Thumbs Up for Think Bike in Rathmines

tpedoussaut

I went to their place to buy a cone spanner, they had none but were happily willing to lend me one and a few other tools for me to adjust the tightening of my back wheel.
All I've bought from them this year so far is 2 spokes for the small fortune of 4 euros.

Just wanted to publicly say thank you.

Bikerbhoy

tpedoussaut wrote: »

I went to their place to buy a cone spanner, they had none but were happily willing to lend me one and a few other tools for me to adjust the tightening of my back wheel.
All I've bought from them this year so far is 2 spokes for the small fortune of 4 euros.

Just wanted to publicly say thank you.

Not at all....I think I may have dealt with you in the shop yesterday , and am delighted we were able to help you out

Hope to see you back soon and thank you for taking the time out to post the above.

Regards
Thinkbike

mtbireland

And always happy to lend you a track pump to put a few extra psi in...!

tomasrojo

There was a time when I was starting to do more home repairs and getting withering condescension from every bikeshop from which I callowly tried to buy parts, but they were the exception. Very helpful.

godihatedehills

Think Bike are great. I've no connection to them but as it's my local shop (and I'm a numpty mechanic) I'm in and out a lot and have nothing but good things to say.

If you need to restore your faith in local bike shops, go there.

Ryder

have to add to this.......best bike shop by far ive come across. Have lived in cork, dublin, limerick and galway and can honestly say that thinkbike are the only shop that i feel guilty for not spending more in

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

sleepyholland

I called them on Saturday as I couldn't remove my old pedals.
Popped in and they removed them straight away, and greased my new ones, which I had with me.

The next day I ringed a screw on my derailleur.
Called by and they removed the damaged screw, gave me a new one, and aligned both my derailleurs.

Both very small jobs, but completed immediately, free of charge.
Fantastic service considering I'd never spent a penny in the shop.

I've been looking for a LBS since MR Skeff hung up his torque wrench.

Ant

I don't know if there's a connection between Think Bike and the Commuting Solutions that was there when I lived in Rathmines about 10 years ago. At the time, I'd been to all the bike shops around Dublin as I used to work as a courier and was regularly buying parts. Commuting Solutions were, by far, the best LBS in Dublin at the time.

I think it was John who used to run the place or work there the most often and I'd still say he's the most knowledgeable and helpful bike mechanic I've met. I was really impressed when he fixed a loose crank by using part of a soft drinks can as shim which meant that I got another few months out of the crank. On another occasion I was given the use of a Suntour freewheel remover when I was fixing a friend's bike. There was no charge for any of these services but I was sure to return when I needed new parts or other bike accessories.

mtbireland

John ran commuting solutions and then rebranded to thinkbike... Salt of the earth.... hope he's reading this..

fasty

This thread couldn't have come at a better time for me! Need a few bits sorted on my bike and moving to the area next week!

Bikerbhoy

fasty wrote: »

This thread couldn't have come at a better time for me! Need a few bits sorted on my bike and moving to the area next week!

Good stuff sure drop in when your settled and introduce yourself,looking forward to meeting you.

Regards
Thinkbike

BostonB

Where is the workshop, up the lane behind the shop?

mtbireland

yes....

briano

Have to agree with all the above, bought my bike there a year ago and have been in and out getting bits and bobs since then, always great to deal with

CramCycle

My bike shop of choice in Dublin, even though I am now living further away, I still travel to them, got recommended to me by a friend when they used to be Commuting Solutions. No bike shop has come close to them yet.

kmick

Had a horrible experience there at 8.30 about a month ago. My saddle disintegrated about 10 yards from their front door and I thought great timing. Went in the door with me bike and encountered the rudest lad ever. slumped at the counter with his chin on his hands. Told him my saddle had fallen apart and needed a new one. He grunted "over there". Went to lean my bike against one of the racks and he said "you cant put that there" so I walked with teh bike over to the saddles and as I did he said "Im not fitting it either you have to go to the workshop". At this stage I was sick of his attitude so I said "you are joking yeah?" he said no "Im busy". So basically I told him where to stick his saddle and went out - as I was leaving he said "are you sure". Went to another shop on Camden Street and he fitted a saddle in 40 seconds.

Have been 10 years in Dublin 6 and its not the first time I have had issues in that place. Another time I brought a bike in with hopping gears - told me it was fixed. Got 100 yards from the shop and it obviously wasnt - when I asked the guy he said oh yeah that bike is so old we cant fix it as the part cannot be got. When I asked why he told me it was fixed and charged me for it so he shrugged - no chance of a refund either.

Caveat emptor.

Bikerbhoy

kmick wrote: »

Had a horrible experience there at 8.30 about a month ago. My saddle disintegrated about 10 yards from their front door and I thought great timing. Went in the door with me bike and encountered the rudest lad ever. slumped at the counter with his chin on his hands. Told him my saddle had fallen apart and needed a new one. He grunted "over there". Went to lean my bike against one of the racks and he said "you cant put that there" so I walked with teh bike over to the saddles and as I did he said "Im not fitting it either you have to go to the workshop". At this stage I was sick of his attitude so I said "you are joking yeah?" he said no "Im busy". So basically I told him where to stick his saddle and went out - as I was leaving he said "are you sure". Went to another shop on Camden Street and he fitted a saddle in 40 seconds.

Have been 10 years in Dublin 6 and its not the first time I have had issues in that place. Another time I brought a bike in with hopping gears - told me it was fixed. Got 100 yards from the shop and it obviously wasnt - when I asked the guy he said oh yeah that bike is so old we cant fix it as the part cannot be got. When I asked why he told me it was fixed and charged me for it so he shrugged - no chance of a refund either.

Caveat emptor.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion with regard to customer care /service levels etc and we certainly have no issue,together with all the positive feedback with listening to the negetive thoughts of our customers aswell and of course acting on it accordingly if/as we see fit .

We are sorry you feel you didnt get the service you expected from us but Im sure I would get the back up from our highly valued loyal customer base that this is far from the norm and we apologise again for you feeling the way you do.

Thanks for your comments and we hope we might see you in store again soon.

Regards
Thinkbike

Kintarō Hattori

These guys sound like the shop for me. I'm just back cycling 2 months after more than 6 years away and I know nothing about fixing my bike. I think I need to replace both sets of brake pads on my bike (a cheapo Blast Ranger - hey it works for my short commute!). As these are such a cheap bike is it worth replacing/can they be got and would it be expensive?

I work just 1 minute away from Cycleways but there's something about the place that has always put me off dropping into them for minor things.

kmick

Bikerbhoy wrote: »

Everyone is entitled to their opinion with regard to customer care /service levels etc and we certainly have no issue,together with all the positive feedback with listening to the negetive thoughts of our customers aswell and of course acting on it accordingly if/as we see fit .

We are sorry you feel you didnt get the service you expected from us but Im sure I would get the back up from our highly valued loyal customer base that this is far from the norm and we apologise again for you feeling the way you do.

Thanks for your comments and we hope we might see you in store again soon.

Regards
Thinkbike

"We are sorry you feel you didnt get the service you expected from us" is whats known in the business as a fauxpology in that seems to an express an apology but really just means we are sorry you are a dick. This is always the attitude I have got in your shop. It would have been easier that day for me to say nothing and go to the workshop and get it fitted but I thought this is one incident too far and Im voting with my feet. You wont see me in store again Im afraid and Im sorry you feel I am crashing your thumbs up thread with my dickish attitude.

comad

kmick wrote: »

Had a horrible experience there at 8.30 about a month ago. My saddle disintegrated about 10 yards from their front door and I thought great timing. Went in the door with me bike and encountered the rudest lad ever. slumped at the counter with his chin on his hands. Told him my saddle had fallen apart and needed a new one. He grunted "over there". Went to lean my bike against one of the racks and he said "you cant put that there" so I walked with teh bike over to the saddles and as I did he said "Im not fitting it either you have to go to the workshop". At this stage I was sick of his attitude so I said "you are joking yeah?" he said no "Im busy". So basically I told him where to stick his saddle and went out - as I was leaving he said "are you sure". Went to another shop on Camden Street and he fitted a saddle in 40 seconds.

Have been 10 years in Dublin 6 and its not the first time I have had issues in that place. Another time I brought a bike in with hopping gears - told me it was fixed. Got 100 yards from the shop and it obviously wasnt - when I asked the guy he said oh yeah that bike is so old we cant fix it as the part cannot be got. When I asked why he told me it was fixed and charged me for it so he shrugged - no chance of a refund either.

Caveat emptor.

I could tell a very similar story too. Luckily I got some sort of refund.

Like yourself I don't feel like I didn't get the service I was expecting. I didn't get the service.

Bikerbhoy

kmick wrote: »

"We are sorry you feel you didnt get the service you expected from us" is whats known in the business as a fauxpology in that seems to an express an apology but really just means we are sorry you are a dick. This is always the attitude I have got in your shop. It would have been easier that day for me to say nothing and go to the workshop and get it fitted but I thought this is one incident too far and Im voting with my feet. You wont see me in store again Im afraid and Im sorry you feel I am crashing your thumbs up thread with my dickish attitude.

Again, thank you for your comments.

Regards
Thinkbike

Bikerbhoy

comad wrote: »

I could tell a very similar story too. Luckily I got some sort of refund.

Like yourself I don't feel like I didn't get the service I was expecting. I didn't get the service.

Did you discuss your issues with anyone at the time regarding service ?

comad

Bikerbhoy wrote: »

Did you discuss your issues with anyone at the time regarding service ?

Unfortunately, I took the issue up with the chief mechanic. His greeting of "What now?" when I enquired set the tone. He had charged me €60 to unnecessarily replace the bottom bracket. And then charged €25 to unnecessarily replace the freewheel. Thankfully he had kept the old freewheel and swapped it back. All that fuss for what was a bent axle (that a different shop fixed after 10 minutes)!

Thats life though. I looked at it from the view that at least I have a new bottom bracket and even if I did complain further I would never set foot in your shop again so it'd pointless but your comment dissing kmick's post is basically a continuation of the poor attitude of some of your staff.

Captain Havoc

This is starting to turn into bickering and it is not to continue.