Cyclist
Pinarello focus: Wilmslow
The Cheshire town of Wilmslow is home to one of Pinarello’s flagship stores, stocking a full range of the Italian brand’s bikes alongside accessories and apparel. With the shop well known for providing expert advice and impeccable customer service, and being situated within riding distance of some of the nation’s finest roads,
Cyclist sat down with Pinarello retail stores manager (and ex-World Championships-level racer) Margaret Herety to find out what makes the Pinarello store in Wilmslow such a must-visit destination…
The ideal location
‘We’re located in the heart of Cheshire’s “golden triangle”, a sought-after area that’s home to many domestic and WorldTour professionals,’ Herety tells us.
‘From the shop, you can ride out to some beautiful lanes, get out onto the Cheshire plains to ride on the flat, or – because we’re right on the edge of the Peaks – you can also find more challenging routes. Wilmslow is quite a hub for cycling, and there are lots of clubs.’
Building a community
‘We host rides from the shop that everyone can join. Saturday’s is a “no drop” ride. We’re trying to build on the fantastic cycling community we have up here. We make sure everybody’s welcome – you don’t even need to ride a Pinarello.
‘We had a new guy come and join us this week and when he got back to the shop afterwards for coffee and doughnuts, he was just so happy; he told us we’d really made him feel welcome and said he’d be coming again. We also had our first women-only ride at the beginning of June.’
Broaden your horizons
‘People sometimes look at a Pinarello store and assume that everything will be expensive. I recently spoke with a customer in the store who said he couldn’t afford anything, and he was really surprised when I told him the endurance geometry X-series starts at around £3,000.
‘We’re a friendly bunch. We won’t bite your head off and we don’t treat anybody any differently, whether they come in wearing an Armani suit or work boots and a hi-viz jacket. Because we attract a range of customers, we sell a much broader range of bikes.’
Universal service
‘Although we’re Pinarello specialists, we will service almost anything. We’ll look after anybody who walks in off the street. A woman came in the other day who’d been out for a ride with her little boy when his gears stopped working. We fixed it on the spot and he was over the moon to get his bike back.
‘We also offer a bespoke building service for Pinarello Dogma models. You can choose your own colour and build a bike from scratch – the wheels, the groupset, pretty much anything on the bike can be specified. Plus we offer a bike-sizing service, where our in-store expert will make sure you have the correct frame size, saddle height and handlebar and stem size.’
Women lead the way
‘I was basically born on a bike – my grandad started my family’s own bike shop more than 100 years ago – so to be leading the Pinarello team at Wilmslow is really rewarding.
‘We have a young salesman on the team, for instance, and I love seeing how he’s flourished, and I love seeing the workshop get so busy. I’m so proud of how they’ve all done – and how passionate they are about cycling. And I’m also proud of how the shop looks – people are blown away when they walk through the door.’
• Click here to find out more about the Pinarello Wilmslow store
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