Hidden in alleyway amongst the sprawling jungle of concrete in Central, Hong Kong is VELO6, Hong Kong’s first-ever cycling café. Their name is derived from vélo, which is the French word for bicycle. The number six, on the other hand, has dual meanings. The first is the more obvious, being an adaption of the house number from their address; it also represents the founders of the café, all six of whom worked in different industries but found common ground through their shared passion for cycling.
VELO6 位于香港中环一条闹中取静的小巷子里，是香港第一家单车主题咖啡店。「Velo」一词在法文中是单车的意思。而数字6既是它的门牌号，也代表创立这间café背后的团队，是由六个单车发烧友组成。他们本来自不同的行业，却因为对于单车共同的痴迷而聚在一起。VELO6这个名字由此而来。
“Don’t just think of cycling as a physical activity,” says William Hui, one of the co-founders of VELO6. “It’s a lifestyle, akin to drinking coffee and watching films. It’s very closely tied to our day-to-day life.” His impassioned thoughts on cycling being closely integrated with everyday life are channeled through VELO6. Ultimately, he hopes that this café can help him spread his love of cycling to even more people. “It’s not just an exercise, it’s a culture and lifestyle.”
“不要认为单车仅仅是一项体育运动，它也是一种生活方式，可以像喝咖啡看电影一样，和我们的生活融合在一起。” 在我们的谈话中，VELO6创始人之一的William Hui不断提起这一点。他希望借这家咖啡店，把他热爱的单车文化带进更多人的生活中。“除了运动，它更是生活层面，文化层面上的事。”
Being located off On Wo Lane, away from the hustle and bustle of Central, VELO6 is a quiet oasis away from the frantic hustle and bustle of the city; the surrounding trees and greenery adding to the sense of tranquility. Even with no seats in the café, there was a considerable amount of people swinging during my visit, most dropping by to grab a quick cup of coffee and chat with other cycling enthusiasts. During the hour I spent with Hui, I met many patrons who were visiting from other countries, all equally enthused to have a place to chat about biking, coffee, and more. “This was the idea when we established this café,” says Hui. “We wanted to provide a space where bicycle lovers could meet up and shoot the breeze.”
安和里这条小巷不如中环大街般熙熙攘攘，店门前的几棵大树更为它添几分舒适。虽说店里没有座位可以坐下，却有不少人推门而入买杯咖啡，聊会单车。访问进行的短短一个多小时之间，陆续有几位来自不同国家的客人进店，William和他们很容易就打开话匣，话题从单车和咖啡开始，延伸到各个方面。“ 我们建立这个café的时候就有这个想法，给喜欢单车的人提供一个歇脚点，聊单车交朋友。”
Brian Fu is one of the other co-founders and widely regarded by many as being the godfather of Hong Kong’s fixed-gear scene. Having previously lived in the States where the fixed-gear scene was more established, Brian had an early interest in fixies. In 2005, when fixed-gear bicycles were still not well known in Hong Kong, Brian ordered his first fixed-gear bike off the web. But as the Hong Kong scene was nearly non-existent at the time, he had a difficult time finding others who were interested in fixies. This led Brian to start a blog dedicated to fixed-gear cycling. He spent countless hours gathering up-to-date information to share on the blog. The blog began brewing interest and was vital in cultivating the Hong Kong fixie scene. But despite the growing interest at the time, there weren’t any physical stores in Asia that sold fixed-gear bikes with the exception of one location in Japan. This, in turn, led Brian to open the first-ever fixed-gear store in Hong Kong, which also became the second-ever physical location in all of Asia.
VELO6 的另一个创始人Brian Fu，大家也称他为香港 Fixed-Gear （死飞车）之父。2005年的时候，死飞车在香港还鲜有人知。Brian因为在美国生活过一段时间，所以对死飞车文化早有了解，那时他从网上订购了他的第一架死飞车，并自己组装和练习。不过当时的香港还没有人能跟他共享这份乐趣，于是Brian想出一个办法，他在网上开设了有关死飞车的博客，每天花大量的时间搜集一些有关死飞车的资料放上网，就这样聚集到了一班对死飞车有兴趣的人开始一起玩。那时香港还没地方有卖死飞车，Brian便在香港开设了当时亚洲地区除日本以外的第一家死飞车专门店。
“I’m interested in introducing things into Hong Kong that people haven’t seen before,” Brian says. “VELO6 is a good example of this. There’s been many cycling-related cafés in Asia, but Hong Kong lacked one. So I wanted to bring one in and let people know that riding bicycles is something easily approachable and can be a part of your daily life.”
“我的兴趣就是把香港没有的东西带过来” Brian这样说，“正如现在的VELO6，单车咖啡店在欧洲早已有一定的历史了，但在香港还没有，所以我想将它引入过来，让更多人知道踩单车也可以是一件很轻松日常的事。”
Aligned with Brian’s affinity for setting precedents in Hong Kong, VELO6 uses a 70-year-old espresso machine created by the Italian brand Elektra. “There’s no other place in Hong Kong with this vintage espresso maker,” he proudly says. “Whatever Hong Kong is missing, we want to bring it over and make it available.”
店里的咖啡机也是一次新尝试，它来自拥有70年历史的意大利品牌Elektra，“这台复古咖啡机香港没有，也是他们第一个引进的。” Brian自豪的说道， “香港没有什么，我们就想带什么过来。”
