There was a bike shop like that up until quite recently in Studley Ian. Roy's bikes on the high street near to the Little Lark pub. I think he's retired now sadly. He was a keen cyclist (though certainly didn't look it - he had the figure of Mr. Pickwick!) and motorcyclist and a talented old school engineer. A real character too - he called all his customers Fred, because he could never remember names, and though he did stock Mountain Bikes he seemed to do his damndest to dissuade people from buying them.
He had a beautiful old Viking Severn Valley hanging up in back of the shop which had a Sturmey Archer rear 3 speed hub which he'd managed to modify by attaching a 7 speed block. He ran it with a triple front chainset to give 63 gears. I asked him why he'd done it and he said 'just to prove to myself it could be done!'
On the shelves there were still cottered bottom bracket axles and other bit's and bob's, labeled up with 3/-6 or suchlike, and when you asked him how much, it was always 'a couple of quid'.
If he hadn't got anything on the shelves, he'd send you out the back of the shop where the outhouses were filled full of tea chests containing second-hand parts which were also always 'a couple of quid'.
I do miss shops like that.
