Cycle King

Brand new bike and the tire was flat within 48 hours. Took two tries to diagnose the problem (it wasn’t a bad valve, it was terrible luck of sharp metal picked up in the tire) and they fixed it with no charge for labor. The bike is decent and the price was by far the best in Oxford. Service could be better, but OK.

I went to this shop for my bike for the year and when I purchased a bike in October. I had trouble telling them what I want, the shop worker was slightly rude and condescending, always insisting he knew more than me and that I had no idea what I was talking about. I only stayed with them and didn’t look at bike shops down the street because they verbally promised me that they would buy the bike back at 40% of the price at the end of the school year. I paid around 120 pounds. When I sold it back to the shop, they told me any sign of rust voided that agreement, which they DID NOT disclose back in October. The shop worker was again rude to me as well. If I were to go back to Oxford for graduate study, I would take my business elsewhere. LOOK AT OTHER SHOPS DOWN THE STREET!

5 out 5 stars for me IN TERMS OF customer service, Only dealt with one guy and will only ever deal with one guy if shopping at cycle king, Tony. What a lovely fella, helped me picked my bike, I was just asking so many noobish questions, he answered with a smile and was generally a down to earth guy. Other staff members on the other hand, seemed miserable to be honest apart from one fella don’t know his name but was really helpful. I honestly can say if it was not for Tony I wouldn’t recommend cycle king, however if purchasing any bike from there please ask for Tony.
Long story short if you are looking for a bike cycle king is good, for CHEAP bikes. They will breakdown, its just only a matter of time and I advise you to spend around £200 minimum for a good bike from the store. I spent £200, the bike was £160, and the lights and with a upgraded lock was £40. Now this bike has been a nightmare, only purchased it 2 weeks and a half ago and its broken down 3 times. Spoke to a staff member on the phone, will not mention his name, he was not rude or talking nice to me, I felt like he was talking down on me.
He stated that if you gave us enough time to fix the bike then there would be no problems. (I asked for a refund of my money)
Let me explain the situation, 1^st time I took it in, the gears/​chain were messed up, kept on changing every time I put some force into my pedaling, and the pedal came off, left it with them overnight and picked it up around 5 in the evening next day. The bike was a charm to ride, gears felt nice and the pedals werent moving.
Fast forward two days later and the pedal fails again, took it back in (Sunday 18^th Nov 2012), and explained that his has just been fixed and the pedal fell off, spoke to tony about this, again this guy is amazing, he said to me only will take a few minutes repairing it, I was very happy because i was getting late for work, and I could ride my bike into work, I was expecting to walk it.
I spoke to him again and I wanted a specialized bike, and HE recommended the shop down the road for them types of bikes, which is amazing, he didn’t offer anything in store about the bikes in similar performance levels, UNTIL I asked if he had any bikes like specialized in stock. He showed me a few and I was impressed. My plan was if this bike fails again I will exchange it, and spend more (£200) to get a better bike. However THE SAME DAY, around 9 in the evening, The Pedal came off middle of the road and i fell down.
Now I was more embarrassed then hurt but this made me very angry towards the bike, not towards tony as much but felt disappointed in a way. Because i did state i want a reliable bike for work. I made up my mind and wanted my money back and will be going to the other bike store down the road. (bare in mind the cheapest specialized bike they have is 350, so a lot more expensive then cycle king, however bikes in similar/​same performance/​parts, are cheaper in cycle king)
This review would of gotten a 1 if it was not for tony, a message for cycle king, Tony is your best employee hands down. I haven’t got nothing against your company the bikes you sell do seem abit low in terms of reliability. However I do not want to risk my money on a bike where it might break down, every month or so. No matter how small the problem is, its a hassle taking it into the store. Staff need to smile, its like everyone hates customers walking in the store.
EDIT: gave this a 3 out of 5, however after ringing up and talking to the store manager, keith, amazing guy, apologized for the service and was talking to me like a actual human being and understood my frustration. He even stated that they dont give out refunds for this but he will in my situation as a act of good will. Sorted me out my refund, offered VERY good deals, £500 bikes for around £260. Like i stated in the review anything below £200 try to avoid.
I explained to him that I will not purchase ammaco bikes again, however i also said to him that if they ever sold branded bikes such as treks, giants, and specialized they would be my first choice.
Customer service for me was very good, Keith and tony are very good at what they do, the other staff on the other hand not so much. In my opinion this bike shop is worth having a look, however before purchasing a bike from there look up any problems, users may have with that bike.
Overall If you are looking for a bike over £200, and don’t care about brand bikes (having a trek or giant is like with any branded company you pay for the name and bragging rights) then cycle king is the place for you.
if your bike does brake down, its in good hands, and like I said ASK FOR TONY, he will sort you out nicely and Kieth will sort out any problems you may have. Good customer service, Good deals, Bikes below £200 are abit low in terms of quality but you get what you pay for.

#473 Okay, seriously, people in Oxford need to jump on the Unilocal bandwagon because it’s insane that a California native is blazing the trail here. Anyways, I was lucky enough to track down a 40gbp bike from a local seller, so I was in need of a bike lock, as well as a helmet. There are two options on Cowley Road — Cycle King and Cyclo Analysts — but I happened to find myself across Cycle King’s path first. So, in I went.
The manager was nice and greeted me, giving me some advice about helmets. After I walked over to the bike locks, he then immediately sent an employee over to give me more tips and advice. He was very friendly and understood that I had a budget to stick to. When I asked about D-​locks, he told me that all D-​locks under 20gbp are practically useless. So, he recommended a 14.99gbp cable lock instead, which is a step up from a 14.99gbp D-​lock. Good suggestion.
As for the helmet, he had me try on a 24.99gbp one, but it was an uncomfortable fit. And, apparently, fit is the most important factor of a helmet. So, he then gave me a non-​adjustable, which also fit horribly. His last suggestion — a kids’ size helmet — fit perfectly and actually ended up being cheaper (at 12.50gbp). So, I was set! If anybody is looking for bike accessories/​necessities, I would definitely point them along Cycle King’s way.

I have just been for a job interview in one of their stores and can safely say, without the slightest doubt, that Cycle King is a shop that sells cheap and nasty junk that will fall apart after a short period of time with little use.
The bikes that ranged from 100 to 200 pounds were very low grade and looked terrible.
You can buy a Giant or Trek for around 200 pounds and they will last a lot longer.
Everything else in the shop was just random who-​the-​hell-​are-​they branded and bland toys that I would not even want to describe as a bike. As for the accesories, I won’t even go there.
The man who interviewed me even told me they specialise in selling cheap things and there were commisions for selling particular bikes.
Warning lights flashed in my mind at this point.
I think all the one star reviews sum it up nicely and as for the four or five star reviews they are so blatantly self promotion from the shop owners, just look how they are written, shame on them for stooping so low !
Cycle King? Cycle Crap more like.

I am a mobile cycle mechanic and have been fixing bikes for many years. I have had dealings with customers that have brought bikes new and secondhand from Cycle King on the Cowley road. New Bikes have come with a guarentee and the reason the customers have brought the bike to me is because CycleKing have refuse to fix the problems inside the guarentee. Often making excuses and sometimes blaming the customer. If you are going to buy a new bike do not spend under £200 and buy a good brand. The bikes they sell may look nice, but they are cheaply made with cheap parts and you will be lucky to last 3 months before problems start arising. As the parts are so cheap they often need replacing with better parts and buy the time the 1 st year is up you will have spent more than the bike cost you in the first place if you take it to a bike shop where new and not secondhand parts are used as standard. Their second hand bikes that I have seen have had the minimum amount of work done to them and will cost you around 4 x times the price they are actually worth. As for parts and accessories. Shop around. You can buy all these bits from certain hardware shops, big discount stores and sometimes major supermarkets. ie. gear/​brake cable in Cycleking is £7, I buy the same item from a major discount retail store for £1.29. I would avoid this shop like the plague unless you like throwing your money down the drain.

Don’t shop at Cycle King.
Went in there to buy a bike in mid 2010. After about two months bits began falling off or going wrong. By early 2011 the bike (an ‘Arden Piccadilly’, if you’re interested) is unrideable and I need to buy a new one. Not, obviously, from Cycle King.
Other reasons to not shop at Cycle King: indignant staff who say their bikes are great, and the other bike shops around Oxford won’t repair anything with a Cycle King badge on it.
Oh, and the lock. Bought quite an expensive one when I got the bike (£30 +) and that too no longer works.
Beeline (just over the road) are good and so are the Oxford Cycle Workshop, now open on Glanville Road.
You decide…

I’ve been into CycleKing twice now. The first time I though I was unlucky with the customer service. The guy looked at me blankly and then said it’d your cones. I already knew it was my cones, I was asking how much it’d cost to repair. Then he made that awful sound of sucking in air deeply when they know it’ll cost £10 but they’re going to charge me £25 anyway. I never got a price because they started to say words like ‘labour, specialist tools, parts, VAT’ — it’s a 15yr old well-​maintained bike, not a brand new car! I left quickly.
The 2^nd time, I went in to see if they had a part as the other bike shops in the area had run out. Two people behind the desk, one serving a customer the other flicking through the paper. He didn’t respond until I’d asked for some service and the other guy had said his name.
If you have ended up in CycleKingplease do yourself a favour and turn around and walk out again, you’ll save yourself time and money by going to Beeline or CycleAnalysts who actually know what they’re talking about and are 5 mins walk up or down the road.

Do not shop here.
The bikes are very low quality: cheap but bad value for money, since they frequently have major flaws.
These are not professionals, and should not be trusted to do safe repairs. A friend of mine took a bike back after one day because the front brake was about to fall off, and they told her that, you don’t really need a front brake.
Beeline Bicycles is just down the road and much, much better.

With all due respect to the business, I would not shop here if I had the choice. Although the prices are enticing, the quality of the fare is abysmal, you will be lucky if your bike lasts a year. Save up and spend a bit more on something you can rely on.

Lots of people get sucked into Cycle King. It’s big, bright and has shiny bikes outside. None are anything special, but sadly shiny bikes are rather appealing to thieves in Oxford. If you’re new to the area, it’s probably best to pick up a second-​hand bike; if your kids wants a shiny new bike, you can get much better ones for far less at Toys R Us, Halfords or other bike shops in town.
It is good for basic accessories like lights, locks, reflective gear and so on, but nothing is particularly good quality, so use it only as a last resort or a last minute fix.

In my experience, Cycle King have sold me substandard equipment that regularly breaks. In four months of ownership I have had to take my bike back 6 times and twice it has sat in the workshop for days with serious problems. I know others have had similar problems and, if I were cynical, I would say their business model involves selling equipment that will regularly break, waiting a year, and then making their money on repairs. Moreover, the bike lock I purchased from them had problems with the mechanism, and the key recently snapped off in the lock (which needless to say caused a lot of hassle). My lights have also broken regularly, with the first front headlight I received being broken on receipt.
Whenever I have taken a faulty product in, the first thing any member of staff has done is to accuse me of breaking it and tried to pin the blame on me. They are both rude and slightly aggressive, assuming all their customers to be bumbling idiots.
Furthermore, all their accessories are highly overpriced and can be purchased at generally around half the price online.
All in all, I would say they retail sub-​standard equipment at inflated prices, are uniformly rude and unhelpful, and have a exploitative business model and appalling customer service ethic. I recommend avoiding them for the other cycle shops in Oxford, or for online retailers.

If you live in oxford, you need a bike. yes we have a great bus services, but really unless your going to outter campuses, it makes sense to walk or bike. and with over 40,000 students, there are alot of bikes, and therefore some good places to pick up a good deal. Cycle King on cowley has an exntensive range of bike and equipment for all levels of cyclist. hit them around the start of the academic year for their best deals on bike for the coming year