The Bike Factory - www.thebikefactory.co.uk

After considering for a while to upgrade to a carbon road bike, I opted for the Pinarello FP Due, the decision was made easier following the professional and sound advice given by staff at The Bike Factory. It was reasurring to hear that all the guys had a keen interest in cycling, and we're happy to pass on personal recommendations on riding style, training tips and bike maintenance. The bike was prepared in 30 minutes while I was offered a cup of tea. Overall I would highly recommend The Bike Factory for all cyclling equipment, 5 star!

I give www.thebikefactory.co.uk 2 out of 5. The service was very poor but I got my money back. I ordered a Deore V-brakeset.Over a week later I got an email saying the item would be dispatched. When they arrived I had been sent one black front v-brake and one silver rear v-brake. No cables or levers. I contacted them and they apologized. I got a refund including the postage but it took them a while to process the refund. I didn't get any explanation on whether I would be sent the correct items as I had requested. Two weeks later I emailed again and were told staff had been on holiday and that they couldn't send me the brakeset. Odd seeing as they are still shown on their website.

They are manually checking stock levels and processing credit card payments. This isn't an online shop it's a LBS dabbling with mail order. I won't use again until I see evidence that they have reached even basic levels of online shopping.