Curated Coffee and Urban Bicycles the right blend for the latest Ponsonby offering

Kiwi ingenuity mixes effortlessly with Tokyo style at Blend which offers, for the first time in New Zealand, the sale of bikes and products from internationally renowned minimalist tokyobike alongside a quality caffeine fix.

Designed to be light to ride, with an emphasis on comfort over speed, these urban bikes originated in Japan in 2002 as an effortless way of getting around Tokyo city.  Since then the small independent company has branches worldwide, including New York, London, Sydney, Melbourne, Tokyo, Copenhagen, Bangkok, Singapore, Berlin and has gained a dedicated following.

tokyobike is an international phenomenon with people drawn to the bike’s bright colours and the company’s slow-cycling philosophy, which offers a relaxing convenient way to experience cities around the world.

And now New Zealanders can experience the slow-cycle trend themselves with the bikes now available at the recently opened Blend, www.blendstore.co.nz, located in the heart of Ponsonby, within the shared retail space “The Shelter”, at 78 Mackelvie Street, http://theshelter.co.nz.

Blend is the brainchild of coffee roaster and creator of Smith Coffee, Drew Duff-Dobson http://smithcoffee.co.nz/, who said the idea of combining urban bikes and coffee was inspired by a recent trip through Europe and Asia.

‘During our travels my wife and I tried tokyobike for the first time and discovered the joy of the Slow Ride on these bikes as we explored the city,’ he said

‘Obviously, we think every bike ride should finish with a really good cup of coffee! This conceived the idea of Blend.’

The café’s novel concept was one Drew believed Aucklanders would respond to, given it combines two of the city’s great loves – coffee and cycling.

Two loves which this respected coffee roaster shares. Drew started working in the coffee industry in the early 90s and has roasted for Avalanche, Atomic and Burton Hollis. ‘I’m a coffee guy’ he grins, ‘I’ve always had a passion for coffee - the choosing of beans, roasting and blending– the whole history and mystery of it.  Being an agricultural product it changes from year to year, each harvest is different, which is part of the challenge, so I keep on learning and adjusting.  The quality is paramount and I love seeing it all come together in that perfect cup of coffee.’

Drew has cycled most of his life, both competitively and for fun.   And Kiwis are taking to cycling in record numbers, with 44,000 now using cycling as a means of transport getting to work, according to Statistics New Zealand and in Auckland the uptake is growing quickly.

However, the benefit of tokyobike is they are accessible to anyone wanting to get around the city, not only seasoned cyclists.

‘We’re delighted to have brought a store supporting city biking and good coffee to Auckland. As we all know, residents and visitors to Auckland love to celebrate the best of what a city has to offer and our bikes offer a new, fun way of doing that.  Anyone can jump on one of these bikes and go out and explore the city in the best possible way. No training necessary’, said Drew.

The bikes come in a range of colours, designs and sizes for male and female riders and are priced from $990 to $1190. Blend also has a selection of globally sourced bike accessories for sale, ranging from the functional stainless steel u-lock through to the cute and quirky leather wine bottle carrier.

For Further information about Blend contact Lorraine Steele on 021 859 805, or Drew Duff-Dobson on 021 899 500 or go to www.blendstore.co.nz. For more information about Smith Coffee got to www.smithcoffee.co.nz and for more information on Tokyo Bikes please go to http://www.tokyobike.com.au.

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