Winter Bike Check

Winter is the time of year that your bike gets most hammer and we know that brakes wear out quickly, worn tyre tread can make your bike difficult to handle and potentially dangerous on wet and icy roads but we can help. Our Tune Up Service is a valuable short service that will identify any issues with your bike that might make it not as good or safe to ride in winter.

Most new bikes come with disc brakes and these can be difficult to check for wear, you really don’t want your brakes wearing out at the best of times but in winter it’s even more important.

If you’ve been riding your bike all year when did you last check your tyre tread, its not as easy to gauge how worn a tyre is and if it is doing the most it can to keep you on the road, our experienced professional bike mechanics will help and give you honest unbiased advice. If your tyres need replacing we aren’t tied to a particular brand or trying to shift something we have lots of stock of, we will advise you of what tyres are most suitable for your type of riding and if you’ve never changed the tyres on your bike can give you guidance about tyre size, tread type and brand to help you decide what you want from your tyres.

Our Tune Up Service is about making sure you get the most out of your bicycle and it is safe to ride in any conditions. We have professional experienced bike mechanics employed to offer you unbiased advice. Its not a lot to ask for the comfort of knowing your bike is safe and if maintenance is needed it can be done while it is in the workshop.

Buy your service online using the link below.

Tune Up Service

£25.00

Think Secure

We’ve tried very hard to provide a high security cycle hub but we all know and admit that nothing, nowhere is impregnable from those determined to get in. With the recent IT hacks of big name retailers to smaller scale break-ins at your local shop, or even your own home. If people think that it will be worth the effort they will do everything to get in.

In October we had our first unauthorised entry at the Sheffield City Centre Hub, the first involved getting into our shop and stealing two bicycles, the second the same person returned equipped and forced their way into the hub and stole one bicycle.

This is incredibly upsetting to us and the owners of the bikes, not least for the inconvenience but also the downright disrespect this person has for ours and your property.

It was good to hear though that working with Sheffield City Council’s City Centre Management Team and South Yorkshire Police using our CCTV footage the culprit was identified and subsequently arrested by Thames Valley Police, this guy gets around!

We’ve been installing more kit to make the building less attractive and more difficult to enter but we have to balance that with maintaining your 24/7 access. So we are ask you to help us help you and protect your property.

There are some things you can help us with:

• The bike that was stolen from the hub was locked up with, what we term, a Poundland lock, these are very easy to break and the thief looked for the bike that was most vulnerable. If you intend to lock your bike up in the hub use something decent, we recommend a Sold Secure Gold Rated D-lock, we have them in our shop if you need one, they aren’t as expensive as you think at £35.00 Kranx Citadel Lock

• Make sure the doors are closed behind you and are secure before walking away, a little thing but the person who burgled our shop stepped into the hub as someone left.

• If you see anyone lingering outside then report it to our fault reporting service and we will get onto it: Fault Report

• If you find anything suspicious, the doors don’t lock, there is something broken or there is someone in the hub you think is acting suspiciously then report to us, we can do something about it. Fault Report

Kranx Citadel U-Lock Gold Rated

£35.00

Abus Ultimate 420K Mini Gold Rated

£50.00

When locking your bike make sure the frame is locked to the stand not just the wheel. Just like the images below.

View fullsize

View fullsize

Using the upper deck of the two-tier racks is actually more secure than the lower tier, thieves tend not to like to look up and be obvious, it also can take some of them a while to figure out how the stands work.

Please help us to make these facilities more secure, we can’t afford to have the place manned 24/7. Tell your friends & colleagues about the location too, the more people that are using the hub the less attractive it is for would-be thieves.

Merry Christmas

As everyone knows, that although Santa uses his Reindeer and Sleigh on Christmas Eve to deliver all the presents across the world at speeds unimaginable he knows all too well that he needs to keep his very special reindeer in tip top condition before the big event and rested but he still has lots to do collecting and delivering things that help him create all those presents so we’ve been helping him manage those deliveries and he was here today admiring the twinkling lights we have fitted to our cargo bike.

If you see Santa riding around Sheffield busily collecting parcels and presents then wave him down and he might just give you a treat.

#SheffieldSanta

Santa inspects our Cargo Bike Christmas Lights

If you or your business need deliveries before, after or even during the Christmas holidays we can help just like we are helping Santa and many other clients like Zeds Wholefoods get their important deliveries to the people of Sheffield. Deliveries by Russell’s Bicycle Shed

Get Running

We know it's the trendy thing to do right now, running groups are popping up all over the place.

Russell used to run a lot and did the Sheffield Half Marathon in 2010 and 2011 but a foot injury slowed him down until now, he is back into runninng and this year he has already done the Sheffield Half Marathon, the Eyam Half Marathon and the Round Sheffield Run so what better way to get the training in than to have a regular running group from our City Centre Shop.

Our runs are a bit different, they are never the same, they have stories attached and they follow routes that you may never have known existed. It's pretty random but always good fun. So get your running shoes on and join us in discovering your city.

We’ve already done 17 runs all very different some that cross the ring road, some that don’t and others that follow it.

Permanent Bike Jumble

We love a bike jumble, most cyclists do and if you’ve ever ventured into one of these surreal gatherings you’ll understand why. They can be a tinderbox of highly flammable ultra bright cycling gear laid out next to chromed dynamo lights and 1990’s Shimano groupsets. They are great fun and if you have an old bike that needs some parts or wants some upgrades they are a great place to find affordable stuff as people clear out their garages and sheds of all the parts they’ve accumulated by upgrading their own bikes.

Our Neepsend shop is somewhat of a bike jumble, a permanent one, always in town like the circus that never leaves. We have boxes and boxes of parts from front derailleurs to seat posts and bottle cages there is a wealth of used, part worn and secondhand stuff in our little aladdins cave of all things bicycle.

We’ve been offering these boxes for you to rummage in since 2016 and they have been welcomed by many as a source of parts to build their next pub bike or replace a broken part cheaply and effectively.

Our range of part worn tyres for only £5 each have help many on low incomes keep bicycles going.

We don’t just offer these parts as a gimmick our my dad helped build boxes from scratch to hold handle bars and forks, we’ve collected parts from everywhere to enable more people to access cycling and, most importantly, keep cycling it’s the fundamental reason we exist as a business.

Businesses can do so much good for communities and we’ve been helping the Sheffield bike community for nearly 10 years keep cycling cost efficient, environmentally responsible while giving people jobs and training. Support local businesses that work hard to support you.

Before, During and most definitely After

Remember this:

Before Ofo turned up in Sheffield Russell's Bicycle Shed had been hiring bicycles from their Sheffield Station shop for several years. Hybrid and city bikes with 24 gears, some with hydraulic brakes and personal service.

During the brief period that Ofo came to Sheffield with its bike sharing scheme we continued to offer better bikes, longer more affordable hire periods and that personal service.

After Ofo closed and left Sheffield leaving bikes in the rivers and canal we were still here offering bike hire and we still are here offering bike hire. We are a local business supporting tourism, supporting people who want to ride bicycles as transport, you can even use one of our bicycles while yours is being repaired, free to Club Members but for a small charge if you are not.

Our bike hire will be here for as long as we are. Because we believe it matters.

An Ode to the Humble Mudguard

O valiant shield of wheel and frame,

You bear the brunt of nature’s game.

When skies weep down their sodden tears,

You stand between my shorts and smears.

No splash of grit, no stripe of grime,

Shall mark my back in rain-soaked time.

You whisper not, you boast no flair,

Yet keep my dignity threadbare.

Through puddled lanes and woodland trails,

Where muck and mulch compose their tales,

You guard my gears, my chain, my soul—

A silent knight with noble role.

Though racers scoff and strip you bare,

Preferring speed to self-care’s flair,

I hail your curve, your steadfast grace,

Your quiet pride in saving face.

So here’s to you, dear plastic arc,

Or metal fender, sleek and stark.

You are the cape my bike would wear,

If steeds of steel could show they care.

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Our shops have stocked up on mudguards, because no matter how long the dry weather lasts you live in Britain and with that comes the heavy burden of cycling in the rain. Don’t get wet, get mudguards!

Have you seen the signs?

As we are writing this around the city things are happening, it’s been nearly a year since our Cycle Hub in the city centre opened and although we’ve been managing it for Sheffield City Council there has been very little to suggest we are here. But things are changing and we are now becoming a little more visible.

Not only are we affixing stickers to just about every bicycle stand in the city advertising our facility but there are now official blue highway signs going up. They’re not that obvious at the moment as there is only 2 but they do point in the right direction but this may also confuse a little because one is located outside Yates pointing down Cambridge Street a road that we would all believe to be one way but surprisingly that has changed and now cycles can legally ride down Cambridge Street and along Cross Burgess Street to the Peace Gardens, Although it’s not perfect, the parked cars on each side of Cambridge Street don’t really make it wide enough for cars and bikes. So maybe the Council need to forego a small amount of revenue from the parking spaces to make the road safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers alike.