Has anyone tried to buy a pair of cycling-type sunglasses lately? Having tried both (large) Halfords in the area and found them to be completely out of stock, I visited one of the LBSs and was quickly reminded why I don't go there often - the cheapest pair they had was £75, but they promised they had some cheaper ones on order which would arrive in a few days - at around £30 per pair...
I ended up at the friendly local discount store (round the corner from home) which will sell you anything from a mobile phone to a bog brush, and purchased a pair for the princely sum of £2.75 which looked every bit as naff as the £150 Oakleys also stocked by said LBS. I could buy a new pair every week of the summer if they fall to bits and still be better off.
It's all in the name, they say.
A small but connected change of subject - I'm quite sensitive to the ambience of bike shops. I don't expect much ambience at all in Halfords as bikes are one of their many sidelines, but this LBS (which shall remain nameless) didn't impress me much. It had the feel of not doing very much business, and possibly to be looking for a particular type of customer (definitely not including me). That was a big contrast to Evans in West Croydon which I don't mind naming at all, as it's one of the places used by my pal from Warlingham - which is busy, bright, well-stocked and enthusiastic, and a lovely place to browse. There's no dust anywhere, so they either spend lots of time cleaning and polishing or they shift stock at a rate of knots - possibly both. First impressions mean everything.
Rog.
I ended up at the friendly local discount store (round the corner from home) which will sell you anything from a mobile phone to a bog brush, and purchased a pair for the princely sum of £2.75 which looked every bit as naff as the £150 Oakleys also stocked by said LBS. I could buy a new pair every week of the summer if they fall to bits and still be better off.
It's all in the name, they say.
A small but connected change of subject - I'm quite sensitive to the ambience of bike shops. I don't expect much ambience at all in Halfords as bikes are one of their many sidelines, but this LBS (which shall remain nameless) didn't impress me much. It had the feel of not doing very much business, and possibly to be looking for a particular type of customer (definitely not including me). That was a big contrast to Evans in West Croydon which I don't mind naming at all, as it's one of the places used by my pal from Warlingham - which is busy, bright, well-stocked and enthusiastic, and a lovely place to browse. There's no dust anywhere, so they either spend lots of time cleaning and polishing or they shift stock at a rate of knots - possibly both. First impressions mean everything.
Rog.
