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RUTLAND CYCLING


Water, water everywhere


Rutland Cycling was singled out for praise by the bike trade when it picked up the BikeBiz Awards Independent Retailer 2013 gong. Jonathon Harker visits the store and MD David Middlemiss to see what all the fuss is about…


“WE’RE NOT just waiting for the customer to come in,” Rutland Cycling managing director David Middlemiss tells BikeBiz. A quick scan of the list of events the shop runs confirms exactly that, with a wealth of rides and seminars in the calendar, all designed to lure punters in.


As an example, for October there was a Night Ride every Tuesday (at two of the shops), a Mums and Tots ride every Friday (led by Breeze champions), four ladies-only Breeze rides and a bike maintenance class. By our calculations, that is 14 rides and events to help forge the store’s reputation as a hub for cyclists. December has 13 – including a Santa Ride where riders are encourage to come along dressed as St Nick himself. And that’s in the off-season. Granted, they do have a great location for it. When BikeBiz visits the store on a mid-week morning in November, the retailer, perched next to Rutland Water (you’d never have guessed) is preparing for winter, with the hire bike display significantly reduced down. On your way in there’s the RockBlok climbing centre next to the Whitwell HQ shop. Middlemiss points out that the climbing centre hut was the original Rutland Cycling hire shop that opened way back in 1981. Now Rutland Cycling is a huge outlet dwarfing the original shack, stocking in excess of 400 bikes, umpteen accessories and clothing lines, hosting a Bike Fit studio, a comprehensive workshop and more.


The store has individual counters for hire, the workshop and retail sales. The Workshop counter also doubles up as a seminar area for out of hours talks on subjects such as maintenance


WATER GOOD IDEA Dave Archer, the father-in-law of BikeBiz’s host for the day, asked Anglian Water over 30 years ago whether it would allow him to open a bike hire shop on the newly created Rutland Water, which opened in ’76. It’s fair to say the water company didn’t expect great things, but it did grant him permission to run hire bikes around


26 BIKEBIZ DECEMBER BIKEBIZ.COM


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