Freewheel (Reading) Closing Down

Just zis Guy said:

A few bargains to be had, one or two remaining Bromptons. Sad to see
them go, but I think they didn't sell enough Broms to compensate for
hot competition on mainstream bikes locally.

Is this the same national Freewheel chain which became Cycle Surgery ?

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

A few bargains to be had, one or two remaining Bromptons. Sad to see
them go, but I think they didn't sell enough Broms to compensate for
hot competition on mainstream bikes locally.

Always a shame when a LBS shuts - means less choice away from H*lf*rds...

Cheers, helen s

wafflycat' waffles*A*T*v21net*D*O*T*co*D*O*T*uk said:

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

A few bargains to be had, one or two remaining Bromptons. Sad to
see them go, but I think they didn't sell enough Broms to compensate
for hot competition on mainstream bikes locally.

Always a shame when a LBS shuts - means less choice away from
H*lf*rds...

Unfortunately the only bike shop around here that seems to want my
business is those lot.

Chris
--
Chris Eilbeck
MARS Flight Crew http://www.mars.org.uk/
UKRA #1108 Level 2 UYB
Tripoli UK Member #9527 LSMR

wafflycat said:

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

A few bargains to be had, one or two remaining Bromptons. Sad to see
them go, but I think they didn't sell enough Broms to compensate for
hot competition on mainstream bikes locally.

Always a shame when a LBS shuts - means less choice away from H*lf*rds...

even more so when H*lf*rds seems to have more or less stopped doing
parts, the latest bike-hut conversion I visited had less parts than the
old high st. stores, mostly new flashy components and bling to go on
BMX/MTB's

wafflycat said:

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

A few bargains to be had, one or two remaining Bromptons. Sad to see
them go, but I think they didn't sell enough Broms to compensate for
hot competition on mainstream bikes locally.

Always a shame when a LBS shuts - means less choice away from H*lf*rds...

Cheers, helen s

When I visited Reading last week it seemed that Halfords had already
done the decent thing. Their former Friar Street premises were boarded up.

Richard

I submit that on or about 15 Aug 2005 11:46:09 -0700, the person known
to the court as "MartinM" <[email hidden]> made a statement
(<[email hidden]> in Your
Honour's bundle) to the following effect:

Quoted message said:

Is this the same national Freewheel chain which became Cycle Surgery ?

I'm pretty sure it was independent.

Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

I submit that on or about Mon, 15 Aug 2005 20:11:15 +0100, the person
known to the court as Gippledocks
<[email hidden]> made a
statement (<[email hidden]> in Your Honour's
bundle) to the following effect:

Quoted message said:

When I visited Reading last week it seemed that Halfords had already
done the decent thing. Their former Friar Street premises were boarded up.

They now have a large edge of town shop on the Oxford Road.

Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

Just zis Guy said:

I submit that on or about 15 Aug 2005 11:46:09 -0700, the person known
to the court as "MartinM" <[email hidden]> made a statement
(<[email hidden]> in Your
Honour's bundle) to the following effect:

Quoted message said:

Is this the same national Freewheel chain which became Cycle Surgery ?

I'm pretty sure it was independent.

yes probably, the Freewheel which became CS closed most of its London
branches years ago, was owned by Madison IIRC

MartinM said:

Just zis Guy said:

I submit that on or about 15 Aug 2005 11:46:09 -0700, the person known
to the court as "MartinM" <[email hidden]> made a statement
(<[email hidden]> in Your
Honour's bundle) to the following effect:

Quoted message said:

Is this the same national Freewheel chain which became Cycle Surgery ?

I'm pretty sure it was independent.

yes probably, the Freewheel which became CS closed most of its London
branches years ago, was owned by Madison IIRC

I'm pretty sure the Reading Freewheel was originally part of that chain,
but then became independent several years ago.
I could be wrong tho'.
Its a shame its closing as, IMO, it was the best town centre shop.

John B

I've used this shop a lot and always found them very helpful, one of
the few shops in the area selling Bromptons (where I bought mine).
Perhaps the guy who owns it is retiring. It's quite a small shop and so
has a fairly limited range of bikes and gear which doesn't help. The
town centre location, with Reading council's overly-enthusiastic
parking restrictions, won't help either. Sad though.

By contrast, the excellent AW Cycles on the Henley Road seems to just
keep expanding and now has a big range of bikes etc, so not all bad
news for Reading bike shops.

Gippledocks said:

When I visited Reading last week it seemed that Halfords had already
done the decent thing. Their former Friar Street premises were
boarded up.

The one in the centre of Walfumstow mutated into an estate agents. I am
uncertain as to whether this constitutes an improvement...

--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/>
It is not possible to call a complex number from a phone box.

Dave Larrington said:

Gippledocks said:

When I visited Reading last week it seemed that Halfords had already
done the decent thing. Their former Friar Street premises were
boarded up.

The one in the centre of Walfumstow mutated into an estate agents. I am
uncertain as to whether this constitutes an improvement...

I'm sure most LBS's in the area will have gone that way by 2012 ;-)

I must admit even in the heady pre-www early nineties I bought almost
nothing from Freewheel as it was cheaper to get it mail order from Oop
Naarth. Was a good shop when you needed it though.

I submit that on or about 16 Aug 2005 02:33:44 -0700, the person known
to the court as [email hidden] made a statement
(<[email hidden]> in Your
Honour's bundle) to the following effect:

Quoted message said:

I've used this shop a lot and always found them very helpful, one of
the few shops in the area selling Bromptons (where I bought mine).
Perhaps the guy who owns it is retiring.

I bought mine [DIMIHAB] there, too, but no it's not retirement - there
is a younger bloke as well. I think the lease must have been up and
subject to a large rent increase or some such.

Quoted message said:

By contrast, the excellent AW Cycles on the Henley Road seems to just
keep expanding and now has a big range of bikes etc, so not all bad
news for Reading bike shops.

My next job: persuade Andy to stock Bromptons...

Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

Someone told me the owner is retiring.