Well where to start?

The Hub Cycles is the small humble project by myself, Matthew Butt. Also known as smallbrownbike on the (in)famous LFGSS forums.
I have been fixing bikes for just over 6 years professionally. Originally starting out at FutureCycles in East Sussex as a saturday boy, i eventually became the only full time mechanic there for a few years. This was a great experience for myself as the shop not only deals with the average mountain bikes and hybrids, but is also one of the only places in the UK that imports recumbent cycles. This gave me a very open minded view on cycles and their usages. The quirkier the better in my eyes. If you are ever in Sussex, i recommend you visit Ian Crowders shop in the small village of Forest Row. If it wasn't for Ian's generosity, i wouldn't be where i am today.

My cycling history goes back even further than working at Future cycles. I will admit it, i am a bmxer at heart, I have never really been interested in mountain biking. I would far rather be down the dirt jumps on a lazy summers evening than on some hillside somewhere in the cold and wet! BMX has a very different mind set to other types of cycling, it taught me to do things for myself. Rarely relying on shop to fix my bikes, everything was learnt by trial and error. If we broke something we would do our best and cheapest to bodge it back together (which happened a fair amount).
Eventually i started to feel a little too old for a 20" bmx, i got hold of an old 10speed Peugeot. This would be my hack bike for a few years, riding everywhere on it. I would tweak and customize it to suit my needs. The lovely burgundy touriste eventually became a fully spec 'd deore/xt touring bike and was my proud possession on quite a few solo tours, taking me across England and into the deepest parts of France to name a few.

Eventually i wanted to go back to a simpler machine, much like my bmx's of old. This is when i started to get interested in "fixies". It seemed such an amazing way of riding a bike. I know it has been said so many times before, but they really are an extension to your body, nothing quite beats that in my eyes. Learning about track bikes of old from customers i started to get more and more interested in it.

Fast forward a few years and i find myself in London, as of February 2008. I couldn't believe how strong of a fixed scene there is here. I really did feel right at home, everything just fell into place. As i started to meet more and more people i had the idea of setting up an open toolbox morning, which really took off well. Not only did it allow for people to come in and fix their bikes for free, with my guidance and knowledge. But it also worked in my favor, it allowed for me to meet even more people and put quite a few faces to names.
I could feel a good buzz about it, people were starting to say i should set up my own mechanic service and that is where The Hub comes from. Through word of mouth from the generous people of LFGSS things have started to speed up a fair amount.
When i am not working in my own workshop, i work at Bikefix in Holborn. I feel right at home there, much the same vibe as Futurecycles and a similar product base. Sturdy utility bikes and recumbent's rather than flashy road and mountain bikes.

Apart from bikes and mechanics, i am also heavily into music production. which hopefully i will continue with again one day when i find the time and the contacts, but right now it is all about the bike scene in London.

If you have got this far, thanks for reading! I am sure i will keep updating this as things come along.

Thanks
-Matt