Rugby Stars choose their new bikes from Cycles UK Greenwich

England rugby Star Tom Rees and his Wasps teammate Joe Simpson visited our new store in Greenwich on Thursday 14^th May.

Wasps Rugby club are using a number of measures, including the Cycle to Work scheme, to promote cycling among their team and staff. They have recognised that cycling is not only a great way to keep fit but also a great way to reduce the clubs carbon footprint.

Both Tom and Joe chose Marin Urban bikes which are specifically designed to withstand the stresses and strains of city commuting. Tom Rees said that “living close to the training ground is a great incentive for me to leave the car at home and get on my bike every day’’. He added that “Training and playing rugby at Premiership and International level can take its toll on the body. Being able to warm up and cool down on my bike before and after each training session will be a great way to help me stay fit and mentally focussed’’

Wasps and England 7s Scrum-Half Joe Simpson shares his team mate’s thoughts and is also looking forward to introducing cycling into his daily routine.‘’Fighting through the traffic in my car everyday to get to training does become a little tiring to be honest’’ he said ‘’Being able to hop on my bike and to arrive at training refreshed and ready to go is a huge bonus for me. It’s a lot greener too’’

As with any piece of sporting equipment, fitting is of paramount importance when choosing a bike. We put both Tom and Joe through the Specialized Body Geometry Fitting process examining their physiology and measuring how they sit on the bike so that we could help them choose the correct cycle and then adjust it so that it fits perfectly.

The Marin bikes were personally fitted to each of the two players by the Cycles UK Greenwich shop manager, Brent Smith.‘’Making sure that the bike fits perfectly is an important part of ensuring trouble free ownership and a pleasant riding experience’’ says Brent ‘’As professional sportsmen, Tom and Joe are looking to ensure they stay as healthy and as injury free as possible. Making sure their bike fits them correctly is an essential part of this and we strongly recommend it to all our customers’’.

Bike Belles Review our Shop

We are very pleased to have received a positive review from the Bike Belles website for our new store in Greenwich.

As a company we have recognised that there are increasing numbers of female cyclists and would be cyclists but that male dominated bike shops are not always very female friendly. In an attempt to try and overcome this in our stores we have consulted female cyclists and non-cyclists about what they would like to see. One of the measures we have introduced at our new Greenwich shop, along with our stores at Norwich and Basildon, is a large dedicated women's cycling area with ladies bikes, clothing, and accessories all grouped to together.

Bike Belles has been set up by Sustrans who are responsbile for the award-winning National Cycle Network, and for community based projects working with kids, schools, people at home and at work, and with entire streets helping regular people like you to walk, cycle and use public transport more.

Their aim with Bike Belles is to overcome so fairly stark statistics. That men are three times as likely to cycle as women. And three quarters of women never ride a bike at all. Their mission is to change this by “making it easier for women to get in the saddle or get back into the bike habit so we too can enjoy all the benefits that travelling actively brings”.