Royal Wedding. Double Bank Holiday. Sunny you say……. Beers and BBQ’s? When did all that happen?!

It’s been a while since I felt like I had a day off.

But I’m not complaining. It’s worth it when you see things coming together and taking shape.

There was a longer wait for the rush to begin in the cycle trade this year, mostly as a result of the weather but come it did, just in time for Bank Holiday and Will and Kate’s gift of another - not to mention the annual April Cyclescheme influx, late deliveries (apparently drivers finish at 10.30am on a Friday now!) and of course, the New Shop.  

We’ve been looking for a new shop for two and a half years – various projects have been toyed with from Concept stores through to Specialist ventures like the one in Windsor, and what do you know – it comes along just as things go seismic!

So what’s happened in the last three weeks aside from frenzied trade?

We have had some new suppliers on board at dna of which you may be aware – most notably Dedacciai bikes. Originally a fabricator and worker of steel they have moved into the Aluminium, Carbon and Titanium markets and now produce some extremely high grade frames / tubesets for some big players as well as producing their own. Not to be sniffed at – particularly if you like your Italian machines. …..and by no means expensive.

You can expect to see a bigger offering from Felt bikes in the future as well. You’ll see some changes in the clothing soon too – ever a problem, we have decided it was time to step things up. Castelli and Endura will be our main suppliers. We have had Endura pieces for a while but things will broaden out and will be well complimented with the ever popular Castelli brand.

A lot of the changes at dna are a result of our new venture in Windsor. It’s brought a few things in to focus for us and we’re all very excited. (You just have to count the times Ed says Super Scuro in a day to know that he’s fired up!)

The Windsor shop will be called 700 and will be a Specialist Road store and will have some seriously strong brands. Those that are confirmed are Cannondale, Colnago, Dedacciai, Felt, Giant and Pinarello on the bike side. We have the very impressive ENVE wheels along with their bars, stems and forks – Strong, seriously strong – and we will be a demo centre for these suckers so come and try them. Clothing will be from Endura, Castelli and Assos and hopefully, there’ll be something for everyone! Fizik will be providing some saddles and footwear. There are of course, too many to mention here but suffice to say there’ll be plenty! 

The painting is all but finished – props to Andy on that score, I’ve waved a brush about but that man is a decorating machine! – Logistics are in hand, signage ordered, phones, fire safety (including our funky extinguishers – yes I said that out loud!) alarm, shutters, bike fitting and orders are all in process and we’ve got some excellent feedback from suppliers - some slinky displays are on the cards.

We’ll keep you posted here as and when we get the chance otherwise you can follow the progress of the new shop on our Facebook page - just look for 7Hundred and click the ‘Like’ button – you can also follow our Twitter feed @7hundreduk.

Ed will be taking over the day to day running of dna from now on. He’s been with us for 5 years and has come a long way. Solid, grounded and amiable - he knows his stuff!

Right, I’m off. A cyclist’s meal awaits – pizza and beer! Refuel for tomorrow: now the extinguishers are in I need something else random to get excited about…..apart from my new bike of course….

Evening!  Well we're back on the blog. Keep checking back here for posts, updates, images, news, reviews and more.
I'd start now but it's been a crazy couple of days....... back after the weekend.
Enjoy yours - get out and ride!