As we approach the season end and the potential of new model year bike releases, we wanted to draw your attention to some key things that are likely to make the remainder of 2021, 2022 (and probably 2023) a difficult period in the bike trade – and to ask for your patience.

On the 13th July 2021, 700 turned 10 years old.

“Parp!”

That was all the fanfare we could muster.

It very seldom is the same old route that you rehash chasing down your 400th Strava trophy. It very often is not even a race itself. It is marked by a feeling that, no matter how tired you are, there is nowhere else you would rather be than on your bicycle, on that road, at that very point in time. It is the cyclist’s meditation and practice of presence and for many of us it is the driving factor to the question of why we ride our bikes.

Since its reintroduction in 2009 and in the most successful professional partnership in the modern era with Team INEOS (né SKY) the Dogma has undergone multiple revisions and re-imaginings : 60.1 65.1 F8 F10 F12 and now the new F.

Assos are a cycling apparel brand synonymous with quality and performance and are famed particularly for their shorts. Based in Switzerland on the border with Italy, Assos have been at the forefront of cycling clothing since the introduction in 1976, of their then revolutionary lycra cycling short.

Sigh. Here we go again. Another year, another Covid. I’ll be honest (standard) 2020 was a mixed bag for me, both personally and from a business point of view. I have found it quite difficult to resolve as a year.

John and Joanne ride a fair amount. Joanne in particular is a racer at heart and dedicated cyclist, at the time she visited us she was still pushing a 53 x 25. Strong.

Earlier this year, before Covid went full force, they visited us for a bike fit. The fit was to serve 2 purposes : to optimise their positions on existing rigs but also to build their forever bikes. The last bikes (potentially) they would need.

A great part of being stockists for Sarto is that we get clients from all over the country come to the store for a full Guru Bike Fit and a conversation around their dream bike.

Neill was one such case.