Useful for cycling Stokies to know. The large independent bicycle and bicycle repairs/accessories shop Rourke Cycles has moved out of Cobridge (was at the top of Grange Park, by the Community Centre, for many years). They’re now based down at Pennant House on Salem Street, Etruria, said to be near to the Bet365 mega-offices.

I know Etruria, but even I had to look up Salem Street. The map on their site is not helpful either. Turns out I know it well, but not the street name. The new shop is actually at the start of that industrial cul-de-sac on the other side of the Etruria Road from Bet365, a cul-de-sac into which no-one ventures except van-drivers. Next to the gas-bottle depot, which one can see across while cycling past on the canal, and to the builders-supply yard. Which means it’s easily accessible from the canal towpath, which is rather handy. Hopefully they’ll persuade the gas-bottle place to put a sign on their towpath-facing fence/gate, telling cyclists that there’s a big bike-shop just out of sight over the hedge.

Anyway, above is my orienting picture to show my readers where it is now. Not sure where you’d do cycle-locking there, though. I assume the new shop will have installed some secure locking-bars outside. I’ll check on Sunday. Update: No locking bars outside, as yet. One would lock the bike to the canal towpath off-ramp metal fence, or perhaps the industrial fence opposite the shop, if not taking one’s bike inside the shop.

The best pub in Stoke, the Holy Inadequate, is a few hundred yards away. Should you want to mull over a big bike purchase, or to celebrate one. Bike stuff stores Go Outdoors and Halfords are also nearby over on Festival Park, which means (provided you know the best routes) it’s an easy bike-trip over to Rourke Cycles for a third opinion — they may be able to provide what you want at a lower cost, have in-stock something the others have run out of, or to do bike maintenance to a higher standard.

Update: Shortly after this post, I learned of another shop, quite a bit further up the towpath and up by Westport Lake. Called the Cyclist Discount Centre (CDC) and apparently specialists in electric bikes? Sadly their website doesn’t like VPN users… so I didn’t find out any more.