To celebrate Bridgegate Cycles now being old enough to buy its own beer, I rewarded random customers today with some birthday cake to thank them for all their support.
Turning 18 is a significant milestone for anyone, and a time for me to reflect on almost two decades of swimming against the tide of decline of the UK high street.
I opened Bridgegate Cycles in 2008 in the same location as a bike shop I frequented as a young boy growing up in Retford, there were five cycle shops back then and L.G.Wyse on Bridgegate was the oldest one, it closed in the 1986, but had serviced the bicycles and cyclists of Retford for over 100 years.
Someone who used to work at the shop told me they used to repair more than 400 bikes a week here in the 60’s, Hallcroft road would see over a hundred women cycling 4 abreast leaving work from making clothes at meritina, the ‘traffic’ at home time in town was all people on bikes, and the workers regularly needed their bikes fixed, Retford had lots of Factories back then. Legend has it, In the 1950’s the first British wearer of the Tour de France’s Yellow Jersey (Tom Simpson) used to buy new dynamo bulbs here on his way home to Harworth from his job as a draughtsman at Retford Engineering company Babcock Jenkins.
In my years at 33 Bridgegate i have met and helped lots of cyclists, some have ridden many miles, i met a Lady in her 60’s once who had ridden all the way from Germany, we fixed her luggage rack and she continued on her way to up to Glasgow to visit her family. Just last week I helped Cat and Joe, who had come up on the train from London, and were riding back on a Tandem they had bought the same day in Doncaster. 
A lot of the repairs we see through the workshop are bikes that are used for short journeys only, they might be owned by somebody who just uses their bike to do the shopping or ride to school or even go down the pub.
We usually have a racing bike in the window, and some people think that’s all we do, and while you can sometimes meet a Grand Tour stage winner or an Old National Champion in the shop, they will probably be stood behind someone with a wheelbarrow or pram in the queue. There’s not much i can’t fix, and i love solving the problems.
We have had the pleasure of supporting many events over the years, including the Guide Dogs Le Tour challenge, the Harworth and district CC Tuesday Time Trial, The Retford Lions Club Tour of Retford, Amstel Standing and the Scout Post, to name a few, sorry if i’ve missed mentioning you.
It’s been really nice getting to know my customers over the years. They are very loyal and there are quite a few whose parents had brought them here to get their first bikes and are now bringing their children or grandchildren for new bikes or repairs.
And so we are 18 years old, and we intend to celebrate. I am planning a series of events, day’s out and rides for the months ahead, some small and rather personal and sentimental, others on a bigger scale. In all, I hope to reach a lot of people to whom we owe thanks, not only our working colleagues within the industry but also the legions of bicycle riders and believers who through the years have helped us grow.
Dom at Bridgegate Cycles 28th February 2026
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