by amie.huiam.net | Jan 10, 2022 | Cycling advice & tips
‘New Year, new me’. We’ve all said it, but how many of us are able to make sustained changes to our lives as we turn our calendars to a new year?
The start of January can sometimes feel overwhelming, with the pressure to set resolutions or make dramatic changes to our lives, but it doesn’t need to be this way. If you’re ready to lead a happier and healthier life in 2022, our list of 6 reasonable and simple steps will help. Whether you tick off all six or try one or two, we’re confident you’ll notice a positive change!
1. Regular exercise
You probably don’t need us to tell you that exercising has a whole multitude of benefits. It improves your physical health and fitness and the way you think and feel.
If hitting the gym or getting out for a run is your thing, we’re sure you’ve got this one covered. But, if you’re struggling to find time around a busy work life or being a taxi to the little ones, we’re here to help:
– Walk or cycle to school/work instead of the car or public transport
– Organise your kids’ playdates to take place at the park – lots of running (and fun!) guaranteed
– Set your alarm clock half an hour earlier for a quick morning stroll
– Exercise while watching TV, our home trainers are great for this!
– Take the stairs instead of the lift
– Get moving in your lunch hour or suggest a walking meeting with a colleague
– Meet with friends for a walk or fitness class rather than coffee or dinner
– Park further away than you need to. You’ll thank us later for that extra stroll.
2. Develop healthy sleeping habits
After all that exercise, you might think you’ll be more than ready to sleep. However, a surprising estimate of 4 in 5 Brits get less than the ideal 8 hours of sleep a night! If you’re guilty of cutting short your forty winks, let’s explore some of the reasons you might want to change this.
A good night sleep can:
· Reduce stress
· Improve your mood
· Help you concentrate for longer
· Improve your memory
· Better control your weight
· Keep your heart healthy
· Allow your body to rest and repair
· Benefit your relationships
3. Stay hydrated and eat well
A healthy diet is imperative to feeling good. Try to get your 5 a day (and beyond) and keep your diet well-balanced. This gives your body the nutrients it needs to stay healthy and energised to get you through the day.
As well as eating well, always try to stay hydrated. Drinking plenty of water is a good way to do this, especially while exercising. If you’re out on your bike, attach a bottle cage to its frame to prevent dehydration. This is particularly important in the summer months!
4. Look after your mental health
When thinking about improving your lifestyle, don’t forget your mental health. To establish a happier and healthier life, it’s just as important to look after our minds as it is our bodies.
We suggest a useful place to start is doing something meaningful each day. For example, it might be meaningful for you to call a friend or read a good book. Whatever brings you joy, attempt to find a little more time to introduce it into your day. For us, we love taking the scenic route on a daily bike ride!
Similarly, limit anything that does the opposite of bring joy. For example, overconsumption of the news or your social media feeds might not be the best use of your time. Reducing your screen time, in general, can have a whole host of benefits!
Another great step to take is to practice gratitude for the things we have rather than what we do not. Try writing a quick morning gratitude list to appreciate what is present in your life.
5. Improve your relationships
As human beings, relationships are often an integral part of our day to day lives. Whether with friends, family or colleagues – positive relationships can benefit our lifestyles.
Spending time with loved ones is a fantastic way to feel good. You could even tick off two things on our list and invite them out for some exercise! Bike ride anyone?
6. Get started today!
It’s time to get your healthier lifestyle going and, there’s no time like the present! Why not make just one small change today? Try taking the stairs over the elevator or calling a friend for a catch-up!
Making small changes each day is the best way to persevere with your healthier lifestyle. Don’t overwhelm yourself all at once, and be patient with any setbacks. You’ve got this!
At Cycle King & Hawk Cycles, we like to practice what we preach! That’s why family, mental wellbeing and exercise are such integral parts of our team. We love providing bikes to local families and hearing how they help you create healthier lifestyles!
Share your story! When you’re out and about on your bike, use #CycleKingUK or tag us @CycleKingUK in your Instagram photos.
by amie.huiam.net | Dec 8, 2021 | Cycling advice & tips, Kids bikes
With Christmas quickly approaching, we wanted to share our top tips for gifting your child their first bike. Read on for more information and, remember to check out our amazing range of kids’ bikes here.
1. Keep it a surprise!
They may have seen our latest Christmas advert and be begging for a new, flash cycle. To keep the excitement for the big day, ask neighbours or family and friends to help hide the bike away. If this isn’t possible, keep the bike in a box in a shed or garage if you have one.
2. Christmas club:
Our Christmas Club is another fantastic way to keep their bike a surprise! Reserve a bike today by ordering for Click & Collect and, your local store will call you to handle the rest! We’ll hide your bike in one of our stores until closer to the big day.
Shop our range of kids’ bikes here. Whether you’re buying online or in one of our 23 local stores, you’ll receive the same friendly, expert service we pride ourselves on. We prioritise ensuring that you have total confidence in us and that we’re always here to help.
3. Stocking fillers:
Don’t forget fun stocking fillers such as helmets, clothing and baskets! These are a lot easier to hide and can be selected in a range of colours to meet your child’s Christmas wishes. You can shop stocking fillers from £20 here.
4. Check out our blogs for riding in the dark and winter:
We’re sure they’ll want to rush out on their bike straight away, so ensure you’re prepared for taking your child out in the dark and winter. It’s important that your bikes are well lit, you are wearing protective and bright clothing, and you’re familiar with the route and any complications along the way. You can find more tips for keeping your child safe on their first bike by clicking here.
5. Building their confidence:
Take your child out for several bike rides to build their confidence on their new bike. Ensure they know basic road safety and are in your eye-sight for the whole journey. Always wear a helmet and protective clothing. For our top tips for teaching your child to ride a bike, click here.
by amie.huiam.net | Aug 25, 2021 | Cycling advice & tips
We’re thrilled to announce our brand NEW Spend & Save loyalty scheme.
Spend & Save enables you to earn points with every purchase, whether that be online or in-store, along with many other great benefits. For a limited time only, we are offering double points when you sign up to the loyalty scheme – for every £10 you spend, get £1 worth of free points!
At Cycle King & Hawk Cycles, we’re passionate about getting as many people as possible riding bikes and enjoying cycling. That’s why we are excited to be giving you great rewards and to help your money go further.
This is our way of saying thank you for being such wonderful customers and supporting your local family bike shop Cycle King & Hawk Cycles.
“This is a fantastic step for Cycle King & Hawk Cycles. We’re very grateful to all of our customers who have supported us not only throughout the challenges of the past year but through our long history. Whether that was through buying a bike, getting a service, or just popping in to say ‘hello’. We wanted to give something back and reward our loyal customers with something special. We’re immensely proud of playing our small part in helping to get everyone out and enjoying the time on bikes.”
Group Managing Director, Daren Hunt
You will be able to register online or in-store. Once your Spend & Save points have accumulated, you can redeem your points to pay for some cycling accessories, or even a contribution towards that bike you’ve always dreamt of.
Through signing up to Spend & Save this month, you’ll receive all these great benefits with our fantastic introductory offer:
- – Collect points worth 10p for every £1 you spend in-store or online
- – Exclusive access to future offers & promotions (only accessible through the Spend & Save loyalty scheme)
- – All the latest news and updates on Cycle King & Hawk Cycles
- – Up to two years to redeem your points
So what are you waiting for? Spend, save & ride away.
by amie.huiam.net | Aug 1, 2021 | Cycling advice & tips
As far as family fun goes you really can’t beat a good old fashioned family bike ride! They don’t cost much, the kids love them and it’s great exercise for you and your little ones. That being said there are plenty of things that can trip us up and turn a fun day out into a bit of a nightmare. So we’ve put together this guide to help you make sure your day out on the bikes goes as smoothly as possible.
If you haven’t been riding for a while the first thing you want to make sure is that all of your bikes are ready to roll. There’s not much worse than getting everyone excited for a bike ride only to find out someone has got a flat tyre! Check over everyone’s bikes making sure the tyres are pumped up, the brakes are working well and everything is oiled up and ready to go.
It’s also important that your child’s bikes are the right size for them, luckily we’ve got handy guides on how to choose the right bike to fit your child here and another guide on learning how to fix and maintain your bikes here. If you get stuck, head in to your local Cycle King & Hawk Cycles store and one of our friendly workshop staff will be able to help.
If the bikes are prepared the next step is to get everyone ready. We all know kids can be quick to moan if they’re too hot or too cold so get everyone kitted out in suitable clothing and don’t forget to pack extra layers if it’s cold or a cap for when they’re off the bike if it’s sunny. Sun protection is a must, remember that we don’t get as hot when we’re cycling as the air cools us down so it’s easy to forget that the sun is beating down on our skin. A good sun cream can save a lot of soreness and tears down the line! Finally, check that everyone is happy with their helmets, they should be snug and not move about when they wobble their heads but not so tight that they are uncomfortable.
The final step before you get going is to pack some essentials. We all hope that we won’t get a puncture but it’s better to be safe than sorry, a puncture repair kit and pump will keep you rolling if the worst happens. Secondly, cycling can be thirsty work so make sure you take a long lot of water, either in your backpack or in water bottles on everyone’s bike. Dehydration leads to tiredness and headaches which leads to lots of moaning! Last but not certainly not least is snacks. Cycling takes up a lot of energy, so to keep those little legs turning it’s important you keep everyone fuelled up with some snacks. Oaty cereal bars offer long lasting energy that should keep everyone happy, but it’s never a bad idea to take along some sweets for a quick energy boost or a reward for getting to the top of a hill!
So now you’re ready to go! But remember it’s not just bikes that go rusty… even the most confident peddlers can lose confidence if it’s been a little while since their last ride. Before you set off, take some time to go through the basics of pedalling, braking and changing gear. Once you’ve got these nailed it’s time to set some ground rules. For under 10’s it’s safest to stick to cycle paths, but remind them they still need to ride safely. Let everyone know what to do if they come to a road junction, how far ahead they are allowed to go and the importance of stopping when you say so.
Try to pick a route that’s mainly flat to keep everyone happy, children’s bikes are often relatively heavy so hills that may seem easy for you could be a mini mountain for them! Let them know roughly how long you’ll be cycling for and take lots of breaks for drinks and snacks. Do what you can to get them to pace themselves, kids spending all their energy at the start of the day is a sure fire way to take the fun out of the ride when it gets to the end. Stopping every now and again to look at plants and wildlife is a good way to moderate the pace and let everyone catch their breath.
The most important thing to remember on a family bike ride is to have fun! There’s no right or wrong way to go for a bike ride, whether it’s fast or slow, short or long, if everyone is having a good time enjoying riding their bikes you’ll be making great memories and staying healthy at the same time.
We love to see it when our customers get out riding so remember to take lots of pictures and tag @CyclekingUK if you post them on Instagram. We always share our favourites!
by amie.huiam.net | Jul 1, 2021 | Cycling advice & tips
With the start of summer here (even if we’re waiting for the weather to catch up!) and school holidays on their way, chances are you and the family are planning to get out on your bikes.
Whether you’re beginners or seasoned cyclists, you really can’t beat a day of riding in the sun. It’s a cheap and easy way to keep everyone entertained and get exercise at the same time!
With that in mind there are definitely some pitfalls you’ll want to avoid. To make sure you and your family have a seamless summer of cycling we’ve put together this blog with our best warm weather biking tips.
Stay Hydrated
We all know how important it is to stay hydrated and it’s never more important than when the sun’s out! Cycling can be hard work and you’re even more likely to build up a sweat when the weather is hot, making sure you replace the fluids you lose will mean your stamina is improved and you’re able to cycle for longer.
We’re always surprised by how many people will head out on a bike ride without taking a drink, especially when it’s so cheap and easy to carry a bottle on your bike with our wide range of bottle cages and bottles. adults should drink around half a litre every 90 minutes if possible (the kids will need slightly less) by taking small sips regularly. You want to avoid feeling thirsty as that’s your body’s way of letting you know you haven’t drunk enough, so little and often is the way to go.
Take it easy
Whether you’re fit as a fiddle or just starting out, when it’s hot everyone finds cycling that little bit more difficult. There’s absolutely no shame in taking it easy, it’s not a race! So sit up, go a little bit easier than usual and take in the sights and sounds of nature as you cycle along.
The added benefit to cycling slower is you can spend more effort keeping your eyes peeled for opportunities to stop for ice cream. We’re sure no one in the family will argue about that one!
Slap on the sun cream
This is another one that we all know is important but when it comes to cycling it’s all too easy to forget. The problem is that when you’re cycling along, the passing air cools you down and you don’t feel the heat in the same way you do when sitting in the sun. Try to make sure everyone is adequately covered before you set off on your ride, to ensure you don’t fall into this trap!
We’re also all apparently guilty of not using nearly enough sun cream when we do remember to put it on. The golden rule is to aim for one teaspoon of sun cream per arm & leg, with another teaspoon for your face, ears and neck. The higher the SPF the better, especially for kids.
Protect your eyes
While we’re on the subject of sun safety it’s a good time to remind you not to forget to look after you and your family’s eyes! Making sure everyone is wearing a pair of sunglasses is an easy way to protect everyone from harmful UV rays. They also keep any wayward dirt or bugs out of your eyes while you’re cycling.
Dress for the weather
Now this one may seem a little obvious… We don’t expect you’re going to go cycling in your fluffiest wooly jumper at the height of summer but even a T-shirt can leave you feeling too warm and sweaty. Try to wear a sports style T-shirt instead, they leave you cooler and when you do work up a sweat they are better at wicking it away from your skin. They also take much less time to dry off meaning you’re more comfortable for longer.
If you really want to beat the weather then get yourself a proper cycling jersey, these are specifically designed to keep you as comfortable as possible for your summer trips (and they have pockets on the back to store some mid ride snacks so they’re a win win!)
Ride when it’s coolest
One of our favourite things to do is try and head out early in the morning or later on in the day when it’s a little bit cooler. Yes it might be a struggle getting the kids out of bed but you end up having a much more enjoyable ride when you’re not in the midday sun.
You also get the added benefit that any roads you’re cycling on are likely to be that little bit quieter which is always reassuring if you’re riding with any little ones or riders that are less confident in busy traffic.
by amie.huiam.net | Jun 23, 2021 | Cycling advice & tips
If you’ve been following us on social media you will have seen our Workshop Wednesday posts where each week we share some of our expert mechanics knowledge to help you to learn how to fix your bike.
While we’re always happy to help with any mechanical issues you have, a lot of the common ones are very easily dealt with if you have a little knowhow. For this blog we’ve decided to round up our best pieces of mechanical advice so far into one place so you can start on the journey of learning how to fix and maintain your own bike.
Tyres
- Check your tyres regularly for cuts and use something sharp to dig out any glass or flint – being careful not to make any holes bigger as these can eventually cause punctures!
- Make sure you keep your tyres inflated to the right pressure. If they are too hard you will suffer from poor ride quality, too soft and you are much more likely to get a puncture. Find the pressure that’s right for you and check your tyres regularly. Tyre pressure is measured in pounds per square inch (PSI) and the recommended range is always written on the side of your tyre. We sell a great range of pumps that will help you measure this. You can find them online and in all of our stores.
- If the tread is wearing thin on your tyres you will have less grip on the road and are more likely to get a puncture. If you’ve got off road tyres then you want to replace them when the tread (aka the knobbly bits!) are worn down. Road tyres often have tread wear indicators marked on them (look for TWI marked on the tyre) if you can no longer see the indicator it’s time to replace them.
Chain
- Keep your chain in top condition by cleaning it regularly with a degreaser. Don’t forget to re-lubricate with a good quality oil afterwards, this will keep dirt and grime from building up and keep your bike feeling like new.
- If you haven’t kept on top of your chain maintenance and it’s gone rusty then you can cover the chain with some lubricating spray (we use Weldtite TF2 which you can find here). Wait for 10 minutes then scrub the chain with a wire brush. Finally use a rag to wipe it down. However, if it’s too rusty, we would highly recommend replacing it for your safety. Pop in to your local Cycle King or Hawk Cycles store and our trusty mechanics will be able to help!
Cleaning
- To keep your bike in good working order, make sure you give it a good clean after dirty outings with warm soapy water and a sponge / brush. Don’t be tempted to use a pressure washer or strong hose. The high water pressure can force grit into your bearings and force out all the grease and lube.
Brakes
- If you have rim brakes, use a rag with some isopropyl alcohol to clean any grime and build-up from the braking surface. This will help improve braking performance by giving the pads better grip on the braking surface. You should also use something sharp to remove any slithers of metal or grit from the pads, this will help reduce wear on your rims. It’s important to remember brake pads do have a limited life, you’ll be surprised how much a new set of pads can improve your braking experience. Find them here or in store.
- If you’ve got disc brakes that are squealing then they are probably contaminated with oil. Remove the wheel then wearing rubber gloves, wash the disc rotors with mild soapy water or a disc brake cleaner. You can also try using sandpaper to gently remove contaminants from the brake pads but if the squealing continues you may need to replace them.
Wheels
- Wheels can be very difficult ones to fix, we think it’s something best left to the experts. But it’s still important to know when something isn’t as it should be. Check your wheels regularly for any loose spokes. If you are able to move any spokes without using much force then your wheel is not as strong and safe as it could be.
- Likewise if your rim brakes are rubbing and your wheel is wobbly it might be because your wheels are not running true. Lift up the wheel off the ground and give it a spin. If you can see that it’s moving from side to side then it’s probably untrued. Pop into your local Cycle King & Hawk Cycles store and one of our friendly workshop staff will be able to sort it!
Follow us on social media for more tips!
We share new pieces of advice every Wednesday so be sure to keep checking our social media channels for even more great tips and don’t forget to tag us in your photos #CycleKingUK!
Instagram: @cyclekinguk Facebook: Cycle King & Hawk Cycles Twitter: @cyclekinguk
