Changes for 2018…

There are going to be some changes to the way we run Brockley Bikes in 2018.

The main one is that we will be increasing our labour prices. I just want to take the opportunity to explain why. This is not to be greedy, but simply so we can continue to survive as an independent local business serving the community. We hope this will shed some light on the reasons behind the changes and that you continue to have your beloved bicycles repaired and serviced by us.

Since we opened to the public 13 years ago we have endeavoured to make your bicycles run the very best they possibly can. We use the highest quality service components at a sensible price; have the best tools to use on your equipment so it doesn’t get damaged while offering mechanical skill and expertise one would struggle to challenge. We have always gone the extra mile to make sure your bike is working at its best and that it set up properly for you.

Over this time we have seen all our running costs increase; rent, utility bills and consumable items we use to get your bicycle looking and running tip top. Yet we have not increased our labour prices to compensate these augmented overheads.

Profit margins on components are very small in the cycle industry as it is and we do our best to keep these as low as we can. However, the last five years or so has seen a massive influx of customers buying their components from online companies.

It is not unusual for people to come in and spend a good amount of time asking advice, which we happily give, only to find they are just “showrooming”. Sure, we understand that people might want to go for the most cost effective option. The problem is that we have just spent our time which costs money only to find that one of the bicycle supermarkets will get the small margin we were hoping for.

We, like all small businesses, can’t compete with internet prices mainly because we don’t have the buying power of enormous multinational companies. That means they can not only buy in bulk, but they can sell what are called OEM products or Original Equipment Manufacturer products. What does this mean? Fundamentally, these are unpackaged components with no instructions and are supposed to be the same quality as the aftermarket products you see in a box in a shop.

I have been in the bike industry over 30 years; I have seen alot of these OEM products. I don’t believe the quality is the same standard as aftermarket. I have seen items without the manufacturer’s name on it or not printed properly along with things that shouldn’t have even left the factory as they are unusable from the get go. Sure, not all the products bought online are inferior, but to the layman it can be impossible to tell. Some people even go with the “buy cheap, buy twice” attitude! This is a long way from being the environmentally friendly approach riding a bicycle is made out to be.

Looking at labour costing against nearly all the local shops and bicycle supermarkets; generally we are below their pricing. And yet we do a much more comprehensive job and always stand behind the work we have done.

We do little things to your bicycle to make it better for you that other shops just don’t do when we service it. To note a few, we fit handlebar tape for free, keep your seat at the right height (we even question customers if it is the right height if looks obvious that it isn’t), grease cables, put handlebars and levers in the correct place for operation and comfort. We also make tutorial videos that cost money and take time which are available free online giving our customers knowledge to improve their bicycles safety and longevity in between services. What we don’t do is use de-greasers and/or power washers that wreck your bicycle!!

In conclusion, it is out of necessity that we have taken the very hard decision to put our labour prices up. We really don’t want to be forced to close the shop. We hope that you will continue to value what we do at Brockley Bikes and carry on supporting us to give the quality service we provide you and your bicycle. Every single one of you is important to us – we couldn’t do this without you!

Remember this won’t be in place until the New Year! If you need to get some work done and want to take advantage of our current low prices, now is the time before we shut for Christmas in early December.

If you would like to talk through anything feel free to email me ashley@brockleybikes.com or pop in the shop.

Happy Safe Cycling,

Ashley

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BROCKLEY CHAIN GANG 2016

SHOW YOUR BIKE SOME LOVE THIS SUMMER AND JOIN OUR CHAIN GANG…

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After the success of our Brockley Chain Gang last summer we are doing it again with a few tweaks to the offer…

We are starting it a month earlier this year; so through June, July and August we will be giving away chains on any General Service at HALF the normal cost!! 

THAT’S RIGHT… CHAINS AT HALF PRICE!!

What do you have to do to take advantage of this offer?

Come in for a General Service in the months July, August and September.

Have followed us on Twitter and/or liked us on Facebook… SIMPLES!!

 (The buttons to get to our social media are at the bottom of this post)

PLEASE NOTE: THIS OFFER WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE UNLESS YOU HAVE ENGAGED IN OUR SOCIAL MEDIA

A few points worth being aware of…

If you don’t need a new chain at the time of servicing we will bank the chain for you to be fitted before your cassette wears out. This way, you get to ride your bike having had the drive train cleaned and then have a new chain fitted down the road (pardon the pun) and get extra life out of the cogs – more money to be saved!!

If you have had a general service done on your bike in the last month we will, at our discretion, include you in this offer before your cogs wears out – again, more money saved!!

If you need a new chain it is likely you will need a new set of cogs, but you will still be getting a chain at a HALF price.

This offer is only available once to each customer… one bike each.

This offer is not valid with any other offer.

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BROCKLEY CHAIN GANG…

BROCKLEY CHAIN GANG

CHAIN

So, finally the weather has turned for the better! It’s been a while since I have been able to get out on my bike at six in the morning without wearing long sleeves and winter gloves. And to celebrate we have put an offer together that we think you will all enjoy. It was going to be launched earlier in the year, but the weather just didn’t lend it itself to it.

So the question is… who wants to be in the BROCKLEY CHAIN GANG??

For a couple of years we have been trying to get our customers to engage in our social media by following us on Facebook and/or liking us on Twitter; albeit with not too much commitment. This is not so we can bombard you with loads of rubbish and nonsensical drivel; though there is the occasional comedy thing we put up. Our real motives are to give you advice, put up what we believe to be relative cycling events we come across and to offer you great discounts on items as and when we receive them from the suppliers.

MASSIVE DISCOUNTS from our suppliers pop up unexpectedly and their stock can sometimes last literally for a couple of hours. This doesn’t really leave us an opportunity to update our customer database, type an email and mail merge it to all you lovely folk. So, what we would like to be able to do when these offers do come along is Tweet about them and post them on Facebook. This way we can find out quite quickly if it is of interest to anyone and promptly place an order before the deals get away based on the overall response.

BROCKLEY CHAIN GANG OFFER…

Through July, August and September we will be giving away chains on any General Service at seriously reduced prices!! And this is how we are going to roll…

When you bring your bike in for a General Service over the next three months we will sell you a chain for the numerical value of your rear cogs for the same in pounds Sterling. Let me give you examples of what I mean and an idea of the savings…

Single speed rear cog = chain for £1 instead of the normal £9.99. You save £8.99!!

Seven speed rear cogs = chain for £7 instead of the normal £12.99. You save £5!!

Nine speed rear cogs = chain for £9 instead of the normal £19.99. You save £10.99!!

Ten speed rear cogs = chain for £10 instead of the normal £29.99. You save £19.99!!

PLEASE NOTE: 11 SPEED SET UPS ARE EXCLUDED FROM THIS OFFER

What do you have to do to take advantage of this offer?

Come in for a General Service in the months July, August and September.

Have followed us on Twitter and/or liked us on Facebook… SIMPLES!!

 (The buttons to get to our social media are at the bottom of this email)

PLEASE NOTE: THIS OFFER WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE UNLESS YOU HAVE ENGAGED IN OUR SOCIAL MEDIA

A few points worth being aware of…

If you don’t need a new chain at the time of servicing we will bank the chain for you to be fitted before your cassette wears out. This way, you get to ride your bike having had the drive train cleaned and then have a new chain fitted down the road (pardon the pun) and get extra life out of the cogs – more money to be saved.

If you have had a general service done on your bike in the last few months we will, at our discretion, include you in this offer before your cogs wears out – again, more money saved.

If you need a new chain it is likely you will need a new set of cogs, but you will still be getting a chain at a reduced price.

This offer is only available once to each customer… one bike each.

This offer is not valid with any other offer.

If I am honest and showing my technological naivety, I had been vaguely wondering for a while why I wasn’t receiving any funny emails from anyone except my mum. Then it dawned on me; everyone is down The Social!! So, come on, get down The Social and keep up to date with all the special offers we will be having in the future…

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BROCKLEY MAX FUND RAISING AUCTION 2015…

We were approached by the Brockley Max committee about putting up a prize worthy of bidding for at auction. The main criteria was for it to be some sort of service rather than item.

So, we came up with two free services and £50 worth of repairs in a twelve month period. Total cost of prize would normally be £150.

WHO IS GOING TO OPEN THE BIDDING AT £150??

If the prize we have put up isn’t your sort of thing, have a look at all the other great things up for auction…

BROCKLEY MAX AUCTION PRIZES

You can see how to bid for any of the prizes in the auction here…

BROCKLEY MAX BIDDING

We are headed down to JAM CIRCUS tomorrow night (5th of March) for a few beers, some socialising and some bidding. Hope to see as many of you there as possible and if you can’t make it and want to bid, you can do it remotely if you want…

REMEMBER, THIS IS TO RAISE MONEY FOR BROCKLEY MAX FESTIVAL 2015.

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Brockley Bikes builds La Marzocco coffee bike…

Six months ago we were commissioned to build a bicycle for the world renowned espresso machine manufacturer La Marzocco through their UK headquarters. The goal was to show off their company name, emblem and colour on an urban type track fixie. Our first attempt was shown at London Coffee Festival in April.

LM 2014 bike LCF

It was well received and we were asked to make a few changes to be released to La Marzocco dealers and general public worldwide at The World Barista Championships in Rimini, Italy. Well, it may not come to much if we don’t sell any, but we had to step up our game to get some kudos.

Some of it was straight forward for us, like putting brakes on it and incorporating the company colour of red.

Some of it, well, not so easy!! We did want to initially put a metal lion on as a head badge, but ran out of time. The guy who makes our head badges for Malcolm Custom Bicycles just didn’t manage to get it done before the London Coffee Festival. So we had to use the first mould he did and sprayed it red.

The metal lion is the companies logo or mascot if you will. It is taken from the Marzocco Statue which is a symbol of Florence, where they make their coffee machines. The one that comes on the machines is made of brass and weighs more than a large chocolate bar. You can imagine how long that would stay on the front of a bicycle before it clanged off, into your wheel, finally being flung back up to hit you in the head. Ouch!!

This one made of pewter did the trick…

The next thing La Marzocco wanted was their name on the frame in metal, particularly the badges they put on their coffee machines. These are stainless steel coated with enamel…

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There were a few problems here. The main one being the badge is flat and a bicycle tube is round. One of the great things about building bicycle frames now is I get to play with fire, alot! So, after getting the enamel off the badge we fixed it to piece of scrap bicycle tube and fired up the torch. Between Ian and I, we heated the metal up and while maintaining it at red hot heat (talking glowing red), manipulated the badge around it.

After a polish up to get the carbon off the steel we decided it didn’t need painting It was going to look tip top on the black frame as straight stainless steel. Nice industrial look we think ties into the bike beautifully and it’ll last…

It’s not been easy to make a product for a large company’s expectations in such a short period of time, but we believed it was doable. So we cracked on with getting a bike worthy of the occasion built. Besides, making bikes is just one of the things we do and try to do well.

We are stoked with the result! We have learnt lessons to make the next one better, but for our first crack at it, we feel we’ve done well. Paul from Coffee Hit, who set this all up, is wrapped with the product and we hope La Marzocco are too.

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Go Brockley… let’s take on the world!!

DESCRIPTION

FRAME AND FORKS: Lugged steel construction

HEAD BADGE/NAME: Pewter Marzocco Lion/Stainless Steel La Marzocco coffee machine name plate

COLOUR: Gloss Black

HEADSET: Tange Levin

BARS/STEM/SEATPOST: Quill/Straight Silver

GRIPS: Foam Red

BRAKE LEVERS: BMX Red Lever Alloy

BRAKE CALLIPERS: Shimano Tiagra Silver

BRAKE CABLES: Shimano Black

SADDLE: Cinelli Unicanitor Saddle Red

CHAINSET: Sturmey Archer 1/8 46 tooth Silver

PEDALS: BMX Plastic Red

CHAIN: KMC 1/8 Red

COG: 1/8 16 tooth Fixed

WHEELS: White Omega Rims/Black spokes/Flip Flop Track

TYRES: Vittoria Safira Pro Red

INNER TUBES: Michelin

PRICE: POA

 

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Happy Valentines – we have found new love…

A few months have passed since we lost our beloved Orange Fandango and with no sign of her turning up we have had to look for a new love. And what better time to meet her than Valentine’s Day?

So, without further ado we give you our new shop mascot The Silver (soon to be orange) Fandango.

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With a whole lot of loving she’ll be as good or better than the original!! We are still in hope for the return of our first true love.

It’s been nice as we were immediately reminded of why we fell for The Original Orange Fandango. We hope you are all having your hearts filled today. Happy Valentines!!

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Pop Up Ping Pong & Viper Challenge at The Old Nun’s Head

Looking for something fun to do tomorrow night… we made our way down to The Old Nun’s Head in well, Nunhead last Wednesday night for a team building evening.

We booked a table with @PingPopPong for an hour hosted in the upstairs function room… We had a really good laugh and found that Ollie is the dark horse when in comes to table tennis, casually whipping us all!!

Afterwards, we all went down to the main bar to try the Wednesday night special @theoldnunshead… wings and ribs!! The food was pretty good and Troy stepped up to the plate (pardon the pun) to take on the Viper Challenge. The idea here is to eat four large chicken wings with The Old Nun’s Head Viper sauce on them.

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At the top of the leader board was a time of 1 minute 4 seconds and the staff weren’t really expecting what happened next. Troy destroyed the current record sucking the chicken from the bones in a staggering 51 seconds. We think he was cheated a little and really did it in 46 seconds, but we aren’t the time keepers and it is still another record from one of the Brockley Bike boys.

 So, now he is not only as quick as Chris Hoy on the rollers, but he is the leading Viper Challenger. Well done Troy and thanks to the other guys and our hosts for a great evening of food and fun.

If you want to see what it’s all about, Pop Up Ping Pong is on at The Old Nun’s Head again tomorrow night and don’t forget to get yourself some good food while you are at it.

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More maintenance videos and tips…

We have put together a couple of new maintenance videos and tips for you…

http://brockleybikes.com/private-customers/bicycle-maintainance-videos/

If you are going to ride through the winter the “Winter Safety Tips” one is worth looking at and if you have bought or been bought a new bike over the internet or the like then the “Building a boxed bike” should be viewed. The one title “Get your seat height right” is relevant to everyone and will make your cycling faster, safer and better for you.

Enjoy and Happy Cycling in 2014!!

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It’s WordPress Super Snow time…

We have sat down and worked out the opening hours for Christmas 2013 and into 2014. They can be found here…

http://brockleybikes.com/contact/

In the process I remembered seeing a nice little WordPress Plugin when I was setting up

http://www.malcolmcustombicycles.com/

for the soft launch of our custom bicycles a couple of weeks ago.

It lets you put falling snow on your website in a completely customized form and only takes five or ten minutes to sort out. Will we have a white Christmas this year? I hope so as I have never seen one since giving up my hot sunny Christmas Days in Australia over twenty years ago. Still thinking it only happens in the movies!!

It’s just a little bit of fun and hopefully get people in the fun playful mood only snow brings on. Check it out here if you want to put it on your site and have a great time this Christmas and New Year.

http://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-super-snow/

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It’s Show time!!

After two years of hard work we are publicly showing our custom frames for the first time. Come along and see as in Shoreditch over the weekend…

http://www.spinlcf.cc/Exhibitors.aspx

You can also see some of the bikes and frames here…

http://www.malcolmcustombicycles.com/

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