Matthew Harper is the man behind cyclist’s haven Look Mum No Hands, the café-bar-workshop on Old Street, not far from our Shoreditch branch. And of course, a well bearded Murdock Man and regular of Mr Vincent Vincent.

 Mr Matthew Harper in the outside area of Look Mum No Hands

What was the idea behind Look Mum No Hands? 

I thought it was unfair that cycling fans had nowhere to go in London to watch cycling on the big screen, compared to the average football fan who has no end of choices to go. And one day I was talking to my business partner Louis who has lots of café experience about his coffee, crèche, kid play place and we thought about how there were coffee shop/record shops and coffee shop/book shops, why not a coffee shop/cycling shop?

Why do you think the popularity of cycling in all its forms has been increasingly growing in Britain over the last few years? 

Well a lot of people first get into cycling through commuting, and getting round London on bike is easier.  Those people often find that they then enjoy it a lot and become more interested in road racing. Then there’s the design and fashion of the fixie scene that attracts a lot of people. When they find they enjoy the activity and not just the design they research into it more. So it can start as a design or practical thing and then peple get into the culture and heritage of it and there’s so much of that in road cycling. We don’t have the same type of history in cycling as they do in central Europe, cycling popularity, history and culture  here is more like it is in Australia and Canada. Hopefully, we’ll get to the likes of the central Europeans though.

Why do you love cycling? When did your passion for bikes begin? 

I was into it when I was a kid, but I lost track at uni in London. Then I picked it up again soon after when a couple of friends got mountain bikes and we started going to Dorking. Weeks later I started riding on the road again and I soon owned 4 bikes. I think it attracts the competitive part of me and I still race most weeks in a cyclo-cross league.

Cyclo-cross? 

They’re a sort of pre-mountain bike mountain bike. It’s what road cyclists used to ride in the winter. The league I’m in takes place all over South East England.

Do you think a bike enthusiast is a certain kind of person? 

No, I think bikes are clearly for everybody. Everyone can get pleasure from it. It is a hobby that attracts geeks though what with there being lots of expensive kit to play with. We attract coffee geeks, bike geeks and beer geeks.

What coffee and beer do you serve here? 

We use Square Mile coffee and a selection of really great beers, including the local brewer Kernel. My favourite being the Kernel Porter.

Have you seen an increase in actual cyclists in the café? 

We’ve definitely noticed more people say that they’ve been trying Boris bikes for a while and are now looking to buy. Lots of people come in and ask us for advice which we love. I think we’re more approachable than traditional bike shops. We’re friendly and want to give advice. Our aim was always to be all inclusive and super approachable, hence the name Look Mum No Hands. But we’re for all customers, a lot of ours probably never even go near a bike.

Do you find that you get a certain type of cyclist in Look Mum No Hands and do you find that there are rivalries between tribes of different cycling forms?

The types of cyclists we get in are a mix. During the week there tends to be more fixie riders and at the weekend it’s more roadies in lycra. There are definitely different tribes but cyclists are still a minority so there’s a mutual respect between all cyclists. The boundaries are beginning to blur as well. More and more fixie riders are also getting road bikes. We certainly haven’t seen any gang warfare!

www.lookmumnohands.com

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