The Pro Cycling Outlet warehouse is an Aladdin’s cave of cycling treasures but not one that’s often open to the public. From here, we ship weird and wonderful stuff all over the world, some of which you might not even recognise.
For the cycling curious to the cycling crazy, we’ve got some amazing finds.
Here’s a sneak peek.
1 Race team roof rack
When it’s propped against the wall, the uninitiated could be forgiven for thinking it’s some kind of clothing display rack. But it’s actually a rare (and very expensive when new) secondhand world tour race team roof rack. This particular roof rack is the Rolls Royce of roofracks, custom-made by Chantal in Belgium. It holds 8 bikes as well as spare tyres, but the cool parts are the satellite and radio masts that allow the team to follow the race live on TV and radio. By staying in touch with the race the team know who’s in the lead, who’s had a crash or needs a spare wheel, and are able to generally put themselves in the right place at the right time.
2 Collectible jerseys
We do sometimes hold open days where you can rifle through ex pro cycling kit like our collections of rare and vintage jerseys like the things you see here. Among the finds coming in all the time are things like a Rory Sutherland signed Lombardia race jersey or jerseys from teams that haven’t existed for a long time so are especially exciting to cycling fans.
3 A very special bike
Dave’s first bike, his Kona CinderCone 1990 as pictured in this 31-year-old photo of him in the 1992 British Natonals is now out of his dad’s shed in the UK and Dave is lovingly restoring it in Girona. From polishing the worn vintage saddle to replacing the pedals, he has a job on his hands to give it back decent movement!
4 Spare parts for bike restorers
Dave is a bike restoration enthusiast so part of the warehouse doubles as a workshop with all the oil and cleaning bits and bobs you’d expect, most of it for sale.
But there are also random spare parts from bikes that aren’t made or sold anymore so, if you’re restoring a vintage bike and need a part, get in touch and we might have it.
5 Speed play pedals
If you’re a bike fitter, you’ll recognise these “weird things no-one would know what they are” tools. They’re speed plate pedals which are even difficult to find online – unless you’re shopping with Pro Cycling Outlet, of course.
They’re adjustable so allow you to adjust the width of pedal to the optimal length so you can get the spindle length you need.
6 Inflatable trousers
They might look like something out of Wallace & Gromit, or an astronaut’s wardrobe but inflatable trousers are somethig pro cyclists use for recovery. Technically they’re more like great big Christmas stockings than trousers as there's one for each leg which you inflate with the accompanying electric pump and which then pulse and put pressure on the muscles to force out lactic acid.
Yes, in case you’re wondering, they look ridiculous.
7 Bidons
Bidons (pronounced bidd-onz not bide-onz) like the Tour de France bottles for the yellow jersey wearers are highly collectible because each race, each year and each team has different ones. They’re really dofficult to find so, again, if you’re looking for a specific race, year, team or logo, Dave hoards them like a squirrel does nuts, so get in touch and he might part with a couple.
