Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Back to news
news
Bike shop closed? visit on Google Maps!Sigma Sport on Google Maps

Bike shop closed? visit on Google Maps!

Sigma Sport in Kingston one of the first bike shops to take advantage of Google's Business Photos service...
by dave atkinson
Thu, Dec 27, 2012 09:17
12

Want to have a look round a bike shop without even leaving the house? Google's Business Photos service is effectively Street View for stores, and Sigma Sport in Kingston is one of the first bike shops in the UK to take advantage of the new technology to let you have a look round their store any time. You can even go upstairs.

Business Photos has been available for a couple of months. Google don't take the photos themselves; you'll need to find yourself one of Google's 'trusted photographers' if you want your business shot with one of the special 360° cameras. According to Bikebiz this can cost as little as £250 for a small store, so we'd expect to see more bike shops taking advantage over the coming months. Thomas's Cycle Revolution in Ipswich is another store that's been an early adopter

Okay you won't be able to browse the shelves to see if they've got a particular kind of brake block in stock – it's only a static photo, after all – but it could be useful to give you an idea of the sort of bikes and products a store sells, or for scoping out shops in another area if you're visiting. You can access the inside view from a shop's Google+ page or by virtually walking in from Street View; a double direction arrow is the indicator to look for that there's a shop you can look inside.

 

Google Street View
Sigma Sport
Dave Atkinson

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

Add new comment

12 comments

Avatar
Vinerman | 11 years ago
0 likes

does road cc had to claim sigma is the first place!! its annoying, really is.

Avatar
dave atkinson replied to Vinerman | 11 years ago
0 likes
Vinerman wrote:

does road cc had to claim sigma is the first place!! its annoying, really is.

we didn't, we said it was one of the first.

Avatar
360Blackpool | 11 years ago
0 likes

Here is a Bike Shop I did a Google tour for in Blackpool
The Bike Shop, Blackpool

http://goo.gl/maps/AFMsl

Any Bike shops in Lancashire want a similar tour please let me know.

http://www.360Lancashire.com

Avatar
bike_food | 11 years ago
0 likes

I think this is ace. All of the bike shops round my way are pretty crud especially when it comes to clothing. If you are lucky they stock 1 premium brand and have a few items in some sizes but most of the time this is lacking so I order stuff online and run the gauntlet of guessing the correct size. I'm heading into London in a few weeks time near Sigma sport and will make a detour now I've seen this.

Avatar
Felix | 11 years ago
0 likes

Not that impressed really as would be quicker going through their website to find what kit they have and if it's in stock in your spec etc. Static image would give the flavour/character of the shop just as well. If I was a shop owner I would save my dosh for something else. We are some way off tying all this together to click on say jerseys and get list of stock options and availability.

Avatar
vw_mtbiker | 11 years ago
0 likes

All of the Edinburgh Bicycle Coop stores have had this for ages!

Avatar
Littlesox | 11 years ago
0 likes

Call me a Luddite, but why would you want to look round a bike shop without leaving the house ?

I'm going to Tweeks Cycles today to spend some X-mas money, but I will be there for some time looking at stuff that I can't afford/don't need/don't have room for etc etc

I'll cycle there and back, and from start to finish, the whole experience will probably last most of the daylight hours today, but I will enjoy every moment of it (especially drooling over expensive bikes).

Avatar
Abbie | 11 years ago
0 likes

Watch out google are on there way to taking over the world

Avatar
Nick T | 11 years ago
0 likes

Love that place, although my wallet doesn't, great range of stock.

Avatar
Monkey_boy | 11 years ago
0 likes

Cult Racing Cycles (http://www.cultracing.com/) near Solihull have got this on their site now.

Avatar
dave atkinson | 11 years ago
0 likes

anyone else's bike shop on it? let us know!

Avatar
mikeprytherch | 11 years ago
0 likes

Chevin Cycles in Otley have had this for ages, you guys are so behind the times 1

Latest Comments