Bike cafés: a questionnaire

[Canuk]

Our local community is planning to open a bike cafe next spring. Volunteer run. They're not sure where to place it, in the town at a busy junction which will catch lots of cycling or out of town on a hilly tourist route.

I've been drafted in to 'advise'!

What features (and food) would you like to find in a bike cafe, and would you prefer it more like an lbs that serves cakes and coffee, or a traditional clean table sheet cafe?
Would you appreciate being able to buy tubes and spare parts /fast repairs or would you rather go to a shop?

The more suggestions the better! Our village is located about 4km from a nice lake, and maybe 20 from the high mountains.

[rjb]

We have a community cafe in our village of North Curry.
http://www.northcurry.com/Businesses/Th ... e_Shop.htm
It was set up for the village community but soon attracted scores of cyclists.
Trying to attract passing trade is not easy. Not everyone wants to stop. I think you would better off locating it near a village centre so locals can access it, and help to keep it ticking over in slack times.
BTW our cafe doesn't have table cloths and the wooden chairs have seat cushions that can be raised vertically to cater for "soggy bottoms" and I wasn't referring to the cakes.

[Richard Fairhurst]

Great thread here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=103675

[whoof]

Edit: Thought that this was familiar
Facilities:
Somewhere to put a bike. Preferably somewhere where you can see your bike and it isn't cluttering up the pavement.
Floors I can walk on in cleated shoes. Some places ask for you to remove them as the fear they may damage their floor. A place near Gloucester did this when they first opened and then had a change of heart when some cyclist were not using the place.
Personally I wouldn't be bothered about pump, tools and spares as I carry my own. However, some might want this especially a track pump.
Somewhere to sit both inside and out and an outside no smoking area.
Offer to fill water bottles.

Food/Drink:
Tea by the pot.
Cake
Hot snacks: Beans and/or egg on toast.
All day breakfast including vegetarian option.

If you want to try and attract new customers you could Google 'cycling cafes your location' there are a couple of websites in my local area and you could ask to be added if there is something similar near you.
https://bristolcycling.org.uk/cafes-lis ... day-rides/
You could also look for cycling clubs in your area as many have clubs runs that stop at cafes halfway around their ride. Search in the Cycling UK and British Cycling websites for clubs.
https://www.cyclinguk.org/local-group
Cast your net wide. I used to live somewhere where there was a really nice cafe but I could never get the club to stop as it too close to home. However we regularly visited cafes 40-50 miles away.

[eileithyia]

Centre where it has other passing trade.
Decent quality bike racks.
Maybe even supply some locks.
Don't be over ambitious with the menu, most people want Bacon Sandwich (or whatever term is locally used for a bread roll, batch, cob etc), beans / egg / cheese on toast. Toast, toasted t-cake, toasted bagels, porridge, soup and array of cakes.
We had one local cafe where the lady did try to introduce some interesting new meals, with some varied ingredients... sadly did not take off, so offer some health food stuff but keep the basics.

Make sure it is warm; I was slightly chilled arriving at a cafe recently due to wind and rain, was even colder when I left because of inadequate heating. Somewhere for wet outer clothes to hand and drip....

A few items that cyclists might need; track pump and multi-tool that can be used at the premises, spare inner tubes, brake blocks, cables, gels and energy bars that can be bought to takeaway.

[Cyril Haearn]

Many train station buildings have spare rooms
Best if the cafe is not ONLY for cyclists?

[mattsccm]

Warm,cheap,cake,window to watch bike,maybe tubes and did I say warm?

[slowster]

in the town at a busy junction which will catch lots of cycling or out of town on a hilly tourist route.

You say the junction will 'catch lots of cycling'. How much is that perception and how much is it something you have properly investigated? There's a danger of seeing cyclists frequently pass through that junction and thinking that that would be a sufficient customer base. How many cyclists do actually pass through that junction on any given day of the week, summer and winter? What percentage of them could you justifiably expect to stop at your cafe? The same questions would apply to your spot out of town.

Furthermore, what is the geographical distribution of cyclists and cycling clubs in your area? A local club might use use the cafe as a start point for rides early in the morning, in which case breakfast type food might be important, but it presumably would not patronise the cafe mid morning or at lunchtime. The cafe might be well positioned as a mid morning stop for clubs further away, but how many would you be able to accommodate at the same time if more than one club or group of friends came at around the same time mid morning (it's not just about seating capacity: would you have enough volunteers for that shift and would your equipment be capable of high volume, e.g. a one group espresso machine probably would be quite inadequate).

Centre where it has other passing trade.

And I suspect that is key: unless the availability of volunteers and low overheads would make it viable to rely on cyclists, I suspect you would need a lot more non-cycling customers to balance out the demand from cyclists at likely set times and for short periods of the day.

[Vorpal]

I think it depends on many different factors, and not just 'busy junction' versus 'rural tourist spot'.

While the town centre is likely to see the most traffic, and therefore more easily successful, there may be other things to consider...

Do you want to have outdoor seating in the summer? Will that be possible or pleasant on a busy junction?

If you select the rural spot, what other source of footfall do you have than cyclists? Or will tourists coming to the location be enough to support a business? If so, why isn't there one there already?

What competition will you have? If it is principally a cafe, are there other cafes in the area? If it is principally a bike shop, are there other bike shops around?

How far away is the competition? What will distinguish your place?

I think such initiatives are good & have gone out of my way to support them, but I do think it's important to think such things through.

Put together a business plan. How will it be structured? A community enterprise? If run by volunteers, who is doing what & how many hours per week can people expect to invest? What days & hours will it be open?

[rmurphy195]

Do you have a cycle path or sustrans route near by, close enough to attract cyclists/tourists, as well as local people when the tourist trade is low? From the former viewpoint the cafe in Tissington, for example, is well placed (and expensive!), plus the one at Hulme End on the Manifold Trail

If so, maybe car parking for out-of-owners who will park-and-cycle could be provided if possible.

[thirdcrank]

As you don't seem to have identified your premises yet, I'd suggest thinking hard about the cycle parking. Bikes are a lot more economical with space than cars but they have to go somewhere, preferably in plain sight of the dining area, with something solid for locking to. A security camera with a live screen in the dining area might be welcome. While individual riders or small groups may have all sorts of ideas, I think traditional clubs want beans-on-toast type catering, with a growing tendency in some quarters to healthy options. As others have said, a group will want minimum delay in getting everybody served.

I wouldn't worry too much about the exact location: if you are providing what cyclists want they will beat a path to your door. Open at breakfast time on Sunday is quite an attraction. Depending on area, you might even get some groups starting or finishing there.

[mjr]

While individual riders or small groups may have all sorts of ideas, I think traditional clubs want beans-on-toast type catering, with a growing tendency in some quarters to healthy options. As others have said, a group will want minimum delay in getting everybody served.

Cake is very important. "No cake" at any visit other than right at the end of a day will likely mean someone objects when it's next suggested as a group stop. Other than that, I think most cyclists are fairly flexible about food as long as it's some good.

I wouldn't worry too much about the exact location: if you are providing what cyclists want they will beat a path to your door. Open at breakfast time on Sunday is quite an attraction. [...]

Serving lunches on Sunday (not only Sunday lunches) is also very attractive. Some of the pubs and smaller garden centre cafes which used to be popular stopping points have gone full-on carvery-or-nothing and thereby removed themselves from Sunday group ride stops.

What features (and food) would you like to find in a bike cafe, and would you prefer it more like an lbs that serves cakes and coffee, or a traditional clean table sheet cafe?
Would you appreciate being able to buy tubes and spare parts /fast repairs or would you rather go to a shop?

Doesn't bother me whether it's an LBS or not (you probably know the local market better than me) but if it's an LBS too, then a distinct cafe area is a good idea, like the Bianchi cafe in MK or Look Mum No Hands in Clerkenwell London. Having a few common tube sizes and patch kits seems look a good idea. For repairs, maybe only if it's an LBS, or if it's a few miles out of town.

[Canuk]

That's all good stuff. I know absolutely nothing about running a cafe. Luckily we have a retired woman in the village who ran a shop, so we have someone to train people on the tills and keeping stock up to date.

I've been roped in to source all the cycling hardware acquisition and the marketing. If the village is anything to go by I'll probably end up doing a lot more. The local clubs are good and I'm well known there because I donated two bikes for their fundraiser last year so that's potentially 190 customers. But how best to retain them? Loyalty cards, club discount, free coffee once a month? What think you?

The nearest lbs is 20km away and it's very, very expensive. Its all Focus and Bianchi brands and 8000 euro electric bikes, I doubt we'd give them much if any in the way of competition.

As for location, there is a busy junction at the other end of town which is also popular with tourists, three roads meet there and there's quite a nice empty old video store we could probably rent cheaply off the council. Of a weekend you probably get 4-500 cyclists rolling through each day so it is quite busy. I'm also charged with sourcing the coffee machine and coffee as it's prohibitively expensive here in France. I go to Italy regularly on business so there's a potential there, but anyone know good, tasty British coffee suppliers?

There might also be an opportunity to acquire three furnished flats (in the same building) next summer for not a lot of cash off the council. They currently run them as social housing, but there's actually a glut here so they need to get rid. Would cheap, clean accommodation in the south of France and an English speaking local bike cafe be of interest to the forum users? (shameless, preemptive plug!)

[mjr]

The local clubs are good and I'm well known there because I donated two bikes for their fundraiser last year so that's potentially 190 customers. But how best to retain them? Loyalty cards, club discount, free coffee once a month? What think you?

Discounts are often attractive and a tie-breaker, but not absolutely necessary if prices are reasonable anyway IMO. To be honest, the easiest way to get my local group to keep going back would be to join their social network groups and keep suggesting it every time someone asks for ideas for the rides list, plus share details of any cyclist-friendly events at the cafe (even the first appearance or re-appearance of a new cake).

I'm also charged with sourcing the coffee machine and coffee as it's prohibitively expensive here in France. I go to Italy regularly on business so there's a potential there, but anyone know good, tasty British coffee suppliers?

Tropic in Lynn, Wogan in Bristol, but the beans will be going stale unless you're coming over regularly or paying to get it couriered. I suspect it may be better to go on reddit's /r/coffee or similar and ask how to find the best affordable local roasters near you. Surely enough coffee is drunk in France for there to be some...

[Canuk]

The local clubs are good and I'm well known there because I donated two bikes for their fundraiser last year so that's potentially 190 customers. But how best to retain them? Loyalty cards, club discount, free coffee once a month? What think you?

Discounts are often attractive and a tie-breaker, but not absolutely necessary if prices are reasonable anyway IMO. To be honest, the easiest way to get my local group to keep going back would be to join their social network groups and keep suggesting it every time someone asks for ideas for the rides list, plus share details of any cyclist-friendly events at the cafe (even the first appearance or re-appearance of a new cake).

I'm also charged with sourcing the coffee machine and coffee as it's prohibitively expensive here in France. I go to Italy regularly on business so there's a potential there, but anyone know good, tasty British coffee suppliers?

Tropic in Lynn, Wogan in Bristol, but the beans will be going stale unless you're coming over regularly or paying to get it couriered. I suspect it may be better to go on reddit's /r/coffee or similar and ask how to find the best affordable local roasters near you. Surely enough coffee is drunk in France for there to be some...

There are a few local roasters but the prices are hard to stomach. We have the benefit of a brewery right on our doorstep and a drink at lunchtime is really de rigeur with French cyclists.

I'm well aquainted with the local vineyards and the local producers. Would cycling wine tours appeal to anyone?
I'm trying to think out of the box here, because this place has to stand on its on two feet after the first year, that's usually the deal with council : one year start up funding and then you're on your own.