Tue 5 Feb 2008
Blazing Saddles: best bike shop in Cambridge
Posted by bill under billstuff
I was distraught when Drakes bike shop on Hills Road closed as I’d been buying cycles there for over twenty years, and I had always found them reliable, reassuring and efficient. Fortunately I’ve found an alternative - Blazing Saddles on Cherry Hinton Road.
And they are wonderful….last Friday I was cycling in to the railway station on my way to London when I finally accepted that the poor brakes I’d been putting up with for a few months had reached the end of the line. Since I was planning to take my bike with me - it’s the easiest way to get to and from City University - and didn’t want to end up under a bus outside King’s Cross I popped into Blazing Saddles intending to buy new brake blocks and do the repair on the train.
The owner took one look at the bike, advised me that I needed a new cable too and when I asked if there was any possibility of doing it for me took pity on me and sent me to a nearby cafe for a quick coffee while he did the job in 15 minutes. He even pumped up the tyres and refused to take extra for the job.
So I’m alive, my students are happy and I think they are wonderful. Next time you need your bike serviced, it’s the place to go.
February 5th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
It’s true - whenever there’s been something easy-to-fix on my bike or where it needs a tool I don’t have, they’ve either lent me the tool, or just done it for free! Friendly too
Definitely recommendable.
February 5th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Glad to hear things went well!
Now, can you answer the really tricky question of why Cambridge station is so damn far away from where it should be?!
February 6th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Dominic: The station is so far from the centre because the University didn’t want its young men to be popping down to the bright lights of London too readily.
Really.
Having said that, Cambridge has grown enormously out past the station since it was built, putting it closer to the centre of gravity of town than it was in 1845.
February 6th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Dominic - It depends on where you think it should be.
If its in Drummer Street, the original planned location, then the answer is that the university insisted that it had to be built one mile from Great St.Mary’s church.
Interestingly in those days Cambridge had the luxury of a regular tram service from the station to the city centre.
February 7th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Hah! Thank you Nick and Geoff - it’s good to know who to blame. (And yus, I’d much rather have it in the centre!)
February 8th, 2008 at 9:34 am
There’ll be another railway station appearing in Chesterton in a few years. This will be really beneficial to everyone who lives around there - and be quite good for the Science Park too… Might be a good idea to set up a bike shop near where this will open.
As for bike shops and repairs I’d avoid some of the more ‘mainstream’ places in the city. Very expensive.
I’ve heard good things about the chap who resides in the Park Street secure bike area though.