‘What a fantastic Local Bike Shop Day’ – annual event exceeds ACT’s expectations

Consumer and retailer engagement with this year’s Local Bike Shop Day exceeded expectations, according to the Association of Cycle Traders (ACT), which organised the day. 

Although bike shops were not formally asked to register to take part in this year’s Local Bike Shop Day, activity across social media reflected the impact of the event at a local level in bike shops up and down the country.

This year’s event was sponsored by Cytech, the international training and accreditation scheme for bicycle technicians. 

On Instagram, Ipswich’s Elmy Cycles posted: “Wow, what a fantastic Local Bike Shop Day we had. Super busy with lots of happy customers, new bikes sold, bike fits, repairs done. Thank you to all our wonderful customers for your support.”

Ceredigion’s BikeWise & Run, which opened three months ago launched its new website on the day and offered free bike health checks and 10% off everything in store, including bikes, parts, clothing and accessories.

Exmouth Cycles, an independent bike shop in Devon used Local Bike Shop Day to announce the opening of a new beach side shop offering hourly hire in Exmouth’s Sideshore Watersports Centre.

Commenting on this year’s campaign, Jonathan Harrison from the ACT said: “Local Bike Shop Day is one of the highlights of our year, it brings the cycling community together to recognise and promote the incredible service and character offered by the UK’s cycle traders.

“We would like to thank all the bike businesses, shoppers, cycling organisations, brands and our sponsors, Cytech, who got behind this year’s campaign – we hope they join us in celebrating and supporting the sector all year round.”

On Twitter, tweets mentioning the campaign and its hashtags received in excess of 500,000 views while there was a similar level of interest on other social platforms, including Instagram and Facebook, with high-profile cyclists like Jeremy Vine and Dame Sarah Storey promoting the initiative.

The day was supported by a number cycling organisations and partners including the Department for Transport, which posted a video from the Bromley Bike Store, explaining why going into an actual store can be to your benefit when buying a bike.

Others supporting it included the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking (APPGCW), MPs around the country promoting bike shops in their constituencies, Cycling UK, Cytech, Freewheel, Love to Ride, Cyclehoop, Life Cycle and Bikeability among others.

In addition to cycling organisations, the day was promoted by several non-cycling organisations, including Small Business Saturday, Independents Day UK, and the Independent Retailers’ Confederation. 

Cyclescheme also gifted six shops £150 worth of vouchers to treat themselves and their staff to a night out. 

The winners were RedSky Bikes in Thirsk; Saddle and Paddles in Exeter; Heyford Bike Service & Repair in Bicester; Laid Back Bikes in Edinburgh; Elmy Cycles in Ipswich, and Bicycle Links, a Social Enterprise bike shop in Norwich.

The ACT is expected to announce a date for Local Bike Shop Day 2024 in the early part of 2024, find out more about the campaign here.