I personally don't like shops like these but I needed some new casual footwear so I ventured in. To…read moremy surprise it was quite a painless experience. The staff were attentive, accommodating and I was in and out with me new size 4 within 15 minutes. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Someone needs to call corporate. Honestly; this store is a joke. NOBODY answers the phone, the…read moreemployees seem to have attitudes when asked a question. I don't even think speaking to a manager here will give any results. This store either needs to be closed or get new ppl who want to work.

I love this shop. The man there (I assume he is the owner?) is very polite and honest. You can tell…read morehe loves bikes and its a labour of passion for him.

Where bike shopping is concerned I'll happily cobble together any old excuse to do so; oh my rims…read moreneed truing, maybe I need to replace them with some deep Vs, My fame is a 49cm when I could do with a 47cm new frame? I think so! it's a sickness. It therefore stands to reason that I am pathologically unable to even pass a bike shop without darting in and combing through every aisle like someone auditioning for Supermarket Sweep. I was 'up west' for a change. On the assumption that all West London residents drive Range Rovers I was pleasantly surprised by Cyclopolis, a small but perfectly formed 'half bike shop, half workshop' in Balham. So was it better than the inimitable 14 bike co, you might ask? Clearly not; but it's great for when you want a little splash of quality and style in amongst all the usual practical items. Like decent Kevlar tyres. A respectable range of Brooks saddles. More Abus products than you'd imagine in one place. Very well stocked indeed. they also do the bike to work scheme, if you are as scarred by Evans as I am. Oh, and there's stuff for your kids if you want to get them hooked too. It's more of a shop for people who ride Pashleys or off road, but they know what to do with fixed gear and single speed lovers too. No, and I don't mean slapping them.

When I was young, the Argos catalogue was about the best thing you could possibly read: nobody…read morewants books, they want a visual guide to select birthday and Christmas presents (Easter too if you're a clever, manipulative child...) and an easy price guide for prospective donors to your playtime fund. These days we have the internet, but for some reason it's not as much fun as looking at page after page of groups of items and turning over the corners to mark what you want! You always start off with the intention of buying one thing and get swayed by the myriad alternatives sitting right next door to it. Can you justify to yourself the extra cash for the better item?....Damn right you can because it has all the stats right there in front of you without opening new tabs, windows and certainly without having to tolerate the boring/obnoxious/stupid/couldn't care less/desperate for commission sales assistant (delete as applicable - if you shop at Westfield then all the above apply). So Argos is awesome? Not quite - it has a great range of stuff, but not the best. It's easy to choose, ring & reserve, home delivery etc,etc,etc but it's downright spoilt (at least in Balham anyway) by the fact it now seems to take far longer than it did 20 years ago for your items to come from the warehouse to the collection desk even with all the modern technology. The quote times appear to be made up by Gordon Brown's cabinet! Maybe my Argos Balham experience has just been spoilt because every time I go it never fails to appear badly understaffed or there is some irate punter screaming obscenities at the service staff because their bathroom scales are off white instead of cream as it states in the catalogue. Maybe it's just because I don't buy toys every time I go anymore.....sniff, sniff :(

Tried to rip me off by charging £30 for 1m of outer tubing for break cables that I would install…read moremyself (should be about £5 if that), when I confronted them on this they complained they had already cut it, I refused to pay so he went in the back and came back and said "my mistake its actually £8", definitely not an accident and just trying to rip people off. Go to Cyclopolis across the road, much better treatment!

I have always found the staff at Psubliminal to be helpful and above all quick at doing the job…read morewhether it's a service or to change a flat tyre. My bicycle was stolen from Clapham South Tube today and I will go to this shop first to look for a new one.

Nothing can ruin your day more than it starting to rain while riding your bike... well except if…read moreyou add a flat tire into that mix. I stopped into Apex cycles to see if they could affordably fix my back tire so that I could be on my trodden way and the staff here were so friendly, efficient and helpful I felt a little bit of sun right there in the Apex cycle shop! Not only did they fix my tire as quick as could be, they also helped me fix my brakes, for no extra charge, simply because they didn't want me to "have an accident out there". Wow, I'm not used to random people caring about others so it was very nice for a change to experience. They even helped me figure out why my bike lock was acting so strange (aka sometimes not letting me lock it). A little oil for the lock and a new tire tube, now my lock works great, my breaks are better adjusted then I could do myself and with paying for my new tire tube, I could happily be on my merry way! See I even forgot that it was raining outside! Sometime kindness can go a long way, I really appreciated their extra help and their reasonable price to fix my tire, they've definitely made me a fan and will be my go to place when I need some bike repairs and accessories!

Recently I decided I wanted a bike. No I don't want a bike to ride to work; I have no desire to end…read moreup under a bus. However, I would like to ride a bike through the park or to the market, something along those lines. So to find a bike I started with Apex Cycles. The staff at Apex is very knowledgeable and I liked that they asked me very specific questions to help me find a bike. After a few discussions about what I would use the bike for I was shown a few items and able to make a decision on what kind of bike I wanted. I left the shop with a good idea of what kind of bike I would like and made sure to drop lots of hints for Santa.

This independent bicycle repair / servicing workshop opened in summer 2011, and I had such a great…read moreexperience when I went there for the first time this week that they now have a regular customer, and I also felt motivated to write a rare online review! Outstanding customer service (eg personalised text messages updating you on progress of your service), excellent quality of workmanship, customer-friendly opening hours, and keen pricing. I called round 3 other places (both independents and chains) and their pricing was the most competitive. They have various tiers of service available and once they see the bike recommend which you need (not necessarily the most expensive they recommended a more basic one for mine). They also offer as standard a free follow-up check to ensure everything is still working smoothly, 4 6 weeks after every service, which I believe is unique among bike workshops (at least I've never seen it anywhere else anyway). They also really know what they are doing on the technical side the mechanic Troy said he has been doing this for 15 years. A proper old-school independent bicycle workshop the place is owner-managed and you get the feeling that they really care about you as a customer. Would not hesitate to recommend them.