Walton Street Cycles

My sister in law found Walton Street Cycles when the normal bike hire that she uses wouldn’t answer her calls. You make the arrangements at their main shop, then walk around a few corners to get to their garage. For two of us to rent bikes for 4 hours, it was £10
I admit that I am not a cyclist by any definition. Yes, I know how to ride a bike, but I’m not terribly comfortable with knowing when to change gears or what gear I should be in. I’m also pretty tall for a girl and an ²⁄₃ legs, so I need a taller bike. In our hiring of the bikes, we got very little information. The bike was absolutely not the right size for me, and there were no tools for me to adjust anything, even the seat height, which would’ve been a great help.
The man giving us the bikes at the shop wouldn’t even provide basic directions, instead making us buy a map £2. He did provide one massive bike lock that could be used around both bikes. There’s a sign that warns they’ll charge you £15 for not returning the lock.
I ended up crashing, so it was my husband and sister-​in-​law that returned the bikes, so I’ve got little to go on for that part.
If you’re a seasoned cyclist who knows plenty about biking and you insist on the proper fit, this might work for you. If you’re a tourist who isn’t accustomed to biking, I don’t recommend.

Not happy with this shop at all. Massive let down. Took the bike I bought from them for my girlfriend back with a broken hub. This happened just as we were riding along a canal towpath — nothing serious. I investigate Formula 1 race car material failures for a living and know that this was a material defect in the hub. They tried to argue we’d given it a knock which is complete rubbish… Finally they agreed to take it in under warranty (it was less than a year old afterall). They sent the wheel back to the manufacturer, then we heard nothing. When I phoned up to get some news they seemed extremely annoyed that I’d called them and said they’d call me.
Another week and still no news. My girlfriend actually went into the shop on several occasions to try to find out what was going on as she desperately needed her bike but they were very rude to her just for asking!
Eventually I had to chase round and phone up the bike manufacturer (Pashley) myself! They were very nice and said they’d already sent the replacement wheel back with guaranteed next day delivery. So I phone the shop again — even ruder this time and apparently still no wheel. Another week passes with a few more phone calls and visits made by myself and my girlfriend — all with extremely rude, unhelpful and unapologetic responses. Finally they call her and say the new wheel has arrived… but they won’t fit it because they are too busy. Too busy for a 5 minute job to put a wheel on a bike! They just didn’t want to help us out at all. Finally 4 weeks later we get the bike back, after an even ruder phone call — they were offensive, patronising, condescending and even hung up on me! All we wanted was the bike back or at least some news about it. All I got was frustration and disrespect. We spent a highly inconvenient 4 weeks without the bike and they didn’t seem to care one little bit.
Lousy, slow and very rude staff. Terrible service! I will never go there again and strongly advise anyone against shopping there. Do yourself a favour — avoid!
P.S.
I would now like to add to my review since Walton Street Cycles, AKA «GenuineCyclist», has added a review of their own trying to discredit mine.
I am not in any way accosiated with any of their competitors and am a genuine (ex)customer of theirs. I’m a passionate bicycle enthusiast with well over 20 years of being a bicycle customer. My review is genuine and they know it. Never in my life have I experienced such bad customer service They’re now just desperately trying to dig themselves out of the dirty hole they’re in. It is not part of any campaign, just real, honest fact. They know exactly who I am and that I am not childish or thier competitor and I have proof of this in the message «GenuineCyclist» has sent to me. In this message they were even more abusive to me and this is yet more evidence and testament of how disgustingly bad they treat their customers.
If anyone would like to see that message I’m willing to forward it on to anyone interested.
My review was nothing against Pashley. In fact when I spoke to Pashley myself they were very helpful, informative, courteous and apologetic. (It was actually a Sturmey Archer part that failed).
My review is completely about and against Walton Street Cycles. If you want to buy a Pashely, by all means do! They’re fantastic bikes, just buy one from a decent shop like Warlands on Botley Road — who’s service is exemplary in my own and completely unbiased opinion based on my own experience. And no I am not related to Warlands other than being a member of the public and a customer.
Walton Street Cycles may be well established but their staff are turning them into an abomination. So much so they have to leave 5* ‘reviews’ of their own shop trying counter, belittle and discredit genuine poor reviews like mine. Any ‘review’ a shop needs to write about itself should naturally be taken with a massive handful of salt!
Nothing I’ve written is a lie, everything «GenuineCyclist» has written is.
I’m a very rational man and nearly never have a bad word to say about anyone, but this offensive, slack, lazy and rude shop took the biscuit and I needed to speak out about it.
Please feel free to message me if anyone doubts my credentials. I’ll gladly talk about it and fill you in on all the details.
Give this shop your time/​money only if you are a complete fool.

Have used Walton Street Cycles many times over the years and they have always given a good, professional and knowledgeable service. When I lived in Finland they even sent me bike components because I was unable to get them there… you’d have to go a long way to find something better!!!

If you have a mechanical, or wish to discuss some technical aspect to your two (or three) wheeled loved one, this is the place to come.
The people here have time to discuss things and also have the knowledge to get you back on the road.

Oh these guys are good! In with a little problem with the bike last week, quote of £40. Out the next day we managed to sort it out for you cheaper — £10 please. Integrity, expertise, friendly service. Brilliant! No wonder Walton Street Cycles are legends in to world of biking.

Walton Street Cycles is no Cycle King or Halfords, but if all you’re after is bits and bobs for your bike, it does the job just fine.
There’s a small but good range of bikes — mainly road bikes in the traditional Oxford style, but also some BMXs and an unusually high proportion of folding bikes. I always find these rather amusing, but they must be pretty useful for commuters. It’s good for normal bikes and for more unusual requests.
A team of mechanical types seem to be able to fix most problems — I know some people who have had punctures fixed here and brakes tweaked, and seemed pretty happy. Personally, I use it for anti-​rust spray, oil and puncture repair kits. The first time I went in I described in a very blonde way what I wanted and was given the right product with patience — always a plus.
There’s also an excellent range of accessories: some clothing, lights — important now police are handing out on-​the-​spot fines at night, saddles, locks and helmets. It really feels like a local store and there’s a lot more crammed in than you’d expect.