Oldest bike shop in city closes, blaming landlord and industry for decision; Brennan reveals coeliac disease prevented him drinking on Sunday’s podium + more on the live blog
First Published: Mar 3, 2026
SUMMARY
Oldest bike shop in city that powered a Tour de France rider closes, blaming landlord and industry for decision
It’s not easy to find much positivity about the bike industry. In fact I remember during one of my first shifts ringing up a bike shop in York that blamed the internet and online retailers for its demise after 45 years.
Sadly we start this morning with a similar case study. Jardine Cycles, after 40 years of trading as an independent business in Coventry, is to close later this spring. Writing on their website and Facebook, owner Terry Coombes said that “It is with great sadness that due to landlord, industry and on-going health issues I have decided to close the shop after 40 years of trading.
“I am extremely proud of what we as a family, mum Joyce, dad Alan, brother Paul, wife Fiona and myself have achieved during this time. I would like to thank all our customers, past and present for your support over the years. We wouldn’t have made it this long without you and hope we have put smiles on lots of faces.
“I personally wish to thank Conrad, my wingman, who has worked beside me from when I took over the business from my brother 11 years ago. He too, is looking forward to new adventures and I wish him every success for the future.”
Movingly, the closure announcement has created a swell of goodwill and fond memories being shared online, many with photos of their loved ones riding their new bikes, including the father of NSN Cycling sprinter Jake Stewart.
“So sad to hear.” Paul Stewart wrote. “Bought [Jake’s] first bike from your brother Paul and it started him off on the journey of a lifetime, living the dream, representing GB at the world road champs, Flanders, Paris Roubaix and all 3 grand tours. Bikes are a bit fancier now but this was perfect for an energetic 2 year old and it’s local bike shops like yours that make these dreams possible. All the very best for whatever the future holds 
“
“So sorry to hear this. I’ve bought three bikes from Jardine over the years,” Paul Marzetti-Goldman wrote. “Many happy memories and always the best customer service ever.”
“Sad and absolutely gutted does not come close. “why am I getting emotional over a cycle shop closing?” I know why. We bought our kids their first bikes here. I remember we didn’t have a lot of money and there were cheaper bicycle shops but the service and, more importantly, the after service from yourself Paul and your father was second to none. We spent extra for that service and to put money into the hands of local people who knew the community.” Mark Roberts added.
A closing down sale has begun and will run until the shop closes at the end of May. The workshop shop will also remain open for repairs and services for much of that time. As much as the closure hurts, there is really something quite moving about the outpouring of affection.
Pro cyclist disqualified for "illegal brake levers" after 60km solo win, but team insists handlebars were bent in crash
This is a rather bizarre story, cooked up in the name of ‘rider safety’. Strongly recommend you leave this page to read it, however briefly:
Latest aero technique for a sportive?
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I’ll admit, this is a nice idea. But surely if the ‘dynamic bib’ is hidden from the commissaire that just creates another world of problems?
Sean Yates reveals latest heart procedure
Warning: this entry contains a post-surgery photo shared by Sean Yates.
Sean Yates’ biography was one of the first (and better) cycling biographies I read. One of the things that sticks out in memory was the chapter given over almost entirely to his heart problems, and the various tribulations it has caused the British trailblazer. You can’t help but think that had many medical advancements been made during his career, his results sheet might be substantially shorter The former maillot jaune is therefore no stranger to these sorts of medical situations but nevertheless, seeing the 65-year old on a hospital bed isn’t an easy thing.
Writing on Instagram Yates, who got married over the festive period and lives in Spain, said the latest surgery was “Not my first choice for an activity but sometimes these need to get done. Now is time to look forward to the road to recovery. Vamos.”
View this post on Instagram
Heal up Sean!
"That would be season over for me": Brennan reveals coeliac disease prevents him drinking on podiums (or anywhere else)
One detail missed in yesterday’s fall-out of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne was Matty Brennan’s post-stage interview explaining why he didn’t join Luca Mozzato and Matteo Trentin in their post-stage drinking celebrations on the podium.
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Served a large glass of Kwaremont, the Darlington dasher (if such a nickname can be made to stick applies) could only watch as the veteran Italians each enjoyed the Flemish delicacy. And, Brennan has explained why:
“I’m not boring,” Brennan told Cycling Pro Net. “I’m a coeliac so I cannot have gluten. And if I had that, then that would be season over for me. Which, yeah, it’s a shame, because it’s always part of the moment. But unfortunately, I’d like to try and win some more bike races this year.”
You would’ve thought that, given his dietary requirements would be known by the team, the race organisers could’ve been asked to provide a gluten-free alternative, instead of leaving the Brit standing there slightly awkwardly, having to explain he’s not a kill-joy. But props to Brennan for explaining his condition, hopefully future races will be more accommodating given the career trajectory the 20-year-old is on…
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The CUES story seems a very odd one. It seems to have been years since it was announced yet bikes are still being sold mostly with the groupsets it was meant to replace (and it can't all be overstock, surely?). I haven't followed it closely but it also seemed quite confusing about what it actually was - one groupset but with 8, 9 and 10 speed options... surely that's three groupsets, even if you put the same name on them? And for those who do believe it's all the same, why then buy a £1200-£1500 bike if it has the same groupset (or at least the same groupset name) as one half the price. As I say, I haven't followed it closely so may have missed the point - but good marketing and communication is partly about ensuring that your core message gets through to people who aren't paying much attention for much of the time (which is surely a lot of us, a lot of the time).
Whatever the reasoning, this is good news. The problem with CUES, for me, was the gearing ratios. 11-13-15-17-20-23-26-30-34-39-45T is fine on a 1x Gravel type set-up, but for a road bike it leaves some pretty big gaps. How often would you need a gear as low as 34x45 on a road bike? I'd much rather have 11-32/11-34/11-36 options with less jumps. Maybe I'm just more traditional, as my current old 10spd Tiagra/Ultegra set-up has a 12-28 cassette and I'm used to the smaller gaps.
Apart from all the other faults with this product noted by other posters, I don't really buy the "easily transferable between bikes" line either; not only will most people have different shoes to go with different pedal set ups (SPD-SL for road, SPD for gravel/MTB) and different ride types, they also often have (I hope it's not just me) different shoes for the same bike depending on conditions. I have my "best" road shoes that only come out in the summer when the forecast and the roads are dry, if it's raining or muddy an older, more tatty pair come out. For me, this product would have to be constantly swapped between different shoes or just stay on one pair that I only use for maybe 25% of my rides, so that supposed advantage pretty much disappears.
Wouldn't a police officer issuing a ticket for a non-existent offence be grounds for more than a slap on a wrist at a job appraisal?
My suggestion is to use a dry-wipe marker. When the owner finds it and then eventually wipes it off easily, hopefully they might realise how much worse it could have been with a permanent one.
Doing some tooth counting based on the image above, the 11-36 cassette is composed of: 11-13-15-17-19-21-23-25-28-32-36. I would have preferred 11-12-14-16-18-20-22-25-28-32-36 (because the 21-23 is unnecessarily tight and the 11-13 too big), but I guess we can't have everything perfect. Shimano tends to choose cog sizes based on how well they can align all of the shift ramps and gates to make mechanically smooth shifting rather than to minimize cadence jumps.
This is exactly my question. The derailleur geometry looks similar to other road 11-speed options, so I'm hoping that's the case.
CUES doesn't seem attractive to anyone who even vaguely considers themselves interested in their performance, not least cos it's a terrible name, so perhaps a Tiagra revamp is a tacit admission of that. That still leaves a huge market of people who just want a bike that works, and the CUES promise of long-life components is very relevant in the era of ebikes, so probably going too far to say CUES has failed.
Give Way lines should be on the left of the cycle lane as viewed I think, but probably the people marking out the lines in Gt Yarmouth have little experience of cycle lanes.
Is the cable pull compatible with other Shimano 11spd? 4700 wasn't compatible with other 10spd.