Who we are
Holy Spokes is a small independent bicycle workshop based in East Bristol. We love fixing bikes! We love cycling! And we love running a small bike shop! We believe that cycling benefits our local community and our city in all sorts of ways, and our passion is to do whatever we can to support anyone who chooses to use a bike.
Why is a van important?
We began fixing bikes seven years ago in a small unit in Easton, and three years ago expanded into a larger premises in Barton Hill.
A significant part of our business is a free collection and delivery service which we offer to all of our customers. We know that this service is particularly helpful to customers who find it difficult to make it into a bike shop to have their bike serviced or repaired. We have collected bikes from homes, workplaces, train stations, universities and even rescued people from the roadside in emergencies.
We also take time to deliver mobile workshops and Dr bike sessions to local businesses, community groups and organisations. Whenever possible we use our pedal powered bicycle trailer to deliver all of these services, but as the business has grown our electric van has been essential in helping us keep up with a busy schedule and delivering to customers from increasingly further afield. All this we hope in an environmentally-friendly way as possible.
Why do we need a new van?
Just before Christmas we had to return the fantastic electric van that we had been leasing for the last 3 years.
Running a small local bike workshop and shop takes a lot of hard work and a lot of resources, since returning our van we have struggled a little to keep up with a schedule of collecting bikes and running the mobile workshops that we need to keep our little business healthy.
Buying a new electric van is quite an investment for us, but it’s time for us to take the plunge. We are asking for some help in raising funds towards the new van – the money raised here will supplement money coming from our own savings.
Why electric?
We have tried to stay with pedal power transport as best we can, but practically we need a van to keep going.
However, we want to make sure we do the best we can for our local area and city we live in. We all live and work in the local area, our children go to school here, our friends are here - in short, this part of Bristol is our home and we care about it. We think that its important for us to think carefully about our local streets and the way in which we impact them. We are only a few people and a small business, but we want to make sure we are making the most responsible decisions we can.
We have thought about doing our deliveries with a more conventional diesel van, but with lots of little trips around the streets and back streets of Bristol we believe that trying to stretch our resources a bit further to an electric van is in the long term a little bit better for Bristol's environment.
Rewards
If you are planning to get your bike serviced this year, check out the rewards with this campaign. We are offering our basic, general and full monty services at a discounted price - including discount on extra components! Redeem these services any time in 2019.
Don't worry if you don't have a bike, or if you live too far away to bring it in for a service. We've got you covered with some cool Holy Spokes merchandise.