Forever Pedalling takes it up a gear with relocation

Forever Pedalling, an independent cycling business located on Old Market Street, caters to the enthusiastic cycling community of Bristol. As well as functioning as a cycling shop, the business also organises 40km rides every Saturday and rides of 100km four times a year. But after two-and-a-half-years in its current location, Tim Wilkey, the shop’s owner, has bigger plans for his business and is now looking to expand it in order to meet the huge demand from Bristol’s cycling community.

After growing up locally, Tim worked in and around cycling shops for many years in both Bath and Bristol before establishing his own business in its current incarnation in August 2016. Since then he has seen the need grow for a more central hub for cyclists in Bristol, especially after the closure of popular community bike cafe Roll for the Soul on Nelson Street at the end of 2017.

The shop sells cycling gear but is also a social hub for cyclists, organising rides and bringing people together

Tim and two friends from the cycling community have since formed a partnership and are now renovating a new space on Russell Town Avenue in Redfield, which they hope to move their businesses to. The 2,000 square ft warehouse, formerly a wood workshop, will host three business: Tim’s Forever Pedalling, Rob Nicholas’ custom bike painting business Colourburn Studio and Andy Matthew’s new Camber Cycling Cafe.

The trio hope that this new space will help to centralise and promote Bristol’s cycling community, under the new name Business as Usual. For Tim, the idea to move in with his buddies was an obvious one. “I build a lot of bikes for people which are then painted by Rob at his studio, so it made sense to bring our two businesses together. It was something we’d been trying to do since 2016 when we both got set up,” he says.

Friends Tim Wilkes, Rob Nicholas and Andy Matthew are creating a hub for cycling in a warehouse in Redfield

Hoping to move into the new premises by November 2018, Tim also sees the new space as an opportunity for expansion and convenience for the business’ weekly bike rides: “Now all the rides tend to start and finish at a cafe in town, so it would be far easier to start and finish at the new location where the new cafe will be, as well as the studio and my new workshop.”

When asked if, given the growing number of cyclists across Bristol, the city’s infrastructure has sufficiently adapted to match the demand, Tim said: “The infrastructure really isn’t good enough at the moment. The cycle lanes cross too much with pedestrian areas and that doesn’t make it easy for either party.”

In regards to Bristol’s lauded 75-mile segregated cycling network, Tim said that “it is good, but it’s not nearly linked up well enough for the city”. He went on to suggest a colour-coded cycling lane system similar to London, where all cycle lanes are painted blue, saying: “It would help new cyclists get around the city so much.”

The trio hope to move into their new premises by November 2018

Given its size, the new space also offers the opportunity for other cultural events to find a home. Tim hopes that as well as expanding the cycling business and its weekly rides, that there will be the opportunity to host film screenings, art exhibitions and yoga classes.

It’s an ambitious vision for three young businesses, but if Bristol’s appetite for cycling continues to grow as it has done, Tim, Rob and Andy could see themselves at the front of the pack when it comes to the two-wheeled revolution

To help their expansion, Business As Usual have set up a CrowdFunder page with a fundraising target of £10,000. They are also offering rewards for donations including limited edition t-shirts, custom paint jobs and a years free servicing for donors.

Read More: Bristol’s 75-mile segregated cycle network nears completion