The Full Story
About
I’ve been on two wheels for as long as I can remember — apparently before I mastered walking, which probably explains a lot. My route to becoming a bike mechanic wasn’t exactly a straight chain line. At 11, I packed up dreams of designing concept cars for BMW in the south of France, spent six years studying between there and Paris, and discovered that speaking English and French is impressive right up until someone asks for German. Career plan scrapped, I returned to the UK at 18 and joined the Royal Air Force, spending 15 years flying with the Chinook force and deploying worldwide. Somewhere between military life and a love of downhill mountain biking, I met an immovable tree stump that won decisively. A fractured ankle ended my race season but started something better: I picked up the tools and became the RAF downhill team mechanic. When I wasn’t flying, I was fixing bikes — and “Rusty the spanner monkey” has stuck with me ever since.
Mission
Cycling has always been more than a hobby; it’s been part of my recovery and resilience. After my accident, physiotherapy pointed me toward road cycling as the only way to rebuild strength, so I learned to maintain my own bikes out of necessity. It didn’t take long to realise many riders wanted to ride but didn’t have the time, tools, or patience to wrestle with a stubborn bottom bracket. When COVID hit in March 2020 and the world slowed to a standstill, I started offering repairs locally so people could keep moving and protect their mental wellbeing. From a spare room and a set of well-used tools, Rusty’s Bike Shop was born. The mission has stayed simple ever since: deliver professional, honest servicing for road, mountain, and triathlon bikes, keep riders safe, and make it easier for people to get out and ride — because a good bike and a clear head are closely related.
Vision
The workshop isn’t just about bikes; it’s about people. Coming from a forces background, I’ve seen how difficult transition can be when structure and purpose suddenly disappear. My long-term vision is to use the workshop as a space that supports the forces community and anyone who needs a steady place to land. Alongside high-quality servicing and repairs, I want to keep building opportunities for one-to-one sessions and small courses where people can learn practical skills, share a coffee, and talk if they want to — or just focus quietly on a bike in front of them. Fixing a drivetrain is sometimes easier than fixing what’s going on inside, but the process helps. If the workshop can offer even a small bridge between silence and conversation, and give someone a sense of capability and connection, then it’s doing exactly what it was built to do.
The Future
Looking ahead, the aim is to grow the workshop’s reach while keeping the character and reputation that built it in the first place. As a proudly veteran-owned business, I want to keep taking what we do beyond our local patch — travelling further afield and overseas to showcase our work, share knowledge, and connect with wider cycling communities. The goal is to strengthen our reputation as a trusted hub for riders of every kind — road, mountain, triathlon, and everyday commuters — and for people of all ages rediscovering life on two wheels. Alongside that growth sits a continued commitment to supporting those facing mental health challenges, using the workshop as a practical, welcoming environment where skills are learned and confidence rebuilt. Part of that future is also putting our name out into the world through coffee, kit, and a bit of honest swag — mugs, mudguards, T-shirts, hoodies, and anything else that carries the mark of a dependable veteran outfit. If we manage even 10% of that ambition, we’ll call it a win — and Rusty will be a very happy mechanic indeed.