Stratton Cycles

Having read the positive reviews about this cycle shop I decided to get my bike serviced there. I usually get a full service for my bike annually and keep it in fairly good nick.

There were no serious issues with my bike on the day I took it to the shop. However, the next day I received a phone call informing me that the front lever had broken while they were removing the cable attached to it. A spring inside had apparently snapped away. He then informed me that new levers would now cost in excess of £250 on top of the cost for full servicing. He did give me the option of replacing the broken levers with a used set he had lying around for just over £120.

I appreciate that there are no guarantees for moving parts but having delivered the bike there in perfect working order it felt slightly suspicious that the front lever had now developed a fault which happened as a result of them removing a cable from it.

There was no form of apology, he just said it was one of those things. I also felt he was just trying to offload a spare set of levers he had lying around to make an extra bob. It seems other people have had more positive experiences here, but I just wanted to give an account of what's happened in my case.

My experiences could not have been more different than the last post. Yes the shop is cramped, there are too many bikes on show and on a Saturday morning there are always about 5 or 6 keen cyclists dropping off for that day repairs and when the dogs are there – a very rare occurrence it does feel a little closed in. But the mechanics are all great particularly Jay and Mark - if he can get in front of a bike stand and the sales staff are knowledgeable and will let you test ride any of the bikes on display before you buy, both my daughters test rode several.

I needed solid advice on what wheels to buy and ended up with a set of Shimano RS20's for my road bike and a pair of wheels built on Tiagra hubs, Omega rims with a 36 spoke 3 cross lace, for the commuter, all for a very reasonable price. The display of accessories is a problem because Mark sells a lot of good value bikes but if you ask you get excellent advice on what to buy and whether the more expensive alternative is worth the money. For instance I was recommended the Bontrager hardcase tyres which where a massive improvement on the Armadillos and they are just as puncture resistant, a much better ride and cheaper!

If you want a clean uncluttered shop go to Halfords or Evans who are actually only interested in often overpriced new bike sales and charging over the odds for accessories and servicing/repairs.

I have recently moved to the area and decided to visit this local bike shop as I am a firm believer in supporting local businesses rather than chains. I have also been a keen touring cyclist for over 40 years and have visited many shops across the country.

On entering the shop I found it to be untidy, unclean, and cluttered - a taped up broken window on the door, a filthy carpet (covered in dog hair and stained with oil), dusty, unorganised and quite unpleasant on the eye.

The shop felt claustrophobic due to the amount of stock on display, a combination of built cycles and boxed cycles did nothing to help the situation!!!

It was difficult to tell if the cycles on display were new, second-hand or repairs!

It was virtually impossible to look at the accessories on display as they were blocked from view by the mass of cycles on display.

As mentioned the layout of the shop is terrible and it does come across as looking like a second-hand or junk shop.

Viewing accessories was not helped either as the owner (I presume it was the owner of the shop) had two rather large dogs in the shop which blocked the way as well as boxed cycles blocking the accessories.

The owner also seemed more concerned with talking to another customer about his dogs than serving waiting customers.

I will not be visiting this cycle shop again in a hurry, if at all.

Took my newly purchased second-hand bike to this shop for a cleanup and servicing and was met by one of the most friendly and knowledgeable people that I have ever come across in retail (Mark). He spent 25 minutes on the bike tuning it up as best he could but ultimately recommended that I spend no more money on the bike as it wouldn't be worth it. Pointed out tens of things that were wrong with the way the bike had been put together, came across as extremely knowledgeable without being an ass. Learnt a lot from the visit. No charge for any of it. This is a shop for life, I'm going to look no further for my biking needs in the future.

Taimur

Stratton Cycles is a small independent Cycle shop in Wandsworth on East Hill. I last went in there to put my bike in for a full service and I try and buy all of my spares there. They offer a really friendly service and give really good advice. The advice they give you is always impartial, so they won't try and sell you something just because it's more expensive, they'll try and get to the right solution for you, especially when you're buying a new bike.

The last service I had, as usual, wasn't all that cheap but not too bad value considering they had to replace a lot of components and the bike hadn't had a service in over a year and a half. The bike has been performing really well since the service so I would say they did a very good job.