Bronze£45
- Brakes adjusted, gears indexed
- Headset, wheels and bottom bracket checked for play
- Tyres to pressure, chain wear measured
- Every bolt torqued
- A sheet of what we found and what is next
- Workshop
- Hire
- Bike fit
- E-bikes
Fixed prices. The next free slot. A text when it is done.
An independent bike shop and workshop on Cowbridge Road East since 2011, two hundred metres from the Taff Trail. Three service levels on the wall at £45, £85 and £150, labour only, parts quoted before they go on; punctures while you wait; a hire fleet in every size; e-bikes you can try for a week; and children's bikes with half the price back when they grow.
Closed for today; the workshop opens at 8:30am tomorrow, drop-off from 8
- 2,400bikes through the workshop a year, each with a sheet
- £45a safety check and tune, labour only, back the same day
- £12a puncture while you wait, tube included, no booking
Next free workshop slot
Friday, 23 October
Drop the bike from 8am; Bronze and Silver back the same day. Worked out from the diary and the clock, the same as the board in the shop.
- Bronze £45
- Silver £85
- Gold £150
Fixed prices, written downThree service levels at £45, £85 and £150, labour only, on the wall and on this website. Parts are quoted by phone before they go on; if the bike is not worth it we say so and charge nothing for the look.
Next free slot, on the boardThe workshop board says when the next free slot is, and this website says the same thing. Book it, drop the bike from 8am, and we text when it is ready. Punctures while you wait, any time.
Every size, to tryA hire fleet from a sixteen-inch child's bike to a cargo bike, and e-bikes you can take for a week before deciding. We measure you first; a bike in the wrong size is the commonest thing we see.
Cycle to Work, every schemeCyclescheme, Bike2Work, Green Commute, Cycle Solutions, Halfords, the NHS schemes and the employers who run their own. We have done the paperwork for all of them and do it in a day.
The workshop
Three levels, on the wall and on here.
Silver£85
- Everything in Bronze
- Drivetrain off, degreased, cleaned, refitted
- Cables and outers inspected; replaced where frayed
- Wheels trued; hubs and bottom bracket adjusted
- Brakes bled or pads replaced if needed, quoted first
Gold£150
- Everything in Silver
- Every bearing out, cleaned, greased or replaced
- New cables and outers throughout
- Frame and components cleaned
- Set up as it left the factory, with a sheet
Labour only. Any part the bike needs is quoted by phone before it is fitted, including the £4 cable. If the bike is not worth it we say so and charge nothing for the look.
The shop
Six things we do, each with its own page.
01
Workshop and servicing
Three mechanics, four stands and a wheel-building bench, open six days with drop-off from 8am. A safety check and tune at £45, a full service at £85, a strip and rebuild at £150, all labour-only with parts quoted before they are fitted. The board says the next free slot; the website says the same. We text when it is ready.
Bronze £45, Silver £85, Gold £150, labour only.
02
Bike fit
Two hours with Sioned on the fit jig and then on your own bike: your flexibility and history, the measurements, saddle height and setback, reach and bar height, cleat position, and a sheet with every number. £120, credited against a bike over £1,000 bought here. Most of the people who book have a sore knee, a numb hand or a long ride coming.
£120 for two hours, including the sheet of measurements; credited in full against a bike over £1,000 bought here within three months.
03
Hire
Twenty-six bikes in every size from a sixteen-inch child's bike to a cargo bike that takes two children and the shopping: hybrids £25 a day, e-bikes £45, road bikes £40, children's £12, the cargo bike £55, and a week for the price of five days. Helmet, lock and lights included; the Taff Trail starts two hundred metres away. The hire page works out the price.
Hybrid £25, road £40, e-bike £45, child's £12, cargo £55, a day.
04
E-bikes
Electric bikes from the four motor systems we are certified to service (Bosch, Shimano, Bafang, Fazua), from a step-through for the shops to a cargo bike for the school run. Take one for a week at £150, credited in full if you buy it. Every e-bike we sell comes with a free first service at six weeks and the diagnostic kit for the life of the motor.
E-bikes from £1,650 to £5,200.
05
Cycle to Work
Cycle to Work lets you pay for a bike and kit through your salary before tax, which on a £1,200 bike means about £800 out of your pay for a basic-rate taxpayer and about £700 for a higher-rate one. We take every scheme (Cyclescheme, Bike2Work, Green Commute, Cycle Solutions, Halfords, the NHS and the employers who run their own), quote the day you ask, and have the bike ready the day the voucher arrives.
No cost from us.
06
Children and family
Children's bikes from a balance bike to a twenty-six-inch, sized by inside leg rather than age because children are not an age, and with half the price back against the next size when they grow out of it. Light frames that a child can lift, brakes a small hand can pull, and a free check every six months. Child seats, trailers and tag-alongs for the family that rides together.
Balance bikes from £85, pedal bikes from £195 to £520.
Hire
Twenty-six bikes, every size, the Taff Trail two hundred metres away.
Hybrids £25 a day, e-bikes £45, road bikes £40, children's £12, the cargo bike £55, and a week for the price of five days. Sized to you before you leave; helmet, lock, lights, pump and a map with the cafés on it included; a £100 deposit held on a card and not taken.
- Castell Coch and back: an hour each way, flat, on a hybrid
- Child seats and tag-alongs free with an adult bike
- The hire page works out the price for the bike and the days
Bike fit
Two hours, one set of numbers, and the knee stops hurting.
Bike fit
Two hours with Sioned£120
Credited in full against a bike over £1,000 bought within three months. A free follow-up.
E-bike trial
A week on the bike£150
Charger and lock included. Credited in full if you buy any e-bike within a month.
Hybrid hire
A day; a week for five£25
Helmet, lock, lights, pump and the map. £100 deposit held, not taken.
How we work
Four things that are true of every bike that comes in.
We tell you when not to spend
A twelve-year-old bike with a seized bottom bracket and a bent wheel is not worth £150, and we say so. About one bike in ten that comes in leaves with advice instead of a bill.
Labour on the wall, parts quoted first
Service prices are fixed and labour-only. Anything the bike needs beyond that is a phone call with a price before it is fitted, every time, including the £4 cable.
A sheet with every bike
Each service comes back with a written sheet: what was done, what was measured (chain wear, pad life, bearing play), what will need doing next and roughly when. Keep it; it makes the next service cheaper.
Children's bikes, half back
Buy a child's bike here and when they grow out of it, bring it back: half the price you paid comes off the next size, if it has been looked after. The old one is serviced and sold on at a price a family can afford.
- 2,400bikes through the workshop a year, every one with a written sheet
- 3service levels at fixed prices, parts quoted before they are fitted
- 14years on Cowbridge Road East, two hundred metres from the Taff Trail
- 4.9average rating
Children
Sized by inside leg, not the age on the box, and half back when they grow.
A child should stand over the frame with both feet flat and reach the brakes with the first joint of the finger, so we measure the leg and the hand with a tape and ignore the box. Light frames a child can lift. When it is outgrown, bring it back: half the price comes off the next size, and the old one goes on the second-hand rack for another family at a price they can afford.
The half-back schemeCustomers
What people say.
Dropped the bike at eight, text at two saying it was done, £85 and a sheet that told me the chain had a thousand miles left in it. They rang about the brake pads before fitting them, which nobody else has ever done.
A sore knee for two years that three physios had looked at. Sioned moved the saddle eleven millimetres and the cleats a few degrees and it has not hurt since. Two hours, £120, and the numbers on a sheet I used on the turbo the same night.
Four bikes and a tag-along, all measured to us before we left, a map with the cafés on it, and the Taff Trail to Castell Coch and back with a seven-year-old. The children's bikes were lighter than the ones we own. We bought one on the way home.
Questions people ask at the counter
How soon can you look at my bike?
The board in the shop and the workshop page here say the next free slot, usually two working days. Book it, drop the bike from 8am, and we text when it is ready. Punctures are while you wait, any time the workshop is open, no booking.
What does a service cost?
Three fixed levels, labour only: Bronze £45 (safety check and tune), Silver £85 (full service), Gold £150 (strip and rebuild). Any part the bike needs beyond that is quoted by phone before it is fitted. If it is not worth doing we say so and charge nothing.
Can I try an e-bike before buying?
Yes: a week on one for £150, with the charger and a lock, credited in full against any e-bike bought within a month. Ride your real commute, your real hill, your real shopping.
How does hire work?
Hybrids £25 a day, e-bikes £45, road £40, children's £12, the cargo bike £55; a week for the price of five days. We size you before you leave; helmet, lock, lights, pump and a map are included; a £100 deposit is held on a card and not taken. The hire page works out the price.
Do you do Cycle to Work?
Every scheme, with a quote the day you ask and the bike held while the voucher comes. The Cycle to Work page has a worked example: a £1,200 bike costs a basic-rate taxpayer about £68 a month for a year.
Will you buy back my child's bike?
If you bought it here: half the price you paid comes off the next size when it is outgrown, provided it has been looked after (the free six-month check helps). The old one is serviced and goes on the second-hand rack for another family.
Book the workshop. Fixed prices, the next free slot, a text when it is done.
Three service levels at £45, £85 and £150, labour only, with parts quoted before they are fitted. Book the slot here or by phone, drop the bike from 8am, collect the same day for Bronze and Silver. Punctures while you wait, any time.