With indoor sporting centres closed and people wanting to avoid public transport, now is a great time to hop on your bike, but maybe with a stop by your local bike shop first.
Based on NSW Health advice, bike riding outside is still ok. Yet we recommend doing so alone, unless it’s with other people in your household, to stop the possible spread of COVID-19.
We recently caught up with Sydney bike store, Omafiets so see how they’re doing through this challenging time.
“We’re partially open at the moment. You can still drop a bike off for service and you can still buy a bike and accessories, but we’re not open for browsing,” explained Ollie from Omafiets.
“It’s like an old fashioned grocery store. You come to the desk and we collect the items you need so you don’t need to browse.”
Previously customers would bring their bike into the Omafiets workshop and their mechanics would explain in person what needed to be done.
“That’s not an option at the moment. So now, bikes are left at the shop front in special racking. The bike is then sanitised before coming into the workshop. Our mechanics will call the customers and explain the work that needs to be done before proceeding. Each bike is sanitised again before being collected by the customer.”
“We’ve had a lot of people who bring in a bike that might have been sitting in their garage for a while, who want to get back on. If you’re thinking about riding a bike again, we recommend dropping in for a quick checkup to make sure it’s safe. Be sure to give us a call first.”
Bike stores across NSW are changing the ways they work to help stop the spread of COVID-19. We recommend giving your local bike store a call to check their procedures before heading in.
In these current times, we recommend making sure you have supplies to get you through a month or two of riding. This does not mean hoarding, but buying a spare tyre tube or some chain oil in sensible amounts, in case shops need to close.
