Le Club: Montreal’s crossroads for coffeehouse culture, cycling, and running

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.”

Le Club was created to fill that gap in the cycling community in Montreal, and it’s only grown since. Now, it’s a natural gathering spot for cyclists and runners seeking camaraderie and community before and after their rides and runs, regularly meeting up in the mornings and evenings before and after work.

Leaps and bounds

“Starting with the café made it easier for us to build a community, as it wasn’t about selling products at first. It was about creating a space where cyclists could feel at home. When we opened the store later, we already had that community in place,” Christophe recalls.

Originally founded by Laurent St-Cyr, Alex Godbout-Simard, Jean-Simon Bouchard, and Guillaume Drouin-Garneau, Christophe came aboard in recent years with Élie Proulx-Chantal to expand the operation.

Following the café’s success, Le Club started thinking about retail. Their first product was socks, but as not many cycling brands were making them, they found a brand partner which offered a wide range of colours. Socks were easy to manage, with only three sizes, and they didn’t require much sales effort. But it led to success that sparked their interest in going deeper.

“We went online first. The café wasn’t big enough to handle all the products we wanted to sell, and the baristas wouldn’t have been able to provide good customer service for cycling gear because of how busy they were serving the regular café clientele. We had the expertise to build a website and run a proper e-commerce operation, so it made sense,” Christophe says.

Authenticity is key. All of the partners are cyclists and runners who genuinely enjoy meeting others who share their passion.

Interested in performance-oriented cycling products and fashion, Le Club took a different path from traditional bike shops, focusing on cycling apparel from premium brands and creating a boutique offering a different shopping experience than if we had been selling or servicing bikes.

“The physical store came later when the space next to our café became available. It was important for us to have the store right next to the café because the café was always the hub for the cycling community,” Christophe says.

Beyond that, Le Club added running to its activities in January 2024, creating another dimension for its community alongside carrying apparel from top independent running brands. As the team behind the café thought about the future of Le Club, they realized runners were in search of a hub as much as cyclists were, and finding high-grade gear could also prove difficult to find in Montreal.

Finally, when considering how many cyclists transition to running during winter, and how runners have an interest in cycling as well, “this led us to jump into the running world,” says Christophe.

“We're proud of merging those communities under one roof.”

Community above all

While being online could be seen as a success for the business, it still had to maintain a community. That, Christophe says, is at the core of Le Club.

“We want people in the store, because in-person interactions are incredibly meaningful. But the reality is, we also need to support the business through online sales, especially for customers outside of Montreal who can’t visit the store in person.”

“Authenticity is key. All of the partners are cyclists and runners who genuinely enjoy meeting others who share their passion. For us, community comes first, and many of the people who join our rides and events might never become retail customers. But we value the community above all.”  

Cycling and running these streets

Today, Montreal has a robust series of coffeehouse enclaves for cyclists and runners. How it didn’t happen sooner seems strange, given how the city supports those activities.

“Despite the potholes,” Christophe laughs, “Montreal has a solid cycling infrastructure, with plenty of bike paths. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve racetrack and Mount Royal are two of the most popular spots for cyclists. The racetrack is a loop, perfect for training without interruptions, and Mount Royal offers a decent climb. We also have hilly neighborhoods like Westmount, where you can train on quieter residential streets.”

“For running, Montreal has an abundance of parks—the Lachine Canal, Mount Royal’s Olmstead Road, La Fontaine Park, and others. There’s always something to look forward to, whether it’s reaching a lookout on Mount Royal or running along the St. Lawrence River. Plus, the changing seasons add variety to running and cycling throughout the year.”

“You just need the right gear to enjoy it all.”

 Le Club Café is located at 3801 Saint-Denis, and Le Club Boutique is located at 3807 Saint-Denis.