Cyclist
Pinarello focus: Regent Street, London
The Pinarello store on London’s bustling Regent Street has been serving the capital’s cycling community for a decade, but there’s so much more to it than simply selling bikes. Opening its doors the day after Sir Bradley Wiggins broke the Hour record in June 2015, at the height of Team Sky’s glory days, this store is the Italian bike brand’s global flagship.
And situated right in the heart of London’s major shopping district, it’s not only holding its own, but thriving. Joe Deacon has been manager of the Regent Street store for six of its ten years, so who better to explain exactly what makes it a destination dealership?
All things to everyone
‘The shop really is a window on the world of Pinarello. Because of its location we have tourists coming in, local cyclists coming in to buy bikes… but the key is that we cater for everyone. We get everyone through the doors, from the über-rich to normal people like builders and plumbers who just want their dream bike.
‘Coming here is such a memorable experience that people make big journeys just to buy their bike from us. And going home with a Pinarello carrier bag has become as big a deal among cyclists as it is for daytrippers getting on the train home with a Harrods bag.’
Flagship pedigree
‘As you’d expect from having a store on a such a landmark shopping street, we’ve held some pretty big events over the years. We’ve hosted the Giro d’Italia launch party and we had a great Q&A event after the 2018 Tour of Britain, which finished right outside the shop. Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas, Dave Brailsford… they were all here. We’ll be planning more big events like this in the future, so watch this space.
‘We have Tom Pidcock’s Olympics mountain bike on display now, so that’s pretty cool. We’ve had Geraint wander in, plus other celebs like tennis star Gabriela Sabatini and [fitness coach] Joe Wicks. There are also nods to Pinarello’s storied past all around the shop, like signed jerseys and classic photographs. It’s a reminder of the brand’s heritage, while still very much looking to the future.’
Silver service
‘Whether you walk in looking for a £3,000 bike or a fifteen-grand bike, the experience – and the service you receive – should be the same, and that’s one of the things we pride ourselves on. Obviously geometries differ between models, so we offer a bike-sizing service for every bike we sell, and we’ll change the bar and stem so every customer’s bike is set up to fit them perfectly.
‘We also have a very well-appointed workshop where we do our builds and take on servicing of any brand of bike. Beyond this, we also offer finance on Pinarello purchases, which is becoming a very popular way of buying a dream bike, and work with Cyclescheme.’
Parklife
‘The Regent Street store is more than just a shop, really. It’s a hub for the London cycling community. All the guys in the store ride laps of Regent’s Park before work pretty much every day – that is the mecca for riding in central London. And we have a small core of customers – a kind of unofficial community – who join us. It’s so impressive to see maybe 25 people all doing laps of the Park on Pinarellos. Some of those bikes I remember selling to them ten years ago! They’re still riding them, still bringing them to us for servicing.’
A world of choice
‘The beauty of the Regent Street store is that, rather than just a selection, we stock the entire range of Pinarello bikes. We have everything in the shop, from the £3,000 F1 and X1 in all colours and every spec, all the way through to every standard colour of Dogma. Beyond road bikes, we have gravel bikes, mountain bikes… everything.
‘It’s a cliché, but the London shop really does have something for everyone. It’s a one-stop shop for Pinarello. It’s a flagship in a landmark British location, infused with Italian DNA.’
• Click here to find out more about the Pinarello store on London’s Regent Street
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