onehundredthidiot – Member
It’s interesting in that the facilities could be good but aren’t. Wrong place facing the wrong direction and too far from the carpark. Not nearly enough parking I had to put my frame in my mates car but if i’d been there on me own i’d have just headed home or to teh Traquair Arms for scran and a pint. Think this will be gotten used to.

I’ve seen a few comments about the parking. How is the new parking any further away from the new cafe than say the bottom car park was from the hub? 😕

Unless you managed to get parked right next to the hub, your car was never in view so I find this a strange gripe about the new place.

Unless people are just looking for any excuse to moan about the new facilities.

I know it’s a radical concept, but you could just take your bike to the cafe and leave it on one of the racks, which will be in your full view while inside the place.

First visit today. Opinion = Meh. They need to learn to clear the bloody tables.

edit

Also, why the hell are the two bottom car parks closed?

Originally I assumed the bottom car park was closed to drive folk towards the new facilities. The one at the old hub must be closed while they dismantle the hub and other bits that aren’t staying. Long term though they have to open them again.

The point about lack of parking in view is bollox – your car would not be in view at the old hub most of the time.

If the old hub had had the number of people in it that the new cafe had on friday there would have been no indoor seats left and a queue out of the door

tandemjeremy

go back to school and learn to read the post it says ‘out of view next to the trees. good cover for thieves….
yes the lower hub car park was out of sight but was in the open and could be seen by you our your mates or if you were stupid enough to leave bikes on the roof… we didnt at the hub or the new car park ! ❗

however the car parking is shite for the amount of money spent

it could have been sooooo much better,, but it isnt..

and yes i do agree the new facility is bigger more seating and potential for even more woohoo,still no atmosphere or smiley staff.. 🙂

tandemjeremy

go back to school and learn to read the post it says ‘out of view next to the trees. good cover for thieves….
yes the lower hub car park was out of sight but was in the open and could be seen by you our your mates or if you were stupid enough to leave bikes on the roof… we didnt at the hub or the new car park ! ❗

however the car parking is shite for the amount of money spent

it could have been sooooo much better,, but it isnt..

and yes i do agree the new facility is bigger more seating and potential for even more woohoo,still no atmosphere or smiley staff.. 🙂

We visited the new cafe today for the first time, really sad to see the old one boarded up.

Like many above, we thought it was soulless, sterile, more pitched at coach-parties of golfers. The staff were polite rather than friendly, (one delightful girl gave me the old ‘service with a snarl’ when she slammed the plate down in front of me). Understaffed, big slow-moving queues and finding a clear table was a challenge. The food was average and the coffee was rubbish.

Disappointed too that none of the old Hub staff seem to have given jobs there (maybe they were offered?) as it puts them out of a job. No matter how busy it was, I can’t recall any of the Hub staff making me feel like I was inconveniencing them by ordering their simple and excellent food. AFAIK, they were all cyclists too.

End of an era, them were the days etc.

Incidentally, much has been made of the ‘green’ credentials of the new centre being built of Glentress wood. What does not get mentioned is that all of that wood was transported to Aberdeenshire to be planked and driven back for building. I’d be amazed if there wasn’t a suitable facility for planking in the Borders somewhere…

and what’s that Osprey’s nest all about? Does anyone really imagine…

Calm the beans, its only a cafe for fux ake.
It was fine when I was there.

Tried the new place on Wednesday, service was ok, food nothing special and the place felt pretty lifeless. That said, I never rated the food at the hub and found the service much the same. So, I’ve maintained my overall view that I go to ride my bike, and I’ll use the cafe there if needed.

I always take my own food when I ride places, with so many different foods to choose from, why take the chance that it will be crap ❓

In this day and age we simply need to make the most of what ever resources we have and get on with it, if you don’t like the place just avoid it and make the most of your saddle time ❗

What are the tracks like any damage to them or tree’s down? anyhing to watch out for when you’re there ❓

What I don’t understand are the wooden inlays across the roads. With a sign next to them warning that they’re slippy.

Well duh, wood gets slippy when it wet, so why put **** wooden inlays into the road? Completely and utterly pointless.

IMO, they’ve spend a lot of money for some nice-ish buildings, which look rather large from the outside, but once inside didn’t have much in the way of actual ‘facilities’.

Cafe looked ‘meh’, didn’t bother looking at the bike shop. Gents toilet cubicle in the Cafe doesn’t lock. I’m wonder where all the £££ has gone TBH

I was in earlier today, service was quick and pleasant. They seemed to struggle with clearing the tables. Burger and chips was OK. Noticed there doesn’t appear to be a proper coffee machine.

biped – Member

Disappointed too that none of the old Hub staff seem to have given jobs there (maybe they were offered?) as it puts them out of a job.

Hub was still trading after Peel cafe opened remember.

Any good trails at Glentress?

It does smell of shite, I’m guessing the septic tank is behind the bike shop somewhere as it was strongest over there.

The car parking is inadequate if they don’t reopen the car park at the old hub.

The staff were slow in the cafe, but I guess this will improve with time, AFAIK the staff in the hub cafe were mostly part time youngsters, doing the serving so don’t thing their non re-employment is a great tragedy. Quite a few of the old bike shop staff have transferred over I think.

Coffee was minging first time I visited but was ok the other day.

They don’t let dogs inside, do dogs bring a more highly toxic type of mud in with them? Unless I let my dog up onto the work surfaces in the kitchen I don’t see how he can be a health hazard! never had a problem with that at the hub.

That pond looks like midge heaven,in the late summer you won’t be able to sit outside in the afternoon which is a bit rubbish.

I think it could have been far better laid out than it is and would have expected far more for £9M. I miss the atmosphere of the old Hub and was sorry to see it go, I realise that progress is inevitable and mibby the new place will develop its own ‘vibe’ over time, here’s hoping.

At least now it’s finished they may start spending on the trails instead…

Spaceman. I am allergic to dogs same as some people are allergic to nuts :- 😕

and I’m allergic to children but they let loads of them in 🙁

There’s just no pleasing some people is there. Moan moan moan

The facilities are just fine but there is limited carparking to abandon my Audi over two spaces.

In the old cafe. I can’t remember trying to find a seat indoors (virtually impossible). If I sat outside in the elements I might just see my car parked in the small carpark (if I could find a space there).

See a theme?

As for leaving my bike on the roof. Do you know how easy bikes on thule racks are to steal? You don’t need a key.

Where did the £9M come from? Proper public coffers?

The quality of the coffee is crap and for that reason I’m out…

Are you breguding 9m spent on something worthwhile instead of 1k a week to keep some large families in accomodation in London?

Where did the £9M come from? Proper public coffers?
A mix of funding, including disposal of other assets I’d imagine. Would love to see a full breakdown of costs right from the purchase of the original site to the doors opening, that way we could see how the budget jumped from £5m to £9m and see how much was paid for neighbouring properties / land (and why).

Are you breguding 9m spent on something worthwhile instead of 1k a week to keep some large families in accomodation in London?
It’s amazing how you’ve been able to overdeliver as a dafty year after year. Chapeau.

I can forgive all of the above, and hope that it will improve, but somebody will be going straight to hell for buying that coffee machine.

The simple thing I totally fail to understand is this…
With the view available over the road towards the castle and the hills beyond (same view you stop and drink in on the way up the blue route)

Why, Why, oh why did they plonk the new facilities in the gutter beside the road ???? Then point it looking IN toward the hillside ?
All your looking at is mud ! 🙁

Surely it would be better on top of the bare hill (currently open scrub land) at the same height as the shower block !

wasted opportunity, and very very poorly executed project IMHO.

Any good trails at Glentress?

Good lord man nobody here actually rides bikes…

Don’t forget this facility would probably more suit partners/kids/walkers waiting for cyclists prob abit more.

It was busy today with a bit of a queue. Not too long a wait. The problem seems to be the fact they’re taking too many orders at once. The girl on the till took 4 or 5 orders then the other staff struggle to put them together. The soup was excellent though.

Very busy today on the trails , Also good to see them opening the bottom car park as well.

I remember chatting to Chris Ball on one of his dirtschool days about the parking a few years back, and I remember him saying that the new development would have a total of about 2 extra spaces over the existing place… any more and the FC would have to put in a roundabout at the entrance. Might be wrong but, sure someone at the FC could answer that one.

And yeah the cafe needs to sort out the queues, but they will get it sorted eventually.

THIS THREAD NEEDS MORE CAPITAL LETTERS.

Why don’t you go ride your bike there, then go home, have a sandwich, wash all the body armour you might have been wearing and not worry about the cafe and moan about it online.

Following on from my last comment. Most times I’ve ridden there I’ve finished ride, packed up, gone for a piss then driven back to Edinburgh to stay with friends. Same with everywhere.

Replace Edinburgh with ‘pub’.

Visitors centres are for family NOT riders IMO.

Visitors centres are for family NOT riders IMO.

😆

Been said millions of times no doubt but £9M WTF was fine before.

/THREAD CLOSED/

I have been in the new cafe a number of times and have no issues with the staff or the service. On every occasion they have been friendly and efficient. The increased interior space is a definite bonus. The bike shop is much-of-a-muchness.

With regard to carparking. I think that the new carpark is OK, and there are clearly plans to expand uphill. If you look closely, you’ll see that the landscaping has already been done. There are toilets and showers on site, and that is progress. One cubicle for the men did raise an eyebrow, and I fully agree with the comments that many users travel quite long distance to use the centre, and may well arrive ‘in need’…

My main issue is with the orientation of the new building, and the lack of an outside seating area with a view and direct sunlight. It is almost like the new building has been concealed from public view, while the FC offices on the hill dominate the hillside. One of the strengths of the old place was the ability to watch the comings and goings of friends and others, whilst bathing in the glorious and frequent Scottish sunlight. Staring at mud bank does not do it for me.

To be fair the bike shop were very helpful today. Arrived with my ten year old daughter to find she had a nearly completely seized bottom bracket (apparently it had been hard to pedal and had been making a funny noise while riding about the street but she hadn’t thought to mention it!) They swapped it for a reasonably priced new one while we waited, good friendly service.