[Closed] Spa Cycles

Always been fine when I’ve ordered components, they have a good rep in the old school audax world

Spa are awesome and legit.

Very legit if slightly oddball at times ( meant in a sort of good oddball way 😉)

Have been more than fine when I've dealt with them. Since we are fairly close have even been round to their store.

Yes very good been in quite a few times, one of the lads can be a bit grumpy 😉

Can be rather slow delivery, even for stuff they have in stock. But turns up eventually.

The Audax/Touring equivalent of CRC/Wiggle totally legit.

As above, eccentric but legit. My grumpy mate used to work for them and they've been around for years. Have a good reputation for quality work locally.

Eccentric but very good at their niche - I have four friends who've had their old Ti Audax bike as winter bikes before the days of disc brakes.

They are not far from me and I’ve used them a few times for bits and bobs such as wheel building parts. They have been there for years and have a good rep. Especially in the touring and audax world as mentioned above. I was in there a couple of weeks ago and the chap that served me said they were very very busy and couple of staff down. This may impact delivery times a bit I guess but otherwise they are good. Give them a call, they answer the phone unlike places like Tweeks.

First class and old school in a very, very good way.

Dealing with Spa is like a drift back in time before bikes became fashion items and dripping in carbon and trinkets like a wheeled vagazzle. I mean this is a good way.

Used them a few times. Not super quick delivery but they are a decent bunch. Good prices too.

Can be rather slow delivery,

+1 and more so if down on staff & busy, just don't fret if your order doesn't turn up very quickly. 👍

For an alternative POV I found them hard work with terrible customer service when getting some wheels built. I ended up with something that didn't work for my application despite their advice. I had to return them once at my own cost for a rebuild with the spokes I'd paid for and they didn't really care or make any effort to rectify their mistakes.

Will not use again.

Never a problem here and consistently good prices on random and old school bits from a Campag middle chainring to snow stud tyres. Bombproof rear wheel from them that I got second hand has been on my hack bike for years.

I think they are amazing

Phoned on a Wednesday to ask of they could supply all the bits to build a 28 40 chainset. They said do you want to build yourself. I said no i just wanted those ratios which weren't listed on their website. I had the chainset on the Friday no charge for a custom build

Then under lock down I needed a Octalink bottom bracket. None of the big guys had one. Some said they could get one in 10 days. They had it in stock and sent it out straight away

mate keeping a 1990s MTB going says they are his go to for chainrings with odd BCD

Hmmm...seems like theyr'e ok if your'e spending but I called in on spec to see if they had a Sturmey Archer gear cable (old skool shop, thought they might be able to help) Must've spoke to Mr Grumpy cos all he said was, 'you might get one online', so I drove 8 miles home, phoned Bike Scene in Guisborough 35 miles away who said they'd get me one within 3 days & post it out, which they did.
So on that score, It's a no from me.

I've found their mail order to be reliable and their prices are usually good.

Thanks for feedback

I bought my custom spec Surly Disc Trucker from them a couple of years ago and the service, help and advice was amazing.
A pretty much perfect build, above and beyond what I would expect. The little details were executed perfectly.
I was allowed to test ride loads of their exellent own brand bikes, without any deposit or security - if I wasn't so hung up on bigger tyres I would have bought their Tourer/Wayfarer in an instant - the designer is a genius, even the smaller frames don't have overlap and the build AND ride quality is second to none.

However, and it's a big however.
One particular senior member of staff is an absolute nightmare. A genuinely horrible man.
I drove from Burnley to Harrogate to pick my bike up only to have a perfectly valid debit card refused (my wifes, the bike was a present).
He then proceded to get arsey on the phone after payment had been made regarding delivery.

Not the first time this has happened.
He once started belittling me in the shop after I'd travelled a long way to buy a new drivetrain for my road bike, a pre booked visit.

On both occaisions the other members of staff were visibly embarassed and apologised for his behaviour.

I will buy stuff online if they are the only supplier, but I will never, ever deal with that individual again.

The rest of the staff are superb, their own brand bikes are unbelievably well thought out, but the behaviour of that one individual is disgusting.
Genuinely one of the most unpleasant people I've ever met.

I tend to buy touring related stuff from Paul Hewitt in Leyland now.
A true gent and despite a less than stellar website, he can get anything in at reasonable prices.
He did a bike fit for Mrs Spanner and the whole experience was delightful. He spent ages getting everything just right, nothing was too much trouble.
A genuinely decent bloke.

I've been using them for 30 years,

Used to send out a mass of stuff to you, you'd keep the one you wanted and then send the rest back with a cheque. Can't see that working now.

Shop is now run by the son and it's still my go-to local mail-order shop.

Always worth a call if in doubt as they often have a bargain stashed away.

PS: The own-brand Nidd leather saddles are brutal. Go for Brooks.

Ha i watched an interesting scene witht the owner and a customer.

It involved them both holding the bike and tugging it while swearing at each other.

And yet,....I once phoned on a saturday morning knowing their reputation for shall we say, brusqueness, asking about a drivetrain for my old steel 1983 road bike. Yes they had everything I needed come on through. Got there and the guy who served me said , you know most of this stuff won't fit like for like don't you, I didn't ! He then proceeded to spend the rest of saturday afternoon fitting it all for me, for free , while I rode up and down the street on his various demo bikes. The stories you hear about that place are so diverse it makes shopping at Planet X seem like a walk in the park !!!

I think the older, brusque/rude, guy (he might be the original owner) is one of the fairly typical older bike shop staff, usually from the older established bike shops, in this area: catch them on a good day and they are fine but at other times you wonder how they stay in business. It's almost part of the excitement in visiting to get new bits! - Am I going to get offered a cup of coffee or a smack in the face?

I've had three dynamo wheels from Spa Cycles and the only problem was down to me in that I paid a deposit using a debit card that was about to expire and by the time they came to take the remainder I'd used the new one so the old card had automatically been cancelled. One phone call and new card details and it was sorted and the wheel arrived the following day.

Oh dear, just had a look at their Elan Ti and the CdF Ti on the website. Oh my......

I had a shitty experience trying to buy one of their frames. Was told it would be in on the next container. Several weeks later I found out from twitter the container had been and gone containing no frames in my size. The cancellation process was suspiciously smooth.

Various orders for small bits have been fine tho.

Planning to buy some Ortlieb panniers from these guys next week. Look to be the cheapest I can find them. People are paying the same price on eBay for used panniers that they could buy new from Spa!