A CITY centre shop will become home to potentially the UK’s largest stockist of ex-demo and refurbished triathlon bikes.

Drew Mitchell is launching Triathlon Bikes on Saturday, February 22 at 17 Walmgate, which will sell big triathlon brand names including Cervelo, Specialized, Trek, BMC and Planet X. The retailer will also sell apparel and nutrition, and offer coffees and homemade cakes catering for coeliacs and dairy allergies.

Drew, an ironman and British Triathlon coach, said the business came about by chance.
“I was getting back into triathlons and buying myself a few bikes and selling them on. There was a disparity between the price I was paying for them, and what people were prepared to pay afterwards. But they might only have been used for a few events a year.”

Drew, 39, who employs two bike mechanics, said: “Our refurbished triathlon bikes have proven to be extremely popular since we launched Triathlon Bikes last year. We’ve been exporting bikes all over the world, including Japan, South East Asia, South America and all across Europe.

"We’ve had customers travelling from all corners of the UK to visit our current out-of-town showroom and feel this move is going to offer our customers something different and make our services far more accessible. I probably get 20 inquiries a day from around the world about what bikes we have. We sold over 30 bikes in January and it is growing in popularity.”

Elliot Newby, of Barry Crux & Company, completed the letting on behalf of the building owner, York Conservation Trust.

He said: “Despite difficult trading conditions for many retailers, we continue to receive good levels of inquiries for retail units at the affordable end of the spectrum. We currently have multiple deals in the pipeline for shops on Walmgate, which appears to be leaning on the success of Fossgate in recent years, coupled with the new student and hotel developments on Walmgate and the proposed Castle-Gateway scheme.”

Drew and his wife Carla also own wedding venue Deighton Lodge where Carla, a qualified instructor, holds yoga retreats.