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help me ronde, help, help me ronde
the bike shop, and i use the term loosely, was down kyle street, on the right hand side heading towards midton road, just opposite the electric bakery. you could quite plainly see the bulk of the broadway cinema, reminding of the considerable rear extension of crt televisions (remember those?). the retail side of things consisted of two conjoining hut-like edifices just past the sandstone library building. bicycle theft was not quite the industry it is now, and in the late sixties it was quite safe to leave a display of cycles outside the front door all day without fear of unlawful removal. most of the samples were remarkably traditional in intent, from kiddies up to grown-ups. at the back of all this was a large, poorly lit shed in which repairs were carried out. it was usually full to overflowing with ill bicycles.
that was benzies. mr benzie, sole proprietor as i remember, was an elderly, curmudgeonly man, perpetually dressed in a brown coat and with a beret worn at a slightly jaunty angle. it could be that the beret started out each day in a more considerate position, but bicyles will do that sort of thing to unsuspecting headgear.
having to take an infirm velocipede to mr benzie for repair was the equivalent of penance or punishment; woe betide the child who turned up bearing a cycle that was in less than pristine condition. the man may have had an early form of ocd, but could spot a speck of dirt on a raleigh chain at fifty paces. it was considered less painful to clean the bicycle thoroughly before wheeling or riding it down to the shop. it was also never a good idea to take the bicycle in for oiling or puncture repair. in the former case, you would simply be offered a tin of three in one at a price; the latter would simply result in a humiliating lecture on how he wasn't in business simply to take care of your ineptitude. punctures should be fixed at home with the repair kit every child should undoubtedly have in the shed or garage.
of course, much has changed in the town in which i grew up. mr benzie is long gone, as is the shop, replaced by rather anodyne looking flats. the library is still there, as is the cinema, though it no longer shows movies. and the art of bicycle retailing has moved on a smidgeon or two.
it's not that long since i featured pave in barcelona, one of the more interesting developments in the cycle retail genre i have come across recently. no longer is it simply acceptable to feature a row of bicycles crammed into as small a space as possible, fronted by a price ticket on each, and a stack of inner tubes and tyres concealed behind the counter. life is bigger than that now.
neil dryden and neil millsop met around eight years ago when their respective romances concerned two sisters. much like the rest of us, everything that was not romance was cycling; road, mountain biking, cyclocross, sportives, spectating, you name it, they did it. just the same as us. and like many, their regular visits to bike shops were not the fulfilling experiences that a pair of cycling obsessives thought they should be. however, unlike most of us, they didn't mutter under their breath or write extensive blogs bemoaning this salient fact. they observed, and in the course of these observations, made notes.
i've pointed out in my opening paragraphs that cycle retailing is experiencing, in certain quarters, a change of direction; the two neils figured time had come to amalgamate their worldly learnings and impose it upon the psyche and spending power of the scottish cyclist. qualifications for so doing? neil dryden comes from a background of graphic design, retail and visual merchandising; the other neil from architecture, interiors and also retail. the cycling addict attribute seems unnecessary to mention.
"We love coffee, we love shops, we love cycling, we love bike shops with coffee!"
rolling all this together into one enticing package has led to the imminent opening of ronde, which they describe as a bicycle outfitter. i'm not sure mr benzie would have approved, but i'll bet neither of the neils are as scary, nor wear berets.
talk, as they say, is cheap; everyone figures that their own venture into the big wide world is different to everyone else's. but in mitigation, why would anyone bother to profess modernity and difference when the proof of the pudding looms closer and closer? a step through the front door will surely confirm or deny.
"We wanted to create a shop that would welcome not only the serious enthusiast but the casual enquirer too. Whether you want a fixie to tackle the commute or a Look 595 to tackle the Etape, it's important to get the right advice. WeĠve tried to pull together brands that we love and combine them with a unique retail space and really great coffee. You can come in to buy a Colnago EPS with Campagnolo Super Record, or an innertube; pick up the latest copy of Rouleur, look at the latest photographs from artists like Scott Mitchell, watch stages of the Tour or Giro, enjoy the best coffee in Scotland or just come and experience the love of cycling!"
them's strong words, especially in figuring that the coffee could possibly be better than debbie's. that will obviously have to be comprehensively tested at length. so far you are likely comfortably aware that this forthcoming cycling and coffee emporium is about to open its doors in scotland. where, exactly?
"We found a great property in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, with lots of great original features. Combined with our individual shopfit ideas, it should create a great destination and meeting place for anyone interested in cycling. WeĠre not nave or arrogant enough to think weĠre single handedly changing how cycle retail works, but we believe in the things that have been happening elsewhere and want to present our take on this trend here in Edinburgh."
the design is at an advanced stage; what hasn't quite happened yet is translating it into internal bricks and mortar. the illustration shown hereabouts is courtesy of photoshop, but it gives a rather fetching indication of what we can expect. the name is entirely appropriate, for have i not said more than once that the scots are the flandrians of the west (or words to that effect)? bicycles sitting forlornly on a wood or lino floor hoping someone will buy is so yesterday's thing. the sophisticated peletonese about town demands more by way of atmosphere; a smidgeon of career reinforcement is required, even if it's only to give him/her indoors froth to sup and something to look at, while you spend the kids' inheritance on as much carbon fibre as seems ludicrous at the time. and, more importantly, for the benefit of purchaser in those post-sale weeks, months, years. that's what saturday afternoons are for.
"We plan to have a rolling programme of displays whether photographic, illustrative, film-based or physical. The only common thread is cycling. By doing this we hope to inform and strengthen the experience of this unique and wonderful sport."
ronde: cycle_cafe_culture will open in july of 2011 at 66-68 hamilton place, stockbridge, edinburgh.
posted wednesday 25 may 2011
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