So, made a secret shopper visit over the weekend. In no particular order…

+ friendly staff

+ comfortable(ish)

+ clean, tidy, warm etc

+ Coffee/tea was good. A cheaper filter coffee, or bottomless cup option would be nice. Wasn’t luck enough to sample the beer.

– nowhere to deposit tea bags. does that make sense?

+ food lovely, though dishes were a bit of a pain to eat from.

– THE DOOR, you know the score.

– decor is bland, dull and totally uninspiring. Sticking a few bikes on the wall isn’t going to solve this. It really needs a branding/character injection. It could also really do with some soft features. Everything is hard, peoples ears are going to bleed when its full of people talking/shouting etc. One idea I had was to ask all the LBS for their old parts and cover the walls in old bit, ie have a whole wall of sprockets.

– blokes toilet window needs a blind. If there are people in the courtyard, it would be far to “public”.

idea – Bike hooks in the courtyard, to hang bikes from + something to lock to. As close to the back of the courtyard would be sensible, less likely to get “inspection” from people passing by.

idea – tool kit / pump etc on deposit from the bar.

idea – hose to wash bike, maybe a step too far.

General point – bikers (and all sorts of punters) get up early and want breakfast and coffee. Open earlier, esp at the weekend, and offer some breakfast options.

Last but by no means least, if you want bikers you really really need CAKE!!

You could look at the magazine publishers in Bath and see whether any of them have any cycling-related titles? Just a thought 😉 See what you could come up with to appeal / get something bike-related from them. If they exist of coure.

Hey Urbanhiker, thanks for the visit, the feedback is very much appreciated. it’s been a monstrous job to get it done, and there’s plenty to do still over the next few weeks.

Glad you liked the staff and atmosphere, and regarding the negatives you picked up on…

-Enamel saucers en route for the tea/coffee/bags
-we are looking into expanding the crockery/plates that we have already
-The door-fixed already (I know, sorry.. :oops:)
-blokes toilet window is being sorted ASAP.
-regarding the lack of colour/blandness in the decor-all the art prints/wall decorations were stuck in customs (which came from the US), should be delivered in a few days, and will rightly add a vital splurge of colour & warmth to the rooms which were pretty cold/harsh.

Genuinely chuffed a singletracker would take the effort to pop in and come back to us with good quality feedback & advice, so thanks again.

Regarding your suggestions:

We are looking into getting early brunch/breakfast & cake offerings over the next few weeks (it’s been a phased food opening to keep theings manageable) and the addition of cyclist specific stands/locks/tools/advertising is also in the works.

Hopefully these things should tempt you (and others) back. 😀