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London's bike shops are getting better and better, with more and more small businesses opening all the time. Whether you're looking for a brand new bike or just need to get a puncture fixed, the capital's bicycle specialists have it covered.
If you're looking for a machine that'll make fellow cyclists stop and stare, or need a three-wheeler to take your ice-cream business into the parks, head for Bikefix. The fantastically quirky and original selection of bikes includes utility models, recumbents and folding bikes – the recumbent style is significantly more aerodynamic as well as eye catching. View the Bikefix listing
If your preference is for the more elegant days of cycle touring, rather than the modern penchant for squeezing into lycra, then Bobbin is the shop for you. Husband-and-wife team Tom Morris and Sian Emmison sell traditional city cycles, many of them vintage, from premises that steer a different route to the traditional bike shop, with accessories to match the striking colour range of their machines. View the Bobbin Globe Store listing
Fixed-wheel and single-speed bikes have become essential urban-hipster accessories in recent years, and you'll find a wide selection at Brick Lane Bikes. The stock includes their own BLB range of pre-built ready-to-go setups, but the kit that gets die-hards drooling will be hanging above your head: new frames from esteemed Leeds firm Bob Jackson, plus a variety of vintage track and road frames (Cinelli, Leader) in most shapes and sizes, all of which can be built to order. View the Brick Lane Bikes listing
A Brixton fixture since the 1980s, this co-operative offers a fine range of bicycles and a well-regarded workshop. Bikes from Trek and Specialized keep commuters happy, as do the Bromptons. The workshop can also undertake custom-builds, including fixed-wheel and single-speed machines. It provides a daily on-the-spot repair service in the first hour of opening, otherwise you'll need to book, up to a month in advance. View the Brixton Cycles listing
The USP of this family-run London legend, in business since 1948 and still in excellent health, is its own range of road bikes, built to order on a bespoke basis. Having chosen a model, prospective purchasers are propped on a fitting jig and measured for the correct frame and components, with clued-up staff adding appropriate parts according to the buyer's budget. View the Condor Cycles listing
Stockist of high-end road and mountain bikes from manufacturers such as Surly, Kinesis and Kuota, Mosquito Bikes is a dream shop for the serious cyclist. It's not cheap, however, with frame-building masters like Pegoretti, Cinelli and Independent Fabrication generally charging well into four figures for their products. View the Mosquito Bikes listing
One of our favourite new bike stores, Newington Green's Push delivers a small but nicely chosen range of bikes – including Mercians, the classic English brand, as well as models from Italians Bianchi and Cinelli. The accessories stocked are of the quality, niche-brand ilk – so, saddles by Brooks, skate-style helmets by Bern and Nutcase, locks from Kryptonite, bags from Belk, and lights from CatEye as well as the cool, detachable rubber lights from Knog. View the Push Cycles listing
Owner Rob Sargent has an off-kilter sense of humour – 'No mountain bikes, high breads (sic), or modern carp (sic)' – but his message is clear: to promote, revive and facilitate the pastime of cycling. Sargent's love of all things cyclical means that his lovely Finsbury Park shop, guarded by Cassius the cat, is bedecked with frames (photo- as well as bike-) and accessories from the glory days of cycling. View the Sargent & Co listing
The fixed-wheel cycling scene – or cycling on a bike that has no freewheel so cannot coast – has seen an explosion in popularity and, in response, bike nuts Tokyo Fixed have moved from exporting keirin frames from Tokyo (back in 2007), to opening their two-storey Soho store in 2009. The shop stocks all things fixed-wheel, including frames, wheels, high-end exclusive brands such as Cherubim, Nagasawa, Nari Furi, Milani and CCP, books, jewellery, mags and bags. View the Tokyo Fixed listing
Town bikes, work bikes, family bikes and folders are the focus at Velorution. The ground floor showcases the flashier models, while downstairs is a more ramshackle basement space with a workshop. Fans of Dutch-style town bikes will be in their element here; the range includes traditional models from the Continent, including Retrovelo, Pedersen and Skeppshult, as well as bikes from English heritage brand Pashley, and more avant-garde models from Riese und Müller and Hawk. View the Velorution listing
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