of them they wanted him to sell. Some road stuff but also a load of MTB. The store owner, who knows his customers, tells them that no one wants to buy MTB bikes from him and that his business is all road. On top of that, Specialized wanted him to buy all the stuff straight up, which equated to some stupid amount in the hundreds of thousands. Needless to say he no longer stocks their stuff.

deandean · 22-11-2014 10:48AM

That's a pity. I got my bike serviced there a few times. good mechanic.
There is a recently opened bike shop in clontarf on the seafront where oddbins was. haven't been into it yet.Anyone used them?

Raam · 22-11-2014 10:51AM

deandean wrote: »

That's a pity. I got my bike serviced there a few times. good mechanic.
There is a recently opened bike shop in clontarf on the seafront where oddbins was. haven't been into it yet.Anyone used them?

Yep, got a few smaller things from them.

Tenzor07 · 22-11-2014 11:11AM

It's a shame to see another bike shop close down and people lose their jobs.

And as others have said maybe Howth is not the best location for a bike shop, as all along that road it's all Cafe's, bars and restaurants.
Although at weekends and summer evenings there'd be a lot of passing cyclists, on weekdays however I would say there would be very little passing trade.

Bike Hub Howth -closed

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