Grandad's bike shop
Tel: 07703 915638
Bicycles, components, repairs and service at fixed prices for different jobs.
- Service: £20.00
- Short service: £10.00
- Brake cabling: £7.00
- Puncture £8.00
- Gear reset: £5.00
- Crank bearing: £15.00
- Tyres from: £10.00
The Grandad who runs this cycle store has grown up children. He sees his mission now as looking after other people's kids by supplying them with bicycles. With 38 language schools and two universities in the city there are plenty of young adults in need of cheap transport. Saver Returns on the buses (and the cost of transport generally in the UK) can be a little hard on the pocket. The Lewes and London Road corridors and Brighton & Hove Sea Front are not as hilly as many other parts of the city. The Council has also established a fairly extensive network of cycle lanes, even though the majority are not as inviting as the tailor-made lanes you find in Belgium and Holland.
Given the danger of cycle lanes which are shared with or directly adjacent to routes used by heavy traffic or walkers, Grandad provides an important service by keeping the bicycles in good order. Repair and servicing is an important part of this stall's business.
Word has got round student circles of this useful service, so Grandad's dare not advertise. The stall started with one unit and has already expanded to three units and could do with even more accommodation.
A 'cheap and cheerful bicycle', the Mary Poppins suitable for ladies (e.g. nurses), costs £50-£55. At the top of the range are traded in mountain bikes (originally costing £800), which will be refitted by Grandad's and sold on for £200.
Grandad is 62 now, but cannot retire because his stall is too busy to let him. More and more new bicycle shops have been opening up in the city, which will swipe credit cards, but not offer much in the way of repairs or servicing. Grandad, who trained as a cycle engineer in the Midlands, has skills which are much in demand in Brighton.