Rayment Cycles

Situated in the heart of Brighton’s bustling London Road shopping area, this shop served us up a treat this weekend when we went hunting for new bikes for the summer.
Originally hell bent on getting second hand bikes, we trawled the Open Market and visited Grandad’s but alas, he could not meet our needs.
Upon returning to Rayment’s we informed the staff member of our meagre budget and expected to be turned away, but were pleasantly surprised to pick up two good quality mountain bikes for reasonable prices.
Mine’s bright pink, a Concept Mad Cow design, which cost me a lovely £100, and my boyfriend’s was a Coyote, costing a little more at £200.
We both got considerable discounts and got a bike pump thrown in for free. The service was brilliant, the staff very knowledgeable and happy to help, and once we had chosen we returned 20 minutes later after the bikes had been maintenance checked.
The shop offers a free 6 week service after purchase, and as well as selling top notch bikes, there’s a host of accessories and safety gadgets.
Definitely worth a look if you’re after friendly, reliable and good quality service.

Rayment Cycles is a real independent for the cycling enthusiast. It has a good name among many of Brighton’s more keen cyclists and has earned it over the years for a few good reasons; service, knowledge and stock.
Reyment’s have always employed people who really know what they are talking about and seem when provoked to be quite happy to talk to you about anything you need to know. They may initially seem a little frosty but once it’s established that you’re not in there to waste their time they tend to prove an invaluable source of cycling know how. I once took a frame to them because it required some reconditioning work. The job wasn’t something that they could do on site so they sent the frame away to a company called Argus cycles who specialise in the kind of job I needed doing.
I had the frame back and the bike rebuilt in about two weeks and judging by the bill it seemed they had taken care of the postage for me. This was a while ago now, so I couldn’t swear that they still offer this service but I can see no reason why they shouldn’t.
One sad thing about this place however is that, in recent years they seem to have narrowed down the brand selection of their bike stock. After they had a cool new refit in late 2008 I paid them a visit to check out what had changed. At first glance I thought that they had become one of the new Specialized concept stores. Luckily the change wasn’t that extreme but sadly that have gone the way that many of the independents have, and chosen to stock Specailized as a staple. This isn’t the worst thing in the world as it means you are being sold a great brand, but I always feel safer buying from a shop with a good selection.

Rayment is undoubtedly a professional bikers shop. That’s not to say they only serve a high end market, but as soon as you see any product being sold in all its constituent parts — with spanners — you know your in a house of craftsmen… If you walked in a cake shop and found egg whisks and flour, I guess it would be a similar reaction.
Anywho, Rayment has a wide range of bikes and accessories to go with the tools and parts needed to build ‘em. So you can pick up some cycling gloves and shoes if you so desire, or perhaps some lights and visibility strips? You’ll also get a good service coming here, with the friendly staff briefing you on want you’ll need if your looking to up your game in the biking world. Prices vary, but some bikes hit the cost of cars with one bike widening my eyes with its £1400 price tag… I assume it had a motor, or was filled with diamonds or something as that seems astronomical! I asked my biking friend though, who said that this isn’t exactly unheard of.
The chaps at Rayment are nice and bright enough that I reckon you’d get advice and help if you busted your bike and needed a hand getting it seen to, but then don’t quote me on that… In summary? In my opinion, Rayment seems better than Halfords.