Wishing all of our customers and neighbours a very happy Christmas from Rathmines Bikes! A special thanks to everyone that left a review on Facebook or Google. We hope that we can continue to provide customer satisfaction in 2018 and beyond. Please note: Rathmines Bikes will be closed tomorrow Sunday, as usual, and will open again after a short Christmas break on Thursday 28th of December at 8am. *Christmas Opening Hours* Christmas Eve, Sunday 24th: CLOSED Christmas Day, Monday 25th: CLOSED St Stephen's Day, Tuesday 26th: CLOSED Wednesday 27th: CLOSED Thursday 28th: 08:00 AM - 7:30 PM Friday 29th: 08:00 AM - 7:30 PM Saturday 30th: 10:00 AM - 7:30 PM New Year's Eve, Sunday 31st: CLOSED New Year's Day, Monday 1st: CLOSED

Our customers should take extra care in and around College Green from now on, as the Luas Cross City service began earlier today. There are new "Cyclists Dismount" road signs in the area indicating that cyclists should really get off their bikes and walk, to be on the safe side. Please check out the article below for more details. Don't forget, as we approach Christmas, that our workshop is open late six evenings a week, to happily take care of any of your bicycle maintenance issues for you. Got a puncture? Call to Cristian!

We at Rathmines Bikes like to keep an eye on what's happening at a national level with regards to cycling. Please keep reading for some interesting statistics. The projected government spend on cycling infrastructure in Ireland - dedicated cycle tracks and designed junctions - works out at €27.5m over the next four years, according to Victoria White writing in the Irish Examiner last week. Apparently this is approximately 2% of public spending on transport infrastructure. White continues by pointing out that if we were spending 10% on cycling infrastructure that sum would be €165m. Additionally the United Nations recommends that 20% of transport infrastructure spending should be devoted to cycling. By contrast, the article points out, the Netherlands spends a whopping €500m annually on cycling projects. You can read more here: http://j.mp/2BjgsU0 The photo below shows a cyclist on a trail in Montana, US, taken last summer.

It's that time of year when we need to be a little more careful on the road due to decreased visibility caused by the shorter days together with bad weather. A few years ago the Road Safety Authority produced an excellent video that covers some important cycling safety basics. See below. In related news the Stayin' Alive at 1.5 Facebook page Stayin' Alive at 1.5, a safer cycling advocacy group, published the interesting news that Fianna Fáil said this week that it will introduce legislation extending the minimum distance motorists must leave when overtaking a cyclist. As ever don't forget to drop around with your bike if you need a tune-up or purchase cycling safety equipment. Got a puncture? Call to Cristian!

Rathmines Bikes encourages safe cycling :). And the Number 1 rule in safe cycling is obeying the rules of the road. In excess of 1,160 on-the-spot fines were given to cyclists around Ireland since the new rules came in over two years ago. Being a road user is a serious business and perhaps this will encourage more responsible cycling. Don't forget everyone: if you need your bike tuned up/repaired drop down to us at Rathmines Bikes. One of our popular offers is a full general service for €25. If you have any questions don't hesitate to call in, give us a call or send a message. Got a puncture? Call to Cristian! http://j.mp/2y9igjl

A few months ago thejournal.ie, the highly popular Irish online newspaper conducted a reader survey on cycling in Ireland. The story got over 19,000 views and there were over 4,000 respondents. It turns out that only 12% of people would call themselves regular cyclists. We think this could be higher! Read more below for more details, and if you would like your bike tuned up please call by our workshop. Or perhaps consider getting yourself a second-hand model at Rathmines Bikes to get up and running. We're open 'til well after dinner time six days a week!

* Special summer holiday note to customers: Rathmines Bikes will be open again at 8am on Monday, the 11th September with business as usual. * For full opening hours and location details please click http://bit.ly/rathminesbikes

* Special note to customers: Rathmines Bikes has just started its summer holiday. We will be back raring to go on Monday the 11th September. * Cycling Safety in the Netherlands... Groningen is an interesting city in the north of Holland that really takes care of it's cyclists. Apparently they have had cycling safety in mind as far back as the 70s, when they took the radical decision at the time to divide the city up into four zones, and then banned cars from passing across zone boundaries. This coming winter, possibly, Groningen cyclists will have the luxury of specially heated cycle paths which prevent the buildup of ice. Wow! Check out Patrick Logue's Irish Times article from last month for more details. Well winter is still a while away. Happy cycling everyone, whatever the weather! http://j.mp/2wQTKzs for more...

Attention loyal customers and customers we haven't met yet: Rathmines Bikes is taking it's summer holiday starting next weekend for a couple of weeks, so perhaps get any of your bike repairs taken care of this week, in advance. Specifically Thursday, 24th August will be our last day of business. Of course the shop will be back a little later in September - open again on Monday, September 11th, providing it's excellent service to residents of Dublin 6 and beyond!

If any of our Rathmines Bikes Facebook readers feel like getting away from Dublin for a beautiful weekend of stress-free cycling while we still have nice weather, you could do worse than take your bikes and backpacks out by train to Galway city - Ceannt station - (you can book bike slots for free on http://www.irishrail.ie/ by the way) and then let West Ireland Cycling http://bit.ly/2uxXJV4 take it from there!

Let's all get cycling more this summer! It's fun. And call to Cristian in Rathmines Bikes if you need any repairs undertaken.

As the sun goes down on the Giro d'Italia, it seems fitting to post this great photo from Jacob Liebs, taken in Via di Maciarello close to Sant’ Andrea on the island of Elba in Tuscany. Hopefully the weather will improve here in Dublin this week :)