Tucked away in Appleby-in-Westmorland, in northern England, The Bike Inn is a busy and trusted bike shop, dedicated to helping cyclists ride smarter and farther through e-bike sales and top-notch servicing. With over three decades of experience, the team handles everything from everyday fixes to specialist suspension work and high-end e-bike maintenance, serving both local cyclists and visitors heading for the Lake District.
The Bike Inn is more than just a bike shop; they’re passionate educators, too. The team is equally passionate about passing on their knowledge through accredited mechanic training for people already in the cycle industry, veterans and aspiring professionals in the UK and abroad.
“Bike Inn is basically a one-stop shop for everything related to bicycles. We train people who want to be professional bike mechanics, ex-military, career changers and people already in the cycle industry who want to progress to master mechanic qualification.”
Objectives
The Bike Inn set out to find a system that could better support their day-to-day operations. Their priorities were clear:
- Reclaiming time through connected systems: integrating with their existing accounting software to eliminate double entry and reduce time spent on admin.
- Streamlining repairs with better oversight: gaining clearer visibility into workshop activity and resource planning.
- Clearer communication, happier customers: keeping job details, notes and customer updates in one place to improve communication and set better expectations.
Reclaiming Time Through Seamless System Integration
At the time, The Bike Inn used another service and repair system to manage their jobs. But as things got busier, it became harder to keep everything in sync, especially when it came to accounts. They needed a platform that could integrate with their accounting software to make it easier to match up completed jobs with invoices raised and payments received.
“It was the ease of use and the accounts integration. The main one was the accounts, because that was an absolute pain with our previous repair software.”
With the core issues addressed and the system proving easy to adopt, the team felt confident they had found a service and repair software that could help them manage the workshop and reclaim valuable time.
Streamlining Repairs With Better Oversight
Since adopting Hubtiger, The Bike Inn has experienced a remarkable improvement in its daily operations. The centralised calendar has become an invaluable tool, providing a comprehensive overview of all ongoing work, which has helped the team manage their workload more effectively and allocate resources where needed.
“With the centralised calendar, we can see at a glance what’s in the workshop, what’s waiting, what’s been fixed, where we are waiting for parts to come in and if we need to take more resources on to fix more bikes.”
By improving visibility across all active jobs, the team can allocate staff more effectively, reduce bottlenecks, and better manage their workload, helping them keep up with demand without overpromising.
Clearer Communication, Happier Customers
Customer communication was a key priority from the start, and since implementing Hubtiger, The Bike Inn has seen a noticeable improvement. With SMS updates and improved visibility into their workload, the team can now keep customers in the loop throughout the repair process.
“They get an SMS when they drop it off, another after we’ve inspected it and sent the quote for approval, and a final one when it’s ready for collection. It stops the customer from getting a nasty shock if the repair turns out to be more extensive than they realised.”
Implementation and Getting Started
Getting started with new software can feel daunting, but for The Bike Inn, the transition to Hubtiger was refreshingly straightforward. The system was intuitive from the start, allowing the team to ease into it without a disruption to their workflow.
“Everything was done well. Good communication, expectations were set, we knew what we were going to get, and the system is easy enough to use out of the box.”
Results
The operational improvements since implementing Hubtiger have been practical and far-reaching:
- Time saved on repetitive admin and manual entry
- Improved resource planning with better visibility into workload and parts
- More accurate communication and expectation-setting with customers
- Smoother day-to-day operations through integrated systems
Looking Ahead: What’s Next for The Bike Inn?
The Bike Inn has always been more than just a bike shop. While they continue to serve local riders with expert repairs and servicing, they’re equally passionate about training and upskilling the next generation of mechanics. Alongside the hands-on training delivered in-house, the team is now pushing forward with plans to take their courses online, making modules more accessible to aspiring mechanics in India and Sri Lanka.
