Evans Cycles

Thank you to Patricio and Long for excellent service at Spitalfields Evans Cycle! They always go out of their way to making the «shopping» experience pleasant!

I wish I had looked at these reviews before waisting time on two trips here. Their low star Unilocal rating is well earned. I bought a pretty cheap bike from Evans Cycles a few years back, so they were a natural go-​to for my next purchase. This time, I wanted to step things up a bit and have been researching various (more) premium models for a few months — I had my shortlist down to two, both stocked by Evans. I found them cheaper online than the Evans listed price, but I’m no bike expert. Before dropping ~£700, I wanted to get some first hand insight from people who knew more than I did, more than I could research online. I think its fair to pay a bit more for expert advice, so I strolled over to the shop ready to hand over my credit card and cycle home.
Sadly, on not just one but two visits there, I was met not by experts but by people who knew virtually nothing about the bikes they were trying to sell me. They didn’t even know the basics: model names, sizing, weight, etc, let alone have any perspective how they might ride or common problems people encountered after a few years of use. They suggested instead that I look online for these answers.
One sales rep told me categorically that an accessory I wanted would definitely not be possible on the bike. I had to show him on the maker’s website that the accessory actually came as standard with the bike. The last guy excused his ignorance by directing me to take in the vastness of the store and telling me that they stocked over 1000 bike models and he knew everything about all the other ones, just not the two I was considering. What bad luck for me, eh?! I get the guy who knows everything there is to know about 998 bikes, but not the two I might want to buy.
No problem. It’s a big store and there are many sales reps.
«Who does know about the ones I’m looking at?» I ask.
«No one,» was his reply. They don’t sell many of that type of bike, he offered in explanation.
Seems fair. Expect that just a few minutes prior he had told me that the reason they didn’t have the exact models I was looking for in stock is because they sold so many of them.
«Its a very popular bike!» he said. «Especially as summer has just started, many people are buying them.»
I was left to ponder this conundrum on my own while he was busy being dismissive, repeatedly telling me to just look online, and generally coming across like he couldn’t be bothered. Anyone can have a bad day. Any company can have one employee with a bad attitude. But, this was pretty much an exact mirror of my first visit there. Once can be an anomaly. Twice is way of life.
As soon as I left the store I called the next dealer listed on the site of the maker of the bike I was considering. «We no longer stock that brand,» he told me. I sighed, thinking, maybe a new bike is just not meant to be. But he then went on suggest a different brand, one they did stock. It had a similar look, comparable quality of construction, but was much lighter, and — in his view — rode better.
Insight and perspective, from someone who knows what they’re talking about: hooray! I headed straight there and when I arrived, he didn’t make me feel like I was wasting his time. He talked me through the models and accessory options, comparing with the other brand I had come in thinking I wanted, honestly weighing pros and cons of both. He encouraged me to take a couple for a spin. There was no hard sell, just pleasant and informed service.
He got my sale that day, for a bike I hadn’t even been considering thirty minutes prior, and all of the accessories, too. And you know what? He’s probably going to get all of my business for anything cycle related from here on out, as well as a strong recommendation to anyone I know who’s interested in cycling. (Also, incidentally, a five star review on here).
Evans Cycles, on the other hand? Well, I’m sure they’ll survive just fine without my business. Which is just as well, since they won’t be getting any more of it.

If you want to maintain your sanity, don’t ever buy a bike from Evans Cycles but particularly this Spitalfields location​— they’ll sell you bike with a mechanical fault and refuse to let you return it on the grounds that scratches render the bike un-​sellable. (disregarding the fact that scratches are caused by mechanical fault, and disregarding the fact that re-​selling a bike that’s proven to be hazardous as ‘new’ is morally dubious). Here’s a blog written by a guy who got re-​sold one of these faulty bikes with no mention of the bike’s history and also wasn’t able to return it:
My entire experience with these guys and the national Evans customer relations team has been abhorrent, exhausting and soul destroying. Save your souls! I wouldn’t wish this place upon anyone.

I only called this branch to enquire about having my bike serviced but was greeted my someone who sounded like he had better things to do than talk to customers. Needless to say I took my business elsewhere. And it wasn’t an Evans Cycles store.

Looking desperately for a same-​day chain set replacement, I visited three other cycle shops on a Sunday morning before happening on a diminutive and somewhat empty Evans showroom in Spitalfields. «It’s an itty bitty Evans. This won’t do», I thought.
But wait!
There was a sign inside.
MASSIVE SHOWROOM DOWNSTAIRS
This warranted further investigation.
And it was indeed massive. The selection of bikes was more than impressive. The selection of bike clothes was admirable. The accessories, appealing (there was even a Chrome messenger bag).
But, better yet, this Evans had the first repair shop that was willing to take my bike and do the repair THAT DAY. Not Tuesday. Not Thursday. Sunday. The day I arrived with a busted, unrideable bike.
This Evans is totally winning.
I like it.
…as I tend to like most things that are «massive downstairs».

A well stocked branch of Evans but the staff here have a real attitude problem.
Not only is it hard to get their attention, but I also heard some of them laughing about customers just after they’d left the store.

I’m in two minds about this particular store. Yeah I understand that it’s a reliable staple shop for things that it can be hard to find elsewhere like gel padded gloves, mountain bike wear etc; and many of the staff did go out of their way to help me make a purchase. Which I suppose is the point — I made an impulse buy; a Mongoose Sabrosa which is probaly the crappest bike known to existence and I’m fighting back the resentment that they kept quiet about their ‘test ride’ policy until it was too late (i.e: they are supposed to offer you one, because if you buy a bike you can’t return it the next day on the grounds that it doesn’t work for you at all) and I bought the lilting, heavy creaking disaster on wheels.
I’m sure that someone else would have loved it, espeically if you like hybrids, but after being on a zippy narrow racing frame for a year slowing down seems somewhat agonising.
They also keep running out of stuff; from gloves, to bags, to pannier racks, on what seems to be a bit too much of a regular basis. Evans — I want to like you but it’s hard right now! It took them a good few weeks before they could explain why they didn’t have my power grips, made all the more frustrating by the fact that they are the cheapest place where you can buy that item. My experience of this shop seems to be this: attentive service, tinged with disappointment. The road to hell was indeed paved with good intentions.

Many of my friends pooh pooh Evans as it’s a chain store and is apparently overpriced. I tend not to be so snobbish. It’s a healthy city that can sustain a chain of bicycle sales, service and supplies stores and I appreciate that Evans both has and offers competition. Particularly appreciated about Evans, which I do not go to exclusively, is that it is not staffed by dogmatic bike snobs who sneer at your gear and always know more than you, and I imagine that it is exactly that being a chain allows them this kind of relaxation. For that alone I would encourage not fully initiated cyclists to frequent Evans and leave the obscurantists to themselves until the time is right for showing off.

I bought a mens hard tail mountain bike here several months ago, and found the whole shopping experience to be rather pleasant.
The staff are friendly and helpful, and don’t just encourage you to buy the most expensive bike in the shop.
Though best avoid peak times — it can be frustrating waiting for service when several other people are milling around as well.