Sponsorship from Edinburgh Bicycle

Raising money for your favourite cause while indulging in one of your favourite activities - cycling - is a perfect fit.

It’s little wonder then that so many individuals commit themselves to the challenge of cycling further, or faster, or in more forbidding territory than most people would ever contemplate.

And it's little wonder that thousands of cyclists contact Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op every year, asking us to support a whole range of worthwhile cycling-related projects, clubs, events, races and endeavours. As a socially responsible workers' co-op involved in the cycling community, we obviously feel 100% empathy with such ventures. After all, most of us work at Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op because we are passionate about cycling - the greenest form of transport ever invented. Most of us have been, or are, members of cycling clubs and/or campaign groups.

This creates a dilemma. It is in our co-operative ethos to treat every customer equally. We regard every cyclist who walks into one of our stores, or visits our website, as a good cause. If we offered free goods or a discount to somebody because he was a member of a club or because she was riding from Land's End to John o' Groats, it wouldn't be very fair on the previous customer who paid full whack.

• We sincerely believe the best service we can offer our customers is to run a small chain of smart, attractive bicycle shops including edinburghbicycle online.
• Shops with a world-class range of cycle equipment and services, so there's every chance we'll have what you require.
  
• Shops that endeavour to cater for every cyclist: beginner or expert, young or old, man or woman, rich or poor, MTB or road.
  
• Shops staffed by enthusiasts who take a pride in offering sound advice.
  
• Shops where, even if your great adventure is just a ride to school or work, you will be treated with the same respect and equality as would the hero riding from Alaska to Patagonia.
  
• Shops, we trust, you would actually want to visit.

On top of our bread-and-butter shop-keeping activities, we believe in supporting a number of events that raise the profile of cycling. That's why we commit hundreds of people-hours and thousands of £££ (10% of our projected net profit) sponsoring or supporting events that will be enjoyed by thousands of cyclists.

These include:

• Xtramile triathlons and duathlons
  
  
• Charity Adventure long distance rides
  
  
• The Great North Bike Ride
  
  
• ibikemcr Manchester Cycling Festival
  
  
• The Great Drumtochty Challenge

Given such commitments, I hope you understand why, even though we are with you in spirit, we politely decline nearly every individual request for sponsorship.