# taking your bike in shops



## united4ever (27 Aug 2016)

I was outside home bargains today but there was nowhere very obvious to lock my bike up and i only wanted one item. I remember on here someone saying that it was fine to take your bike into shops....not dissimilar from pushchairs or shopping trolleys in terms of impact. Anyway, the staff member told me i had to leave it outside when i got inside. Whats the reason i wonder? Blocking the aisles? Getting the floors dirty? It was dry and quiet but i understand that the policies are not adaptable to those things.


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## vickster (27 Aug 2016)

Probably elf and safety. Did you ask why not?


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## Smokin Joe (27 Aug 2016)

Probably worried that you might take the skin of some poor old dear's shin with a pedal.


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## S-Express (27 Aug 2016)

united4ever said:


> Whats the reason i wonder? Blocking the aisles? Getting the floors dirty? It was dry and quiet but i understand that the policies are not adaptable to those things.



Because if the shop policy allows one person to bring a bike in, it will also have to allow 30 people to bring their bikes in. In any weather, and regardless of how busy the shop is. Not going to happen. Far easier to simply exclude them and avoid the issue.


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## Lee_M (27 Aug 2016)

couldnt you tell him it was a shopping trolley?


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## Richard A Thackeray (27 Aug 2016)

Used to do it at the local Co-Op (now it's closed, & transmogrified into a 'B&M')

I'd lean it against a display stand, whichever staff on the tobacco/lottery counter kept an eye on it for me

I'd like to think it's because whenever I went in, no matter what mood/'frame of mind' I was in, I always spoke to them & asked how their day was, etc.....

Thus, a small consideration on my part, was returned, in another manner?


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## wisdom (27 Aug 2016)

Took mine into the jewellers last week.Had to get the Mrs an anniversary present.I said I've nowhere out side to lock it would it be ok just inside the door. They said to bring it right in.it was chucking it down and it was carpeted but no problem at all they said.


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## Supersuperleeds (27 Aug 2016)

Took my bike into a shop today whilst I did some shopping, mind you it was my lbs.

I wouldn't dream of taking my bike into any other type of shop, though I certainly wouldn't be bothered if others did.


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## cisamcgu (27 Aug 2016)

Take my Brommie, unfolded, into lots of different shops, no one ever has complained.


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## Turdus philomelos (27 Aug 2016)

You could put it in a shopping trolley, no? 
Or, disguise the bike


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## rivers (27 Aug 2016)

I got told off by a cashier at Tesco for taking my bike into the shop yesterday. Health and safety, they could be shut down or some such nonsense. Funny thing is the security guard and management staff I passed as I walked into the shop with bike in tow said absolutely nothing to me.


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## HLaB (27 Aug 2016)

Ive tooken my bike into a couple of co ops and Lidls; it might help that I'm usually carrying it until I have to pay.


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## nickyboy (27 Aug 2016)

User said:


> I would take the Brompton anywhere but I wouldn't take a proper bike into a shop.



The Brompton mafia will be after you with comments like that

My "taking bikes into shops" rules seem a little ill-thought out. I will happily take it into something like a Co-op or Tesco Express, but I will ask the staff if it's ok to prop it up while I buy whatever. I've been know to wheel it around a full size supermarket but I'm not entirely comfortable in doing so. Other shops I've never needed to go in with the bike but I wouldn't unless it was a real quick in and out and only then with staff acquiescence


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## marshmella (27 Aug 2016)

Smokin Joe said:


> Probably worried that you might take the skin of some poor old dear's shin with a pedal.


I did exactly that a few years back not with a bike though with the trolley..it was a momentary lack of concentration


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## Ian193 (27 Aug 2016)

I've taken my road bike into the tesco express near me I left it by the door insight of the cashier while getting the milk I needed after being on a ride without a problem I didn't fancy carrying 4 pints of milk for the whole ride


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## Drago (27 Aug 2016)

rivers said:


> I got told off by a cashier at Tesco for taking my bike into the shop yesterday. Health and safety, they could be shut down or some such nonsense. Funny thing is the security guard and management staff I passed as I walked into the shop with bike in tow said absolutely nothing to me.


Yet Testiclco happily sell you a bike and let you wheel it through the store...


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## Drago (27 Aug 2016)

Wouldn't be seen dead in their low rent establishment, thank you.


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## cosmicbike (27 Aug 2016)

Sainsburys I wheel my Brompton around, and use the S bag on the front as a basket, never had a problem. 'Full sized' bikes seem to be OK at my local Homebase, and perhaps unsurprisingly Halfords are OK with it.


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## CanucksTraveller (27 Aug 2016)

cosmicbike said:


> perhaps unsurprisingly Halfords are OK with it.



In my Halfords they put the bikes and accoutrements upstairs, so you either need 26 perfect bunny hops or one humiliating ride in what amounts to a Stannah stairlift.


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## vickster (27 Aug 2016)

Carry it?


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## CanucksTraveller (27 Aug 2016)

vickster said:


> Carry it?



You really don't get my sense of humour Vickster, it was just an attempt to be light hearted.


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## vickster (27 Aug 2016)

Seemingly not. I'll ignore your posts from now on


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## CanucksTraveller (27 Aug 2016)




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## Drago (27 Aug 2016)

Some kind of lovers spat?


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## CanucksTraveller (27 Aug 2016)

I'd attempt to make a humorous comment, but I can guarantee that Vickster would end up misunderstanding to the tune of 180 degrees. It's an unfortunate knack I've had in the last week.


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## nickyboy (27 Aug 2016)

CanucksTraveller said:


> You really don't get my sense of humour Vickster, it was just an attempt to be light hearted.



Well I thought it was funny, particularly the use of the word "accoutrements" but then I like Bojack Horseman so what do I know


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## shouldbeinbed (27 Aug 2016)

nickyboy said:


> The Brompton mafia will be after you with comments like that
> 
> My "taking bikes into shops" rules seem a little ill-thought out. I will happily take it into something like a Co-op or Tesco Express, but I will ask the staff if it's ok to prop it up while I buy whatever. I've been know to wheel it around a full size supermarket but I'm not entirely comfortable in doing so. Other shops I've never needed to go in with the bike but I wouldn't unless it was a real quick in and out and only then with staff acquiescence


I was stopped from taking my unfolded Brompton into the huge Asda near my work & Mcr Velodrome at half past six the other Saturday morning by security. I made the observation that if I was in a British Cycling tracksuit it wouldn't be a problem, they denied that ever happened - hahahahaha I must hallucinate Pinarello's in there then.

I bowled in a few moments later with it folded in a trolley. Ok then.


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## slowmotion (28 Aug 2016)

Screwfix and Maplin have always been kind (Yes, yes....I'm rather sad...).
A young lady in the vast cosmetics department in Boots, High Street Kensington, let me stash the bike behind a L'Oreal display and promised to keep an eye on it! Tesco security men are pretty inflexible, but Sainsburys and Waitrose are pretty cool. Argos too. You never really know how it's going to go until you wander in. I suspect that politely asking for a favour for you and your bike works better than demanding some kind of rights that the retailer has absolutely no legal obligation to give you. Their shop, their rules.


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## Nigelnaturist (28 Aug 2016)

The local Farmfoods is cool, so WAS the local Lidel till I pointed out there was no where to lock the bikes outside after the referb so they fitted bike stands, went in one night for a jar of coffee and I was told I have to park it outside.


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## Markymark (28 Aug 2016)

People bring their bikes in my business when collecting all the time.


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## Markymark (28 Aug 2016)

User14044mountain said:


> Serving at a drive through McDonalds?


Shoe shining.


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## Markymark (28 Aug 2016)

I'd rather be arrested than eat a tin of kidney beans.


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## rich p (28 Aug 2016)

User14044mountain said:


> Buy a tin of beans and get a moral dilemma free......I just love those BOGOF deals.


You're on fire, Rocky. Ride the wave before it breaks...


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## MontyVeda (28 Aug 2016)

I work in a shop. Customers aren't allowed to bring bikes inside, but staff can. 

My local Morrison's wouldn't let me briefly park my bike inside, but my local Tesco does... so I tend shop at Tesco. Morrison's has since shut down.


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## Markymark (28 Aug 2016)

It's funny. Customers ask all the time if they can bring it in. I always say no problem. When Boris bikes were stationed outside lots of residents in flats around came to me hoping to get me on side to have them stopped. I was all for it. I get 20 customers on bikes for each one in car (within congestion charge zone of central London). We also get large vans and lorries delivering daily. They park and bring everything in without issue.


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## Drago (28 Aug 2016)

I was banned from wheeling my Chopper through the local sex shop.

But they're ok with me bringing the bike in.


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## nickyboy (28 Aug 2016)

User said:


> Bojack Horseman is nothing to do with humour.



Is it just Bojack or is it all comedies featuring talking horses you don't like? Don't tell me you're not a fan of Mr Ed too

Update on bikes in shops. Today in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, I took the bike in a Sainsuburys local. Propped it up near the door and bought the bits I needed. No problem and the checkout guy said he had been keeping an eye on it for me which was nice. My view is popping it inside the shop (surely a customer wouldn't nick it?) is fine, wheeling it around the aisles isn't so great


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## nickyboy (28 Aug 2016)

User said:


> Is he a talking horse or a bloke with a horse's head?



I can't believe you've even asked that question. Of course he's a talking horse, just like Mr Ed. If it was just a bloke wearing a horse's head it wouldn't be funny at all


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## doog (28 Aug 2016)

Shops, hotels, hotel rooms, airport departure and arrival lounges, ferry lounges, cafes,shopping centres.....

Nothing is off limits


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## User16625 (29 Aug 2016)

rivers said:


> I got told off by a cashier at Tesco for taking my bike into the shop yesterday. Health and safety, they could be shut down or some such nonsense. Funny thing is the security guard and management staff I passed as I walked into the shop with bike in tow said absolutely nothing to me.



I ****ing hate health and safety. It has become an excuse to be a complete arse. This sort of thing encourages bad attitude towards actual safety. I for one would like to hang a traffic policeman by his neck using a hi-vis rope from a thoroughly inspected tree that I have cordoned off and put lots of warning signs around that warn I will decapitate someone with them.

Anyway I need to go and turn my chainsaw off.


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## MarquisMatsugae (29 Aug 2016)

HLaB said:


> Ive tooken


What a great word


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## goody (29 Aug 2016)

Thats two wurdz.


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## gordonrgw (29 Aug 2016)

User14044mountain said:


> Serving at a drive through McDonalds?



Nope, I've been refused service at a McD's drive through. Health* and Safety apparently.


*and yet they still insist on selling their food..


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## alecstilleyedye (30 Aug 2016)

some colleagues from one of our food stores popped in for a scheduled stop at head office during a 500 mile charity ride, and were greeted by security and told to bring the bikes around the back and to chain them to a table once inside; health and safety was cited as the reason


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## Dogtrousers (30 Aug 2016)

I got told sniffily "there's a bike rack outside" when I took my unfolded Brommie into Evans (yes, that Evans, the bike shop) in Peckham. I decided against making any purchases and continued my journey. 

This meant that they lost a massive sale of something or other. Cable end caps maybe. Something like that.

That said, it's entirely the shop's business whether they let bikes in or not. They don't need to make up spurious elf n safety excuses. They can just say "no", to which the cyclist can reply "OK" and go somewhere else.


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## Darren69 (30 Aug 2016)

As title says, I tend to use two bike locks on my bike but always worry it's not going to be there on my return, last week I went in to decathlon and locked my bike outside, when I was inside browsing this guy was walking round looking at the bike hear with his bike and no one said anything.
I wonder if you can take your bike in most shops without being questioned.


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## vickster (30 Aug 2016)

Already discussed, very variable. Personally I don't if I am spending more than 2 minutes in there!

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/taking-your-bike-in-shops.206161/post-4440087

I wouldn't personally use 2 locks while shopping, one solid d lock for me

Decathlon is a large shop with bikes, can't imagine they'd complain but still inconvenient when actually shopping IMO


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## Darren69 (30 Aug 2016)

Cheers for merging my post


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## PaulSecteur (30 Aug 2016)

I just phone Al-Fayed and let him know my butler is on his way. The kind chap closes his little shop to allow my butler to shop unimpeded by the usual riff-raff. His bike is always washed when he returns.

Could you not sort a similar arrangement with the Co-Op?


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## Drago (30 Aug 2016)

You give your butler a bicycle? You'll ruin things for the rest of us with your rampant generosity.


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## dellzeqq (31 Aug 2016)

User said:


> Similarly in Decathlon. Try riding your own bike round their store.


I've done that. In the same Decathlon. Not a problem. Then again, I've got a nicer bike than you....

which is how I've got away with taking it in here...


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## dellzeqq (31 Aug 2016)

User said:


> Ah yes, I guess to a casual observer it could be mistaken for one of theirs.





User said:


> Rotherhithe by any chance? They're a very chilled bunch in there...


Rotherhithe is good for croissants and coffee, but I'm now a devotee of Adrian's local on the Purley Way.


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## tallliman (31 Aug 2016)

^ I think that's the first time I've seen Purley Way written without the word Croydon attached!


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## Tin Pot (31 Aug 2016)

united4ever said:


> I was outside home bargains today but there was nowhere very obvious to lock my bike up and i only wanted one item. I remember on here someone saying that it was fine to take your bike into shops....not dissimilar from pushchairs or shopping trolleys in terms of impact. Anyway, the staff member told me i had to leave it outside when i got inside. Whats the reason i wonder? Blocking the aisles? Getting the floors dirty? It was dry and quiet but i understand that the policies are not adaptable to those things.



Against stupidity, the gods themselves labour in vain.


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## Tom B (31 Aug 2016)

Decathlon Bolton have no problem with you pushing your bike around - never tried riding it.

Toolstation have no issue and at first invited me to bring it in.

Screwfix not keen and asked me to take it out, so i did, along with myself and my money. But my local screwfix is horribly stuffy and the staff are just odd so they may be the exception.

Halfords Bury are a little uneasy -especially when browsing the non bike stuff and near the glass cases, but offer to mind it at the checkout.

Millgate Shopping Centre send a team of 6 geriatric security guards to try and make you take it back the way you came, despite a nearer exit and the actual shop i visited not having an issue.

Lush didnt have an issue.

The Rock outdoor shopping mall took exception to me locking my bike to a lampost informing me it wouldn't be there when I came back, I wished them luck and sure enough it was still there when I returned. As i left one of the guards grabbed me.

When I ran a shop i was happy for bikes to come in, we'd always offer to keep an eye on them.


I have recently managed to get a local Co-Op, Sainsbury's Local, and Tesco to install hoops/stands by simply pointing it out on Twitter. I find these companies very responsive to twitter, especially if you can include a pic of you bike locked to the trolly rack etc and blocking a path or posing a risk of oiling old ladies.


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## John the Monkey (31 Aug 2016)

nickyboy said:


> The Brompton mafia will be after you with comments like that


As much as we would love to act immediately, we're waiting for someone to fettle a violin case so that it fits on the front carrier block.

Once that's sorted, mind...


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## Richard A Thackeray (31 Aug 2016)

I took my bike into the Lidl in Featherstone (between Wakefield, & Pontefract) this morning, for this reason; https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/lidl-gels.206384/

If I go into my local I usually try to time it, & go in the 'Exit' door, as someone leaves (such a rebel!!) & leave it at the back of the tills, by the bag-packing shelf
This time, no-one was leaveing, so I took it in, & leaned by an unattended till, got my goodies, & pushed it to an open till

No-one blinked an eye (maybe it was the 'Featherstone Road Club' bib-tights, I was wearing that made the dfference??)


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## John the Monkey (31 Aug 2016)

User said:


> Please let me know when to start worrying.


If you've not woken up next to a pair of handlebars still attached to a roughly hacked away stem yet, you're probably ok.


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## Pat "5mph" (31 Aug 2016)

Tom B said:


> Screwfix not keen and asked me to take it out,


My local branch was ok, they are in an industrial cul de sac, there was really no place to lock the bike outside.



Tom B said:


> The Rock outdoor shopping mall took exception to me locking my bike to a lampost informing me it wouldn't be there when I came back,


For what reason you think? A lampost belongs to the council, not the shop!


Richard A Thackeray said:


> If I go into my local I usually try to time it, & go in the 'Exit' door, as someone leaves (such a rebel!!) & leave it at the back of the tills, by the bag-packing shelf
> This time, no-one was leaveing, so I took it in, & leaned by an unattended till, got my goodies, & pushed it to an open till


I did the same, just the once when I'd forgotten my lock.
They did not object, I saw another rider doing it on another occasion.


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