We're sorry we've not been too talkative the last couple of months its been really hectic around here and we know that so many of you guys like our weekly newsletters.
Summer has definitely arrived here in Sheffield and Nottingham and it has really been felt at the shops. We've been rushed off our feet keeping all your lovely bicycles on the road. We're coming up on our third birthday at Sheffield Station and we've seen a big increase over those three years of cyclists using the station facilities and our shop and we are very grateful for all the custom.
But what has been keeping us quiet over the last couple of months? Well there has been a lot happening; we've seen a couple of staff leave us and a couple of staff join us for starters. It's always sad to see people move on but conversely it's always great fun getting to know new people and seeing them contribute positively to the business. Then there have been staff holidays, Nathan wandered off cycling in Spain and Greg has gone to Majorca. Russell will off bikepacking in mid-August so watch out for his post about that too.
Along with all that we've been busy with events too. If you cycled Eroica this year you may have seen us pitched up at the Waterloo Pub in Biggin helping keep all those wonderful vintage bicycles on the road. John was loving it so much he had to express himself.
The sun shone brightly that weekend and I think that all the riders will agree it was an amazing event. We had a few interesting repairs to do including the plethora of punctures we had crank arms falling off, gears that wouldn't change and seat posts that wouldn't stay put. The varied nature of the bikes was great to see, some real old steel frames and some very well dressed riders.
Off to the Marin Bikes World Launch in June to see what great new bikes will be out in 2018. Since 2014 they have been steadily refining and updating their entire range and its getting to the point now where it has some really great bikes. The Pavement Bikes range is as good as ever, the Fairfax sitting at the head with updated colours and kit it really is an eye-catcher. The Mountain Bikes have really gone through a massive change this year with updates and refinements that brings the whole range together as a whole concept.
July saw a number of developments regarding hire bikes, first we started offering the Nottingham City Card bike hire scheme from our shop at the Station, these are robust bikes easy to use for all for short rides around the City. Starting at £2 for a week with a Nottingham travelcard they are great value.
Then we provided our entire fleet of quality Marin Fairfax Hire Bikes to the HSBC City Ride in Sheffield. It was a great success, lots of logisitics involved in moving 40 bikes with only a panel van to two locations during road closures but we got there in the end. Again, as you can see from the photo, it was a really sunny day and I think everyone who rode the closed road route really enjoyed it. Our fleet of Brompton Hire bikes also managed a few laps. Events like this should be more frequent and it would be great if the City Centre could be closed to traffic one Sunday a month to allow people the peace and quiet of a traffic free city hearing only the tinkle of bicycle bells and the laughing of playing children. With more than 60 hires on the day it was a great success.
Inbetween all this our bike racks have been out in use a lot, at Peace in the Park they were employed to help manage all the bikes there, at Amphifest they were used to keep everyone's bikes secure and at the regular Peddler Market we have been putting them out to try to encourage people to cycle to the event rather than drive.
Well we are all set for the rest of summer now and we'll be a bit more talkative over the coming months so keep your eye out for more newsletters, more events and just more from us.