The History of Asgard Bike Storage – How It All Began
Sometimes the best ideas come from something really simple. You spot a problem, have a bit of a think, and see if you can come up with a solution.
That's pretty much how Asgard bike storage started.
What began with a few cyclists looking for somewhere safe to keep their bikes has grown into a huge range of secure metal bike sheds, used by everyone from everyday cyclists to Olympic athletes, Hollywood stars and even an astronaut!
But it certainly didn't start out that way.
It All Started With a Few Stolen Bikes
Andy Heath, part of the Asgard team, was a keen cyclist and regularly rode with his local cycling club.
After a spate of bike thefts, a few of his club mates were looking for somewhere more secure to keep their bikes. Let's face it, bikes aren't cheap, and even back then, leaving an expensive bike in a flimsy garden shed wasn't ideal.
At the time, Asgard was already manufacturing secure metal storage sheds, so Andy had an idea.
Why not try using one for bikes?
He took a shed home, put his bikes inside and started using it.
Nothing particularly clever about it, but it worked.
His club mates saw it, liked it and started asking if they could have one too.
Before long, everyone wanted one.
And that was really the beginning of the Asgard bike shed.
Then We Got a Bit Carried Away!
Of course, anyone who knows a keen cyclist will know that simply having somewhere to put your bike is only half the story.
There's all the other stuff. Helmets, shoes, tools, pumps, spare tyres, cleaning kit and the endless collection of bits and pieces that seem to come with cycling.
Andy started thinking about what else we could do.
He took one of our larger metal garden sheds and, together with Chris Raby from our engineering team, started designing accessories to turn it into a proper bike workshop.
Shelves, hooks, storage accessories and different ways of organising bikes and equipment were all tried out.
Some ideas worked, some needed a bit of tweaking, but gradually we ended up with something that was far more than just a shed.
The first Asgard bike workshop was born.
We carried on developing it, making improvements and looking at security. The shed was independently tested, gaining LPCB approval and Secured by Design recognition.
We now had somewhere you could store your bikes, work on them and keep all your cycling gear together, without taking over the garage or filling the house with bike parts.
A proper little bike workshop in the garden.
Then Along Came Team GB
One of the real turning points came when Olympic cyclist Elinor Barker spotted a picture of our bike workshop.
She loved it.
Elinor got in touch, took one of our sheds and started using it herself.
Now, when a professional cyclist starts using something you've designed, you're obviously pretty interested in what they think.
Elinor made a few suggestions about how we could improve things, which we took on board.
At the time, she was sharing a house with several other Team GB cyclists, so our shed was getting some pretty serious use.
Not a bad group of people to test your products!
It gave us a great insight into what professional cyclists actually needed, rather than what we thought they might need.
And it helped shape the next stage of our bike storage range.
Listening to the People Who Actually Use Our Sheds
Something we've always tried to do at Asgard is listen to our customers.
It sounds obvious, but some of the best ideas we've had over the years have come from people using our products every day.
Andy was still using the sheds himself, trying different layouts, testing accessories and coming up with ideas.
Customers were doing exactly the same.
Someone would suggest an extra shelf, a different way to hang a bike or a better way to organise their equipment.
We'd look at it, see whether it made sense and, if it did, try to make it happen.
That's one of the big advantages of designing and manufacturing our products here in Britain. We can make changes, develop new accessories and improve designs without having to rely on someone else to do it for us.
Not every idea makes it into production, of course, but plenty have.
In fact, a lot of the accessories we sell today have come from suggestions made by cyclists using our sheds.
From One Bike Shed to a Huge Range
Looking back, it's quite amazing how much things have changed.
We started with one garden shed that happened to fit a bike.
Today we've got a huge range of dedicated bike storage products, with different sizes, layouts, locking systems, and security options.
We've got small sheds for people with limited garden space, larger units for families with several bikes, and full bike workshops for those who like spending as much time working on their bikes as riding them.
There are three-point and five-point locking options, security-approved and non-approved models, and both vertical and horizontal storage designs.
We've also built up a big range of accessories, many developed from our own experience or suggestions from customers.
Security has always been a major part of what we do, and many of our sheds have been independently tested and approved by organisations including the LPCB and Secured by Design.
But we've never forgotten that a bike shed also needs to be practical.
There's no point having a super-secure shed if it's a nightmare to get your bike in and out every morning.
It's all about getting the balance right.
Olympic Athletes, Hollywood Stars and Even an Astronaut!
One thing we certainly didn't expect when Andy took that first shed home was just how far the idea would go.
Over the years, Asgard bike storage has been used by professional cyclists, Team GB athletes, Hollywood stars and even an astronaut.
That's quite a journey for what started out as a solution to a few bike thefts at a local cycling club!
Of course, it's great when someone famous chooses one of our sheds, but we're just as pleased when an everyday cyclist gets in touch to tell us how happy they are with theirs.
Especially when they've finally got their expensive bike out of an old wooden shed and into something a bit more secure.
That's really what it's all about.
And We're Still Coming Up With Ideas
Even after all these years, we're still developing new products, accessories and ways to improve our bike storage.
Some ideas come from our design team, some from customers and some simply come from using our own products and thinking, surely we could make that a bit better?
We've never really stopped doing what we did at the beginning.
Trying things out, listening to cyclists and making improvements along the way.
And I think that's an important part of the Asgard story.
We didn't start making bike sheds because someone in a boardroom decided bike storage looked like a good market.
We started because we were cyclists, we knew people who were having their bikes stolen, and we thought we could do something about it.
One shed, a few club mates and a simple idea.
That's how Asgard bike storage began.
And we're still not finished!
Take a Look at Our Bike Storage Range
From compact bike sheds to full-size secure bike workshops, we've come a long way since that first shed.
All designed and manufactured here in Britain, with security and practical everyday use at the heart of what we do.
Have a look at the full range.
Asgard – British-made secure bike storage, developed by people who actually ride bikes.
