By Back in the early 1990’s, ’Spoke Tailor’ was the title of an article about the great fashion designer, Paul Smith, and which appeared in one of the Sunday paper colour-section-magazines. Whilst the article gave a chronological cycling tour of Mr Smith, it focussed on his latest, new bike. It was
Sundays CTC (Cyclist Touring Club) ride – sometime in 1976
It takes me 15 minutes, post-cornflake-breakfast, to ride to the meeting point and ready for the 9am start. It’s early May and Spring is starting to breakthrough the UK northern skies above me. I arrive at the meeting place and am greeted warmly by the small group already there. I
Mysterious address Plate
I wanted (read as: didn’t actually need) to get hold of an original French Randonneur bike, and one that was made between 1950 & 1955, as this was the breakthrough period for the type of bike. These post-war bikes were built to a specific frame geometry, wheel size etc, so
An evening criterium race, Hull, East Yorkshire, UK and sometime in the 1970s………
Its 9pm in the evening and I’ve just been presented with a special pennant for my ‘outstanding effort’. The pennant is made of a silky fabric in white, with black text printed on it and it has blue tassels on the bottom edge. Some blue nylon rope is attached to
My Perfect bicycle shop
So what do you expect from a really good bike shop? Before you answer, I’m going to tell you about my perfect bike shop. Firstly, location is key. My perfect bike shop would be situated on a crossroads that have traffic lights and which would be on my commute
That thing that makes the chain dance across the gears.
If you get oil on your cycling jersey because you have had to put your chain back on, due to poor gear changing or a derailleur which needs adjusting, I can tell you now, that oil won’t come off in a 30 degree wash. The best way to remove the