Worst Shop for Bikes

Post by **Mick F** » 4 Apr 2007, 8:18pm

Any visitor to SE Cornwall will go shopping at Trago Mills.

It's a massive complex on the A38 between Liskeard and Bodmin. (Actually, there's another one on the A38 in Devon between Exeter and Plymouth, and a town centre one in Falmouth - but these aren't as big.)

Trago's sell at bargain basement prices. Some stuff is second quality, some stuff is bankrupt stock, and some stuff is top quality. Let the buyer beware.

You can buy ANYTHING: violins, paint, carpets, haberdashery, log baskets, car-care products, lawnmowers, toys, golf clubs, chipboard, fireplaces, clocks, pots and pans, cosmetics, irons, toasters, table lamps, curtains, children's clothes, wellies, luggage, chocolate, BBQs, weedkiller, pet food, hamster cages, spanners, power tools, saxophones, cd's, art equipment, bathrooms, loos, ceramic tiles................. The list is endless.

The place is packed with shoppers 7 days a week, ample parking, riverside walks, peacocks and exotic birds, restaurant, fast food, discount butchers shop, fruit and veg, garden centre - a cracking few hours out.

"What's the point of this post?" I hear you ask.

Trago sell everything EXCEPT anything to do with cycling! Not only that, they have no facilities to park your bike. And not only that, the A38 between Liskeard and Bodmin is a death trap for cars, let alone bikes!

Bike-wize, it's the Worst Place in the World.

Do YOU know somewhere worse?

reohn2 · Post by **reohn2** » 4 Apr 2007, 8:48pm

Chanock Richard services M6 :0)

GeoffL · Post by **GeoffL** » 4 Apr 2007, 9:17pm

Er.. Sorry to disagree, but in the last month or so I've bought or seen at Trago in Liskeard and/or Newton Abbot:

Basic floor pump for about six quid that I paid fifteen for in my LBS
Frame pump for my missus for around £1.50 (LBS wanted over a fiver)
LED rear lights for about £1.50 each where two of the same model cost me a fiver each from my LBS
LED front lights for a fiver each for which my LBS wanted fifteen quid
Sets of three tyre levers for 65p
P*nct*re repair kits for about 60p
7 function multi-tool (that I've already used in anger) for under £2.50
Zéfal water bottles for £1.25 each.
Mach 1 cycle computer (current speed, trip, odometer, and clock) for £4
Bar ends for £6
Hele-Hansen showerproof jackets for £25
etc. etc.

They've got loads of stuff for cycling (even if most of their bikes are BSOs) but they trade mostly in bankrupt stock, so you never know what you're going to find there. The cycling stuff is mostly in the sports department.

Ironically, I put the tyre levers and p*nct*re repair kit in my basket when I noticed that they had a package with two levers, a p*nct*re repair kit, and two Haynes manuals for 99p, so I got that instead! (The manuals might make interesting reading for SWMBO!)

However, you're right - they don't have proper cycle parking. Perhaps someone (other than me!) should write to Bruce Robertson :evil:

Geoff

(p.s. Trago have their very own entry in Wikipedia and their own web-site)

Post by **Mick F** » 4 Apr 2007, 9:24pm

Well I never!

Never seen it in there! Just shows you how much stuff there is in there!

So it's not The Worst after all!

GeoffL · Post by **GeoffL** » 5 Apr 2007, 8:48am

FWIW, the Newton Abbot store has more than the Liskeard store but IMO both are worth a visit if you happen to be passing. Last weekend they were almost as well stocked for accessories as my LBS!

When I last visited, they had V-brake levers for just a few quid a pair and brake blocks for 99p a pair - but I'm not sure that brakes are something where I want to risk buying cheaply!

HTH,

Geoff

Terry T · Post by **Terry T** » 5 Apr 2007, 5:38pm

"word corrected to Halfords" is absolutely the worst, no contest :evil:

In second place is our very own CTC shop, (Evans). :shock: