Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2013 22:40:47 GMT
Hello everyone, posted this on cyclechat and just want to share this here too, as I think Decathlon sometimes isn't recognised as a great shop for customer service. (Just as an example, girl i work with cycles, assured me that decathlon had no interest in my bike fitting me).
So just to set the scenario, I was disheartened after buying my 57cm T3 because the assistant had very little interest in helping me or spending time with me going through things. He didn't even mention their store card. So I was peeved because I had chain rattle and didn't know how to change gears (being my first road bike). Then I went back tonight for an exchange;
Well, I bought mine a couple of weeks back. To cut a long story short...
I'm 5'8. Felt good at first in a 57cm, but after my first long day on it (2 x 18 miles) I realised a couple of miles from home my bum was coming forward on the seat, especially when on the drops. This resulted in a seriously sore gooch. I thought nothing of it. Thought it was just being new to a road bike. But then I looked in to it and did some reading and realised the bike was just too big for me. I adjusted the seat forward but this didn't really fix the issue and I felt like I was trying to trick myself.
So, some of you may remember I had quite a bad experience in Decathlon on my first visit. Credit where it's due, the Lakeside store did themselves proud this time around (despite it being 8pm that I showed up). They had no issue with swapping the bike for me even though I'd done 40 miles on mine. Iain was helping me this time and was happy to chat about his cycling exploits, while he did a quick inspection on the bike i brought back, and spent a final few minutes adjusting my new bike in various areas. Here are the two things that really impressed me:
- I had phoned earlier in the day and explained the issue. When I arrived at the store, a 54cm was on the stand and he had clearly been setting it up. I don't know if he had me in mind or would have been doing that anyway, but I felt like he had done this with my call in mind. I think this because the seat was adjusted to almost the perfect place for my height/build. I went for a spin and it felt so comfortable. I was immediately impressed.
- After doing everything possible to smooth the exchange for me, he then asked me about the decathlon card and then printed it off for me. Just to remind people, I was not even offered the card on my first visit, I had to go on their website and research and apply for it. Iain actually made the effort of getting it sorted for me.
I'm not saying i'm a baby, and can't do things for myself, but this is the sort of customer service I was alluding to in my earlier posts. Iain was a really nice chap and couldn't have done more.
Thanks Iain. Hopefully this will be of some help to others in two minds about frame sizes too. I thought the 57 was fine after a couple of 4 mile rides, but the trouble revealed itself after 15+ miles.
END
Share your Decathlon experiences It has occured to me that I wouldn't have had to go back if the first assistant had been more helpful, but all is forgiven.
So just to set the scenario, I was disheartened after buying my 57cm T3 because the assistant had very little interest in helping me or spending time with me going through things. He didn't even mention their store card. So I was peeved because I had chain rattle and didn't know how to change gears (being my first road bike). Then I went back tonight for an exchange;
Well, I bought mine a couple of weeks back. To cut a long story short...
I'm 5'8. Felt good at first in a 57cm, but after my first long day on it (2 x 18 miles) I realised a couple of miles from home my bum was coming forward on the seat, especially when on the drops. This resulted in a seriously sore gooch. I thought nothing of it. Thought it was just being new to a road bike. But then I looked in to it and did some reading and realised the bike was just too big for me. I adjusted the seat forward but this didn't really fix the issue and I felt like I was trying to trick myself.
So, some of you may remember I had quite a bad experience in Decathlon on my first visit. Credit where it's due, the Lakeside store did themselves proud this time around (despite it being 8pm that I showed up). They had no issue with swapping the bike for me even though I'd done 40 miles on mine. Iain was helping me this time and was happy to chat about his cycling exploits, while he did a quick inspection on the bike i brought back, and spent a final few minutes adjusting my new bike in various areas. Here are the two things that really impressed me:
- I had phoned earlier in the day and explained the issue. When I arrived at the store, a 54cm was on the stand and he had clearly been setting it up. I don't know if he had me in mind or would have been doing that anyway, but I felt like he had done this with my call in mind. I think this because the seat was adjusted to almost the perfect place for my height/build. I went for a spin and it felt so comfortable. I was immediately impressed.
- After doing everything possible to smooth the exchange for me, he then asked me about the decathlon card and then printed it off for me. Just to remind people, I was not even offered the card on my first visit, I had to go on their website and research and apply for it. Iain actually made the effort of getting it sorted for me.
I'm not saying i'm a baby, and can't do things for myself, but this is the sort of customer service I was alluding to in my earlier posts. Iain was a really nice chap and couldn't have done more.
Thanks Iain. Hopefully this will be of some help to others in two minds about frame sizes too. I thought the 57 was fine after a couple of 4 mile rides, but the trouble revealed itself after 15+ miles.
END
Share your Decathlon experiences It has occured to me that I wouldn't have had to go back if the first assistant had been more helpful, but all is forgiven.