By So, what is/was Retro-Bike Underground? In a small North Yorkshire village hall in the UK, a group of like-minded cycling aficionados, who mostly hadn’t ever met before, came together one April evening to share their story about a specific bike that they had brought along. Each person had time to
ATZ forks for my Swiss Cilo Mountainbike
Without getting too scientific, which would push the boundaries of my own physics and chemistry knowledge quite quickly, an elastomer is a type of polymeric material that can be repeatedly stretched beyond its original length with little or no permanent deformation. It can also be compressed repeatedly and still return
Cilo Mountain bikes and bears?
I’m riding up a tiny, Swiss road that has 27% gradient and it keeps going up at this rate for 3 kilometres. For a couple of months of the year, it’s impassable due to snow. It’s only a very narrow road with rough tarmac and it’s not used enough for
A big white Yorkshire horse and a Swiss Cilo horse
I’m currently in North Yorkshire, UK, and I have for sale on my eBay site, two vintage Cilo road bikes. The slightly higher specification of the two is a Columbus framed, Cilo Challenger. It is priced very competitively for a bike of its age, condition and specification. I’m obviously interested
When Cool becomes Cilo Cool
Have you noticed how some things are cool straight out of the box and others gain coolness over time? More importantly, cool doesn’t have to be proven because it’s gained global recognition. Cool is a social perception and not an inherent quality. A Cool thing is much more than just
The 1981 Cilo (alternative?) road test and review
All bicycle road test and reviews are stereotypically the same, and have been since Robert (known as Bob from here on) Lillywand, first thought of a new and innovative way to market and sell his bikes back in 1807. Bob reckoned that by using the village’s local key opinion leader,
A soulful bicycle which carries the name of a true cycling raconteur; Raphael Geminiani
My soulful, 1956 French Randoneur needs a new headset. I should’ve replaced it when I brought it back to life 4 years ago, but it worked reasonably well and it’s an odd size to find a new replacement. I bought the bicycle as a ‘project’ on eBay from a location
The fascinating world and psychology of ‘The bicycle Collector’
A common dictionary definition of the word “collector’” is; a person who collects things of a specified type, professionally or as a hobby. This is obviously a broad definition, and after looking around my bike shed, and after a quick look in the mirror to see if I looked like
Cilo – The opportunities and pitfalls of re-launching a brand
A number of readers have noticed that the Swiss bicycle brand of Cilo has been re-launched, and its prompted me, whilst being inspired by watching the Alabama Shakes message their brand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sNNTpORtDQ to take a look at some brands that have gone through a similar re-vitalisation. Firstly, you don’t need
More about Swiss Cilo cycles & their owners
In the early-ish days of club and national cycle racing, like the 1940s and 50s for example, riders had one bike, which they rode to races, and possibly, if they were good riders, he/she would have a second set of lighter wheels that they would use for the race, then
