Back in 2015 I bought a Norco Indie 4 on clearance from Evan's Cycles. It was one of those UK retailers where 'anything you bought would be a minimum standard', as they only stocked things of a certain quality and above. Not talking luxury or flashy things, but you know, things that won't fall apart. Unlike the odd cheap cycling accessory you'd find at a supermarket or big box retailer that sells everything.

I haven't cycled much over the years but in getting back into it... they were my first port of call to check the website of. They got bought by a discount sport store retailer 'Sports Direct' in 2018 it seems. Now Sports Direct appears to have muddied the waters by forcing it to sell a whole range of the sort of cheap, crappy quality budget fall-apart accessories...clothing / gear and even low end bikes amongst its own existing reselling of quality brands like Trek et al.

Has anybody else in the UK noticed this drop in quality? As someone without a tonne of experience in cycle brands / kit, it was good having something like Evan's where if I bought a cheap light... it would be basic, but not 'crap', you know? Any good advice or alternative bike shops worth their salt in the way Evan's historically was?

Yes, I'd noticed the same. Wiggle and Chain Reaction are also now part of Mike Ashley's growing empire. I can see that if you're a newbie it can be hard to know where to go.

I found out the hard way that you tend to get what you're paying for, so I've gravitated towards brands that are good value but not necessarily that cheap. For clothing I tend to favour Endura, which is sold by a lot of retailers. I've bought all sorts of lights over the years, but I now buy Exposure almost exclusively. Far from cheap but they've given me such good service that I don't begrudge them the extra cost - and their British, based not far from me.

As far as shops go, I can recommend Condor Cycles in London, Sigma Sport, Merlin Cycles, Tredz and Tweeks. I've also used Decathlon from time to time with pretty good results; their stuff is definitely at the lower end of the price range but, in my quite limited experience, is pretty good quality. Hope that helps.

Decathlon is my go to for "basic but not crap" in the UK now.

Sigma Sports is my default for quality gear. UK native and great service.

Oh no, didn't realist Wiggle and Chain Reaction were also taken over by him. It's actually the takeover of Frasers / Game that makes me fear most for Evan's... They bought our local old defunct Debenhams - four floors, with a cafe. To make it a House of Frasers - little bit of an upgrade I thought from Debenhams. What did we get? We got the top two floors a Sport's Direct, with a Game shoved in the corner... The bottom two floors... they basically kept the makeup hall from Debenhams (all independent concessions anyway I think) and the most half-assed attempt at a mens section, and womens clothing section in the rest of the space. Hardly a grand big department store, quite the downgrade from Debenhams.

He just wanted Sports Direct in some more prime retail. But that's not what scares me most. With Game... they introduced a gaming arena which the standalone store didn't have... seemed good. Went in a few weeks ago with my nephew, nobody at the Game part at all. This was a Saturday afternoon. Single member of staff on the floor, in the Game uniform, at the till with about 3-4 people lining up to buy sports jerseys etc. Couldn't get a moment to check us into the gaming arena. Did find one Sports Direct staff member who tried his best / got us checked in, said we were lucky as he's the only SD guy who knew how to use the Game system. Said he was meant to be on his break too... Sounds like they have zero regard for the non Sport's Direct brands they own. Happy to run them into the ground.

The other SD store other side of town now has an 'Evans Cycle' section. It is the same back corner cycling accessory wall mixed in with camping stuff that was there before with about 3-4 kids / teen bikes (of the heavy, steel variety) in the way on show. The name now resigned to the very opposite end of the spectrum it was once an antidote to :-(

On the plus side, we now have a proper Evans Cycle store in Belfast which we didn't have before... Haven't been in yet but wonder what it's like given its been setup fully in the Mike Ashley era of the brand.

I've bought one thing from Evans in the last 40 years but got exactly what I wanted at a decent price, so no issue.

I only knew them from when I was a kid, so got back into cycling 4 years back and needed a helmet.
Luckily I did the research so bought exactly what I wanted but in Evans I could try the different sizes so bought it there.

Helmet was Specialized Align II - cheapest good helmet around.

I had a rear wheel/tyre and the 7 speed hub replaced on my Evans 1980's touring machine locally. they did a great job of adjusting the XCD derailleur so every gear was perfect.

No idea who the mechanic was, he wanted to buy my cycle from me, however he gave me back a really great machine.
531 frame, brazed cable guides on the top bar of the frame for the brake cable, memory adjustors on the rear for quick wheel alignment, alas no mudguards!

Great price too.