I’ve been a customer at Beeline bicycles for the past 12 years. I see it as my local bike shop and have been a regular customer. Over the years, I’ve got to know quite a few of the workers, who have been around for several years. That in itself is a good sign, when people who work in a bike shop spend several years getting to know the business of bicycles. You feel they enjoy working there, it’s not just about corporate targets, but they enjoy their cycling.
Beeline have benefited from the growth of cycling in the UK; in particular, last year they set up a second shop dedicated to road bikes, just down the Cowley road. Although smaller than the main shop (which has also moved to bigger premises this year), it’s great to be able to go to a shop, dedicated to road bikes. The staff are quite knowledgeable and enthusiastic about road and time trial bikes. You don’t feel that you’re just picking something out from nestled in between a couple of hybrid and mountain bikes.
Road bike from Beeline
A couple of years ago, I bought a Trek Madone through Beeline bicycles. It was part of the Trek Project One. You order online, but buy through a bike shop. This is the best of both worlds, the ability to customise the bike online, and then pick up and benefit from the experience and service of local bike enthusiasts. I’ve been very happy with the Trek Madone experience, you can see a review here
Recently, I got excited about the idea of buying a new time trial bike. Searching online for different time trial frames was complicated with so many variations of Cervelo P5, P5 3, P5 S, UCI approved, non-UCI approved e.t.c. my head was spinning. Mark was helpful in offering different options. The funny thing is after spending an hour looking at different time trial bikes, I decided to buy a Quark power meter, the time trial frame will probably have to wait. In terms of performance improvement, I expect more from having a power meter than a new time trial frame. That’s the good thing about a bike shop keen to help, you don’t necessarily come out with most expensive purchase.
Another example of Beeline helping quite a lot, was last year; I was having great trouble getting a 26.0 Lightweight Stem to stay put with a 25.9 Schmolke handlebar. It was a lot of money to becoming loose. Beeline was very helpful in giving me some free torque paste. I would never have thought of this by searching through internet sites. But, it’s a simple thing that has made tightening bike components a lot easier.
When you get good service, you want to go into the shop and buy local rather than the impersonal online purchasing. As a cycle enthusiast with a limited budget, you’re always torn between finding cheapest possible deals and getting stuff from local bike shop, which might not be so cheap. In the past few years, I’m become keener to go into shop and buy different things because of the good service. Also, like any cyclist, there is always a thrill of seeing the newest components and bike in situ. There’s no harm in being inspired to buy a new shiny mini pump just because it looks good. There’s a greater thrill than clicking a few buttons. It’s not just the service, but it’s good to connect to other road bike enthusiasts happy to talk about cycling.
A good local bike shop is an important part of cycling culture, and deserves support. Beeline help a few local athletes and sponsor a local time trial league. Without good local bike shops, something would be missing in the local cycling world.
Another thing I noticed is that the shop was full to the brim with road and time trial bikes in for repair. A bit of extra care and knowledge about road bikes is obviously paying off, with high demand for taking road bikes in for repair.
Another great advantage of the local bike shop is the ability to try things and gain knowledge of what works. My experience of lightweight stem and handlebars is a good example, I was searching online for the lowest weight. It never occurred to me to check that a Lightweight stem would go with a Schmolke handlbars. After spending a few hundred pounds, the online help at Lightweight rather Germanically replied, a 26.0 can’t be guaranteed to work with 25.9. So, I learnt in Germany there are standard and standard sizes. But, this is problem of buying online, you might thing you’re getting a good deal, but in reality you can lose out.
To sum up, I’m glad Beeline is doing well and able to expand. It’s a great resource for the road cyclist. I enjoy buying things there. I enjoy listening to a bit of advice and boosting about my latest 100 mile TT, That’s something you can’t do everywhere. So it’s well worth visiting.
Related
No comments yet.