Ride Contour, which promises to be Adelaide’s new home of cycling, will open this week ahead of the return of the Tour Down Under this month.
Penny Hospitality’s latest venue will be a one-stop-shop for cyclists that offers everything from an on-site bicycle mechanic, a retail space, a café and ample outdoor seating.
The new venue opens on Friday, January 6 and breathes new life into Hutt Street’s old Caltex service station, which has sat dormant for the last five years.
“Whether it’s going for a ride down to the beach or through the hills, a lot of the rides I go on end up at cafes afterwards because you just need to refuel,” Penny Hospitality founder Hugo Pedler says.
“But even though we live in one of the greatest cities for cycling, we don’t have a cycling-dedicated cafe that acts as a community hub for people who love riding.”
Builders have spent the past six months working on the site, including liaising with the local council and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) on the change in land use.
Gone are the petrol pumps and parking bays, with Penny Hospitality designing a modern space that can fit anywhere between 500 and 1000 people, alongside picnic seating and high-top tables.
While the herringbone flooring, sago palms and breezy vibe of the place are new, the awning has remained so cyclists can sit outside year-round.
Ride Contour’s café will serve four types of takeaway sandwiches along with Five Senses Coffee. You can also get some of your favourite South Australian-made drops, with a drinks list featuring wines and beers from Alpha Box & Dice and Bridge Road Brewing.
There will be bike mechanics working at the site and a rotation of food trucks outside, including Sunny’s Pizza and Pearla Tuck Shop.
Inside, a few tables will perch and have a coffee alongside a retail space stocking some of the world’s leading cycling brands.
Ride Contour will be one of the only Adelaide retailers stocking bikes from top-tier brand Specialized Bicycles.
“Specialized are the biggest bike brand in the world and they are very limited in who they work with, so having them means a lot to us,” Hugo says.
“It’s great we get to sell their bikes, but they can also see our vision and fully support it, which is great.”
They’ll also have bicycles from Orbea Bikes and will be the only Adelaide retailer of the Australian bike brand Curve.
The store also sells MAAP and Rapha apparel, with Rapha taking over the old NAB building next door for a pop-up during the Tour Down Under.
Alongside the pop-up store, Ride Contour will host live music, food trucks and a bar at the site for the entire run of the Tour Down Under from January 13 to 22.
Hugo says he looked at a few other sites for the venue but was always attracted to Hutt Street’s unique vantage point.
“For us, Hutt Street is the highway to the East and we really love it as a site that’s close to the hills and close to the beach,” Hugo says.
“There are plenty of these underutilised spaces in Adelaide, but we felt this site was well designed and complemented what we wanted to achieve.
Hugo, a keen cyclist, also saw this as a passion project.
“Ride Contour will be a bike shop and a café, but it’s also about being a community hub,” he says.
“Because we have Penny Hospitality behind us, we have been able to look at this project and say ‘okay, it’s not about the money, it’s about the community’ and really focus on making it the best it can possibly be.”
Ride Contour opens at 7am on Friday, January 6.
Opening Hours: 7pm to 4pm, 7 days a week
Website: http://ridecontour.cc/
Instagram: @ridecontour
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ridecontour
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