Irontwit

To most cyclists, Hazel Grove is a bottleneck on the A6 just before the split where you head left and up into the Peak towards Disley and New Mills, or fork right towards Poynton, skirting the hills and heading for the mellower rides around the Cheshire lanes. The High Street has the usual mix of bars, takeaways and pound stores as well as the local estate agents and banks. There was little to concern the passing cyclist until fairly recently when the Bicycle Smithy appeared. It might be small but Jon Adshead, the owner, packs a mighty amount of stock into the premises and his well kitted out workshop can tackle most tasks including building up bikes from scratch as well as wheel building and truing.

The shop majors on Kona mountain bikes and hybrids for touring and commuting, but also carries Merida road bikes, Dawes and a number of mountain bike brands that mean nothing whatsoever to a committed roadie like me. He also carries a pretty substantial range of kids machines as well as an impressive amount of spares, upgrade parts and clothing.

The best thing about a local bikeshop is the willingness to sort out problems no matter how small. Jon’s forever tweaking bits on kids bikes with a view to the long term – one day they’ll be buying full spec MTBs. And from my point of view I can bring my bike in for a quick service and adjustment knowing that I won’t have to book it in 3 weeks in advance (and that’s quite a good lead time for one or two renowned bike shops in this part of the country).

Although the off-road scene is Jon’s real passion he builds road bikes for quite a few local roadies, often with Kinesis frames and it was the natural place to go when my trusty Principia bit the dust a few weeks back. Jon built up a Kinesis KR810 frame for me with a combination of new parts and salvaged parts from the old bike with mightily impressive results.

There is also a rumour that the shop is about to launch a new race team. I’m not sure if part-time sportive riders and wannabee Ironmen with dodgy knees qualify, though. I’ve certainly no intention of getting muddy!

I’ve blogged before about the importance of supporting your local bike shop, so if you are based in the Hazel Grove, Cheadle, Poynton, High Lane area, why not drop in for a browse.