Can They Be Trusted? Read on...
The following email messages were sent between myself and Quinn Cycles in Liverpool, following a sales enquiry I made regarding the servicing of a bike part. Each message has been copied and pasted directly from my email account. No messages have been omitted, and none of them have been amended in any way.
My initial enquiry:
Hi,
I have a Shimano Alfine SG-S7000-8 hub which needs to be lubricated. Do you offer this service, and, if so, how much will it cost?
Thanks,
Mick
This is their reply:
Hi Mick,
The Shimano lubricant is not cheap, unfortunately. It retails at £89, and the cost to strip and service the hub is around £40.
Regards,
Steve @ Quinn’s
My response:
Hi Steve,
I have a 50 ml bottle of SG-S700 oil, and I was told by the seller that this is all you need for a single service. Is this not the case?
Their reply:
Morning Mick,
Yes, that’s what you need. If you pop your wheel or bike in and leave it with us, we can service it for you.
So, what’s the problem? Well, it’s like this: I paid just £14.95 for my oil, not £89.00. I conducted an online search for the same product prior to posting this review, and the highest price I could find for it was £20.00. However, perhaps the worst part of this is the fact that Quinns have been operating in Liverpool for decades, and they are a trusted brand. I’m in my early sixties, and I remember their shop from when I was just a kid. They used to build their own frames. They were a real specialist outfit, and Quinns was a byword for quality, expertise, and trust within the cycling fraternity of the city. How times change.