Founded in 2001 and becoming a workers’ co-operative two years ago, OCW provides workshop access and cycle training, sells recycled bikes and is also the Oxford dealer for Orbea – the Basque bike brand itself being an employee-owned co-op – but all that will change on three weeks tomorrow when the shop on the city’s Magdalen Road closes its doors for the final time.
While it will continue to recycle bikes and sell them, OCW wants to focus on getting more people cycling in areas like Barton and the Blackbird Leys estate, and it has set up a new website, We’re Making Changes, to explain how the business is evolving, with a YouTube video also highlighting the initiatives it plans to focus on going forward.
Director Dan Harris told the Oxford Mail, “We’re sad it’s closing. It was a difficult decision,” but added, “We want to take bike repair and maintenance out to places where cycling isn’t prevalent at the moment.
“We also want to take our mechanics out into communities which aren’t well served by bike shops, such as South Oxford, Headington and West Oxford.”
The change in the business’s direction should also help it boost the number of bikes it repairs, which currently stands at around 3,500 a year. OCW plans to double that through holding sessions at venues such as the Skylight homeless centre, said Harris.
James Styring, chairman of local cycling campaign group Cyclox commented: “It’s a pity the shop is closing but I think it’s a good idea. I’m acutely aware the take-up of cycling in Barton and Blackbird Leys isn’t the same as in the centre of Oxford, so for the workshop to take the cycling message and the cycling bug to new areas is a good thing.”
Cyclist Paul Cullen, aged 67, from Jericho, told the newspaper: “Riding recycled bikes is a very Oxford thing and fits in with the city’s green commitments.”
He added: “Anything that takes cycling out to the estates is a positive thing.”
OCW is highly active on the Oxford cycling scene, promoting monthly themed “alleycat” races – treasure hunts might be a better description – that have attracted a loyal and enthusiastic following, and also organising the annual Cycle Oxford Festival.
Help us to fund our site
We’ve noticed you’re using an ad blocker. If you like road.cc, but you don’t like ads, please consider subscribing to the site to support us directly. As a subscriber you can read road.cc ad-free, from as little as £1.99.
If you don’t want to subscribe, please turn your ad blocker off. The revenue from adverts helps to fund our site.
If you’ve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as £1.99. Our mission is to bring you all the news that’s relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more. Your subscription will help us to do more.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Wow. I get close passed every day. I'd say it's around 1/20 overtakes. It would be even more if I commuted on more direct routes as opposed to the...
So they're already saying they're making a selection of the ones the public take the time and effort to report - no, it definitely sounds like they...
Phone cameras store the rotation of the device into the EXIF flags of photos and IIRC road.cc honours that flag. If you load the photo into a...
On my all-rounder bike 44-11 is the longest gear, with 24-43 being the shortest, this with 150 cranks. I'd generally be using 44-15 on flat road ...
I know, that was my point, most manufacturers offer a choice with their highest end bikes of Dura Ace or SRAM Red and the majority of teams choose...
"You can keep your nice, your leisurely and your convenience..." would seem to have been as important to Moko as it was to Mike. Let's hope that...
seems odd to not mention the Filmores in this article, lots of options now emerging for tubelss valves. resisted changing for several years but the...
Not sure if you are asking yourself to reply to yourself, or if you are asking me to reply....
The owner of that car wants to take it back to the dealer and get the lights fixed if they're so poor they can't see someone in red until they're...
Worcester hospital parking 'horrific' as petition handed in...