Our very exciting news for Kendal

"It has been a long thinking process. I can't say dream, because what we are doing is slightly unusual. " - Paul

The next logical step to grow our little company, that serves the most dedicated of cyclists, was to open a shop, and that's what we are doing... Kind of.

We were approached by Lakes Cycles, a new cycle shop opening in Kendal this summer, to help with running their workshop. Some of you will not know, but we have offered this service to local customers in the Kendal area for 2-3 years now. The conversation didn't end there, and as we swapped ideas, and discussed the high street trends and the internet boom, we have developed something that we think the cyclists in the Lake District are going to find really useful. 

So, this blog is our first announcement, I guess, that this summer when the Lakes Cycles store opens, that Mapdec Cycle Works is going to open a workshop inside the store, and a little later on, a fitness studio. We have even had our logo tweaked, what do you think? 

Now this is not just a workshop.. We have been inspired by the ideas of places like the Glasgow Bike Station and the London Bike Kitchen, who have been bold enough to open their workshop to everyone. We plan to host open days when you can rent a workstand, and work on your own bike. Saving you the mess, and the expense of owning specialist tools. We will run classes ranging from roadside fixes to building your own bike. Of course, we will offer all the usual service options as well, if that's what you prefer.

We picture days when you can pedal down to the shop, rent a stand for an hour and fit those upgrades, or true up your wheel. There is a lot of satisfaction in keeping your bike running smooth and true. For now we are still building, and it currently looks a little like this, so much more to tell you in good time. 

The Fitness Studio will be opening a little later, September, if all goes to plan. It is not a spin studio, or a gym. It is both, and something quite different. It will be a Bring Your Own Bike concept, and will feature the latest state of the art Turbo Trainer, Power Meter and ANT+ technologies to provide data rich, exciting workouts that will improve your fitness, and technique. We will blog about this lots as we build it. For now the closest thing we have found to our project is a cool place in New Zealand called V Bike. 

There is still a lot of building to be done, but today it looks like this: 

We can't wait to tell you more, as we are getting really quite excited now. Check out the Lakes Cycles Facebook for updates on what they are doing, and follow their progress as they launch a cool retail shop focused on riders that take on the Lake District trails and roads.