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French clothing brand Café du Cycliste setting up shop in London

Store opens in October on Artillery Lane

French cycling clothing brand Café du Cycliste is opening a store in London’s Spitalfields in October.

It will be the first standalone store the business has opened outside its home city of Nice, where it has a shop on the Vieux-Port.

Launched online in 2009, the brand’s clothing is currently available in the UK online and through Mr Porter, Matchesfashion, and via outlets including Torque Bikes in Sudbury, Suffolk and the iconic London bike shop, Condor Cycles.

While its heritage is firmly from the Côte d'Azur, the brand has enjoyed success in the UK, which it says “made London the natural choice for the next stage” of its expansion,

The Nice flagship store includes a café and also hires out bikes from top brands, features that won’t be replicated in London.

However, the company promises that the store “will actively set out to inspire customers to plan a visit to the South of France,” something that will be reflected in the design.

Co-founder and creative director Remi Clermont – a former world class kayaker – said: “My father was really into road cycling, so I grew up in a family watching the Tour de France around 20 years ago when it wasn’t cool – even in France,

“I saw an opportunity to create a brand that was serious about technical excellence but also relaxed enough in approach to capture the pleasure of riding for riding’s sake”

He added: “Our clothing is designed as much to be worn 2,500 metres up, in some beautiful remote places where Le Tour has never been, as on the more familiar strips of kempt tarmac.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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22 comments

Avatar
Christopher TR1 | 7 years ago
1 like

Well, you don't have to buy it if you don't like it.

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StraelGuy | 7 years ago
0 likes

Just had a look at their website, their prices make Rapha seem reasonable .

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leqin | 7 years ago
0 likes

sacré bleu - have they not heard about Brexit?

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50kcommute | 7 years ago
2 likes

Buy British  1

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cyclisto | 7 years ago
1 like

I prefer the hipster look compared to the MAMIL look.

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StraelGuy replied to cyclisto | 7 years ago
1 like

cyclisto wrote:

I prefer the hipster look compared to the MAMIL look.

 

But bulging bellies are more aero!

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darnac | 7 years ago
2 likes

Their Nice shop/café is certainly a nice place (ho-ho) and their hire bikes are good. The clothes are good quality too - they work as well here in the Pyrenees as in Nice. I don't think they're any better than Rapha though.

Anyway, good luck to their London shop!

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Kendalred | 7 years ago
1 like

I remember going to their shop/office when it was on a back street in Nice (Rue de Rivoli if I remember correctly), as I was expecting to get a coffee. Unfortunately it wasn't Cafe du anything at that time, just an office with some stock hanging on a rail. 

The new spot on the Quay is very nice (ho ho), I recomend paying a visit if you're ever in that area. It's nice to just get a coffee and watch any cycling if it's on. I did get a jersey last time in there, and I agree it is top quality.

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Veloism | 7 years ago
1 like

A bike clothing shop without coffee? It's doomed.

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Vili Er | 7 years ago
9 likes

@ Barry - The fact that you used the word ‘achingly’ makes you look like the knobber.

 

I’ve worn CDC stuff for several years and it’s Rapha’s only real competition in terms of quality and design. Their jerseys are like a meeting of the Classic and the Pro Team. Really nice to wear. They were also doing the Pro look ‘Euro sleeve’ before most of the other manufacturers jumped on it.

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drosco replied to Vili Er | 7 years ago
0 likes
derek n clive wrote:

@ Barry - The fact that you used the word ‘achingly’ makes you look like the knobber.

 

I’ve worn CDC stuff for several years and it’s Rapha’s only real competition in terms of quality and design. Their jerseys are like a meeting of the Classic and the Pro Team. Really nice to wear. They were also doing the Pro look ‘Euro sleeve’ before most of the other manufacturers jumped on it.

How many jerseys have you tried? Are you telling us Castelli, Sportful, Endura etc. don't make quality jerseys?

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Vili Er replied to drosco | 7 years ago
0 likes

drosco wrote:
derek n clive wrote:

@ Barry - The fact that you used the word ‘achingly’ makes you look like the knobber.

 

I’ve worn CDC stuff for several years and it’s Rapha’s only real competition in terms of quality and design. Their jerseys are like a meeting of the Classic and the Pro Team. Really nice to wear. They were also doing the Pro look ‘Euro sleeve’ before most of the other manufacturers jumped on it.

How many jerseys have you tried? Are you telling us Castelli, Sportful, Endura etc. don't make quality jerseys?

 

Not many to be honest. I only started cycling a few years ago when I bought a lovely Pinarello and then spanked a load on Rapha. I've tried Castelli stuff but it just feels a bit cheap.

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RobD | 7 years ago
2 likes

Before Vulpine started having all the troubles they've had I would have thought that this couldn't have worked as a competitor but clearly I'm wrong and the time might be right, cafe du cycliste kit just seems a little bit too expensive for what it is.

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BarryBianchi | 7 years ago
1 like

At last - somewhere to spend stupendously eye watering amounts of cash on achingly "ironic" kit.

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Yorkshire wallet | 7 years ago
0 likes

Is the pirate look back then? Best get on the epo.

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Chris Hayes | 7 years ago
0 likes

... its interesting to see that they are not replicating their Nice shop model: I would have thought that a cool cycling-themed, hang-out place with decent coffee, a shop and bikes for hire would have gone down well.  It's clearly a rip off of the RCC, but it seems to offer value and attract sticky customers (usually with beards - which is why I don't qualify). 

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brooksby | 7 years ago
2 likes

Spitaalfields sounds more like Amsterdam than London...

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Beecho | 7 years ago
2 likes

Er, I pretty much resemble the above comments...

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don simon fbpe | 7 years ago
0 likes
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Carmic0 | 7 years ago
0 likes

Wonder if they will be more hipster than the Rapha shop at the market.   If that is possible.

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Leviathan | 7 years ago
4 likes

He is a hipsteré.

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drosco | 7 years ago
5 likes

That's probably the most tragic hipster photo I've ever seen. Geez.

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