Spa Cycles Reviews 

Purchased a Ti Audax - nothing too much trouble and could make numerous changes. The bike is fantastic to ride. Had a pair of hand built wheels previously and again the service was second to none with a phone call to check my request and offering advice. This is what bike shops should be like!

Having read the reviews on Spa Cycles I hesitated before purchasing from them. However I had met others in the cycling community who seemed very satisfied with their touring bikes so I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. This has turned out to be a massive mistake.

When I went to collect my bike the bike gear set was not as had been specified, and other features I had asked for were missing.

John the owner does not work weekends but the mechanic on duty was clearly annoyed when I checked the bike over and noticed the defects. His response was actually to tell me, ‘this happens too often’. However, he did agree to resolve this issues.

The mechanic changed out the front dual cog set for a triple chainring as had been agreed. I rode the bike up and down the drive before I left and this seemed to function fine. However the first time I rode my bike any distance the front gears malfunctioned at a busy road junction which was highly dangerous.

I took my bike to a reputable local shop who realised that the cog set that Spa had installed was incompatible with the derailleur and shifters. This will cost around £200 to fix and John has repeatedly refused to engage with me on dealing with this issue. Instead of being horrified at having supplied a dangerous bike to a customer the best offer I have had from Spa is suggesting I ship the bike back to them at my own expense (also about £200 of expense to ship and adequately insure) and he’ll generously refund the cost of the faulty bike. I got this offer only after threatening a small claim

Either way this will leave me £200 ish out of pocket but Spa’s suggestion also leaves me without a bike. Appalling service, poor organisation and dangerous installation. Don’t waste your money with this lot.

The "Yorkshire Tea" of bike shops. Knowledgeable people who do things properly and will provide you a top quality, custom built bike for around half the price of some better known competitors.

Awful, terrible customer service, mediocre wheel builder who acts god like.

So many times in the past I've ordered tyres online only for them to arrive twisted or folded and with a buckled wire bead. I ordered a set of marathons from these guys and they arrived in perfect condition, in a fully circular package, with no twists or folds.
Also, they were fairly priced and the package arrived within two days.

I ordered a new Brooks saddle from Spa because they were £20 cheaper than Wiggle. I was a little nervous after reading the reviews here but gave it a shot anyway. Got it via Royal Mail two days later.

I've placed several orders with Spa for a huge range of gear and it's always been a goodexperience. Usually my first port of call when buying several components, as it's as cheap as the bigger shops but they always seem to have the stuff I need in stock, generally geared towards touring cyclists but also roadies/randonneurs etc

Usually arrives in a couple of days, when I've spoken to staff over the phone they've been helpful and friendly. When I was sent the wrong version of an item a replacement was promptly shipped out before I'd even had the time to return the original.

Shame the other reviewers haven't had the same experience.

I'm not one to do any business down in these difficult times, but people have to be protected from this racket. Honestly, you may think you have experienced poor customer service but you don't know you're born unless you have dealt with these people.
They stock a good range of parts, but customer service involves exceptional rudeness and they put the phone down on you. If you buy something from them, abandon all hope of a refund, return or replacement. They just don't do any of those things. Ever.

I have read some negative reviews about Spa online in terms of customer service, but it was not my experience in the slightest.

I ordered a custom spec steel Audax from them late last year - firstly the quality of the bike is great, absolutely bang on. Second, the help I got in spec'ing the bike was also top notch - a few phone calls and emails back and forth, always very helpful - they really know their stuff and I had no complaints about changing the spec a few times after the initial proposal.

The bike you get for the money is significant, I added hand built wheels with dynamo hub and lights, rear rack, USB charging, light-weight spokes and titanium seatpost, 105 groupset, all in for £1700... similar bike from Condor was quoted over £3k. Frame is great quality, wheels are smooth and strong, components all fitted well and it's a joy to ride.

I had the bike posted to me, and it was clearly dropped in transit, meaning the fork was damaged on arrival - they swapped this out no questions asked.

I've ridden numerous Audax and 200 mile events on it since - it feels like a bike that will last many years.

Sorely tempted by their thru-axle titanium Elan... but maybe in a few years time!

I recently brought a bike from Spa Cycles and I like the bike and it arrived on schedule. However, the rear gear lever was jammed on arrival and the response from them was very poor – I was initially told that I would have to sort it out at myself and at my own expenses even though the bike was not working when it arrived. I had to phone a few times trying to sort it out and the response was the same on each occasion that I would have to sort it out yourself as the company would take no responsibility. I have sorted it myself as the gear cable had locked up against the end nipple of the cable – needed a new cable on a bike that had not been ridden. Nice bike but if you have a problem, you are on your own. Would I recommend them? No as it is buyer beware with no interest in providing any support – if you know what you are doing then you will probably be OK, but don’t expect any service as it appears to be an alien concept.

I had a stellar experience with Spa Cycles. I asked a question by email and was responded to positively within the hour. I made my order, was thanked for it and the item was with me 2 days later.

Ordered a chainset for my bike last week. Waited 7 days and no information regarding delivery. So sent mail, nothing, so rang then up. To be honest after reading these review, I was expecting either someone being angry, unhelpful or just rude.... In fact nothing could be further from that, the gentleman ( Tom I think is was) was helpful and apologetic that my part wasn't sent. He said they had let a message on my phone, that the exact part wasn't available, but had another which was suitable and was this ok. Now either I missed the message, or something got lost somewhere, I'm not sure. Anyway, they sent out the part that day, and after email confirmation it arrived the next day. I think the problem is people are so used to next day service from Am****n, they get irate when it doesn't turn up straight away. If I had called then after a couple of days my part would had been with me much sooner. I'm going to use them again, because they are a small independent shop, and they had just what I needed. True their communication could be a little better, but not everyone's perfect.

“Cant even tell the difference between presta and schrader valves”, says one reviewer dated the 16th April 2020.

…and people still praise them!

My own experience with them was just awful… …TOTALLY unacceptable abuse, when they KNOW that they are in the wrong!

This ‘outfit’ is offensive, bullying, degrading to genuine customers, just read the other reviews, not just on here but on the reviews posted on Google Maps

There is NO excuse for it and they do NO stop being a DIS-service to cyclists!

Obviously they don’t care! So perhaps they get a buzz and a ‘power trip’ out of goading cyclists as much as they can…

ABSOLUTELY shambolic, poor and atrocious!

This is a repeat of what all the 1 star reviewers have experienced with the owner of this business (John). He is impatient, rude and often puts the phone down on you. It's too long a story for this forum, so simply put, my bike was dangerous to ride but he wouldn't accept there was anything wrong with it and stopped any form of communication. I resolved the issue at my expense, asked the visa company to force a "charge back" of the total cost of the bike and hey-presto, he gets one of his far more pleasant staff to speak to me! Just don't go anywhere near this shop as he doesn't deserve your business.

I'd read their reviews and ok, some of them don't look good. I didn't have any telephone interaction with them, so I didn't get to be told off by their allegedly crosspatch staff.

I risked it since they were the only stockists of a certain type and size of pump I wanted. Lo and behold, it came very quickly, well packaged and not as expensive as it might have been.

So, five stars for my experience with Spa Cycles. No complaints from me.

When I phoned up, the guy was rude, impatient and spoke with an aggressive tone from the off - a very unpleasant experience. Avoid if you don't want to be left seething ...

Very good and £3 cheaper than Amazon!
I asked a question and it was answered when I checked back about an hour later.
Ordered and no messing, was delivered very quickly in these times of limited delivery options.

Definitely use again.

Utterly poor poor people extremely rude ashole not helpful ple do not buy from these people there bad

After years of consideration I bought a touring bike from spa and it is perfect. Since then I buy pretty much everything bike related (bags, parts, cables, clothing) from spa as they are cheaper than most other places and everything they stock is excellent quality (which saves time reading endless reviews) They are a tiny company with not many staff so sometimes you call and they are busy…. so just call back! other times they have been extremely helpful and given me expert advice over the phone, replaced parts for free, and talked me through fixing procedures.

There’s more to cycling than perfect customer service. If your looking for an unnaturally jolly salesman go elsewhere, if you want quality bikes / parts at decent prices Spa is your shop.