When Le Club opened its café in the Plateau in 2017, the neighbourhood—let alone the city—hadn’t seen much of its kind before.

The concept wasn’t new—it existed in other cities like New York and in Europe, particularly in France and Italy—but the culture of cycling and running cafés existed only sparsely in Montreal.

“At the time, we felt traditional bike shops couldn’t reach all cyclists. The local bike shop had always been a place where cyclists met, exchanged tips, and bonded over shared passions,” explains Le Club co-owner Christophe Perreault.

“However, some younger generations of cyclists don’t have the same relationship with bike shops anymore. They educate themselves online, and some might buy their bikes on platforms like Facebook Marketplace—to them, a bike shop is more like a garage you visit for repairs, not a place to hang out.”

When Le Club opened its café in the Plateau in 2017, the neighbourhood—let alone the city—hadn’t seen much of its kind before.

The concept wasn’t new—it existed in other cities like New York and in Europe, particularly in France and Italy—but the culture of cycling and running cafés existed only sparsely in Montreal.

“At the time, we felt traditional bike shops couldn’t reach all cyclists. The local bike shop had always been a place where cyclists met, exchanged tips, and bonded over shared passions,” explains Le Club co-owner Christophe Perreault.

“However, some younger generations of cyclists don’t have the same relationship with bike shops anymore. They educate themselves online, and some might buy their bikes on platforms like Facebook Marketplace—to them, a bike shop is more like a garage you visit for repairs, not a place to hang out.”