Variety is the spice of life

Cycleworks Manager Charlie Oborne on a unique Bike Shed

"People use our Bike Shed (lockup) for all sorts of reasons. We get cyclists that commute in from all over: Clevedon, Portishead and beyond - many other places around Bristol. They ride no-nonsense, working bikes that get them from A to B; they aren’t precious about how they look. 

"They value our Bike Shed, the fact that they can lock up, get a shower and go into work fresh for the day, it’s a good service we give them.

Light from the picture window floods into the Cafe

"Then there are other customers with expensive road bikes and who will regularly ride 120 miles in a sportive. These are the proper endurance guys, you could almost say they are semi-professional. They appreciate the knowledge, the facilities and the expert advice they find at Mud Dock.  They'll use the Bike Shed after a long ride.

"So, there are people who use the BikeShed to lock up on a daily basis, and others who use it after a long ride around Bristol. They they need somewhere safe to keep the bike while they have a meal upstairs in the cafe."

Some of a select range of bikes in store

More from the staff on life at Mud Dock over the next weeks.
What would you like to know about Mud Dock?

Spotlight on the Cycleworks

Workshop Manager Mal Armstrong on Mud Dock: the people, the customers, the ethos

"Mud Dock does occasionally feature super-elite bikes, and we do get to meet some top cyclists, but we are not elitist people here! Everyone that works at Mud Dock is extremely down to earth. That doesn’t mean we don’t offer a premium service: we certainly do.

"There are a lot of regular cyclists who use the cafe and also buy stuff from the shop. They like to make a day of it here, we are a kind of destination for them. These guys like the image of both parts of the business: the Cycleworks and the Cafe. 

"Then there are those who come into the shop but who aren’t even aware that there’s a cafe upstairs, they are solely focussed on stuff for their bike. Sometimes people come in to get something fixed, and we’ll say ‘why not have a coffee upstairs while we sort this out?‘ They had no idea the cafe was there. The two parts of the business fit together very well."

More from the Cycleworks team over the next weeks...

Wordle!

We've been more active on Twitter recently (@Mud_Dock) and here's a Wordle showing what we've been talking about...




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Very cool sidehack

Bristol's Biggest Bike Ride was cancelled — but here is a cool sidehack doing the route (we don't stock it, sorry. You can get it here.)