Our dependence on convenience is everywhere. Need to get from A to B? Google it. Can’t be bothered to make dinner? Order it in. Even romance has been reduced to a swipe. Now ultra-convenience has hit the cycling world, too. If you get a puncture on your commute to work, you can leave your repair kit at home – Tyred promises to come to wherever you many be (as long as you’re in Manchester or London, in the UK) and fix it within 30 minutes.
“Our customer profile – although we cater for everything and everyone – are working professionals,” Nikita Baranov, Tyred’s co-founder and COO tells me.
“With them, you can know how to repair your bike inside out, but it comes down to time. We bring the bike shop to you.”
Tyred specialises in commuter mishaps – snapped chains, deflated inner tubes, broken tyres – all suffered on the commute to work. But they work on larger scale problems, too, and are currently e-bike rental brand Lime’s go-to roaming mechanics. For their more involved jobs, mechanics ride out on big, blue cargo bikes, a mini workshop on wheels.
“Some people say, if you don’t know how to repair your inner tube, you shouldn’t be riding a bike,” Baranov says. “It’s like, yeah, sure, I can fix my inner tube, but it’s not about that. It’s more about convenience.”
Tyred has been trading as a business for just under a year, and in that time has taken over 40,000 bikes into its care, and has a roster of 100+ mechanics ready to fix them at the drop of a hat (or, in 30 minutes time if you press the “emergency” button).
The sign-up is simple: attach three photos of your bike, and the system registers you as a user. Tyred then makes sure it has the tools to fix your bike, or the right shops to contact to get in the necessary components so they’re ready to fix any mishap you might encounter.
“We are not in competition with bike shops,” Baranov says. “We actually work with them on an occasional basis, either for storage or [part] procurement. What we’ve noticed is that bike shops make money on selling bikes. Repairs and servicing is more of a secondary revenue stream for them.
“There are customers that love their bike shop because they have personal relationship with the mechanics there. That’s fine, but whoever I speak with, the biggest headache with bicycles is when it breaks. [With us] you don’t need to think about, where’s the nearest bike shop? [Or whether] that bike shop has the right parts [or] availability. With us, we will keep everything on your bike in stock so you do not have to worry about us not having something that that your bike has. So it’s super tailor made.”
They’re so committed to your convenience, that they recently set up a bike stand on the tube to fix a single-speed bike; albeit in an Instagram stunt for a long-term client. Another video shows the company’s head mechanic and co-founder, Lancelot Hoare, change a bike chain and replace a set of brake cables in a cable car.
But has it gone too far? Does our appetite for a quick fix deprive us of the need to learn fairly basic skills? Not that 30 minutes is a quick fix; I’m not sure I know many commuters who incorporate a 40 minute leeway in their daily cycle (though to be fair to Tyred, they have provided a tutorial on how to change a tyre, the first of more to come). In this age of hyper convenience, shouldn’t we just learn to bring a pump and a spare tube or suffer the consequences of our own ineptitude?
Tyred maintains no, and has big plans for its near-future. Baranov tells me that he hopes to develop a subscription service, a possible EU expansion, and a charity bike refurbishment programme – plus much, much more. His enthusiasm is exciting. And, as he talks to me from a basement filled with 200 bikes, I subtly register my bike to the site.
“We’re trying to bring a bit of fun, as well as convenience and everything else. This whole journey is just like, let’s see what challenges we can find, and work out how we can we fix it?”
Nevertheless, it’s opened up a familiar question – should we continue to rely on ease, or learn to fix common bike problems ourselves? Maybe we should download and find out.
