About Us

In the Beginning

Once upon a time (1982 to be exact) there were three little boys who we shall call Tim, Tom and Paul, which happens to be their real names as well. Being keen cyclists they were on a ride with a few chums going from Land's End to John O'Groats (does anyone ever go the other way?). On such a long ride they had plenty of time to talk and think and moan about the quality of bike shops at that time, they either catered for road racers and wouldn't take anyone seriously unless they shaved their legs and could do a "10" in under 20 minutes (having now talked to people who shaved their legs in 1982 they say they weren't taken seriously either) or the shop sold kids bikes as a side line from lawnmowers. So our heroes decided in a fit of alcohol fuelled brilliance to set up their own bike shop to cater for the kind of people who were more inclined to shave their heads rather than their legs or who wanted to ride a bike as a serious transport alternative or just for fun. Now remember this was the early 1980's, Britain was in the grips of recession, the Evil Ice Queen had just been re-elected on the Falklands war ticket, the inner cities had seen rioting and things were looking grim all round.

 

Fortunately, London was run by Red Ken and his bunch of merry men (the GLC, ask your parents kids) and grants were available for people starting co-ops. Brixton had seen the worst of the rioting of 1981 and (especially Coldharbour Lane) was pretty run down, so it's fitting that it was here that our three friends decided to open shop. After much deliberation and beer they came up with the snappy name of Brixton Cycles for their venture. And so in January 1983 Brixton Cycles opened for business. As I mentioned before these were lean times and Coldharbour Lane could sometimes be an "interesting" place to be, so those first years were fairly lean for the lads, wages were low, but there were plenty of friends willing to lend a hand and an abundance of squats in Lambeth kept us housed and the shop in business. There was also a renewed interest in cycling brought about by a more green attitude to life (it was called ecology then but hey it's all good) and soon BC got a reputation for being an honest shop with an excellent workshop that would take on work that other bike shops wouldn't touch. A mobile repair service on large bike rides such as the London to Brighton furthered this reputation and soon Tom, Tim and Paul now joined by Nancy were looking after the needs of some of London's more esoteric cyclists.

Knobbly Revolution

The arrival of the mountain bike from California in the mid 80's gave the English bicycle trade an almighty kick up the arse (that's ass for our American readers). The old skool hated it - the tyres were too fat, it didn't have proper handlebars and they just didn't understand it - the media embraced it and Thatcher's children wanted them. A few forward-thinking shops welcomed them with open arms realising that although we don't have an abundance of mountains in this country the mountain bike made a fine urban vehicle or touring cycle for escaping our increasingly crowded roads. The new breed of cycle couriers in London adapted the Californian machines into urban assault vehicles, again loved by the media. Suddenly it was trendy to wear cycling clothes and the old skool shops had to get used to people buying Look tops to go to a rave in rather than a time trial (the M25 at 2.30 or A22 at 6.30 you took your pick). Meanwhile back in Coldharbour Lane, the shop, whilst not really flourishing, was ticking along very nicely. It employed at this time numerous local people  to try and satisfy demand for an increasingly large London cycling population.

The Next Generation

By the end of the 80's the strain of running a bike shop had taken it's toll on our eponymous heroes. Tim had left to pursue a career in journalism, Tom had gone to Nicaragua to work with Bikes Not Bombs and Nancy was about to move to Scotland to have a baby and set up New Cyclist magazine. This left Paul on his own with a staff of part timers more often than not working for bike parts rather than money and a co-op to run. Mog was working part time in the workshop and wanted to leave his other job as a cycle courier so joined as a full member.. Barnaby was going through the yellow pages looking for bike shops to work in and got as far as B! Lincoln was physically pulled of his bike to be offered a job and slowly BC got its next generation of workers. We cant remember quite what happened next but it was hard work.

In May 2001 Brixton Cycles re-located to a new shop right slap bang next to Stockwell Skatepark (Brixton Beach to the locals).

At the same time we took the opportunity to expand our range of skateboards and accessories. For a few years we had sold a limited range of longboards in an almost "under the counter" sort of way. This range has increased ten fold as new products have come on the market or become available in Britain for the first time. We also sell modern "short" boards, slalom boards, "old skool" boards, wheels, trucks and every thing else associated with skateboarding hardware, anyway don't come to us looking for baggy jeans and Slipknot hoodys! Our aim is to only sell high quality, proven products and give good customer service in the same vein as we have sold bicycles for the last twenty seven years. So call by and have a look, come ride the park and see the finest range of longboards in  London.

Stockwell Skatepark (Brixton Beach)

Built sometime in 1978 to no particular design! Hips, bumps, bowls, moguls perfect for longboards. Warning: this place gets real busy especially during school holidays. Mornings are best if you want a lot of room for that 57" board. stockwellskatepark.com for views of the park and plans for the future.

 

Today

There are thirteen of us at the moment, though numbers have fluctuated through the years. No original members are left, but Barnaby, Lincoln, and Mog are the longest survivors with over sixty years experience between them. Kath and Simon were the next generation, then Billy and John, Nidge, Tapan, Maggie, Jim and Sarah.