Port Velo Cycle Works

Port Velo Cycle Works We provide bike servicing, repairs, custom builds and professional bike fitting for riders across Portishead, Bristol and the surrounding area.

Port Velo Cycle Works — Perfecting Your Ride.

Mudguard season is back.And if you’re thinking about fitting a set, the first question isn’t really which brand to buy. ...
12/09/2026

Mudguard season is back.

And if you’re thinking about fitting a set, the first question isn’t really which brand to buy. It’s what your bike will actually take.

Tyre width, frame clearance and mounting points all matter, particularly on modern road and gravel bikes where traditional mudguard mounts aren’t always there.

We’ve put together a practical guide covering full-length and removable guards, road and gravel fitment, wider tyres and some of the SKS options we use in the workshop.

If you’re planning to ride through autumn and winter, it’s worth a read before ordering anything.

Which Mudguards Will Fit My Bike?

https://www.portveloworks.co.uk/journals/which-mudguards-will-fit-my-bike

And if you’re still not sure afterwards, send us a photo of the bike and the tyre size and we’ll take a look.

Finding a gravel bike in a genuinely small frame can still be harder than it should be.The Basso Palta III gives us anot...
11/09/2026

Finding a gravel bike in a genuinely small frame can still be harder than it should be.

The Basso Palta III gives us another useful fit option. It comes in six sizes from XS to XXL, with Basso listing the XS at 354 mm reach, 530 mm stack and 737 mm standover.

That doesn’t make it a “women’s bike”, and an XS isn’t automatically right for every shorter rider. It simply means smaller riders, including many women, have another serious option to consider rather than trying to make a frame that’s too long or too tall work.

If you’re a smaller rider, the important thing is having a frame that actually fits rather than trying to make something too big work.

Once the fit is right, the build should follow the riding.

For someone spending more time on gravel, 1x keeps things simple and gives plenty of gearing range. For riders doing more road and all-road riding, 2x can make more sense because the ratios are closer and the jumps between gears are smaller. The Palta III can be configured with both GRX 1x and 2x.

There’s plenty of tyre room too. Basso quotes clearance for actual tyre widths up to 52 mm at the front and 50 mm at the rear.

Plan the build correctly and a second wheelset can make the Palta III a very effective one-bike solution. Faster road tyres on one set, larger gravel tyres on the other, with the cassette and rotor setup considered at the same time.

It won’t replace every specialist bike for every rider. But if your riding moves between road, rough lanes, gravel and longer all-road days, the Palta III covers a particularly broad brief.

If you’re around Portishead, Bristol or North Somerset, come into Port Velo and talk us through your fit, gearing and where you actually ride. That’s where we’d start the build.

If you were building a Palta III, would you go 1x or 2x?

PortVeloCycleWorks

6,000km. Nine countries. One extraordinary ride.On Thursday 8 October, Dr Sarah Ruggins will be at Arnolfini in Bristol ...
09/09/2026

6,000km. Nine countries. One extraordinary ride.

On Thursday 8 October, Dr Sarah Ruggins will be at Arnolfini in Bristol with our friends at Kostüme for an evening of stories from the edge of endurance.

Sarah will be talking about One Way North, her record breaking ride from Tarifa in southern Spain to Nordkapp in Norway, and what it really takes to take on something of that scale.

The riding, the preparation, the setbacks, the decisions and everything that happens when you keep going far beyond what most of us would consider possible.

We’re pleased to be supporting the evening and would love to see some familiar faces from the local cycling community there.

Dr Sarah Ruggins in Conversation
Thursday 8 October
7.30pm
Arnolfini, Bristol

Tickets: https://hdfst.uk/e162069

If you’re local and planning to go, let us know. We’re also looking at whether a few people might travel into Bristol together from our side of town.

Bottom brackets. One of cycling’s more confusing subjects.Your bike develops a knock, creak or grind. The cranks feel ro...
08/09/2026

Bottom brackets. One of cycling’s more confusing subjects.

Your bike develops a knock, creak or grind. The cranks feel rough. There’s some play or suddenly something just doesn’t feel right.

Must be the bottom bracket.

Except it might not be.

Those symptoms can come from the bottom bracket, but noises have an irritating habit of travelling through a bike. Pedals, crank interfaces, chainring bolts, seatposts and other components can all create noises that sound remarkably similar.

Then there’s finding the right bottom bracket.

Frame standard, shell width, crank axle, thread, press fit, model year and manufacturer specification all matter. There are enough combinations that even we sometimes have to stop, measure and check before ordering one.

So if BB30, PF86, BSA, T47, DUB and the rest have you wondering what on earth your bike needs, you’re not alone.

If something is knocking, creaking, dragging or simply feels wrong, bring it in. We’ll work out what is actually causing it first, then find the right solution.

Port Velo Cycle Works
Perfecting your ride.

Built in Italy. Ridden here.There are plenty of ways to buy a very good bike.Pick the familiar badge. Choose the standar...
05/09/2026

Built in Italy. Ridden here.

There are plenty of ways to buy a very good bike.

Pick the familiar badge. Choose the standard colour. Take the safe option.

Or choose something a little less ordinary.

We had a visit from Officine Mattio yesterday and, for a few hours, Port Velo had rather more Italian carbon in the building than usual.

OM bikes aren’t about simply being different for the sake of it. They’re beautifully made, highly individual bikes that give you the opportunity to create something that feels special— from the finish and specification through to the way the bike is set up.

Does owning a more beautiful bike magically give you another 30 watts? Sadly not.

But there’s something to be said for owning a bike that makes you look back at it when you walk away. And a bike that makes you want to ride it is rarely a bad investment.

And yes, there’s also a certain satisfaction in turning up on something you don’t see at every café stop.

Officine Mattio at Port Velo.

If you’re thinking about your next bike and want something a little less predictable, come and talk to us.

How many lumens do you actually need from a bike light?600? 1,000? 1,400?The answer isn’t simply “more is better”.A ligh...
05/09/2026

How many lumens do you actually need from a bike light?

600? 1,000? 1,400?

The answer isn’t simply “more is better”.

A light for a street-lit commute has a very different job from one you’re relying on down an unlit country lane. And once you start riding faster, beam pattern, battery life and where the light puts its output become just as important as the number on the box.

With darker mornings and evenings on the way, we’ve put together a practical guide covering:

Being seen vs seeing the road
Commuting and street-lit riding
Dark country lanes
Road and gravel riding
Beam patterns and runtime
Front and rear lights

If you’re not sure what you actually need, start here:

How Many Lumens Do I Need for a Bike Light?

https://www.portveloworks.co.uk/journals/how-many-lumens-bike-light

And if you’re still unsure afterwards, tell us where you ride and we’ll help narrow it down

01/09/2026

A seized seatpost doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the bike.

This Ribble came to us with a seatpost that simply wasn’t coming out. At some point, continuing to fight it stops making sense but there was still a perfectly good bike wrapped around the problem.

So, new plan.

Another frameset was sourced, stripped everything back, checked what was worth keeping and transferred the usable parts across.

And here it is.

Same bike at heart. Different frame. Cleaned, serviced and back on the road rather than written off.

There’s something quite satisfying about jobs like this. Not every problem needs a new bike as the answer, sometimes it just needs another way of looking at it.

Got an older bike with a problem that’s making you wonder whether it’s worth saving? Bring it in and we’ll tell you what the realistic options are.

📍 Port Velo Cycle Works, Portbury

PILLAR Performance — now at Port Velo.Training is only half the job.We’ve brought PILLAR Performance into Port Velo for ...
30/08/2026

PILLAR Performance — now at Port Velo.

Training is only half the job.

We’ve brought PILLAR Performance into Port Velo for the bit most of us probably don’t pay enough attention to — recovery.

Better sleep. Muscle recovery. Tendon and ligament support. Strength and performance.

You don’t need to be a professional athlete to take recovery seriously. In fact, when you’re fitting riding and training around work, family and everything else, it probably matters even more.

We’ve got Triple Magnesium, Collagen Repair and Creapure® Creatine in store now.

Not sure what’s actually worth taking or where to start? Come and have a chat with us.

What’s the one thing you struggle with most — sleep, recovery or tired legs?

28/08/2026

New bike feeling. Without the new bike.

This one came in for a bit of attention and left looking and riding very differently.

A deep clean, a few carefully chosen upgrades and some workshop time can completely change how a bike feels. You don’t always need to replace everything; sometimes it’s about working out which parts will actually make the biggest difference.

If your bike’s feeling a bit tired, the drivetrain has seen better days, or you’ve been thinking about a few upgrades but aren’t sure where to start, bring it in and we’ll take a look.

Sometimes the best upgrade is simply making the bike you already own better.

📍 Port Velo Cycle Works, Portbury

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Unit 5-6 Higgins Industrial Estate
Portbury
BS207TN

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