For decades, the Swiss television program Kassensturz has been uncovering scams and rip-offs. Now it was the turn of new Swiss bike stores. The task: An e-bike prepared with six everyday defects was handed over to them for a service. How many of the defects would the specialists repair? There were no exotic or particularly tricky faults on the electric bikes: too little air in the tire, a figure of eight in the rear wheel, a loose headset, a defective chain, etc. "The stores tested really didn't do well," was the verdict of 2rad Schweiz, the trade association for Swiss two-wheeler retailers. Three out of nine only repaired just one of the six defects, three repaired three and a further three stores repaired four of the six defects.
The test results in short form (PDF)

The work of the companies tested cannot be glossed over. In a press release in response to the Kassensturz test, 2rad Schweiz emphasizes that these stores should not be equated with the entire industry. The association refers to its seal of quality "Excellent Workshop", which has been awarded to particularly well-performing specialist stores since 2019. According to the 2rad Schweiz website, 22 businesses currently carry the label. None of them were among those tested. If the Kassensturz can be criticized, it is that the classic stand-alone specialist stores were underrepresented. Only one out of nine had no branches. On the other hand, discounters such as Jumbo and Decathlon (price for a service: CHF 30) were also tested. In the test results, the two chain stores, together with the small business, came last in the ranking. The specialist store charged CHF 145 to pump the tire and left all other defects untouched. Martin Platter commented: "If you take your bike in for a service and it comes back like this, then you can save yourself the service and wait until it falls apart."

Swiss specialist bike stores recently made positive headlines: Their work is classified as systemically relevant in the extraordinary situation, they enjoy special treatment and they are enjoying brisk demand. This is a golden opportunity to make a lasting good impression. Excellence always sounds good and some businesses certainly deserve it. Correct work that is worth its price would actually be enough.