Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Quite a while back I had posted that Reid cycles had closed its Cheltenham store. I Was going to the Doctors this morning and noticed ( Pedal Crew ) store also located in Cheltenham was closed up and emptied out. I'm not Sure but this store may have been a branch of St Kilda cycles ?

Reid cycles have closed a Sydney, Perth, Brisbane ans Melbourne store.

I have not heard details except they are active online selling in the UK so (speculating) it is possible that they are focussing on the areas giving them the best returns.

Their newsletter regularity has ramped up (which means it is becoming a flood and getting close to unsubscribe) though I have not spotted much online promotion recently.

Thanks for the heads up and reply, Much appreciated.

Just got a email saying Reid were re-opening a store in Newtown (Sydney)

Don't Reid make somewhat crappy bikes? Some bike shops refuse to service them due to their inferior build quality and sub par components.

I have a Reid Urban 3 with mostly Deore components. Frame is well made, solid but not light. No complaints.

am50em wrote:I have a Reid Urban 3 with mostly Deore components. Frame is well made, solid but not light. No complaints.

So they've changed. How long has this lunacy gone on for??!?!? I mean how can they expect to stay in business selling bicycles that actually work longer than 1 year?!?!!?

HyperHorse wrote:Don't Reid make somewhat crappy bikes? Some bike shops refuse to service them due to their inferior build quality and sub par components.

If you call full current generation Shimano 105 crappy. Which I have seen a bike salesperson do while justifying their brand name Sora and ownbrand equipped bike in the same price bracket.

Can call the frames crappy, possibly. That's the cheap part.
Cheap models so cheap they have crappy groupset are as crappy as any bike with that crappy groupset.

But for the $ they punch well above their weight in groupset and usually wheels which all come from the exact same manufacturers as the big brands.

HyperHorse wrote:Don't Reid make somewhat crappy bikes? Some bike shops refuse to service them due to their inferior build quality and sub par components.

Shops don't service them/get upset because they can't compete with online retailers. If they are asked to service/repair their own bikes with the same spec they'd be more than happy to.

HyperHorse wrote:Some bike shops refuse to service them due to their inferior build quality and sub par components.

Yes, there's a shop in Perth's suburbs with a reputation for being rude to customers with anything less than a top line gruppo on a full carbon frame.

And they've been doing it for decades but are positioned in an area with enough dentists and well heeled Freds (to borrow from BSNYC) that it doesn't matter.

The quality of the cheapest Reids I've seen is better than the stuff I rode as a kid. And it's definitely better than some of the BSOs from the big chains.

While Reid closed their big store on Parramatta Rd in Sydney they have re-opened at a much smaller location at 3A Georgina Street, Newtown just off King St.

A bit ckeeky of them, moving into Cheeky Transports old digs...

A logical move - both because people know there is a bike shop there and because it has already been operating as a bike shop.

Thoglette wrote:

HyperHorse wrote:Some bike shops refuse to service them due to their inferior build quality and sub par components.

Yes, there's a shop in Perth's suburbs with a reputation for being rude to customers with anything less than a top line gruppo on a full carbon frame.

And they've been doing it for decades but are positioned in an area with enough dentists and well heeled Freds (to borrow from BSNYC) that it doesn't matter.

The quality of the cheapest Reids I've seen is better than the stuff I rode as a kid. And it's definitely better than some of the BSOs from the big chains.

That shop wouldn't happen to be near the top of a hill -if you were coming from the west- would it?

On a related matter (a long way from gardens full of roses) Reid seems to be spreading internationally: b

Yellow Jersey in the USoA appears to have picked up some of the Reid range of vintage bikes. See here

I didn't know that Cheeky Transport had closed, have the gone under or moved?

They are in Sydney's hipsta heartland but of course the first rule of being a hipsta is to deny you are a hipsta

Yeah, Cheeky Transport gone, no relocation.
Owner wanting to spend more time with family and a new direction for him, work wise.
It is very hard balancing work/ home time with small operations.
One of the mechanics is now at glow worm in marrickville.
Very sad, they were definitely one of the good ones...

mikesbytes wrote:They are in Sydney's hipsta heartland but of course the first rule of being a hipsta is to deny you are a hipsta

I thought it was use urban parlance as often as possible?

As an aside, when walking to work after dropping the car off to be serviced, Reid in Adelaide has moved from 180 to 230 Pultney St.

Slightly smaller premises, and have 10% discount to celebrate new store

That's correct MichaelB, as the lease on the old store came to completion,(it was too big and expensive for what we needed) we moved just up the road to 230 Pultney st. The new store is a lot more visible from the street which is good.

Thread title isn't too correct now. Seems both locations where it closed came back up again after some relocations.

Interview with Reid Cycles Founder James Reid on BNA

And the good news, we get genuine answers and a real insider look at the successes and problems. Hope you appreciate this as you don't often get this type of insight in the bike industry.

Interestingly, Reid Cycles closed in WA a few months ago, and just yesterday reopened a store a few doors down on the same strip as their last store?!? I wonder what prompted that decision if the previous store failed?

Better visibility for this store I must say. The last one was tucked at the very end shop in the row and hard to see when driving past.

Hi guys,
James from Reid Cycles here.
Yes we have moved just a few stores up from the old store in Perth. The team are doing really well.
The reason for the move is quite simple, the old store was more than double the size and about triple the rent cost compared to the new store.
We didn't need such a big store and as you mentioned the old store was tucked away a little.
With the WA economy under a bit of strain we couldn't justify staying at the old store and since we closed have been keeping an eye out for suitable properties. As luck has it, the most suitable site we could find was close to the old store.
In the past year we have moved from large stores to smaller stores with lower running costs in Perth, Adelaide and Sydney and things are going well.
Our revised strategy of smaller stores means we can continue to pass big savings onto our customers.
Thanks
James