Rob
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Posts: 2,721
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Post by Rob on Jun 22, 2020 22:21:59 GMT
Only once did I go over the handle bars on a bike. A very steep street near to where I lived and coming down at quite some speed. I did panic and pull both breaks and I shot over the handle bars and skidded a bit on my forehead and nose I was about 8. The bike was one of these... A Raleigh Tomahawk: live.staticflickr.com/7369/15733779404_17e143cfe3_b.jpgNot sure how good the brakes were before trying them out that day. But I had forgotten the front wheel was so small.
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Post by tyrednexited on Jun 23, 2020 7:57:26 GMT
There was nothing structurally wrong with Go Outdoors other than it couldn't survive the lockdown. I think I'd probably disagree with that. It grew out of CCC (Caravan & Camping Centre) based in Sheffield from 1969. From just before the turn of the century, there was a management buyout (with private equity backing), and they expanded very quickly, and built the Go Outdoors chain. Like many such, the expansion was probably over-ambitious, and (IMO) they rather lost their way. It has struggled for some years, and the original management team timed things quite nicely when they sold out to the JD Sports group 4 years ago. One wonders about the future of other similar brands owned by JD Sports, such as Blacks (another one that has lost its way somewhat) Millets and Ultimate Outdoors. Some of the financials haven't been good for some time. I have a "family heirloom" CCC branded discount card which, renewed every year, continued to be accepted at Go Outdoors until it stopped reading (mag stripe) last year - though they were still prepared to look me up on the till and honour it!
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Post by EspadaIII on Jun 23, 2020 13:05:16 GMT
I didn't know that. My experience with them in buying walking stuff has always been positive and I have rarely waslked out without buying something. Private equity always seems to ruin good businesses though doesn't it?
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Post by Humph on Sept 2, 2020 10:59:36 GMT
Possibly interesting, possibly not, but I've just dropped a couple of our bikes into our local repairer to be fettled. Mrs H had an unplanned dismount at the weekend and smashed her gear shifter, and my back wheel bearings are shot. I don't have time this week to fix them myself, so I've delegated that to a guy who is a one man band operator, specialising in repairing and selling "proper" mountain bikes, and only seems to work to finance his own MTB passion. More or less lives in his van and has a little workshop on an industrial estate near us.
Anyway, chatting to him this morning I suggested that he must be really busy right now, but he told me that while it had been during the darkest days of lockdown, that things were astonishingly quiet now. He is quoting next May for deliveries on new bikes by the way.
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Post by dixinormus on Sept 3, 2020 22:03:41 GMT
Doesn’t really surprise me H. During lockdown a lot of people stuck at home bored decided that cycling might be fun, especially with less traffic on the roads...
But now that life is semi-normal they’ve reverted back to driving to Maccas and everywhere else. The novelty of cycling soon wore off.
There must be thousands of unused bikes cluttering up garages and sheds around the country!
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WDB
Full Member
Posts: 7,352
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Post by WDB on Sept 4, 2020 21:25:24 GMT
Or it could be that the surge of people wanting old bikes fixed has subsided and people are out riding them in the last few weeks of warm weather. My impression is that there are as many cyclists out there as there were earlier in the summer.
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Post by Humph on Sept 5, 2020 12:15:59 GMT
Oh dear, Yeah, so, one of the wee jobs I'd planned to do was switching the pedals from one bike to another, I could but won't bore you with why, but anyway, that was the thing I did last night. This morning, I completely forgot that I'd done it, and promptly switched them back again. Then, I couldn't find my glasses, which have turned up under the boot floor in the Merc. For no reason I can begin to think of.
Thinking of changing my forum handle to Al Zheimer...
😬
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