The Sheffield branch of shop chain Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op has gone dotty for the Tour de France.

The Steel City hosts the finish of the second stage of the Tour on July 6, after the race meanders through the Pennines, climbing Cragg Vale and Holme Moss before finishing a couple of kilometres town centre.


Edinburgh Bicycle Sheffield gets a polka-dot makeover for the Tour

It’s a stage with enough hills that whoever wears the polka-dot King of the Mountains jersey is likely to have earned it, so Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op’s Sheffield shop has come over all spotty and been decorated with a giant mural of the iconic red-on-white pattern.

The staff in the Leeds and Sheffield shops have been issued with bright new yellow uniforms, which should make it easy to spot them, with ‘Le Edimbourg Bicyclette’ on the front and ‘domestique’ on the back. And if that’s not enough, check out the berets. Strings of onions are apparently not going to figure in the new look, though.


Tour-winning derailleurs since 1947 – a cabinet of curiosities for real gear freaks

Tech fans will want to pop into either shop to take a look at the collection of derailleurs through the years that both will have on display. Highlights include a Campagnolo Nuovo Record derailleur, as used by Eddy Merckx over four consecutive Tour victories (1969 to 1972) and the Mavic 851 SSC mech, with which Greg Lemond achieved his extraordinary victory in 1989 by the narrowest margin – just 8 seconds.