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Shipping

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UK delivery

If your item is in stock and ordered before 12pm, we will do our best to despatch your order the day you place it. In busy times we tell you how long it will take us to process it.

The above does not apply to bikes, which we have to assemble and inspect before repacking for dispatch. Typically we try to have bike orders dispatched within 3-5 days, but in busier times it may take longer. In those cases we'll let you know of longer than expected delivery times.

Please bear in mind that we are closed on Wednesdays, so no items will be dispatched then.

Free postage over £40

For small items we use Royal Mail's 48 service which has a delivery time of typically 2-3 days from dispatch; though you do have the option to upgrade to 24 which is generally next-day from dispatch if you require your order sooner. Please note in some cases the item will need to be signed for, so please provide an address where someone will be in.

Orders of over £40 will qualify for free standard postage with Royal Mail 48. This may exclude certain bulky or awkward items which will be calculated automatically at the basket screen.

Bike shipping

When we send out a larger parcel such as a bike or trailer we use a next-day courier - usually either DPD or Parcelforce.

For these reasons please supply us with a delivery address where there will be someone in to sign for your parcel. If there is nobody in when the couriers call, they will leave a card. You can then phone them to arrange delivery for another day or collect your goods from your local depot (a photo ID with proof of address will be required).

How will my bike be delivered?

We fully assemble, safety check and inspect every bike as though you were going to ride it away from our showroom.

However, to get it back into a box suitable for a courier to handle, we have to remove the pedals, handlebar and usually the front wheel - so some minor reassembly is required when the bike is delivered to you.

Please bear in mind that you might need a 15mm spanner for the pedals (adult's bikes generally do not come with pedals included, so you may not need to worry about this), and 4mm, 5mm and 6mm allen/hex keys for the reassembly.

Outside the UK

Since Brexit it is no longer feasible for our website to have permanent shipping prices for international delivery. Instead, if there is an item you are interested in, please Contact Us with a full delivery address and we will quote for delivery.

All the prices on our website and catalogue are in pounds sterling and are inclusive of VAT, but VAT will be removed for international orders. Please bear in mind that you will likely have to pay your country's taxes, import duties and associated courier handling fees for any items.

Cycle to Work

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The Cycle to Work scheme is a government scheme designed to provide a more affordable way for you to purchase a new bike & equipment for cycling to work.

Depending on your tax bracket and the scheme provider used, you can save 25%-47% on the price of a new bike and accessories as well as spreading the cost over a period of 6-48 months without paying any interest.

The bike purchased on the scheme can be any kind of bike - hybrid bike, road bike, mountain bike, electric bike, cargo bike - as long as the primary user of the bike is the person who took out the scheme. So... no children's bikes, sorry.

It sounds too good to be true, but rest assured it really is that much of a no-brainer.

More Info

Click & Collect

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We've all got busy lives, and sometimes it's easier just to browse online at home rather than having to come out to our shop. Our click & collect service is free and easy to use - simply:

  1. Browse the site and add the items you'd like to collect to your basket.
  2. Head to the checkout and select Collect in Store as your delivery region under the Delivery Region/Country header.
  3. Proceed through the online checkout and pay for your items as usual.
  4. We'll be in touch as soon as your order is ready to collect! In cases where an item is out of stock or might take a while to arrive we'll let you know. Payment is not actually processed against your card until we've accepted the order.
  5. Come to the store and collect your items whenever is convenient. Please bring valid photo ID just in case!

Will buying a power meter make you faster? Perhaps...



Whether you should buy a power meter or not depends on a variety of things. I've been riding with power for the last two years and now I couldn't imagine riding without it. In fact, the last time I had some issues with my power meter and couldn't use it I ended up not being able to motivate myself to ride at all. Is that a healthy, productive and functional mindset? Probably not. But that's just me. In this post I'll try to help you decide whether you need one.

Time is money

Or so they say. Power meters are expensive. Do you have the time to analyse your data? You can easily spend several hours a week poring over your power data. There are more charts and graphs on TrainingPeaks than there are in the rest of the world combined* and each of them is worth looking at and getting to know. Personally I enjoy analysing data, but it's definitely not for everyone.

*Possible exaggeration

It's not just analysis either. Planning sessions in advance is a must if you're going to make the investment worth your while. But what sessions should you do? Again, this is something you need to read into and learn about. Books like Training and Racing with a Power Meter by Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan are useful resources that are well worth reading; but once more it takes a lot of time. If you aren't prepared to invest the time then training with a power meter probably isn't going to be for you. The alternative of course is that you push additional financial resources into getting a coach to do all the planning and analysis for you. Coaching would be the most effective way to get fitter and faster, but it doesn't come cheap.

Do you have specific objectives in mind?

If you don't have anything to target then there's not really much point at all in a power meter. However, if you are racing or doing a specific event then it makes perfect sense to have one. Training for time trials or an ironman? Power will help you optimize your pacing on race day. Training for criteriums or road races? The only way you can really mimic the pattern and effort required of those races in your training is with a power meter. So if you're racing on a regular basis then I'd say a power meter is probably the most essential piece of kit you can buy.

Isn't training with a heart rate monitor the same anyway?

No. Heart rate is a measurement of your body's response to your effort. Power gives you an immediate reading of your output. It is based on the force and velocity (cadence) you put through the cranks and that equation always remains the same. Heart rate is unreliable and can vary with a number of factors. One day you might be putting out the same amount of power as your previous session but your heart rate will be 10 beats per minute higher because you've had a strong coffee an hour before; or you went to bed at a different time; or you're more/less fatigued than before. Heart rate is an input and only really becomes useful when measured against an output such as power.

Moving forward

So is a power meter for you? If you're racing then it definitely is. If you don't have the time to analyze data then consider looking for a coach to do it for you. If you're just aiming to get stronger then yes it's worth it, but be prepared to spend a lot of time reading and getting to learn what all the figures mean. Know your intensity factor from your efficiency factor and your normalized power from your average power.

However, if you just want a power meter to get some extra numbers so you can say 'woah! I just did 200 watts for 10 minutes' it's probably not worth the outlay.

Tuesday 22 March 2016 Filed in: General

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