Bike fitting is an increasingly valued service, as the pursuit of comfort and even improvements in performance trickles down from the professional to the amateur scene.

For frame-builders, the measuring process is a vital component of their craft – the custom-built bike is, in essence, an unnecessarily lavish commodity if it does not fit the rider for whom it is intended.

And behind each respected frame-builder is an equally well-respected fitter, as Ricky Feather will attest. When Feather, one of the leading lights of the UK handbuilt scene, needs a client measured, he recommends York Cycleworks.

The shop – located in the shadow of the city’s walls – has been at the heart of the York cycling scene since 1980 and approaching its 35th year, it is showing no sign of losing its attraction.

In a market increasingly dominated by the big-name brands, whose concept stores are cropping up with increasing regularity, it is a testament to the ethos of York Cycleworks that it remains not only strong, but expanding too.

The bike fitting service, a staple of the shop’s offering, and which currently takes place in a separate building at the back of the shop, is soon to be incorporated into the main premises, using the same jig as used by Cyclefit in London – a product of York Cycleworks’ long-standing partnership with Trek.

And director and bike fit technician Sam Streeton believes the formula for their success is a simple one.

He told RCUK: “I think we stand out because we offer exceptional customer service and we’re willing to listen to people and take on board what they want.

“I think there are other brands who perhaps don’t do that – maybe that’s what an independent can do that a large chain can’t.

“I think if you’re willing to listen to people and you’re willing to give them the time they deserve, it pays off – bike fit’s a grower and we’ve made a decision in 2009/10 that we didn’t want to compete with the internet.”

The shop has a very basic website, Streeton says, to serve as a ‘shop window’, but it is bike fit, a service they have offered for four years, that has allowed them to showcase their attention to detail. “It allows people to see you’re not just trying to flog them something but you’re also trying to get them the right product.”

He added: “When I went to Ricky, for example, and said what I wanted to do, it immediately filled a gap for him. And I have three other frame-builders as well. Ricky gives me the most work by far. Virtually everything Ricky does is fitted here.”

Clients of Feather Cycles, and indeed York Cycleworks, will be well accustomed to Sam’s fitting techniques – a paper exercise to get to grips with the riders’ experience and goals, a physical and then modifications on the bike – all striving towards greater support and stability.

Their new studio will then take that to a  new level, Streeton believes, with top level machinery, fully integrated motion capture and more – essentially quantifying their existing procedures.

The new bike-fitting studio, which is close to completion, is the latest in a series of expansions for the shop, which already boasts two showrooms – one for mountain bikes and accessories and another for road bikes, the existing studio, which will remain, and a workshop – the last of which is constantly busy.

“We’ve got three full-time mechanics,” Streeton explains. “And they’re at it, all day every day. It never eases. We take anything, we don’t really mind. Bike fit wouldn’t work without a great workshop as well, the two go hand-in-hand.”

All that is lacking, he jokes, is a café to complete the community hub forming at York Cycleworks – and even that is not out of the question.

Nevertheless, with a strong clientele, a race team and a ‘club’ for their riders and former riders, they still occupy a strong presence in both York and Yorkshire as a whole.

“We’re very much at the heart of it,” Sam said. “We have a bit of a local feel – it’s interesting because in the press they’re saying bike shops are no longer just for sales, but also a hub and I think it’s very true is that.

“We are a social place ultimately. You can come in here on a Saturday and there are people in here just chatting in groups – no staff with them.”

York, of course, will become a hub for more than just local cyclists when the Tour de France rolls out of the historical city for stage two of this year’s race. But while big races like the Tour will come and go, York Cycleworks looks set to remain a fixture of the county’s cycling landscape.