never see any mechanics whenever i visit van's urban. but they do have the space for workshop area in the shop though.

why not organize a weekend bike workshop/camp?
lounge in a home stay, go through a 're-formatting' course, and after its done, a ride up Maxwell hill.

Probably if you go with a Tern X series and they will welcome u with a smile. A few friends of mine get a very nice service from them and others complaint about the cocky attitude. Those who get nice services, rode an Alex Moulton/Brompton/Nice custom TI Bike.
Those complaint, rode Dahon and any other normal brand bicycles.

Me myself visit once, gave me a face when i ask for Alex Moulton price. Step out and never visit again.


The price u paid for, probably more of less for premier bicycle at your area. Bikepro/pedal spot etc.
But probably in 2 hours time. Those are quite easy if you have a right tools.

I all for it. But Maxwell Hill or Bukit Larut management do not allow bicycles on the trail up . Too dangerous as there are jeeps ferrying passengers/tourists zooming up and down the hill.

Hahaha .......hahahaaa......... first you ask for info on the most reasonable LBS. Then you went straight up to the top of the most (poshest according to them lah) most lansi one in the whole Malaysia. The lady boss is rich, that I can say and the man-in-charge is brainless about bikes except which is the most expensive and which is the best in the world. They used to be just a partner with the very people who sells Oribikes in Damansara Perdana. Then due to some money disagreements, this lady sues them and they splits up. That time Van's Urban was in the shopping complex in Section 20. They actually holds no official dealership then and later they are in SS1. The former now also went kaput and now taken over by Attaque.

Usually this kind of shops has no tech and even if they have, they can't hold them long. Frankly, no matter how you complain or hold a grudge against them, it never affects them. You are small fish lah. They are only after the sharks and big big water fish.

Another one to avoid is USJ cycles. They win because of their IT knowledge but come to bicycle knowledge............nadda.

Most LBS don't really want to do servicing or worse still modding for bikes not sold by them. Those who will do have no knowledge and some even 'jialat' , tells you it is not possible and it is not meant to be made like that. Even the top 'GURU' of folding bikes, Samosaurus is always commenting badly on my activity. That's why he unfriended and blocked me in this FB .......because I 'taruh' him on the Tern Link P8 in this forum many many moons ago. The only real fella who will do modding other than my humble self is Fei Lee of GW Cycle. Others are just trying to only. Then Fei Lee is expensive also. It is easy to tell which shop does and which shop do not..........I mean with workshop. Try asking for modding parts , like FD adapters, RD adapters, chain rings, 33.9mm x 600mm lighter seat post, square tapered 53T cranksets etc. Most don't stock! They actually don't want to do. Those who stock is only Kimbell Jaya and GW Cycle. So, now you know

Can't blame LBS solely, there are no money in modding bikes…
Its a livelihood after all.
"Customers expect free service" said the towkays of the few bicycle shops I frequented. "The only source of revenue from modding is bicycle parts but yet the customers always bring their own parts… "
Worst is for meager 50ringgit, they have to life time guarantee some more… if kena ignorant and Nick picking customer time… die oooohhhh. eg, chain rubbing when cross-chain.

Having said that, I don't agree with Van's behavior. Where got do business like that wan!

BTW, I paid for 50~80buck labour fee for modding，I get life time after sales services such as brake and gear tuning… and a smiling customer service
There are many bicycle shops and wholesaler in Klang, mostly 2nd or 3rd generations businesses, it's very competitive…

This post has been edited by KenC: Jun 19 2017, 08:22 PM

When I was in KL, I used to do modding for other riders just for fun and also for the sake of promoting the folding bike activities. Then there are many who are from this forum who contact me and wants me to do the mods. I was enthusiastic in the beginning and I only charge them 50 bucks , whether they bring their own parts or they want me to get them from Kimbell Jaya. That's why Jimmy always profited very nominally from my purchase but I did not sell it for more as it was not my vocation.

Here's the lousy part............ although I do not make money from parts, they always do not belief. I can't blame them either as no body beliefs that someone will want to do it just for 50 bucks. Then they will go survey prices and whatsapp me all the time they are visiting LBS for components and finally it came down to me getting it. It makes me feel cheap and feeling like a conman.

Then comes the appointment. I get it done but as you know, it's modding so it's is never perfect at the first time. I will just guide them how to adjust if any problems arises and if they can't do it, call me again. This is where it becomes like a life time warranty. The RD clackles a little, he call me, the gear won't shift smoothly, he calls me etc etc.

Even now, when a forummer ask where can they get their bike painted, I offered to do it with auto paint and lacquer, with decals thrown in. Then I have to dis-assemble the whole bike and as you know, once dis-assemble I have to clean and lubricate everything before I assemble it back after painting. I wanted 350 bucks for the whole process and first he got very interested , then got my contact, whatsapp for my address and then pfbtttt................... went quiet !

Then there was one from Johore, wanted me to do his moddings and I am OK. He said he will send the bike over by courier and I do whatever necessary. Discuss about the groupset prices and everything. Then he wants a copy of my Mycard ! I was like WTF ! and told him to send if you wish and trust but I am OK if he doesn't too.

This is why I stopped doing mods for others. I don't mind guiding and advising but the moment you receive payment for anything, the responsibility perceived by him and me is totally different. I look at it as a token sum for my time and at times some parts that is lying around that I don't use but he perceives it as I am profiting big time from it, like it is my vocation. You know I will be glad that someone wants me to mod and at the same time hang around when I do and learn something from the whole episode.

In fact Jimmy calls me when he can't figure out something and I will drive to his place work with his workers. That was in the beginning and in later stages Kimbell Jaya stocks the parts and starts doing it and I pushed all those who calls me to him. Let him charge them at LBS current prices and let them be responsible for their workmanship.

sifu ettige, u think your case is bad? What la, I wax chain for free oso got suspected I profiting from it ! LOL
Some more ask for my wax recipe! I bet they wanna check the cost to make the chain wax too LoL!
I ever publish how to wash the chain! but only a handful actually took the effort to wash their chain and save RM80, a price offered by some BBS seller.

thousand thousand spent buying expensive bicycle but stingy on 100 buck service… that is why I never ask anyone to buy expensive bicycle, so that they can save the money on their bike maintenance.

This post has been edited by KenC: Jun 20 2017, 12:10 AM

Lucky us in melaka most of the lbs would be happily to modify our bikes with the most reasonable price..

anyway, most of the mechs from the LBS here are also among the circle of friend..i guess almost anyone knows someone here in our own little cycling community..

Last I heard bike techs (the head honcho...or 'tao sau') from Bike Pro or KSH are earning like 6K to 7K a month. So, good bike techs are quite in demand and many LBS actually cannot afford to hire good ones. Even harder to find are those bike techs that goes riding as well, together with their customers who eventually becomes friends. Many LBS hires Banglas who treats your bike the same whether they are a 300 bucks China made ones or a 10K Tern Verge

Also usually the owners of the LBS are bike techs themselves but they have no time to actually concentrate on the repairing and servicing, let alone modding.

OMG. now i felt im so lucky that i stumbled with this kind of bike technician.

about the banglas, i personally experienced it at Kimbell Jaya. End up damaging my brand new BB.

if the bike shop uses cheap foreign labour, I will personally supervise the job… even with local tech I do that a few times just to access their skill level… Its my occupational hazard…

Think about it, 4 days to change parts, 6~7k salary… 120 is bargain of the century !! LOL

Those with heavily paid bike techs..........you should also know their clientele. Easily 20K for a bike, sap sap sui. That's why foldies are not their favorite kind of sales. There's even a bike shop in Subang who does 'bike spa'. Washing and cleaning and some minor adjustments if needed for the bike for RM120 . Degreasing and lube included, for the lazy to wash kind of riders.

You guys are complaining about businesses giving bad service when the reasons for their behavior are right here on this page. Customers are at fault as well as they expect something for nothing. With that attitude, a business can only fight by putting on cheap labour to win on price. Alas, cheap labour means unskilled, means job done half past six......

Living in a western country means you can't afford to engage someone else to do the work, hence you learn to do it yourself. But if you did get someone to do it for you, the quality of the job would be amazing.

Expensive bikes have fat margins, so why bother with cheaper brands? Same work but better returns for hours worked! Perhaps Vans should be a bit more polite, but do you blame them if so many people go there just to waste time? Not defending any businesses, but sometimes it is the environment that has created these outcomes.

luckily we hv a very nice tech at the LBS here in melaka, hes ex-national cyclist...recently i sent my dahon classic for restoration, he dismentled n assembled bek 4 me,and he even went to get new bolts n screws, upon completion, he even polished the whole bike + the rims for me, for a fee of rm100...tats damn cheap...and ya twice a week he will bring his group of cyclists, some are customers, for ride...for sunday ride, they normally do 80-120km...wat i can say is tis tech,and a fren of us, has passion in wats hes doing...btw if any of u guys looking for any bikes,tis is the place in term of pricing...cheers

Just sharing..so far my experience at Van urban has been good..i even told the staff i rode a dahon. Bought a few nutcase from them. They even rides together with us the owners of peasant bicyles when they came to melaka once.

But in terms of business, i guess business owner shouldn't really get pissed off with customer even if they are there to window shopping. It's just not right. When your goods is expensive, sometimes the customers needs more time to justify the purchase, especially if the customers comes from the middle class group. They come, they see, they envy and they go home to think about it. Bad attitude will only drives the customers away. Just my opinion.

You look rich kah

Here's the best buy I see from BBS today. The Giant Expressway 1, which is now selling over 2K (new price) for the 8 speed unit. I am using the same but when I got it , it was selling for 1.7K. Latest from Sin Boon Seng (the importers for Giant) is RM1980 dealer price.

http://bicyclebuysell.com/item/408304/gian...pressway-1-2012

probably kot.