A leading cycle shop described as an 'Oxford institution' has been forced to close its doors.

Bike Zone on St Michael's Street in Oxford has ceased trading after 14 years.

In a notice on the door, the owner Stuart Meanwell and all the staff said: "Bike Zone has been a fixture in the centre of Oxford and quite an Oxford institution for many years but the impact of Covid, problems with our shop lease and steeply increased running costs have undermined our profitability to the point where we are not able to continue."

Stuart Meanwell inside Bike Zone on St Michael's Street in 2020 (Image: Ed Nix) The notice said "a big thank you to all the (mostly) lovely regular customers who have patronised the shop over the years".

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"It has been a please to work here and the closure leaves us all with a great feeling of sadness.

"At least Oxford is not short of good bike shops to help you keep your bikes running smoothly," it added.

Mr Meanwell told the Oxford Mail: "The business problems come from debts that we ran up trying to survive the Covid pandemic, changes to the local market post-Covid, govenment policies that have heaped extra costs onto businesses, massively increased utility bills and a gradual shift towards online buying of bikes and bike kit.

"There were some lease issues as well, but that's too long a story to get a fair telling in a short newspaper article."

In 2020 Mr Meanwell was among small business owners who criticised city centre landlord Oxford City Council for not giving them rent holidays or rent reductions while they tried to bounce back from the pandemic.

He added: "This shop closure has absolutely nothing to do with LTNs and Quickways."

The closure was announced 'with a great feeling of sadness' (Image: NQ staff) Mr Meanwell was a co-founder of Beeline Bicycles in Cowley Road in the 1980s with the late Clive Tulip, and later took over the former Broadribbs cycle shop in Market Street, renaming it Bike Zone.

The Market Street shop proved too small but Mr Meanwell said at the time was difficult to find premises in Oxford "because of the rents".

He said: “Oxford rents are second only to the West End (of London) and all the bike shops have to go to Cowley Road.”

The larger Bike Zone in St Michael's Street was opened by the Lord Mayor of Oxford, Elise Benjamin, in June 2011 and housed Zappi’s Cafe run by Italian cyclist Flavio Zappi.

The cafe later expanded into the guest house next door and became The Handle Bar Cafe and Kitchen.

At the time Mr Meanwell said it was "a 20-year dream of opening a large bike shop in the historic heart of Oxford".

He also owned Summertown Garden Centre, selling bikes alongside plants for two years before transforming the whole premises into Oxford's other leading cycle store Summertown Cycles.