Port Velo Cycle Works

Port Velo Cycle Works We provide bike servicing, repairs, custom builds and professional bike fitting for riders across Portishead, Bristol and the surrounding area.

Port Velo Cycle Works — Perfecting Your Ride.

6,000km. Nine countries. One extraordinary ride.On Thursday 8 October, Dr Sarah Ruggins will be at Arnolfini in Bristol ...
09/09/2026

6,000km. Nine countries. One extraordinary ride.

On Thursday 8 October, Dr Sarah Ruggins will be at Arnolfini in Bristol with our friends at Kostüme for an evening of stories from the edge of endurance.

Sarah will be talking about One Way North, her record breaking ride from Tarifa in southern Spain to Nordkapp in Norway, and what it really takes to take on something of that scale.

The riding, the preparation, the setbacks, the decisions and everything that happens when you keep going far beyond what most of us would consider possible.

We’re pleased to be supporting the evening and would love to see some familiar faces from the local cycling community there.

Dr Sarah Ruggins in Conversation
Thursday 8 October
7.30pm
Arnolfini, Bristol

Tickets: https://hdfst.uk/e162069

If you’re local and planning to go, let us know. We’re also looking at whether a few people might travel into Bristol together from our side of town.

Bottom brackets. One of cycling’s more confusing subjects.Your bike develops a knock, creak or grind. The cranks feel ro...
08/09/2026

Bottom brackets. One of cycling’s more confusing subjects.

Your bike develops a knock, creak or grind. The cranks feel rough. There’s some play or suddenly something just doesn’t feel right.

Must be the bottom bracket.

Except it might not be.

Those symptoms can come from the bottom bracket, but noises have an irritating habit of travelling through a bike. Pedals, crank interfaces, chainring bolts, seatposts and other components can all create noises that sound remarkably similar.

Then there’s finding the right bottom bracket.

Frame standard, shell width, crank axle, thread, press fit, model year and manufacturer specification all matter. There are enough combinations that even we sometimes have to stop, measure and check before ordering one.

So if BB30, PF86, BSA, T47, DUB and the rest have you wondering what on earth your bike needs, you’re not alone.

If something is knocking, creaking, dragging or simply feels wrong, bring it in. We’ll work out what is actually causing it first, then find the right solution.

Port Velo Cycle Works
Perfecting your ride.

Built in Italy. Ridden here.There are plenty of ways to buy a very good bike.Pick the familiar badge. Choose the standar...
05/09/2026

Built in Italy. Ridden here.

There are plenty of ways to buy a very good bike.

Pick the familiar badge. Choose the standard colour. Take the safe option.

Or choose something a little less ordinary.

We had a visit from Officine Mattio yesterday and, for a few hours, Port Velo had rather more Italian carbon in the building than usual.

OM bikes aren’t about simply being different for the sake of it. They’re beautifully made, highly individual bikes that give you the opportunity to create something that feels special— from the finish and specification through to the way the bike is set up.

Does owning a more beautiful bike magically give you another 30 watts? Sadly not.

But there’s something to be said for owning a bike that makes you look back at it when you walk away. And a bike that makes you want to ride it is rarely a bad investment.

And yes, there’s also a certain satisfaction in turning up on something you don’t see at every café stop.

Officine Mattio at Port Velo.

If you’re thinking about your next bike and want something a little less predictable, come and talk to us.

How many lumens do you actually need from a bike light?600? 1,000? 1,400?The answer isn’t simply “more is better”.A ligh...
05/09/2026

How many lumens do you actually need from a bike light?

600? 1,000? 1,400?

The answer isn’t simply “more is better”.

A light for a street-lit commute has a very different job from one you’re relying on down an unlit country lane. And once you start riding faster, beam pattern, battery life and where the light puts its output become just as important as the number on the box.

With darker mornings and evenings on the way, we’ve put together a practical guide covering:

Being seen vs seeing the road
Commuting and street-lit riding
Dark country lanes
Road and gravel riding
Beam patterns and runtime
Front and rear lights

If you’re not sure what you actually need, start here:

How Many Lumens Do I Need for a Bike Light?

https://www.portveloworks.co.uk/journals/how-many-lumens-bike-light

And if you’re still unsure afterwards, tell us where you ride and we’ll help narrow it down

01/09/2026

A seized seatpost doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the bike.

This Ribble came to us with a seatpost that simply wasn’t coming out. At some point, continuing to fight it stops making sense but there was still a perfectly good bike wrapped around the problem.

So, new plan.

Another frameset was sourced, stripped everything back, checked what was worth keeping and transferred the usable parts across.

And here it is.

Same bike at heart. Different frame. Cleaned, serviced and back on the road rather than written off.

There’s something quite satisfying about jobs like this. Not every problem needs a new bike as the answer, sometimes it just needs another way of looking at it.

Got an older bike with a problem that’s making you wonder whether it’s worth saving? Bring it in and we’ll tell you what the realistic options are.

📍 Port Velo Cycle Works, Portbury

PILLAR Performance — now at Port Velo.Training is only half the job.We’ve brought PILLAR Performance into Port Velo for ...
30/08/2026

PILLAR Performance — now at Port Velo.

Training is only half the job.

We’ve brought PILLAR Performance into Port Velo for the bit most of us probably don’t pay enough attention to — recovery.

Better sleep. Muscle recovery. Tendon and ligament support. Strength and performance.

You don’t need to be a professional athlete to take recovery seriously. In fact, when you’re fitting riding and training around work, family and everything else, it probably matters even more.

We’ve got Triple Magnesium, Collagen Repair and Creapure® Creatine in store now.

Not sure what’s actually worth taking or where to start? Come and have a chat with us.

What’s the one thing you struggle with most — sleep, recovery or tired legs?

28/08/2026

New bike feeling. Without the new bike.

This one came in for a bit of attention and left looking and riding very differently.

A deep clean, a few carefully chosen upgrades and some workshop time can completely change how a bike feels. You don’t always need to replace everything; sometimes it’s about working out which parts will actually make the biggest difference.

If your bike’s feeling a bit tired, the drivetrain has seen better days, or you’ve been thinking about a few upgrades but aren’t sure where to start, bring it in and we’ll take a look.

Sometimes the best upgrade is simply making the bike you already own better.

📍 Port Velo Cycle Works, Portbury

For Facebook, I’d run exactly that with no hashtags. For Instagram, I’d keep hashtags minimal:

16/08/2026

Every now and then, the people working on bikes need to get out and ride them too.

So we swapped the workshop in Portbury for a day in the Cotswolds.

Some very good roads, beautiful villages, a coffee stop, plenty of conversation and one ford that turned out to be a little deeper than expected.

It was also a useful reminder of why we spend so much time obsessing over the small things in the workshop. A bike that shifts, brakes and fits properly and just feels right is what lets you forget about the bike and enjoy the ride.

A very good day out.

Back in Portbury tomorrow, serving Portishead, North Somerset and anyone else who wants their bike properly looked after.

And if you know a Cotswolds road or café we absolutely should have ridden, let us know — we may need an excuse to go back.

Address

Unit 5-6 Higgins Industrial Estate
Portbury
BS207TN

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