I had a chat to Chris Bush who told me a bit more about Cycle Art and the ethos of the company.
“Cycling shops can be daunting, but I hope ours isn’t. We always listen to the customer, adjust our pitch and base our advice on what they have told us. So many bike shops want to sell you what THEY think you need, whereas we make sure we are selling you what YOU want. I’d say most of our custom is through word of mouth, so this approach is obviously working.
Sometimes people come in with very set ideas about what they want, other times it’s a bit more fluid. All our staff are experienced cyclists. Collectively we have millions of hours in the saddle, so we know the right questions to ask. We offer extensive guidance on bike set-up, as well as what different brands offer. The other day a woman came in with an electric bike and she was suffering with bad back pain. We spent a considerable amount of time going through her set up on the bike, making little tweaks. Bike positioning is so important and if you get it right then you really shouldn’t be suffering on the bike. This is the type of service we offer and we do it because we are cyclists and we know what it’s like to ride bikes for hours on end.
If a customer wants something a bit special or different, then I usually offer a Reilly. The lightest and most responsive frame would be carbon, but I tell them if you want it the lightest and the most responsive, and you want it to look good in 10 years time, then go for titanium. Reilly’s geometry is really forward-thinking and the extra small frames are perfect for women. The last Reilly I sold was to a guy who had been helped on the road by a fellow cyclist riding a Reilly. He said they spent ages talking about his bike and he was so impressed then came into the shop with the sole purpose of getting himself a Reilly!”
Cycle Art http://cycle-art.co.uk/
Unit 3F Princess Court, Low Prudhoe Trading Estate
Prudhoe, Northumberland NE42 6PL
01661 835 603 info@cycle-art.co.uk