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This evening is the official opening of Isambard's Cycles- a new second-hand bike shop and repair workshop on Bethnal Green Road!
Most of our bikes are brought over from Belgium and last time we went we stocked up on lots of beers for tonight!
Please drop by if you can! Tonight or another day.
At
145 Bethnal Green Road
E2 7DG
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^ I crossed paths with a Pretorius club run today.... Must have been about 20 of them; almost too many for Essex's little lanes.
What's the deal with their shop then? Wasn't aware of it til I got home and googled it. See!s to be a custom build place?
They were taking themselves very seriously I thought. But not as seriously as me of course.
The rides are pretty disciplined, but they are really enjoyable, it's a good crowd, and there's normally a fair bit of chat. I've ride with them quite a bit and the standard of group riding is great.
Unusual for them to have that many together, normally we try to split groups into 12 or less, but the winter does tend to jumble it up a bit.
As for the shop, it's been established for a few years - they have their own range of titanium frames, which come in standard or custom geometries. They also sell Colnago and Cyfac.
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My earlier comments on Pretorius taking themselves too seriously weren't meant as any sort of dig by the way... Any faster-paced club runs always take on that wannabe-pro vibe, and I'm guilty of it myself.
Good to see there's a club available for East London that sets out on good strong rides!
^ And yes, the kit is decent. A lot better than most of the lairy club kits out there. -
^ CC Hackney's faster club run sets a good pace apparently (would certainly be much too hot for me) if you're looking for something like that out of East London.
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^ I crossed paths with a Pretorius club run today.... Must have been about 20 of them; almost too many for Essex's little lanes.
What's the deal with their shop then? Wasn't aware of it til I got home and googled it. See!s to be a custom build place?
They were taking themselves very seriously I thought. But not as seriously as me of course.
Jean-Claude Pretorius is an ex-pro (conti level), who set up a titanium frame manufacturer. Frames are manufactured in China, and he does high spec paint jobs and builds. He is also a dealer for a few other brands (Colnago etc). He is a good guy and the workshop cafe is a fun place to watch races. The kit is nice but (as you might expect from a design by Luke Scheybeler) a bit pricey.
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My earlier comments on Pretorius taking themselves too seriously weren't meant as any sort of dig by the way... Any faster-paced club runs always take on that wannabe-pro vibe, and I'm guilty of it myself.
Good to see there's a club available for East London that sets out on good strong rides!
^ And yes, the kit is decent. A lot better than most of the lairy club kits out there.I know exactly what you mean, especially when there are quite a few riders in the same kit. It can all look a bit srsnbsnss, regardless of the unmitigated bobbins being chatted up in the group!
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http://kennedycitybicycles.cc/
He was at the Spin thing in November/December but I didn't go. The only mention I can find on the forum is Yemble's post.
I just saw the web-site linked to from Petalon after following the link in Mechamorgan's post.
He offers customers a choice of frame colour, saddle, and handlebar shape ... rather simple, but not a problem if the frame and components are good quality, I guess. The size guide, too, is a bit stripped down. No cool fixies, just single-speeds and two-speeds.
Anyway, another Hackney-based bike business, which seems to be just starting out, so I imagine he'll increase his range sometime soon.
The blog is worth reading, e.g. his tale of how his saddles have been getting nicked off bikes he's sold and how he's now adding non-standard bolts to them.
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Thanks, I'd stripped out that number, not realising that it would then not link.
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Sorry for being repetitive, but there's another new bike shop in Hackney, or, more specifically, Clapton.
Hub Vélo has been open for three weeks and fills the long-standing bike shop desert at Clapton Pond (where there hasn't been a bike shop since Chaingang closed at least ten years ago).
It's run by Cycling Club Hackney stalwart Gary with his business partner Nas and is sure to be both a great community bike shop (they both live locally) while also catering for the more expensive end of the market.
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skinny erics in hackney wick doesn't seem to have been mentioned
re opened a little while back or changed hands, not sure which, but really amiable owner and some really nice bikes in the shop
worth a visit if you are passing the olympic park area -
Sorry for being repetitive, but there's another new bike shop in Hackney, or, more specifically, Clapton.
Hub Vélo has been open for three weeks and fills the long-standing bike shop desert at Clapton Pond (where there hasn't been a bike shop since Chaingang closed at least ten years ago).
It's run by Cycling Club Hackney stalwart Gary with his business partner Nas and is sure to be both a great community bike shop (they both live locally) while also catering for the more expensive end of the market.
Might want to warn them of the typo on the home page. Happy finish?
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Ha, good spot. Well, that's just what a modern club like CCH does for its members. :)
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skinny erics in hackney wick doesn't seem to have been mentioned
re opened a little while back or changed hands, not sure which, but really amiable owner and some really nice bikes in the shop
worth a visit if you are passing the olympic park areaThanks, Julian. That's Wingedangel's old shop, which she sold to the current owner a while back. We try to keep this list up-to-date:
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New bike shop and cafe opening in Loughborough Junction. Been planned for a wee while but it's nearly ready:
For years that was a shop selling very cheap second hand furniture, run by an albino whose face was painted in caricature down one outside wall. In later years most of the work (which largely involved smoking weed out back of the shop) was done by a friendly bunch of Eastern European lads. Been empty for about a year, now, which was a shame. Nice to see it being reused.
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Lovely, that's what we need. There's also a great area development plan being prepared for Loughborough Junction, which will hopefully generate much more such activity.
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Right. I'm buying the biggest house I can afford in LJ. Shit just got gentrified.
I think you'll find it's LoBo now - soon there will be a 'village' too. You'd better be quick!
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... back when the Green Man pub was still going and the centre of many shady operations. Didn't miss the Green Man when it shut but all those others - the Warrior, Mucky Duck, Enterprise etc.
One time, a couple of years after I'd moved from central Brixton to here, a couple of guys walked into the Control Tower, pointed guns at the owner and asked for his jewelry. One of the customers tried to stop them, they shot him down and ran off. Poor sod bled to death in the street.
The Minet Estate is a rather safer place to walk through these days than it was then. Still, back then I walked through it every day.
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Passing through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel the other day, I got chatting to the guy who runs the little kiosk at the Island Gardens end. They're trying to start a little bike repair business there called Pit Stop Cycles. At the moment, they're busy getting the right permissions, as it's in a Tower Hamlets park. 'Accessories, advice, and cups of tea'. Call Glen: 07845 757 034 / pitstopcycles@live.co.uk
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About
The wave of new London bike shops
Posted by
@Oliver Schick
I've never been there. Ask Ludwig about it. :)