FKMTB07

My friends and I will do pub-crawls or beer rides fairly frequently and the best bars we go to are ice-houses, which are basically outdoor bars with a more relaxed, laid back atmosphere than your typical bar. We can just ride up, find a picnic table or what-have-you, pile the bikes up, and drink right next to them. Some places have bike hooks under the awning, which is always a nice touch. Other than that, we don't require much other than ice cold beer on a hot Texas night.

LesterOfPuppets

Just got back from a ride and thought of THE ULTIMATE THING that would make a bar more bike friendly:

Hot towels!

Saddle Up

Have the place owned and operated by people that ride bicycles

Re-Cycle

Check!

My partner and I have started renovation of the space and the only times we don't show up on bikes is because lumbar and drywall is hard to move on two wheels. You certainly have to practice what you advocate.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I expect to get some pictures up on our face book page in a week or so. 'Like' us and you'll see what we are up to.

SamChevre

For me, in order of importance.

Bike parking--visible and with a good locking structure. Parking that can manage a trailer is really nice, if there's space.
Somewhere to hang/put a helmet.
Compressor or floor pump, tubes for sale, simple tools (tire levers, adjustable wrench, multi-tool and two 3-way sockets.)

carleton

+1

To guard the bike valet.

Maybe have a bike room with hooks and racks and charge $1 and have a "bike check" like a coat check. Have a person man the room (just like a coat check). I'd pay for it to have peace of mind.

caloso

Yes, this.

Jandro 

+3

Jaytron

Yes and yes.

ianjk

A Free tap beer if you drink it out of your cycling shoe.

hairnet

x1000 The Hammer Museum has an annual bike night and they have a whole staff dedicated to the bike valet. awesome

Philasteve

Yeah a water filling station would be a good idea I think. It would also be cool to have fountain soda drinks or a vending machine for the guy who just stopped there with his buddy and doesn't want to have a beer and just grab a soda. I ask for a pepsi all the time at my local bars, but they don't really have any other sodas.

Re-Cycle

Well we have been busy working on the bar and haven't updated the thread but we are going to open any day now and wanted to share a picture. In this picture you see a Fagin, Bianchi and Lemond frame mounted on the wall with a few tables we made bellow them that have cogs embedded in the surface. I've also got some tap handles made out of bike parts that turned out nice. Some other highlights are two lanes of skee ball and some arcade machines.

Anyway, if you haven't shot me your suggestions yet, its almost not to late. Thanks.

adriano 

location off a busy trail, route, or lane helps.

illdthedj

The Zeitgeist bar in San Francisco is pretty well known for being bicycle friendly, i guess it was a messenger hangout for a long time.

Really cool bar.
Has a wide open "beer garden" with tons of picnic benches and places to park bikes.



as for requirements for a cool bike bar, id say:
wide open outside area with bike parking next to picnic benches...beer garden style...
a tool stand...
it might be fun to have a...i forget what they're called, but sprint setups on rollers so people can go up against each other...could be fun...
obviously an excellent selection of beer. my preference being Belgian style, even better, Trappist
food!

Jaytron

Zeitgeist is pretty sweet, they also have a bike area:

Re-Cycle

Quite true adriano, but as you can see we are already committed to our location

We are on a busy one way street on the same side as the bike lane. Also we are across the street from a bike shop and a vegetarian restaurant. It's as good a location as we could afford.

Jaytron

Where are you guys going to be located?

Re-Cycle

illdthedj, thanks for the vote on outdoor beer garden. We have a fenced off area in the back that's not nearly as big as the one in your picture and not ready for customers but that's exactly what I'd like to do with it.

Re-Cycle

Fresno CA

SSbalt

I agree that a lot of these suggestions are ridiculous, lol.

Just have what any successful bar has. Great specials, great environment, friendly staff. As far as "bike friendly" amenities, obviously just have a lot of things to lock a bike to.

I think its more important that you reach out to the bike community and get your name out there. Sponsor riding events, host post-ride happy hours, things like that. That will draw in bicyclist and also help you network at the same time.

broakland

Another thing to consider is whether you are going to target a certain type of cyclist: roadies, commutters, fixed gear geek, fixie hipster, recumbent? In bar scene it isn't easy to appeal to every type of cyclist and it might be a challenge to do so. Hipsters drink PBS, roadies might drink belgian/czech and commutters would prefer local craft brews.
I myself drink all sorts of beer and go to different bars, but the least pretentious places are my favorite and being able to bring your bike inside as well as get to stare at other peoples bikes (bike prn) while enjoyin a nice cold beer is a huge +

adriano 

most important ingredient: the cool kids.

PluperfectArson

Shoot, if I was still living in California or this was happening 6+ months ago, I would totally go.

Ultraspontane

Cycling hats, hanging frames on the wall, pbr deals, ect just seem gimmicky and pretentious. People don't need to be reminded that they like to ride bikes.

The best thing you could do is just make it a good bar. Nice decor, atmosphere, staff, products, and location are all the most important things.

If you want to attract a cycling crowd, just make sure that there is ample bike rack space in a well lit area. If people want their bikes worked on, they are either going to do it themselves or take it to a mechanic. Not a bar.