The pop­u­lar­ity of bicy­cling as a way of com­mut­ing and also the whole cul­ture around the sport has been ris­ing enor­mously dur­ing the last five years or so. It seems, sadly, that pub­lic decision-makers and city boards in many cities (with some excep­tions like Copen­hagen and Paris) are not respond­ing to this change as rapidly as they should, and the grow­ing need of essen­tial improve­ments like addi­tional cycle lanes and park­ing spaces is not taken seri­ously enough. Quite on the con­trary, pri­vate busi­nesses and inde­pen­dent entre­pre­neurs around Europe have stepped up on many lev­els to offer new ser­vices and prod­ucts for the urban riders.

Look mum no hands!, a com­bi­na­tion space of theme cafe, bar and bike work­shop in Lon­don, is a great exam­ple of the kind of new ser­vice not prob­a­bly fea­si­ble until recently. This nicely reshaped ex garage space offers a con­ve­nient pit stop for the city’s cyclists where it’s really easy to take your bike inside, relax and have a Square Mile espresso while get­ting flat tires fixed. You can also enjoy locally pro­duced sal­ads, pies and cakes and pop some Bel­gian micro­brews as the Tour and other cycle races play on the big screen.

We had a quick chat with Lewin Chalk­ley of Look mum no hands! to find out a bit more about this beloved new space.

© Look mum no hands

Mash­mar­ket: Please explain the con­cept of the cafe in a nutshell?

Lewin Chalk­ley: We are a bike cafe that has a work­shop. We sell beer and we also show most cycle­sport on our big screen.

We make food in the morn­ing — lots of sal­ads and daily spe­cials, we sell cof­fee to our reg­u­lar cus­tomers then at lunch we sell food. In the after­noon we sell more cof­fee and also cake. In the evening we drink and sell beer! We sleep.

© Look mum no hands

MM: What have been the best responses you’ve had from your cus­tomers since you opened?

LC: Peo­ple seem to really like us. Peo­ple say great things to us, on twit­ter and via email. Peo­ple seem to want us to suc­ceed. So far it’s working.

© Look mum no hands

We’re pop­u­lar for book and cycle prod­uct launches, we have monthly cycle jum­ble, we have peo­ple who come here to play records, we’re host­ing the great Brownie bake off com­pe­ti­tion details here:

http://www.thechocolateconsultantblog.info/
http://thegreatbrowniebakeoff.eventbrite.com/
http://schmap.it/pvjh90

MM: How is the cycling cul­ture in Lon­don in general?

LC: Lots more peo­ple are cycling. It’s a really good thing.  Lots of peo­ple got into cycling through fash­ion over the last few years but they’re totally into it now and mov­ing into other forms of cycling like rac­ing.  I would like more peo­ple to stop at red lights.

© Akira Chatani

MM: Any­thing else you’d like to share with our readers?

LC: Come and say hello! We’ll be sell­ing our caps online soon so the whole world can order one!

MM: Thanks for your time Lewin and good luck with the cafe!

© Look mum no hands

www.lookmumnohands.com

Pho­tos from Look mum no hands! & Akira Chatani @ flickr.