HGB here too.
ruth we went to hgb before…its not far! can lookat all the kawa’s across the road too
That’s the wrong shop you want the one on station approach
yeah, only down the road though 
kawa’s are worth the walk
Enjoy the walk (alternatively check how far away it is on a map) 
Or have a brew at the cafe next door
That cafe makes an excellent coffee 
Recently Went to HGB with a mate and got his tyres fitted to loose wheels, great price for fitting they seem to have woken up to the fact that £40 a rim is highway robbery. Down side was they fitted new 90degree valves to his wheels and turned out they were scooter valves :crazy:
Needless to say he won’t be going back. He got proper ones fitted at FWR when I was getting a new set of tyres fitted to mine.
I live further out than you and would travel in to FWR any day over using HGB for tyres. Price and service 2nd to none from my experience that’s all.
My 2p any way lol. :hehe:
You know your mate could have asked them to change them and would have had no issues and i doubt the valves would affect the function ability of the bike or operation of its job
and i would personally never use FWR…
I have been going HGB for year good guys down there
Should be fitting proper ones in the first place is the facts. It’s a tyre shop so you would have thought they would know the difference. I do now!!
I don’t have a beef with HGB Just giving the OP the benefit of my recent experience with tyre fitting and another option considering they have a nearer one in FWR.
I know where I’m going each time I need new tyres.
:w00t:
was they functional then and do the same job?
as far as i am aware and a tyre guru can correct me there if no difference and do same job just different look and preferred on scooters…
and if we are giving experiences for OP
here is my experience with FWR had a customer come to me for front end for 05 blade as when they fitted he’s tyre they didlt pump brakes he rode off grabbed brake nothing there went into wall messed up front end and they denied it and ‘lost’ job sheet
Had another customer to buy a engine as they fitted he’s first one wrong (run with no Oil)
Then had another customer come to me to get a list of parts as same as first guy didlt pump brakes but this guy went into car and messed up half he’s bike
just my 2p
i would never ever use them or some other bike places as they are cowboys
Functional, for a scooter at scooter speeds or for a track day and track speeds… Not so sure I’d want to put my life at risk for a scooter valve on my next track day…I know my mate didn’t.
Any place will get good and bad reviews, all down to people’s experience and if they can be asked to give good honest feedback and help others make an informed decision. Then it’s all down to people to pay their money and take their chances.
Be a boring world otherwise wouldn’t it :hehe:
^^You say any place will get good and bad reviews but I’ve never heard a bad word said about Essential Rubber. I would say if you go there you’ll get a good feeling about their place. The shop is wide open as if they have nothing to hide. I’ve been there a few times over six years and dealt with the same guys every time. Go down for a quote and you’ll get the idea.
But there exactly same valves just different direction lol
Without reading it all… don’t we have 10% from Essential Rubber no more?
My experience with them was OK (not “superb”, and no LB discount offered, but perfectly fine). However I do know of someone else who had a very bad experience with them; I’ll leave it up to him whether he wants to post it up. Dan mentions another couple of incidents. I do agree that any place will get bad and good reviews.
I’d happily travel as far as a decent ride out if the customer service was proven just to get good service and VFM. From past experience DWR in Aylesbury are good, also used PDQ in Slough in the past, also good.
My experience of FWR has been excellent. I always pump my own brakes and check things over before riding off. It is the safe thing to do when someone else works on your bike, regardless of who they are.
HGB for me.