{"id":171,"date":"2024-01-11T07:45:37","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T07:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/?p=171"},"modified":"2024-02-29T07:53:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T07:53:32","slug":"westminster-wheels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/11\/westminster-wheels\/","title":{"rendered":"Westminster Wheels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We\u2019ve just had a brilliant and inspiring morning at the legendary bike shop, \u201cWestminster Wheels\u201d. We got the warmest welcome from Project Manager Barny, and it was BUSY!<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cWe have 100 customers on a good day\u201d, he told us. \u201cAlthough it\u2019s not just a bike shop, it\u2019s a community. We have some customers who\u2019ve been coming in for years but they\u2019re not actually customers. They just come in to chat!\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barny spent 26 years at \u201cthe best bike shop in London\u201d, Brixton cycles, before coming over here in March 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re 40 years behind Amsterdam in London\u201d, Barny says. \u201cBut the destination is inevitable \u2026 cities for people rather drivers\u201d. Westminster Wheels runs 6 months training courses to become cycle mechanics- they\u2019re City and Guilds and each mechanic gets paid a London living wage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ve had 50 people come through the doors to train as bike mechanics\u201d says Barny. \u201cI\u2019m so proud of these people – they\u2019ve been a great group of folks. After they\u2019ve finished their training, we help set them up with apprenticeships as mechanics in bike shops if we can.<\/p>\n\n\n

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So many of these people are doing brilliantly in bike shops all over London now\u201d. We met Alejandro today, who\u2019s on the training course. \u201cOut of everything I\u2019ve ever done, this is the thing I\u2019ve loved most\u201d he told us. \u201cIt\u2019s something different every day. There are so many different bikes, and we do stripping, refurbishing and repairs. And it\u2019s so social\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Including Alejandro and Barny, there are 9 bike mechanics in today, and all of them are hard at work. Alejandro lives locally, as do many of the team. They say they can cycle to Oxford Street in 10 minutes from home, and they cycle with friends to football and the gym. They told us of the changes they\u2019d like to see. \u201cI\u2019ve ridden my bike my whole life\u201d says Alejandro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI\u2019d like protected cycle lanes. They\u2019ve got cycle lanes on Park Lane and it\u2019s great, I can relax, I don\u2019t have to worry about cars so much. But there are hardly any cycle lanes on the Edgware Road or in Paddington\u201d. \u201cThey haven\u2019t even got one going down Marylebone Road!\u201d someone else chips in. They all nod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These are men with their whole lives ahead of them, and they want to feel safe. Barny takes us downstairs, which is full of second-hand bikes to sort through. It\u2019s a lot of work, hence the face. Westminster Wheels is certainly a hive of activity, a true community bike shop, just like it says outside. And we can see why people come in for a chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And if you ever hear of a bike shop needing a mechanic for an apprenticeship, tell them to call Barny at Westminster Wheels. Top notch folks are learning here \ud83d\udeb2\ud83d\udeb2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Plus, this gem is hidden in the basement!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We\u2019ve just had a brilliant and inspiring morning at the legendary bike shop, \u201cWestminster Wheels\u201d. We got the warmest welcome from Project Manager Barny, and it was BUSY! \u201cWe have 100 customers on a good day\u201d, he told us. \u201cAlthough it\u2019s not just a bike shop, it\u2019s a community. We have some customers who\u2019ve been … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":187,"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions\/187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freshminster.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}