Café du Cycliste Opens Flagship London Store

Popular French cycling brand Café du Cycliste has just opened its first ever store outside its home city of the Côte d’Azur, in London’s Artillery Lane, E1.

Since launching in 2009, Café du Cycliste has established itself as one of a very few specialist cycling brands able to effortlessly combine both high style and serious performance. The wide-ranging collections, for both men and women, combine cutting-edge technical fabrics, performance features and modern Gallic flair.

The spirit of the brand comes from the founders’ shared love of riding, and its aesthetic combines inspiration from both inside and outside the sport. Indeed, Co-founder and Creative Director Remi Clermont has a background in world competition level kayaking. This focus on outdoors lifestyle focus is evident within the brand, which combines influences from France’s rich cycling history with a more unexpected outdoors aesthetic.

The opening of this new London store reflects the brand’s recent success. At the forefront of the ‘new wave’ of contemporary cycling brands, Café du Cycliste has enjoyed rapid growth worldwide and the strength of the brand in the UK made London the natural choice for expansion.

However, the London store will be quite different from it’s predecessor and will not attempt to recreate the set-up of the Nice location, which boasts a café, premium bike hire and direct access from the waterfront to some of the most stunning road routes in Europe.

Instead, the London store will actively set out to inspire customers to plan a visit to the South of France. The brand’s Provençal roots are evident throughout the design of the store, meaning that it does not feel like a traditional cycling shop, despite the occasional suspended mannequin in riding position. The feel will be closer to a high- end clothing store that just happens to sell cycling apparel, in line with the brand’s general approach.

There are many collections within the brand, including a city riding collection that is perfect for the coming winter months. This range focuses on transitional clothing (none of that lovely skin tight lycra) that will work both on and off the bike, the ideal gear for cycling commuters. Perhaps one to add to your Christmas list this year!