Author Archives: pete

Coming soon to a high street near you…

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…if you live in Nunhead, that is: we’re opening a shop!

We’ve been doing mobile servicing and repairs since 2008 and over the last couple of years we’ve got more and more requests for new bikes, parts, helmets, lights, locks, etc. – all the things it’s not that easy to sell from a mobile workshop.

So over the last year we’ve been making plans to open a shop. We found a great location, in the middle of quite a lot of our current residential customers, and we’ve been working on all the legal and technical logistics.

We’ll be opening soon on Evelina Road, Nunhead SE15 and we’ll post LOTS more news about that in due course – after that we’ll still be looking after our workplace servicing clients, but those of you who live nearby will be able to actually turn up at our shop for services and everything else, and you’ll be more than welcome!

A neat solution

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Nina's bars

Nina had flat bars and bar ends on her hybrid road bike, with integrated brake levers and gear shifters, and she was a bit fed up with them. She liked riding with her hands on the bar ends but couldn’t reach the brakes or gears easily from there. When one shifter packed up, she asked our advice: she wanted a neater alternative that allowed her to ride with her hands in a forward position, but she didn’t want drop bars and combined road levers.

Nina's bars, 2

I came up with this solution, and I’m rather pleased with how tidy and effective it is. Nitto bullhorn bars are superb and put her hands in just the position she wanted. Cane Creek “cross-top” levers allowed clamping around the bar (instead of clamping in the ends of the bar like many TT brake levers) and Shimano 9-speed thumb shifters slotted neatly into the bar ends. All the cables are neatly concealed under the bar tape and not only does it look tidy, it works very smoothly and feels very natural to ride.

Nina promptly took her bike on a several hundred mile journey across Italy, and was very happy with how it felt and handled.

“Can you come out and fix my puncture?”

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We’ve had quite a few calls like this… unfortunately the answer is usually “sorry, no.” It’s not because we can’t repair punctures (watch out for a video, coming soon!) and it’s certainly not because we want to offend anyone. It’s mainly because we tend to specialise in planned services and repairs and it’s rarely economical to send someone out across London to a beleaguered cyclist just to repair a puncture.

However, we’ll always try and help you. There are a lot of bike shops scattered around London and most of them are on the big map on the wall of the Rat Race Cycles workshop. We’ll try and let you know where your nearest bike shop is, it’s almost always going to work out cheaper (for us and you) and more convenient for you to get to the nearest bike shop; most decent shops will try and find a way to fix your puncture while you wait.

If you’re out on the road and can’t get through to us, we recommend the excellent BikeHub iPhone app – and their website – as a swift and handy way of finding your nearest bike shop. It’s also got a great cycle journey planner, allowing you to choose between quieter, safer or faster routes.

Paul’s singlespeed commuter

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Marin Stinson singlespeed conversion

Paul asked us to build him a fast, strong singlespeed to commute around 18km each way every day. A singlespeed seemed ideal for a London commute: no gears means fewer components, so there’s less to maintain and less weight on the bike.

A Marin Stinson was a great donor bike to start from, a second-hand bike with the frame and forks in superb condition but mostly worn-out wheels and components. These bikes are well-built from lightweight chromoly steel, and built to last. The paint and lacquer was in superb condition and I like its simple, clean lines.

32-hole high-flange track hubs laced with Sapim Race spokes to Rigida deep V rims made for strong wheels with good aerodynamics, and Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres are our long-standing favourites for near-indestructible puncture-proof reliability.

A Sturmey chainset pulls a Shimano freewheel in a classic 48:16 ratio and a Surly Singleator keeps the chain tension right. This was the first time I’d fitted SRAM 500 brake levers, and I’ll certainly be speccing them again. They’re great quality, light, comfortable and inexpensive. A short stem brought the reach on the drop bars into just the right position for Paul – look out for him flying around North London on this one!

“Workplace servicing”?

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We often get asked what this means. It’s actually the simplest term to explain what we do most.

We know what the pace of life is like for many people who live and work in London. The bicycle is one of the quickest ways to get around our city and the sense of freedom and control this provides is one reason people love cycling. So we also appreciate what a contrast it is to be without that bike and have to sit (or probably stand) squashed nose-to-armpit onto public transport, or expensively watching the meter in a cab, crawling in the traffic you usually sail through.

So it’s much more convenient to get your bicycle serviced while you’re at work. And it’s even more convenient if you don’t have to leave your place of work for this to happen. Which is where we come in: we’ll arrange with you to come to your work place, during your working hours. We’ll set up a mobile workshop and carry out the sort of servicing your bike needs to keep it going season after season.

This often works best with groups of cyclists. Arranging one visit to service several bikes works out more economical for us, so we can pass those savings on to you, meaning a significant discount on every service if we carry out more than two full services in one visit.

Before we visit we’ll discuss, by phone or email, each cyclist’s requirements and the possible parts needed for the bikes. This is an important stage because it means we can properly prepare for our visit to you, and you know what to expect from us. It also means we can be quicker servicing the bikes while we’re with you, which can mean fitting more bikes in one visit.

All we need is a floor area the size of a parked car* to set up a mobile workshop area. We’ve set up in underground car parks, spare offices, back yards, the corners of kitchens, training rooms and plenty of bike storage areas. We’re always careful to clean up after ourselves and we even cover the floor before we start.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us for more information or to arrange a visit!

* and an actual space to park a car, if possible.