Customer Support

A simple message from us after all the recent reports about the collapse of the cycling industry. Covid, Br*x*t, the rise and fall of national and local government pro cycling policies, and many other factors mean everyone in the bike industry is struggling just now. We and other local bike shops were key workers and essential services during the lockdown years, fixing bikes every day for other essential workers like doctors and nurses and cleaners and teachers. But those years have now taken their toll on all of us.

We’ve made some changes at the station shop, and we’re now open again there on Mondays and Fridays, and at Neepsend from Wednesday to Sunday. And now the weather is worsening, we’re offering a quick tune up and check service at both our service centres for £20.00.

We give your bike a full safety check, tweak the brakes and gears so they work properly, and pump up the tyres. And if there’s anything seriously wrong, we’ll tell you. Keep your eye on the Better Points App too, as there’ll be a discount for anyone collecting points for making more trips without a car - please tell any friends or colleagues who are just starting cycling, as one of the main issues we see from enthusiastic new cyclists is that their bike is not set up properly, and often not safely either.

Most of us can see that cycling is the future of modern urban travel, but issues outside our control are currently conspiring against us. Cyclists commuting to and from the station have dropped massively, while security at the station means fewer bikes are being left at the hub, while others (and their locks) are abandoned by people who no longer cycle there.

The global industry is slow and bottom-line driven, whereas we are driven very simply by a desire to get (and keep) more people from all over Sheffield cycling.

We offer you support on that aim every day of the week, but at present we need your support back. Local businesses of all kinds need regular local customers to survive and be there for the future, there’s probably just one person behind it all trying to earn a crust.

So just now, that’s what we mean by customer support. Thanks to all of you who are joining us on our mission.

Fobbing Us Off

This story is originally from our monthly newsletter. If you want to keep up-to-date with what is happening at Russell’s Bicycle Shed sign up using the form on this page.

Our surveys over the last year show us in 1st place among city centre businesses for the word ‘fob’ appearing in customer conversations. We’ve had enough of the word, and luckily East Midlands Railways are now dealing with enquiries about the outdated, unsafe and insecure model of cycle parking at their customer service desk at Sheffield station. But do come in and talk to us about bikes instead, we’d be delighted.

So, why are fobs so out of date when it comes to any kind of public bicycle parking? After many years of talking to the police and large companies and local governments about what works, what’s safe, and what’s secure for contemporary cyclists, we have a pretty good idea of what needs consigning to the past.

Old fob, old bike, old technology

The modern cycling world includes a fast growing number of e-bikes for families, businesses and individuals worth several thousand pounds, all targeted by thieves, and all very useful for a hilly city. Once the market and the government get to grips with the popularity of e-bikes, they’ll also become much more affordable, and before very long, e-bikes will be the norm, and motorless bikes will be the exotic outliers.

Today’s world also includes a wider variety of people cycling, with many more families and people with disabilities making journeys on expensive cycles. Not catering for these people is foolish, and frankly, discriminatory.

E-trike on Ecclesall Road

So, what is a fob? It’s very much like the medieval technology of a metal key. It allows the person with that fob / key in their hand to access something, like a large parking space with dozens of e-bikes costing several thousands pounds. Like a metal key, a fob can be handed to someone else, or lost at the pub. And we’ve seen online noticeboards where fobs are freely exchanged and handed to someone else, so no-one knows who’s using it.

So a cycle hub accessed by a key, or a fob, will have unknown people entering at any time. Such a cycle hub is nether secure nor safe, for any of those users mentioned above. One of the important arguments against low security cycle parking is that people feel nervous about parking there, not just for their bike, but for their own personal safety too.

A modern, forward-looking high security cycle parking hub will have controlled access, so the hub manager and other users know that people using it are registered to do so. We do this via a phone app connected to your phone (and your phone only) and paid for via a bank mandate, and with working CCTV and secure doors. If you use our hubs, anyone else in there will be known to the system, to us, and can be monitored on CCTV.

So think about those 4,000 + fobs still circulating for the nine year old Sheffield station cycle hub, bought for £10 to use for evermore, or handed on to someone else when you move away. That £10 for life barely covers the cost of the fob and its first registration, it certainly doesn’t pay for hub upkeep, CCTV monitoring, removing abandoned bikes or fixing broken ‘security’ doors.

Old CycleBoost bike left, possibly abandoned, in the station hub

The last time the door at the station broke down, we asked and asked for it to be repaired by EMR, but while we and Sheffield waited, bikes were stolen, and unregistered people used the hub for all kinds of things. We reckon around 50 bikes have been stolen from the Sheffield station hub during periods when the doors have not been working properly.

Just last week, the door at our new Meadowhall Hub was vandalised, and because we manage the place, we sorted out the locking and security problem within a couple of days. No miscreants got in, and no bikes were stolen.

We’ve been asking EMR to let us take over full management of the station hub for many years, a solution many of their staff are keen to see as soon as possible. But the decision has not yet been made.

If you’d like a high security cycle parking facility at Sheffield station, where you and your bike are secure and you feel safe, you might like to let the current managers know your thoughts.

Delivery By Christmas? We Can Ride To Your Help!

Russell’s Bicycle Shed deliveries is offering help for fellow Sheffield business people struggling to get their Christmas deliveries out to the city.

Russell making a Christmas delivery

Delivery rider and business-owner Russell Cutts said: “It’s a hard enough time for local businesses just now, so as a Sheffield delivery company, we want to help this Christmas. With the disruption in the mail service this year, if businesses contact us soon we’ll do everything we can to get their Sheffield deliveries where they need to be by Christmas.”

Russell and team have been building their business over the last year, with clients including the NHS, Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, Sheffield Council, Citizens Advice Sheffield and Zed’s Wholefoods. Now they’re asking any local business with urgent deliveries to make to get in touch at: https://www.russellsbicycleshed.co.uk/deliveries .

Russell has even re-christened the e-cargo bike feels for the season. He said: “ Comet is the speedy urban cruiser, Dasher is the handsome blue carry-all and Blitzen is the big box on wheels that can carry up to 600 litres or 130 kg.”

He said for local Sheffield deliveries. the team will guarantee arrival by Christmas, but do get in touch soon.

Get Help after a Collision

For all the talk about the war on motorists this is definitely a time car owners and drivers need to pay. Not only is the onus on those with more power to take more responsibility the need for compensation when a car collides with a cyclist is ever more important as the value of bikes and the costs of repair increases along with the potential loss of earnings and health implications.

When you are the victim of a collision with a vehicle as a cyclist you sometimes feel there is no recourse, no one around to help with getting your valuable form of transport fixed quickly or help getting fixed yourself.

Well there is.

CAMS has been operating for a number of years and helps cyclist's who have been involved in collisions not only get their bikes fixed but also get the necessary help and compensation to get back on their bike. We've worked with CAMS on a number of occasions and can't fault their desire and passion to get you back on your bike.

CAMS will take care of everything for you from getting your bicycle fixed immediately or replaced, along with keeping in touch about your health and paying for lost earnings or private medical care. To do this CAMS claim off the drivers insurance and so long as you have a registration number of the car that caused the collision you can make a claim.

Want to know more about CAMS.

Our Ethos: Helping All Sheffielders to Start and Stay Cycling

Some of the more vocal critics of new cycling initiatives often suggest it’s only the professional classes of south western Shefield who are interested in ordinary day to day cycling nowadays. We disagree.

We think people from the north and east of the city see the benefits of cycling as much as anyone in the south west suburbs, maybe even more so now that finances are tight, and the costs and inconvenience of public transport and car travel are increasing.

Our business aim is to spread the cycling message across the whole city: Russell was born just around the corner from our Neepsend shop, and still lives in the north of Sheffield.

Russell at work at Sheffield Station

We fully support initiatives to improve road infrastructure for cyclists and walkers, but as a business we think we can also play our part in creating a sustainable cycling eco-system, for example by opening secure cycle hubs, and by offering cyclists with little interest in bike maintenance the confidence that they’ll be able to stay moving, year in year out, through our cost-effective Club scheme.

Our delivery service is designed to reduce air pollution and congestion, but also to help local businesses keep costs down and play their part in building an efficient, productive Sheffield fit for the future.

Darren packing a delivery east of the River Don

And our long-term aim is to increase and adapt our secondhand and refurbished services to offer a sustainable reasonably priced maintenance and loan scheme to all Sheffielders, since one of the biggest deterrents to many low income Sheffielders is simply not being able to afford a decent reliable bike.

So, thanks to you for being our customer! Be assured that your continuing support will help us in our aim to increase and enable cycling in all parts of Sheffield.