Rusty Bicycle

The Rusty Bicycle is a lovely pub. If only it had been there when I lived in East Oxford years ago, it would definitely have been my regular. It's light and airy, and beautifully decorated. I went in on my own as I was waiting for my partner and felt very comfortable, chatting with the friendly bar staff. They let me try four different bitters to see which one I preferred, even though I was only buying a half. I can't comment on the food as I haven't tried it yet, but I intend to soon as the menu looks great.

Zoe14 (DI User), 01/08/11

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Lived in Oxford for 25 years and the Rusty has very quickly become my favorite pub. Great atmosphere, great fun staff, good home made food... what more do you need? Ohhh yes... beer... that's lovely as well!

Burner Jo (Unverified), 18/04/11

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I've had three delicious meals in the Rusty in the last few weeks. They're really getting it right now, and I recommend you try them out. Wonderful ploughmans, burger, beef stew, and soup. Nothing's been disappointing, and it's very good value.

Matthew Hutchings (DI User), 30/01/11

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Impressed, cool decor but down to earth feel. Going back there again.

sassita (DI User), 24/11/10

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What a great pub. I liked it almost immediately the first time I went in, it has pub charm but is also fresh and clean. The second time I went there I had a sore throat and the barman offered to make me a hot toddy, so full marks to the charming bar staff also!

Ess (DI User), 24/03/10

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I was at The Rusty Bicycle today, they have fabulous menu, great collection of Ale, Wi-Fi, friendly staff and board games etc etc. This is all I ask from a pub and I love everything about this place. My best wishes to them.

Rish (DI User), 08/03/10

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Check out the new chef. I had a delicious lunch of soup and sandwiches last week, the bread is made every morning with beer and was filled with fresh salad and crispy bacon - no flabby fat.
All very cozy by the fire as I watched the hail outside.

Angela (Unverified), 03/03/10

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Magdalen Road is one of those secrets of Oxford, and that is even more true now that The Rusty Bicycle has opened fresh doors on a community pub, just yards from Oxford best community bike recycling shop, Oxford Cycle Workshop. East Oxford is where it's at in Oxford and Magdalen Road is one of it's gems.

Simon (Unverified), 21/01/10

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I had heard a few enthusiastic whispers about The Rusty Bicycle. With a name containing the magic “b” word, it didn’t take me long to check it out. For a fussy old fart who spends far too long picking holes and criticising, I have to say I’m impressed. The Rusty Bicycle is good. Really good. And, if they carry on as they’ve started, this pub looks certain to be the most recession-proof boozer in town.
Late last year, the Oxford Mail carried warnings from the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) about Oxford losing more pubs. “Use ’em or lose ’em” was the message. I reckon that by now I might have gone and checked out the Eagle, as the pub used to be called. If I had, I suspect it would have been an exercise in philanthropy more than anything else. The Eagle was the sort of place you’d cycle past, so fusty-looking that you probably wouldn’t even have clocked its name. It looked like the sort of pub to have decades-old beer stains and an aroma redolent of its pre-smoking ban heyday. But I don’t know, I never made it before it closed.
Almost overnight, the new landlords have succeeded in creating a pub that oozes quality and atmosphere. The man from CAMRA has given the Arkell ales the thumbs up. On my first evening visit, they played the Stranglers’ Rattus Norvegicus LP followed by a Specials medley album. A wood-burning stove crackled in the fireplace by the sofas, throwing a warm glow over my end of the pub. I was in heaven. East Oxford is full of ugly sports-oriented or student-filled pubs. The Rusty Bicycle wants to succeed as a “proper” pub, a place where you meet your friends and neighbours over a beer – without a telly.
The Rusty Bicycle’s clientele has been an eclectic mix the times I’ve visited, and they say that’s the way they want it: to be popular all year round, not busy when the students are here and filled with tumbleweed the rest. If they pitch the pub at a mixed customer base and don’t go in for cheap promotions, the pub could become a well-loved Magdalen Road hub. I sought the verdict of those barometers of cycling good taste, the crew at Oxford Cycle Workshop, a few doors along on Magdalen Road: “Yup, we drink there.” The unanimous verdict: “We love it!” That said, if last Friday’s Mexican night is a sign of things to come, I won’t be rushing back. I’d rather suffer a little background TV than packs of braying, guffawing students high on tequila and low on etiquette.
The pub’s Achilles heel is its bike parking. The landlords have installed a dozen butterfly or “wheelbender” cycle racks along the outside wall. I was kind of impressed – bizarrely, few businesses bother to acknowledge the importance of their cycling customers. But sadly, as any cyclist knows, wheelbenders are only any good if you require just your front wheel for the ride home. All of the cycling customers that I’ve seen have opted to cycle their entire bike home, which is why they parked sideways on and locked the rear wheel and frame to the racks. Butterflies are better than nothing, but a pub as good as The Rusty Bicycle deserves funky racks made from galvanised steel tubing, and definitely “Reserved For Customer Parking Only”.
Parking and that Mexican night aside, The Rusty Bicycle is the best piece of two-wheeled news so far this year. Check it out.

James S (Unverified), 30/11/09

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Very happy to have the Busty Ricycle as our new local - we take the (school age) kids in on a Saturday afternoon for a quiet board game and a pint, and it is also a good place for a quick 'catch up with a mate' drink in the evening. Much needed in the area and extremely welcome.

Frances (Unverified), 03/08/09

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Like the last reviewer, I tended to avoid this when it was the Eagle - it always seemed deserted and had a cigarette-ash sort of smell. What a transformation! This is now a local with style, and on the night we tried it, the clientele was a good mix of locals, students from both universities, professionals and couples.

Andrew (Unverified), 11/03/09

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I have lived near the newly named Rusty Bicycle for 5 years and am amazed by the change. It was once a place that I avoided but now somewhere that I am more than happy to find myself having a drink in after work. The atmosphere is great, the bar staff very friendly and the beer delicious. I welcome the change and enjoyed meeting many of my neighbours for the first time in this new centre of the community.

Alice (Unverified), 16/02/09

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If last Thursday night was anything to go by The Rusty Bicycle was anything but rusty, with a couple of large packs of students already well-oiled by the time we got there – 8pm. We didn't really get the chance to enjoy the new All-Bar-One interior or the Arkells beers, as our table – the only free one unsurprisingly - seemed to have placed us right in the territory of a group of ladz. The beer spilling out of their unsteady glasses rapidly turning our night out into a night in the drip tray, and even though the house wine was good, the G&T well mixed and SBA making a good first pint, it wasn't compensation enough for all the braying. We just weren't wearing enough Jack Wills for this gig. With the rather cosy-looking annex at the far end already full of shell-shocked looking locals, there was nowhere to go at 8.40pm other than out into the big freeze on our really very rusty bikes. So either we had made the mistake of pitching up at this much-to-like student-heavy pub in the middle of term, or the Gods were punishing us for deserting our local.

Mark (Unverified), 12/02/09

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Once the slightly scary Eagle Tavern, this pub is now bright and clean (this side of wine bar swank) with lots of nice nooks which have tables just the right size for playing games, and has an old bike for a hanging pub sign. The smoking area has lots of seating and is also a good suntrap; the sweet chemical smell from whatever they clean the toilets with can invade the pub's main room a bit; snacky things are served at the bar (of the houmous / pâté and breadstick variety) as well as sandwiches all day; they have Gordon's, Bombay Sapph and Dalwhinnie. And real ales, of course.
The management says "we are trying to create a community centre for the area, as we feel a pub should traditionally be, not just a place to drink as much as you can as quickly as possible". Good on 'em.

Barfly (Unverified), 05/02/09

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