Bike shop website: servicing, brands and group rides

The workshop is usually the main reason to visit

For many independent shops the workshop is the steadiest part of the business, and it's what most local searches are really about. Put the service menu on its own page, named the way riders talk about it, with a price from and what's included.

Safety check: Brakes, gears, tyres and bolts checked and adjusted. Good for a bike that's been in the shed all winter.
Standard service: Clean, adjust gears and brakes, true wheels, lubricate, check wear on chain and cassette.
Full service: Strip-down, deep clean of drivetrain, bearings checked or regreased, cables replaced if needed.
E-bike service: As above, plus the motor and battery checks your shop is trained and authorised for.
Suspension and hydraulic brakes: Fork and shock servicing, brake bleeds, priced separately.

Say clearly that parts are charged on top, how you'll contact them before doing extra work, the usual turnaround and how long you'll keep a finished bike before charging for storage. Riders hate surprises at collection more than they hate a price.

Booking drop-offs and fits

Workshops tend to work on drop-off days rather than appointments by the hour. Anticode's booking calendar suits that: set up each service as a bookable service, and the customer picks a day and one of six fixed times (09:00 to 17:30; Mondays are skipped) to bring the bike in, giving their name, phone and email. Each day and time goes to one booking per service, so you can't be double-booked for the same drop-off. Bookings arrive by email, sealed at rest, for whoever runs the workshop diary.

The booking form's fields are fixed, so it won't ask for the make of bike or what's wrong. Ask about the bike and the problem when you phone to confirm, or take workshop requests through a custom form (up to 30 fields) that asks for them. A bike fit is a natural single-slot appointment, so give it its own service. The calendar has no deposits, so if fits are long and often missed, send a payment link for the fee after booking. The booking calendar page explains the 120-day limit and how slots behave.

Brands, bikes and what you can order

Riders search for brands. A page listing the brands you're a dealer for, the categories you carry (road, gravel, mountain, hybrid, e-bikes, kids, cargo) and whether you can order in models you don't keep on the floor answers a question that otherwise becomes a phone call. Mention the test-ride policy, any cycle-to-work or finance schemes you accept where your country has them, and whether you offer part-exchange.

Don't try to mirror the shop floor online by hand. Stock changes daily and a bike that's listed but sold is worse than no listing. If you want to show bikes, a few featured models with a "call to check sizes" line are honest; anything more needs a shop system.

Rides, events and the community

Group rides, maintenance evenings and race nights are what turn a shop into a local hub. Keep them in a CMS collection called rides with date, start time, meeting point, distance, pace, terrain and whether a no-drop policy applies. Each ride gets its own page at /rides/<slug>, and staff can add next week's ride from the dashboard. Route files can't be embedded on a published page, so link out to the route on your mapping service of choice.

A newsletter sign-up for ride announcements and workshop offers asks only for an email. Through a connector, those sign-ups can go to Mailchimp (with double opt-in) or Kit.

Design for a shop, not a brand catalogue

Generated bike sites often reach for a dark hero of a mountain biker in mid-air. Unless that's your shop, use photos of your workshop, staff and local roads. The Technical (IBM Plex Sans) design system suits a precise, workshop-led shop; Playful (Fredoka) fits a family and kids' bikes shop; Organic (Figtree) suits a touring and commuting shop. Put opening hours, the workshop's cut-off time for same-day jobs and the phone number in the header area on phones.

What to pair Anticode with

A store platform for online sales. Anticode has no cart, stock levels, sizes or shipping. Link to your shop on Shopify or a similar platform, or use a payment link for a single item such as a gift voucher.
Your workshop system for job cards and customer history: nothing syncs.
A mapping service for ride routes, linked rather than embedded.

Questions people ask

Can customers book a bike service online?

Yes. Each service type can be booked on Anticode's calendar as a drop-off day and time, with one booking per slot.

Can I sell bikes and parts on the site?

Not with stock and sizes. Anticode sites take payment through a single payment link, so link to a store platform for a full online shop.

How do I list group rides?

As entries in a CMS collection, each with its own page, edited in the dashboard. Link to the route on a mapping site.