M Steel cycles of Gosforth closes

unidude

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Just been informed that M Steel Cycles is another local, Newcastle upon Tyne, shop to close.
Hardisty Cycles, then Denton Cycles now Steels.

The Internet will never replace the local bike shop but they can't compete with their prices.

Makes my current build, Joe Waugh 753, more poinient

A very sad northerner
 
Sad indeed & Mick Bradshaw rode there frames when he was still racing...
 
Re:

Not many people buy new steel frames now - they are ridiculously heavy compared to carbon if you're a racer, and expensive if you're not. Argos do most of their business refinishing and modifying old frames now. It seems to work for them as there is usually a 3 month queue!
 
Bad times... I own two joe waugh bikes, a 753 and a 525. Both ride fantastic and well made. Guys in the shop were always spot on. Sad to see the shop go.
 

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Is Dave Yates also packing it in shame he turned out a decent frame
Nothing on his website to say he's packing it in, just a comment on his Facebook page about the closure of M Steel Cycles.
 
Very sad, but then I've not set foot in a bike shop for years. I got all my stuff from the tip or car boot sales.

The internet works where bicycle shops have failed - I would like an awkward part please - internet says 'yes, it'll be with you shortly' whereas the bicycle shop would often say 'ooh, whats that, not seen one of them in years, we'll have to order it in, it'll be here in w couple of weeks'

Or they just looked at you as some sort of specialton wondering why you bike is made of weird skinny material, has no suspension and brakes that actually come into contact with the wheel rim.

As for steel, the market thrust carbon as the new wonder must have and the steel builders sat around twiddling their thumbs. What happens? A couple of decades on, steel frames pass out of the cycling consciousness and the art is almost lost to history.

just found:

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/uk-cyc ... ear/022040
 
legrandefromage":1vvtbv66 said:
Very sad, but then I've not set foot in a bike shop for years.

I think this is fairly common, but then to bemoan the closure of shops when you don't use those shops is a little hypocritical. Use it or lose it.

legrandefromage":1vvtbv66 said:
The internet works where bicycle shops have failed - I would like an awkward part please - internet says 'yes, it'll be with you shortly' whereas the bicycle shop would often say 'ooh, whats that, not seen one of them in years, we'll have to order it in, it'll be here in w couple of weeks'

Patience is a virtue, but one that modern society seems to have lost, people expect to get the thing that they want NOW, for the BEST POSSIBLE PRICE. If you are a small LBS in a provincial market town, how are you expected to stock every part for every bike that may or may not be brought in. The margins from suppliers are so small and the internet pricing so aggressive that there's almost no point stocking a large number of even common items - cassettes on CRC/Wiggle are often cheaper than we can buy from Madison, ie we'd lose money if customers wanted to price match them, which they do.

There are a large number of the internet-magazine-reading, Canyon-riding, pro-muters who know where to get the best deals on everything, and they aren't afraid to tell you about it. They know price of everything and the value of nothing and don't have the self-awareness to realise that coming into a shop, asking complicated technical questions about drivetrains for 30 minutes and then asking for the recommended parts to be price-matched is frankly insulting. These are often the same people that will bring a bike in for a puncture repair and then baulk at the cost, because, and I quote: "it only takes 5 minutes!". Do it yourself then?

legrandefromage":1vvtbv66 said:
Or they just looked at you as some sort of specialton wondering why you bike is made of weird skinny material, has no suspension and brakes that actually come into contact with the wheel rim.

Not all bike shops, but a fair few, yes, some of us like seeing old bikes and chatting to their owners, helping them get sorted in spite of what many see as out-dated machinery, striving to have a selection of parts in stock that are relevant to older bikes, or at least putting the effort in to keep it on the road.

legrandefromage":1vvtbv66 said:
As for steel, the market thrust carbon as the new wonder must have and the steel builders sat around twiddling their thumbs. What happens? A couple of decades on, steel frames pass out of the cycling consciousness and the art is almost lost to history.

Nah, steel has had a huge resurgence in the last 5 ish years, it will continue to prosper I believe too, not in the same market as carbon bikes and not on the same scale either but custom steel and steel for touring/gravel bikes from mid-sized manufacturers is here to stay. Some builders stopped due to dwindling orders, some got tired, Roberts didn't quit cos he didn't have any prospective clients, he quit cos he'd been doing it for 30 odd years. Plenty of new builders have lasted long enough to have made a name for themselves and solidify a reputation, and are doing interesting things with the material.

legrandefromage":1vvtbv66 said:

Pretty negative article, but something needs to change, a lot of the big players thought the post-2012 Olympics boom would keep booming, whereas it unfortunately bombed.



NB: Whilst I quoted you Mark, I'm not having a go at your opinion personally, just trying to put another slant on it.
 
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