The way a bike shop deals with a potentially stupid enquiry says a lot about them to me. I had the opportunity to conduct a minor survey and can therefore furnish you with the results:
The issue, so you can be clear, was that I had neglected to take the crown-race off the forks I sent to be serviced and that turned out to be broken and kept by the service centre. When it came to thinking about fitting the new forks I, obviously needed the race. I hoped (slightly optimistically) that I would be able to get a replacement. This was actually backed up by a sales assistant in Evans Crouch End who offhandedly assured me it was possible (while trying to sell me an entire new bike when I was after forks at the most). I set out to see.
First stop Cycle Surgery, Pentonville Road, who took my enquiry seriously and did have a look but told me that I’d be quite lucky to find one to fit, and maybe to try another shop like Condor, who build their own bikes so might have a few more lying about. I left feeling like it was unlikely that I would find a suitable replacement, I would possibly be looking at a new headset, but it was worth keeping trying. I also felt like the shop cared enough to take me seriously and were sympathetic to my predicament.
Next up was a call to Two Wheels Good, Crouch End, where the person who answered the phone was very helpful, although said much the same as Cycle Surgery. He suggested I bring the bike in and he’d give some that he had around a go and see what fitted. He also said that each headset is different and that it might be pure luck to find one that worked. He also suggested a shop with a bigger turnover that might have more. I was heading towards Condor so that seemed worth a go. Otherwise he also suggested a new headset might be the cost effective way forward. Once again he was understanding and helpful.
So, on to Condor Cycles, a shop that prides itself on its individual service and claims on its website; “Don’t be afraid to ask for help! If you have any questions, just ask. Any of our specialist sales team can point you in the right direction.” So I asked. And was told there was no way to match a race to a headset and that every headset is different for every bike so to sell me one would be dangerous without seeing the bike and fitting it themselves. Even though I made it clear it was a 2004 bike and with a standard no-name headset the sales assistant, in his Rapha baselayer, started talking about integrated headsets, which it isn’t (integrated headsets weren’t around when the bike was built). His first questions were whether the bike was from there, and whether I got the forks serviced with them. The answer to both was no and he obviously wasn’t really bothered about helping after that. In fact he clearly wanted to get rid of me rather than helping. Maybe I expected better from a bike shop that claims to be enthusiastic about cycling and people who ride.
In desperation I decided to ring the Evans Suspension Service Centre where the forks had gone to be serviced. I wasn’t expecting them either to still have the forks, or to be able to help, but my expectations were about to be massively exceeded. The guy who answered was helpful and understanding and even seemed to blame himself a bit for not thinking of the crown race. He put me on hold and checked the “fork graveyard” having taken the details of mine. He was quickly back having found the fork, and offered to post the crown-race to my home address straight away. That more than makes up for the initial issues with sales staff in the Crouch End branch (and I’ll let him off anyway because he said it was his first day) and I am officially impressed.
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