Bike Zone

I have had my bikes regularily fixed here efficiently and with good communication. Their location is ideal- very central in city centre close to where I run my cycle tours from, so this helps lots. The staff are always patient and professional & they have always been willing to lend me their pump and give advice and assist. I bought an electric bike here and I am glad I bought locally from them as whenever I have wanted to get something fixed or to get the bike computer diagnostics checked, they have always offered to date to do that for free too. Sincerely, Alasdair

Cheeky staff full of 'advice', who seem to think that every mug who walks through the door should roll over at the first opportunity to spend more money. Not recommended at all. George St. Claire, MA

Had a bike failure while cycling in Oxfordshire and luckily sought out help from The Bike Zone mechanics. They were brilliant- fixed it immediately and sent me on my way reassured. Would definitely recommend- for bike shop enthusiasts the shop had some cute stock too!

Attended due to a punctured front tire. Staff insisted that my bike, due to other defects, was 'unsafe' (in their opinion - not pursuant any roadworthiness standard prescribed by law, a question I explicitly asked), and that other repairs costing 200-300 were required. Refused to fix the front tire even when I expressed willingness to take my own risks, or on the explanation that I would need a bike to ride on while considering the purchase of a new bike. I had to push my bike back to my house for twenty minutes in the pouring rain. This is patently a deplorable attempt to hard-sell something that the consumer does not need, and smacks very much of the exploitation of desperate students who require their bikes to commute. If a cheese shop sold cheese on the condition that their customers also bought a red wine which 'went very well' with the cheese, they would be laughed out of the trade, and rightly so. I also have come to suspect this interaction was coloured by racial discrimination and constitutes a racial microaggression, for which I have written to other authorities. There is, I feel, a principle here at stake, and which is two-fold. The first is eminent, in that any subject ought to be able to take their own adjudged risks in going about their daily business. The second, perhaps less apparent, is that should I have been a low-income individual, reliant on my bike for my daily commute, I should have been rendered unable to make it, or otherwise greatly inconvenienced. Is this the society that we British ought to want? Is this the High Street that asks us, year on year, to support it? If it is sheep who will roll over at the first opportunity to spend more money on their 'advice' that the British shopkeeper wants, I beg to be excused from their ranks. It must be said that I accept the legal right of any business to refuse service to any consumer, though I will note that I believe it is the case that no refusal of service may be due to an individual's possessing or exhibiting certain protected characteristics. I, however, also hold that this refusal ought to be reasonable. It was not, in this case and to my judgement, reasonable.

Great bunch of blokes and great customer service - give them a call/email and you'll be well looked after