When the new Evans Cycles store opened in West End on Mortimer Street I got invited along to take a look around. I was very impressed with the store and also with what I heard from the management team.
The new store is London’s largest Evans Cycles and it is mainly located underground. The surroundings feel more like a nightclub rather than a bike shop. The range of bikes inside is, of course, huge and as you can see from the picture well presented.
The first person I met was Neil Fitton, Evans Cycles Head of Marketing. He introduced me to Ben Hart who is Head of Ecommerce. We were soon talking about Brazil, New Zealand and the sheer amount of Aussies in London! As you can see very on-topic conversation.
I also met with Will Lockie who is the Online Marketing Manager. He told me to bring my bike down and they can take a look at it. I jumped at that opportunity as I’ve been meaning to fix my front derailleur. The mechanics are located in an open workshop that you can look into. They soon fixed my bike while we chatted about cycling in London.
Will told me that Evans are in the process of starting their own cycling blog. It will be all about having fun with bikes. I think they have the right idea about this and I look forward to seeing it working.
Everyone from the Evans team was very friendly and relaxed. It was good to meet the people behind the company. It definitely gave Evans a bit more of a personality rather than the big corporate giant that it may sometimes come across as for us cyclists. I would definitely like to see more of this people side of the company.
To celebrate the opening during April you can also get 10% off accessories, clothing and “non-sale” bikes. The voucher for this is available here. I’m also talking to Will to see if we can offer a free bike service for London Cyclist readers so I’ll keep you informed about that.
See also:
last time i had my bike serviced by evans they destroyed my bottom bracket and then blamed all the problems i was having on “cable-stretch”. i’m sure a lot of them are very good and used to use them regularly until this one incident, but the way it was handled by both staff and management means i am now a confirmed evans-hater. i hope they don’t disappoint too many of your readers…
Tim, thanks for the comment about your experiences. Sounds like you had a very bad situation with them there. I must say in all my dealings with the store I’ve been satisfied. I guess with any chain of stores you will get mixed experiences.
Evans has been owned for the last few years, since the recent cycling boom got going, by a large investment bank, Instead of adding to their coffers, support your local independent bike shop.
I like the quote in the background! The store looks nice – they have a Pashley guvnor there and what looks like a good range of bikes. I do worry about stores which try to cater for every market though. Can they really please everyone? Having said that, I’ve never had any problems with evans, although I usually take my bike for servicing elsewhere. For accessories etc they’re fine.
Yeah I liked the use of the quote. Fits in well with the store!
My experience is that for bits and bobs they are convenient and all around town. The staff seem very friendly wherever you go, I like the help I got at Canary Wharf the other day. If I was buying a new bike or regular servicing though I think I would probably go to the specialist store I have used for years, where me and my bikes are known. I am constantly pleasantly surprised and pleased at the ever increasing number of bikes on the London Streets. I guess competition is to be encouraged in this rapidly expanding marketplace.
I’m still looking for a new favourite LBS since moving to this part of London. I agree with you they are fantastic for being well stocked and conveniently placed. When I was talking to the team at Evans about the fact they have another store just around the corner they said to me that during the summer months the other store had queues that went around the corner. I guess this goes to show the demand! I’d much rather see a new bike shop than a new car dealership!
Had mixed experience with them. It really depends on how good their staff are (doesn’t it always) as have met the odd “unit shifter”, which never endears confidence.
As for servicing, will find out shortly as new bike due for a service at the end of next month.
Would say they may not be the cheapest but they are pretty convenient
I’m with Pete. Never been a fan of Evans ever since they asked for 50p for using their trackpump. You can guess where I told them to stick the pump.
Hey, I don’t think saying this on your post New underground Evans Cycles store opens, repairs London Cyclist’s bike and offers 10% off would be the correct place but I couldn’t find a contact form on your somewhat cluttered theme (i’m sorry). My visitors would always tell me the exact same thing so I converted over to a different theme from http://tinyurl.com/themeforestz. I’ve only gotten compliments since. Cheers, Elda Papike