What Happened to Velorution? (New Owner Explains All)

I first came across Velorution in 2012, not long after I’d launched my “cycling in style” blog, Discerning Cyclist.

The first thing I thought after seeing Velorution was: “damn, that’s a much better name than ours... I wish I’d thought of that.”

In the years that followed, I kept an eye on Velorution as I ran my own site.

I saw the ebbs and flows but was gutted when I saw the brand - like many others in the cycling industry - crash into administration in 2023 (not helped by a car and a bus crashing into TWO separate stores - see below).

But the idea of “Velorution” disappearing seemed like an awful metaphor for urban cycling in general.

So I got in touch with the administrators and managed to buy the name, website and social channels.

And here I am, more than a decade on, finally the owner of the name I wish I’d thought of. Slow progress, indeed.

What Next for Velorution?

But owning the Velorution name isn’t just a vanity project. I don’t want to leave it gathering dust on my digital mantle piece.

I want to see the Velorution materialise.

“But what does that look like?”

That’s a question I’ve been asking myself for the past few months.

And the answer, I’ve realised, starts with stories.

Velorution was never just a shop. It’s a name people remember, a place people have history with, an idea worth believing in. (If you don’t know the story, the full Velorution timeline is here - it’s quite a ride.)

So before anything else, I want to tell the stories of urban cycling properly: the people, the machines, the small everyday victories of getting around on two wheels. And I want to share the journey of rebuilding this brand openly, as it happens - the wins, the wobbles, the works.

Here’s the plan:

1. The Journal

The place to follow along: a free weekly email with urban cycling news, honest stories, and a front-row seat as we rebuild Velorution from scratch.

No corporate newsletter fluff. Just me, writing to you about what’s happening in the world of urban cycling and inside this little business - what’s working, what isn’t, the mistakes I’m learning from, and what’s coming next.

Join below - it takes ten seconds and it’s where everything else begins:

2. The Velorution Post

For those who want to go deeper, there’s The Velorution Post.

If the Journal is the journey, the Post is the super special edition - a monthly subscription, in glorious print, delivered through your letterbox.

This is something you can actually feel. Something to sit down with, brew in hand, no notifications in sight. Inside each monthly edition:

• An exclusive story - written for the Post and nowhere else
• The numbers behind the business - real revenue, real costs, real decisions. The stuff most companies would never dream of putting in print
• Collectable trading cards - because bicycles deserve trading cards, and you know it
• Arty goodies - prints, illustrations and other tangible treats that celebrate the bicycle

And here’s the honest bit: The Post is also the engine of the whole Velorution. Every subscription directly funds what comes next - the events, the spaces, the community. Subscribe and you’re not just getting a lovely thing in the mail; you’re literally powering the revolution.

There’s a gift subscription too, for the cyclist in your life who already owns enough hi-vis.

3. The Velorution Collective

And the shop? This is the first step to bringing it back.

The Velorution Collective is a hand-picked range of gear from independent makers we genuinely rate - and it works differently to a normal shop. Every product ships direct to you from the brand that made it.

That means no warehouse full of unsold stock, no pressure to shift whatever’s in the back room, and no venture capital calling the shots. We only bring in products we’d actually recommend to a mate, from makers who care about the same things we do. The range will grow one brand at a time, and I’ll introduce each one properly in the Journal as they join.

It sits alongside our own Velorution range - exclusive one-off designs, like our mugs, that are around for one month and then gone for good.

The Destination

I won’t pretend this is the finished picture - it’s the starting line.

Velorution began as a place: a shop you could walk into, lean your bike against, and talk to someone who actually cared. That spirit is the destination.

The goal is to start creating real events and real spaces - places where people can connect with each other, swap stories, and discover amazing stuff, whether that’s a brand they’ve never heard of, a route they’ve never ridden, or a fellow cyclist they’d never otherwise have met.

We’re taking the scenic route. But as any cyclist knows, the scenic route is the point.

Join the Cycling Revolution

• The Journal: Free weekly email - stories, news, and the rebuild diary
• The Velorution Post: Our monthly print edition - the numbers, the trading cards, the good stuff
• The Collective: Gear from independent makers, shipped direct
• The Shop: Exclusive one-off Velorution designs, here for a month then gone
• The Stories: Everything we’ve published so far

And if you have a Velorution story of your own - a memory of the old shops, a bike you bought there, anything - I’d genuinely love to hear it.

Viva la Velorution,

Pete