Cyclelogical - wow

Raam

I popped in on Sat after my spin to get a tool to remove a BB. They didn't have it in stock, but I was given some tips about what to do and how to do it and shown the tools that they use in the workshop to do those jobs.
I didn't get what I needed, but I came away with free advice

In the end I (actually JeffOnTour) just used a hammer and a punch, but at least we knew which side to tackle first.

Vélo

Raam wrote: »

I popped in on Sat after my spin to get a tool to remove a BB. They didn't have it in stock, but I was given some tips about what to do and how to do it and shown the tools that they use in the workshop to do those jobs.
I didn't get what I needed, but I came away with free advice

In the end I (actually JeffOnTour) just used a hammer and a punch, but at least we knew which side to tackle first.

You shave asked for a lend of a pump.

Raam

Aquinas73 wrote: »

You shave asked for a lend of a pump.

Like all responsible and dutiful cyclists, I carry my own

gatorade

Went to Cyclelogical on Sunday to look at their sale but it was closed. Their opening hours for sunday read: ''Mass/Pub''

Glad i didnt go in today having read the comments and being a road bike newbie.

Bought my 1st road bike in Cycleways and they were extremely helpful. The young American guy threw in a free bottle holder and fitted it for me. The other assistant carried it for me all the way to the car which wasn't exactly parked near by. On the way he gave me tips about pedals and cycling in wet conditions and then reminded me about my free service in 6 weeks!

Bang on!

King Eric

I've always had a good experience in Cyclogical. I like the banter in the shop and have never had any salesman hassle in there jumping down my throat asking me to buy stuff. anytime I needed help it was always there for me with out the need for a song or a dance.

I have never bought a bike in there and I don't have money for expensive parts but i have always gotten a good deal and good service from them. I'm the guy who goes in there to buy bits and pieces, small tools, tubes nuts and bolts and the like. IVe had wheels respoked and trued in there which are still good.

It's a small shop without a load of room for people who are taking the piss. Selling pumps and tools is part of their livelihood, some cheeky fecker looking for a loan is not putting money in the register.

Coming for a retail background I can totally understand the frustration wiht visa machines on the blip and customers who take the piss. Ive had lots of bad days where ive been lucky enough people havnt pushed things too far.

You never know the back history with these kind of things either, where i worked there were our regular take the piss customers, this guy cud be one of them.

sy

Raam wrote: »

I popped in on Sat after my spin to get a tool to remove a BB. .....
In the end I (actually JeffOnTour) just used a hammer and a punch, but at least we knew which side to tackle first.

A hammer and a punch :eek: Not very Euro!! Thought you had more panache than that Raam

Raam

sy wrote: »

A hammer and a punch :eek: Not very Euro!! Thought you had more panache than that Raam

I never knew the rules stretched to bike maintenance!

sy

Afraid so

Lumen

I popped into Cycleogical today to check progress on my Powertap wheel rebuild. Cliff apologised for the delay and fixed and re-trued my wobbly Askium for free. It had a loose axle, was missing one spacer, and had the other spacer on the wrong side. He muttered something about DIYers.

He advocates building wheels to the requirements of the rider (power, weight, reliability etc) so that if necessary they never need truing. An interesting claim...

rottenhat

Lumen wrote: »

He advocates building wheels to the requirements of the rider (power, weight, reliability etc) so that if necessary they never need truing. An interesting claim...

It's not beyond the realms of possibility - I have a pair of wheels built by Joe Young and they only reason that they have needed trueing is that somebody once failed to latch my fork securely into a roof rack and it popped out as soon as the car started moving - the bike fell to the side, but the back wheel stayed locked in and buckled a bit.

That said, these wheels would probably not be going on your Cervelo R3 dream build. They're DT Onyx hubs laced to Mavic Open Pro rims, 36 spoke (probably butted but they might straight gauge) - Joe reckoned 36 was overkill and 32 would be fine (I'm not a big, powerful rider) but I wanted something bombproof. I've been riding them for seven years now.

So if you want a wheel that never needs trueing, I think you can get it, but you have to accept a certain weight penalty (still, might be less than you imagine).

pburns

I went in there a couple of years ago to buy a pucture repair kit. When I eventually got the counter guys attention and asked for it he smirked and made some sort of 'last of the big spenders' remark. It didn't bother me at the time, thought it was just one random shopboy a**hole but maybe that's the culture in there.

Re. the OP, I'm of the 'neither a lender nor a borrower be' school but that response was bang out of order.

O also, when looking at a bike recently they told me the colour they had in the shop was the only one available. They said the second option in the catalogue was a US spec and there was no other choice in the European market:rolleyes:. I figured they were just trying to get rid of the bike they had in stock so took my business elsewhere. Turns out my preferred colour is indeed available in Europe:eek: and will be hopefully getting it next week.

KStaford

I think it would be perfectly reasonable for a bike shop to have a pump on hand that cyclists can use, perhaps chained to a wall or even an air hose like a garage. If I had a bike shop, I'd be looking for ways to fdifferentiate myself from competitors like this.

To tell anyone to "f" off in a shop is outrageous. I am outraged by this tosser.

eggie

Was in there today for the 2nd time ever, its true, their customer service is indeed appalling. Considering these guys are 35+ its amazing how ridiculous their interpersonal skills are.

I'd walk to CSS in tallaght for a puncture repair kit before I'd buy anything from these guys. There's a younger guy, around 30 ish, he's the only one that seems to make an effort with any of the customers that arent looking for 5K+ Cervelos, etc.

2c.

DirkVoodoo

King Eric wrote: »

Coming for a retail background I can totally understand the frustration wiht visa machines on the blip and customers who take the piss. Ive had lots of bad days where ive been lucky enough people havnt pushed things too far.

I think this is the problem. Retail background or not, you and the cycleogical chaps seem to suffer from the same basic social ineptitude. What do you mean people have been lucky not to push it too far? You work in a shop, serving customers. So what if the credit card machine isn't working, you're going to punch someone in the face because you lack manners?

Seriously, why work in the service industry if you have a problem with serving the needs of the customer?

I'm sorry, but there is no excuse for it. "Sorry mate, we don't lend pumps, you have to buy one"...it's not hard, and it doesn't matter if you have to say it 50 times a day.

Lumen

Sorry, but my initial rage at others' experiences has wilted in the face of the perfection of the wheel Cliff has just built me.

Dat man got skillz.

niceonetom

Lumen wrote: »

Sorry, but my initial rage at others' experiences has wilted in the face of the perfection of the wheel Cliff has just built me.

Dat man got skillz.

He built my wheels too - I'm similarly conflicted. It's nice to in the golden circle isn't it?

blorg

Lumen wrote: »

Sorry, but my initial rage at others' experiences has wilted in the face of the perfection of the wheel Cliff has just built me.

Dat man got skillz.

What did you get built Lumen?

blorg

niceonetom wrote: »

He built my wheels too - I'm similarly conflicted. It's nice to in the golden circle isn't it?

Also Tom- Open Pros on track hubs of some sort? What was the total cost?

niceonetom

blorg wrote: »

Also Tom- Open Pros on track hubs of some sort? What was the total cost?

Can't remember how much - got the rear built first and then got the matching front a month or two later. Maybe €160? Really can't recall.

They are open pros on SytemEx hubs - great rims, not so hot hubs... the bearings went on the rear after about a year of all-weather commuting and I replaced them with hybrid ceramics from superfly cycles. Lovely. Don't know what other hubs they do but those with cartridge bearings can be swapped out relatively easily.

blorg

€160 for a pair sounds very good. I have heard the sealing on the SystemEx may not be so great. I was looking at a pair of Open Pros on Dura Ace track hubs for £200 a few months ago (before the price explosions) but didn't go for them as the DA track hubs are "proper" track hubs and not sealed.

Lumen

blorg wrote: »

What did you get built Lumen?

New rim (Open Pro) and spokes (double butted of some description) on the Powertap hub.

bikergal

I have been to many cycling shops in Dublin, both Cyclelogical and others, and having purchased a number of bikes out of the country and in Dublin, I would not expect a shop to repair a bike unless I was a regular customer or had bought the bike there. How many pumps or tools do you think would be returned?? As far as i recall there is a sign at the counter that states that is shop policy that they do not lend out tools.

Do not all cyslists carry their own pump, tubes and tyre levers??!!

There are many shops in Dublin who specialise in repairing both punctures and bikes, cyclogical only repair those that they sell, which is fair enough as i think they only have a small workshop (and a crazy boss!!!!)

DirkVoodoo

Cycleogical just added me as a friend on Facebook...

stuf

bikergal wrote: »

I have been to many cycling shops in Dublin, both Cyclelogical and others, and having purchased a number of bikes out of the country and in Dublin, I would not expect a shop to repair a bike unless I was a regular customer or had bought the bike there. How many pumps or tools do you think would be returned?? As far as i recall there is a sign at the counter that states that is shop policy that they do not lend out tools.

Do not all cyslists carry their own pump, tubes and tyre levers??!!

There are many shops in Dublin who specialise in repairing both punctures and bikes, cyclogical only repair those that they sell, which is fair enough as i think they only have a small workshop (and a crazy boss!!!!)

the point is that they told someone asking a favour to f%ck off - they didn't say, "sorry we don't have the facilities to accommodate everyone passing with a loan of a pump - we have plenty for sale if you want" - if they had, this thread wouldn't exist.

Yet another nail in the coffin for the shop which has one of the worst reputations for customer service in Dublin. It's not rocket science to know that in the retail world, a favour will generate business in the future. I know I lean towards cycle superstore and think bike because of the favours they've done me without even being asked. I don't go near cycleogical because of their dismissive attitude towards me seemingly because I'm not cool enough to warrant courtesy.

DirkVoodoo

EDIT

Dan Dare

Cyclelogical. Never been in there. There is no excuse for that kind of abuse. Interested to hear the favourable reports of Joe Daly's, have not been in his shop since the mid 1970's. Will check it out the next time I am in Dublin.

j73

hi all,

ive had a read down a selection of these & while the lads can be a bit sharp with punters its generaly with timewasters. how many times a week do you reckon they get asked to borrow tools or asked a stupid question..
they sell pumps why would they let you borrow one?? would a clothes shop lend you clothes??

i walked in there off the street 2 years with cash to spend & not a clue what i was doing.. they could have easily taken me for the lot but they didnt!! they suggested i buy a cheaper bike & see how i got on.. i must have dropped that bike in half a dozen times getting in serviced & bits and pieces & NEVER put my hand in my pocket.. bar the odd tube & cable.

ive since gone madd & bought a few bikes there & the advice & service has been great. ive spent a few quid but also saved some cash..
i even get the odd cup of tea while waiting (granted i have to put the kettle on myself)
how many years are they there?? more than 10?? and the place is always busy?? so they must be doing something right.

you cant please eveybody all of the time?? people have to much time on their hands with all this, get out on your bike!!

Ghost Rider

I've been using System Ex hubs on my singlespeed for the past couple of years. In fact, I seem to recall you asking me about them, Tom, and my saying they were grand. In retrospect, I hadn't had them long enough to judge properly. They're sounding pretty creaky these days and I think the bearings have indeed gone. (Either that or the bottom bracket is moaning - not 100% sure which.)

Anyway, to respond to the last poster on the Cyclelogical issue: some people have had good experiences, some have had bad. (I've had both.) There's nothing wrong with saying so either way - it's hardly going to keep anyone off the road!

niceonetom wrote: »

Can't remember how much - got the rear built first and then got the matching front a month or two later. Maybe €160? Really can't recall.

They are open pros on SytemEx hubs - great rims, not so hot hubs... the bearings went on the rear after about a year of all-weather commuting and I replaced them with hybrid ceramics from superfly cycles. Lovely. Don't know what other hubs they do but those with cartridge bearings can be swapped out relatively easily.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

j73 wrote: »

hi all,

ive had a read down a selection of these & while the lads can be a bit sharp with punters its generaly with timewasters. how many times a week do you reckon they get asked to borrow tools or asked a stupid question..
they sell pumps why would they let you borrow one?? would a clothes shop lend you clothes??

i walked in there off the street 2 years with cash to spend & not a clue what i was doing.. they could have easily taken me for the lot but they didnt!! they suggested i buy a cheaper bike & see how i got on.. i must have dropped that bike in half a dozen times getting in serviced & bits and pieces & NEVER put my hand in my pocket.. bar the odd tube & cable.

ive since gone madd & bought a few bikes there & the advice & service has been great. ive spent a few quid but also saved some cash..
i even get the odd cup of tea while waiting (granted i have to put the kettle on myself)
how many years are they there?? more than 10?? and the place is always busy?? so they must be doing something right.

you cant please eveybody all of the time?? people have to much time on their hands with all this, get out on your bike!!

Shill?

tunney

j73 wrote: »

hi all,

ive had a read down a selection of these & while the lads can be a bit sharp with punters its generaly with timewasters. how many times a week do you reckon they get asked to borrow tools or asked a stupid question..
they sell pumps why would they let you borrow one?? would a clothes shop lend you clothes??

i walked in there off the street 2 years with cash to spend & not a clue what i was doing.. they could have easily taken me for the lot but they didnt!! they suggested i buy a cheaper bike & see how i got on.. i must have dropped that bike in half a dozen times getting in serviced & bits and pieces & NEVER put my hand in my pocket.. bar the odd tube & cable.

ive since gone madd & bought a few bikes there & the advice & service has been great. ive spent a few quid but also saved some cash..
i even get the odd cup of tea while waiting (granted i have to put the kettle on myself)
how many years are they there?? more than 10?? and the place is always busy?? so they must be doing something right.

you cant please eveybody all of the time?? people have to much time on their hands with all this, get out on your bike!!

You don't happen to work for Cyclelogical do you?

blorg

I don't think he is necessarily a shill, he's not the only happy customer of the place. I've had mixed experiences myself; bought a secondhand bike there for a good price and was treated very well... Have also been ignored, got the monosyllabic answer treatment when looking for advice. There does seem to be a fair amount of variance based on whether they know you, who you get, and what sort of mood they happen to be in that day. I don't think telling a customer to f off is acceptable.

doozerie

I've shopped a lot in Cylelogical down through the years, still do, and will continue to do so. I find the staff very good to deal with in there, despite the fact that I'm not a big spender.

I have seen some staff in there be a bit gruff towards customers, but I've seen that (and experienced it myself) in other bike shops too. It's not unique to Cyclelogical, or even to Dublin bike shops generally. Telling someone to f*** off is going too far, in my opinion, but I've seen pretty much the same being said to someone in Cycleways quite a while back. I still shop there too. The worst examples of customer service in both shops were demonstrated by the shop owners, both of whom I've also seen deal extremely well with customers on other occasions. In my view, someone having a bad day and overreacting to a situation doesn't define the culture of a shop.

As regards lending out tools, anyone that has spent any amount of time in a bike shop will likely have seen the number of people that stroll in off the street (particularly if you are located centrally) looking for favours, whether that is the loan of a tool or a pump, or an instant repair job done on their bike, etc. You wouldn't stroll into a jewellers and ask to borrow a screwdriver to fix your watch, yet a lot of people have no qualms about doing the equivalent in a bike shop. If this happened once a week, then what the hell, but I gather that in some shops it happens many times a day, every day. Combine that with people coming in with the sole purpose of stealing stuff (something else that bike shops are prone to), and it doesn't make for an environment where many shops would be happy to have tools/pumps available for the free use of the public.

Incidentally, I've had bad experiences with several of the bike shops mentioned in this thread, including Joe Daly's (having a crank fall off after they replaced a bottom bracket finally convinced me never to entrust work on my bike to a bike shop again!). As soon as a relatively large pool of people start to recount their bad experiences, I would imagine that few, in any, bike shops fare well.

DirkVoodoo

Don't take your bad days to work.

doozerie

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Don't take your bad days to work.

That would be preferable, yes, but as long as humans man the shops customer service will always be subject to the moods, foibles, and prejudices of staff (and customers).

scammer101

tunney wrote: »

So I was in town at lunch today at the doctors, while in town I decided to nip into Cyclelogical to get a new tyre. Normally I don't shop there but as I'd shredded a tyre on a commuter yesterday I'd no choice.

I'm standing at the counter getting served by a youngish guy that seemed okay. He's struggled with the visa machine when a bloke comes in and says he thinks he has a slow puncture and asks if he could borrow a pump. Youngish guy says no, don't lend out tools, sorry. Bloke replies, its okay he doesn't want to borrow it he can just use it in the shop. Reasonable response I thought. Sales guy still struggling with the visa machine so the owner, I think, comes over and says, and I quote - "We don't do punctures, so buy a pump or fcuk off".

My jaw hit the ground, I couldn't believe it. The guy asking for a pump went ballistic and rightly so.

I can't believe that a shop owner thinks it is okay to talk to potential customers like this. I will not be returning to Cyclelogical again even though it wasn't me abused like this.

Late arrival to this thread but the guys in Cyclogical go above and beyond to help all customers who use the shop.From the boss(not owner) down, if they know you and your geniune there is nothing(bike wise!!) these guys will do to help.I can guess who did say this and he does need a wee lesson in manners but he is not there 99% of the time. On saying that, give them a 2nd chance and you will change your mind.You can get cheaper on line, this is not in question, for after sales service you wont get better then these guys.GIVE THEM A 2ND CHANCE,SERIOUSLY, THEY ARE ALL A GOOD BUNCH OF BLOKES WHO LOOK AFTER ALL THOSE AFFLICTED BY THE BICYCLE ADDICTION.

Acoustic

scammer101 wrote: »

Late arrival to this thread but the guys in Cyclogical go above and beyond to help all customers who use the shop.From the boss(not owner) down, if they know you and your geniune there is nothing(bike wise!!) these guys will do to help.I can guess who did say this and he does need a wee lesson in manners but he is not there 99% of the time. On saying that, give them a 2nd chance and you will change your mind.You can get cheaper on line, this is not in question, for after sales service you wont get better then these guys.GIVE THEM A 2ND CHANCE,SERIOUSLY, THEY ARE ALL A GOOD BUNCH OF BLOKES WHO LOOK AFTER ALL THOSE AFFLICTED BY THE BICYCLE ADDICTION.

Cliffs an extremely nice guy

Raam

Acoustic wrote: »

Cliffs an extremely nice guy

He's sorted me out a tonne of times. I always appreciated his advice.

scammer101

Acoustic wrote: »

Cliffs an extremely nice guy

I do not work there but defintely have shares in the place with the cash I've spent there. Been going for years and can count on one hand the amount of times having to deal with him.Maybe he has had such an affect, you see him in all the faces of the staff.FYI, GET OVER IT.Life aint fair.You say yourself, Cliff is a good guy.They are all good guys(who work there). No need to tar all the lads who work there with the same brush.

pburns

Overall they're OK, it's easy to be over-critical and when there's different staff you're gonna get good-and-bad.

For example, manyt here swear by Cycleways but girl I know had terrible trouble with them - delivered the bike on the wrong day, didn't fit the accessories she picked out etc. She described the guy whoi f-ed up as a 'too-cool-for-school', 'yeah man' type but there are some very helpful, conscionsious types there as well (foreign guy there is very nice)

DirkVoodoo

Hmmm...after messing about with my position today, measuring various points on my frame and comparing this with the online geometry information provided by Ridley, I have concluded that my frame size is a medium.

Which is funny, because I was originally sold a medium by cycleogical, decided it was the wrong size. Ridley recommend a minimum leg length of 82.9cm for the Orion, my leg length (after several measurements) today is 81.3cm. Anyway, after I bought it last year I went back in and told them I thought it was the wrong size, two lads disagreed but after being put on a turbo Cliff added from behind the desk that I should have the next size down. So, I was in town waiting around for 2 hours while they swapped the pedals, wheels and cranks onto a new frame.

Or did they? I mean, I seem to have been swapped from a medium to a medium, which either means careless failure to check the frame sizes or simple disregard for my original request and simply wasting my time for 2 hours.

Either way, it's pretty careless and not the kind of attitude I would expect from people selling bikes. In the end they can cause quite a bit of damage if setup incorrectly, I want a Rocky 4 style "Ivan Drago" setup when I buy a bike, not a guess of what might work.

Anyway, it's just my experience, there seems to be a lot of variety on here which is fair enough. I won't go back there again, I don't have much tolerance for incompetence like that.

@Scammer101: Hey, no offence, but everyone is entitled to an opinion. Your a happy customer and that's fair enough, but it should be obvious to you from this thread that there are a lot of people who have been left with a bitter taste in their mouths after having dealt with cycleogical. Yes life isn't fair, I don't think anyone wants to go in and get a hug after buying a bike, all people want is a bit of professionalism when spending a considerable amount of money on a bike.

bunnygreen

Overall they're OK, it's easy to be over-critical and when there's different staff you're gonna get good-and-bad.

Well, have to say the tone of any organization comes from the top,does,nt matter if there is different staff,there has to be an ethos that permeates the entire staff.It applies as much to "regular" customers as to people walking in from the street.Having said that this shower can go and "f*** themselves.

kenmc

scammer101 wrote: »

...., if they know you ....

This reeks of cliquism tbh. Similar to the much despised "Sorry mate, regulars only" beloved of bouncers. So if they know you, you're fine. If they don't know you, then..... what? How do they get to know you?
It's a bike shop. Not a bloody gentlemans club.

Raam

kenmc wrote: »

This reeks of cliquism tbh. Similar to the much despised "Sorry mate, regulars only" beloved of bouncers. So if they know you, you're fine. If they don't know you, then..... what? How do they get to know you?
It's a bike shop. Not a bloody gentlemans club.

But cycling is cliquy, you know that!
We've been accused of it a few times here ourselves.

DirkVoodoo

Raam wrote: »

But cycling is cliquy, you know that!
We've been accused of it a few times here ourselves.

Have you ever told someone to "f**k off!" when they showed up for their first saturday spin?

Raam

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Have you ever told someone to "f**k off!" when they showed up for their first saturday spin?

A few times, but they kept asking for my pump.

RobFowl

Will some one please take comapssion and put this thread out of its misery :rolleyes:

Caroline_ie

I had a problem with my bike ( headset ) on saturday, spoke to Dave on the phone Cyclelogical and told me to come in, I repeat, a saturday. Looked at the bike right away, and fixed it for me, for free.
Cyclelogical = Gentlemen

on a saturday!

mloc123

So I popped in here yesterday to have a look at what reductions they had. What are they like to haggle with? Saw something I'm interested in, annybody bought a bike off them and what should I aim to get knocked off the price? sticker price was €1100.

Raam

mloc123 wrote: »

So I popped in here yesterday to have a look at what reductions they had. What are they like to haggle with? Saw something I'm interested in, annybody bought a bike off them and what should I aim to get knocked off the price? sticker price was €1100.

You know they read this website?

mloc123

Raam wrote: »

You know they read this website?

Maybe they will tell me then