BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Despite threats to its existence, including government cuts to its funding, the nationwide ‘get bums on saddles’ Bike Week event was bigger than ever in 2011.
This year a whopping 421,909 people took part across 1,918 Team Green Britain Bike Week events. Those totals are set to rise still further – Bike Week officially took place from June 18th to 26th, but many activities under the banner are still being wrapped up.
Industry levy Bike Hub stepped in to help safeguard the increasingly popular event with a £65,000 contribution following the Governments decision to cull its contribution.
Scottish designers Colin and Justin were among the celebrities successfully encouraging more people to take part.
The design duo – Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan – gave their bikes makeovers ahead of Team Green Britain Bike Week to encourage Scots to participate.
According to research, a quarter of Scots have unused bikes in garages and sheds in need of minor repairs – including gear tuning, brake adjustments and fixing punctures.
The duo said they were proud to get behind Team Green Britain Bike Week.
“We live between Canada and Scotland and love how our homeland is finally catching up with our North American cousins regarding cycling.
“In Toronto, cycling is easy thanks to bike lanes, picturesque cycle paths and a relaxed attitude from other road users and we’re finding more and more dedicated lanes here, and more cyclists on the road, than ever before.”
Bike Week stalwart CTC’s York Cycle Show saw around 10,000 cyclists attend. The show, which has been running since 1945, saw Paralympic Gold Medal cyclist David Stone attend while cyclists had chance to take part in rides and the traditional Grand Cycle Parade through York from the Minster, plus a number of other family-friendly activities.
The week also saw bike auction site Going Going Bike team up with East London social enterprise Bikeworks. Customers were encouraged to sell their old bikes via the site and buy a new one, with Bikeworks pledging to make an offer on any bikes not sold by a certain date.
This year independent bicycle retailers had the opportunity to take a closer role in a Bike Week Retail Partner promotion, voted for by dealers through an ACT poll.
