Smallboy track bike hire

Reviews and recommendations of bike services and products you have had experiences with, both good and bad
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Perkles
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Smallboy track bike hire

Post by Perkles »

Nuts review please I don’t want to take my bmw to portomaio in December :)
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D6Nutz
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Re: Smallboys track bike hire

Post by D6Nutz »

Your wish.... yadda, yadda.....

TL;DR; They're a really good company with well setup bikes, and most of all they value customer service very highly. Would I book with them again, absolutely.

From the initial calls with smallboy it becomes quickly apparent that the guys who run the company are proper yorkshire lads. There is no messing, everything is as it says on the tin, and it's done proper. The booking process was easy, choose you bike and venue, pay the deposit and your done. You can then choose whether to pay the balance then, or over a few payments, or cash on the day. Kind of whatever, so long as you pay. There are obviously rules, but they are plain, simple, and sensible. No Messing.

On the leadup I was told I would be looked after for the day by Graham, and that he's a top bloke with racing experience. They checked I had no special requirements for the bike setup. The only thing I was interested was ensuring the bike was in road pattern and not race.

On the day I got a text from Graham at stupid o'clock in the morning saying he was at the track and getting setup, he must have been sat at the gate waiting for them to open the circuit. The bonus of this was I was in a garage, which at mallory is almost unheard of. When I'd finally shoved my breakfast down and made it to the track the bikes where already setup and ready to rock.

I opted for one of their Honda 650 built for the European Junior Cup. I chose it because mallory is a short technical circuit which suits the agility of a lighter bike, however the lower power means you have to carry corner speed to get a good lap. Something, as Jack pointed out, I need some more practice at. The bike was well turned out and well maintained, I was given the option to change settings at the start of the session but I decided to leave everything alone and only ask for a change if after a few laps I could feel something that needed it. Turns out the bike was almost spot on, or at least I couldn't make it better.

Graham was awesome for the day. Full of knowledge and knew the bikes well. Able to use his racing experience and obvious friendships with the no limits instructors to advise on any questions. Great banter, and great overall support.

To me though , one of the true measures of a company is how they handle situations that don't go quite according to plan. There was a booking error and a guy turned up at the track expecting a bike to be there, but accidentally they had sent the bike to the wrong circuit. Fortunately the guy on the other bike was in novices and this guys was in inters, so they shared the bike keeping Grah on his toes ensure the bike was always ready to go. To compound the guy in inters bad day, the rear tyre had started to go off. This didn't affect the rider in novice as he wasn't really pushing the bike, however for someone at the sharp end of inters this was a problem. One of the no limits instructors even took the bike out to check the setup and he agreed. They gave both riders a cash discount at the track for the inconvenience of sharing a bike, and said to the guy from the inters (who was obviously a regular with them) that they would sort out an appropriate discount on his next day.
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Re: Smallboy track bike hire

Post by Perkles »

Awesome thanks I’ve just booked a Honda with them ,how do I edit the title :)
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Re: Smallboy track bike hire

Post by D6Nutz »

Perkles wrote:Awesome thanks I’ve just booked a Honda with them ,how do I edit the title :)
Cool.

I've edited the title for you, however it was quite apt for the rider of the bike (especially in the morning sessions) (blush)

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You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.

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Perkles
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Re: Smallboy track bike hire

Post by Perkles »

D6Nutz wrote:
Perkles wrote:Awesome thanks I’ve just booked a Honda with them ,how do I edit the title :)
Cool.

I've edited the title for you, however it was quite apt for the rider of the bike (especially in the morning sessions) (blush)

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Stopp putting yourself down you was more than holding your own in that group,so you coming to portomaio with me in December :)
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D6Nutz
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Re: Smallboy track bike hire

Post by D6Nutz »

Perkles wrote:
D6Nutz wrote:
Perkles wrote:Awesome thanks I’ve just booked a Honda with them ,how do I edit the title :)
Cool.

I've edited the title for you, however it was quite apt for the rider of the bike (especially in the morning sessions) (blush)

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk
Stopp putting yourself down you was more than holding your own in that group,so you coming to portomaio with me in December :)
I'd love to, but now committed to the loft conversion all funds are being directed into that bucket until it's done.

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You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.

If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough - Mario Andretti
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