"Most bike shops are built for cyclists. We’re built for riders."
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CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Resources
Edinburgh Bike Shops
(193 posts)-
Posted 5 months ago #
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Maybe they have a bouncer who turns away any customers who aren't wearing an Edinburgh Road Club jersey.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Why does the bike business seem to attract so many people who think "I run a niche business, so how can I put off as many potential customers as possible?"
Posted 5 months ago # -
My lottery win will be Black Bikes, your all welcome to come in and have a whisky but please don't try and buy anything.
I'll be looking for a pet mechanic if anyone feels their self worth could use a regular beating.
(need to buy lottery ticket)
Posted 5 months ago # -
Corson lives on!
Posted 5 months ago # -
@steveo nice reference to Black Books. You are Dylan Moran. (Bike mechanics are too hard for there to be a manny) but I will drink whisky with you so I am Fran.
Though what is your view on selling paraffin and also explosive material to minors as Corson was happy to do. As these were exceptions in the Game called Corson where he refused to sell, any customers anything if they were not specific enough from his shop in Stockbridge as recorded in the best ethnographic paper that academic ever wrote.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Anyone got a shimano Deore/XT 9 spd rear mech i can buy? Hannah declines to fit those currently commercially available Alivios or Soras as they are sh1t. I see a few new online but never used the suppliers and several used ones on ebay
Posted 5 months ago # -
@gembo - good shout a trained bike mechanic would be far to hardened. Given the quality and reputation I'm going for maybe poach the Saturday person from Halfords.
I'll take the Ron Swanson approach to sales, ID is government overreach and a person should be able to blow themselves up if they choose to.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Maybe Microshift, g? Their bar end gear levers are very good and they make 9 speed stuff.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Thanks @arellcat , they do look sturdy enough to pass the Hannah test. but more expensive than the Deore, which also pass the Hannah test Though I will check which Deore. As there are many Deores. The provider I am drawn to is Southwarer Cycles. The provider I don’t like the look of AliExpress. There prices seemed to shoot up the second I showed any interest.
Posted 5 months ago # -
@gembo That's the other thing that Incognito Mode is for.
I'll look in the garage to see if I didn't donate my most recent used 9-spd rear mech to the bike station...Posted 5 months ago # -
@wingpig, thanks and also ta.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Sad news about Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative shared from a reader. Haven't been able to verify but reports on Reddit the Canonmills shops is closed.
The business has been struggling for a while and has been in a process to find a cash injection and / or a buyer. This process concluded on Friday 18/9/2026 and unfortunately no offers came forward. An investor approached EBC to work with them to put forward an offer. As a result, an offer has been made, and EBC is waiting to find out if that offer can proceed in line with the strict regulatory arrangements covering the insolvency process.
In summary, the Head Office staff and Canonmills staff do not form part of that offer, and it means that the Head Office function, Warehouse, Online and Canonmills Store will cease to exist. The staff who work in these locations will be made redundant and the office and shop will close.
As these things move at speed, the Insolvency Practitioners (Administrators) take
over the process and handle all such matters going forward.Posted 1 month ago # -
it means that the Head Office function, Warehouse, Online and Canonmills Store will cease to exist
That must be a big chunk of the business.
Posted 1 month ago # -
Sad news indeed. Think I have bought seven bikes (which includes three kids bikes) from EBC over the years, plus countless other bits and bobs. Hope as much of the business (and jobs) can survive as possible.
Posted 1 month ago # -
Tough news. I bought my first tank off EBC - Cove - weighed a tonne. Indestructible and cheap. Went to a lad banged up at the Kiddie Jail near Montrose. then When CEC used EBC for the BTW Scheme I purchased two bicycles. And out with the BTW Scheme the infamous Spesh with Nexus 7. Did I ever tell you that story? Also Mrs Garto’s bike which is still going strong due to her never using it. Like a cross between the above mention Cove and a Raleigh 14. So five bikes. Loads of kit in their sales and even not in their sales. But lately it has just been gels whenever I have been borrowing the Smoothie bike.
Seems if I was spending big on a bike I went Shand built in Livi and Bianchi from Harts.
So I went Boutique? Sorry EBC
Posted 1 month ago # -
Yeek. Winterfeast won't be winterfeast without buying at least one discounted component from their website for store collection for eventual use a spring or two later. Whilst I've only bought three bikes from there new and two secondhand I'd hate to add up how many wee bits and wheels and bobs and CatEye AU100BSes I've had from there over the years.
Posted 1 month ago # -
I've bought a number of bikes from EBC over the years- even my wife got a C2W bike from them. Their Revolution range was fantastic value for money and I still don't think there's anything quite as good for everyday cycling on the market as my old Revolution Courier was.
I'd heard rumours that their Giant dealership was closing down but the Cannonmills store was safe, looks like they were unfortunately mistaken.
I did find a good article on their website about the 'Revolution' brand and it's rise and fallThey were a store I visited frequently when I lived at that end of town, but less so in recent times. I think the last time I was in their Bruntsfield store was signing up for the Tour de Forth!
Posted 1 month ago # -
Also from the reddit thread:
The rent on the shop at Canonmills was extortionate. I think they kinda got conned in taking it in from the old owners.
and
The whole business is up for sale, reportedly, not officially, just news making the rounds on linkedin atm.
I found this post on LinkedIn:
Another substantial UK bicycle retailer appears to be up for sale—but this is not simply another privately owned chain.
A confidential sale teaser for “Project Tobermory” has just landed in my inbox. Although the business is unnamed, the description points strongly towards Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative.
...
The sales trajectory tells a difficult story: an 11% decline in two years. Gross profit fell even faster, dropping 19%.
...
The underlying value may lie in the brand, customer database, online operation, workshops and selected stores, not necessarily in preserving the entire structure.I worked at EBC when they were taking their first steps into having "a website". At the great risk of sounding like 'old woman shouts at cloud', they lost something when they went online and built the factory and opened multiple branches and everything. Before that, EBC was just the one shop at Bruntsfield, and it had that friendly, cooperative thing going on. In the 1980s, the shop was very much about homespun touring and commuting, with brown shop coats replaced with cool grey t-shirts; in the 1990s it was all about mountain bikes, and no-one in the shop took themselves too seriously (except maybe me). In the 2000s we got Revolution and a change of colours from grey and green to black and red, and it all got quite serious about brand recognition. I don't know what happened in the 2010s, as I was spending most of my bike shop time visiting Laid Back or Biketrax. I did visit the shop a couple of months ago to look for a tin of Brooks Proofhide, and I couldn't have felt more out of place, and even if I had wanted to buy something, I'm not sure I could have afforded it.
One thing though: EBC has had a bit of an odd track record stocking niche brands that came and went within two or three years. Nishiki, Riese & Muller, Whyte...even bag companies like Chrome and Timbuk2. If it wasn't for mainstays like Cateye, Specialized and Kryptonite, I'm not sure EBC would be around even now.
Posted 1 month ago # -
Posted 1 month ago # -
So probably at least £2.7m losses over the last 3.5 years (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation). Not good...
Posted 1 month ago # -
From what I've heard on a few podcasts they'd have been better sticking with Revolution than Spesh. I think the big brands having a hard time is sinking a lot of bike shops, stories of having to buy hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of pretty bad value bikes they'll probably never sell etc.
Be a shame to see them go.
Posted 1 month ago # -
Very sad. LB bought 3 or 4 Thule Yepp childseats from them in last year just as it's handy shop with no postage required. No trade price of course but could reclaim VAT. Allowed me to do weigh up what they had cargo wise too. Lots of Terns. Gazelles. Specialized had one longtail too. Stopped buying Yepp as can get MIK equipped Polski seats instead via JBG.Stopped
Market is extremely tough. I recommended them to a very local bike library for an item we couldn't supply. Soul cycles and Harts and others too are trying hard to meet market too so worth supporting. Unfortunately most bikes are like a commodity item so people will have shipped up from a warehouse just to save £30 after seeing the same item in a local shop (e.g. EBCs Giant Liv shop in Stockbridge).
Needless to say our family purchased many Edinburgh and Revolution bikes from them over the years. That entry level market has Decathlon in it now and their offerings aren't bad. Average bike price is still very low while all other expenses have rocketed.Posted 1 month ago # -
.”
Nadine shares how Zyrofisher refocused on its core cycling roots, streamlined warehouse operations, and leveraged daily IBD call sheet feedback to remove purchasing friction for thousands of bike shops across the UK. Plus, drawing on her extensive commercial background at Procter & Gamble (P&G) and brand-side leadership at Endura and Berghaus, she breaks down why cycling must drop technical jargon to welcome a broader number of cyclists.
“
https://bikebiz.com/podcast-nadine-thompson-zyrofisher/
Whatever the fate of EBC (and many other shops in the past and future), post Covid, things are continuing to move in a new direction
After 50 years of Spokes(and other campaign/ers) things are not where ‘we’ might like
More people do ride bikes then 20/30/40 years ago, but it’s still not ‘normal’
Cycling became a bit embarrassing so the buzz was around “active travel”
On the face of it - progress
In reality a loss of focus (all round) and increased smoke and mirrors about budgets and where money is actually spent, Scot Arthur, Voi (probably good for ‘cycling’ and ‘active t’, less so retail) and “the price of diesel”
Posted 1 month ago # -
Brands like Specialized do have their fans. Image here taken in EBC of the new Turbo Porto flanked by Garmin display.
E-bikes have changed everything. Only one bike in the Specialized room was without assist.
Every bike retailer spends loads of time working on tech stuff now. Cycling's USP is that you can move using your human energy effectively. Even Danny McAskill is promoting Bosch now.
Posted 1 month ago # -
I went into the Whitehouse Loan EBC a week or so ago to ask about a cheap and simple low maintenance bike for my rowing club to use on the towpath. Not only was the basement of the shop (which used to be crammed with bikes) half-empty, but the cheapest bike they had was £400 (from memory), and that's not a 'cheap' bike when Decathlon have them for half that.
...and the thing about the Decathlon cheap bike is that it's no BSO: you know you'll get something that's value for the price, rather than being a heap of junk (the lifetime warranty for the frame is because it's made from girders...)
It must be tough for shops that made their money from the lower end of the market.
Posted 1 month ago # -
“
Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative, the workers-own store since 1977, is facing insolvency.
There are reports coming in of staff being told they've been made redundant, effective immediat
The Rodney Street store has closed its doors, the Head Office, Warehouse and online function will cease to exist and while the Alvanley Terrace and Newcastle store will continue to trade while they work through the insolvency process, the future looks bleak.
A potential investor put forward an offer to help to stave off closure but the offer didn't include the Head Office, Warehouse and Canonmills staff und regulatory insolvency terms.
So what will the future bring for this long-establish cyclists-owned business? The rumour is that a certain Scottish-based independent cycle store m take over the Bruntsfield operation...watch this space!
.”
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1814861506743275&id=100046583295720&hpir=1
Posted 1 month ago # -
A reply
“
Alex Cameron • 21m
I had two stints at EBC as a sales assistant. The first was in the late 90s when I was a student.
Those were definitely the glory days at Bruntsfield & a great group of people.
The second was from 2018-20 at the Canonmills shop. That was a very different experience. I felt that the EBC 'brand' had expanded too quickly & lost some of its original heart & soul. However, the bike retail world had changed & bricks & mortar shops seemed like they were on the way out when cheaper deals could be had online.
It's sad to hear of the demise of EBC but the only certainty in life is change so you either adapt or die. I hope the Bruntsfield shop can at least be saved.“
Posted 1 month ago # -
EBC Aberdeen RIP :-(
- "The guys in the bike shop are always pleasant and friendly... I live next door and found a few bikes in the basement which I put into him as I felt it best they go to a good home... This shop has a great selection of bikes and accessories, helmets chains, cogs etc... and the staff are knowledgeable friendly polite and helpful... you can take your bike here to be fixed aswell and buy new bikes and accessories here too... really good service..."
From Google reviews. Not only good one.Bruntsfield has a buyer lined up but won't need warehouse etc. Just will benefit from the folk memory of EBC.
Newcastle shop will be at risk. Aberdeen 'permanently closed' though that city could use some skills. Our UA customers there used EBC. Shops like SPARKX sell muscle e-bikes and electric motorbikes.
Posted 1 month ago # -
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