By 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
1991, Scott mountain bikes, and cake!
In an attempt to make a short story long, a scene setter journey back into 1991 is required first. Whether you were old enough to remember 1991 or if you arrived on the planet after, here’s a summary; The Gulf War kicked off, the dissolution of the Soviet Union took
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
Part 2 of The ultimate ‘Aladdin’s cave’ of bicycle shops is in Switzerland!
As a sequel to my last post about my most favourite bicycle shop in the world ever, and why it is THE magnet which keeps attracting me, here’s the story of the latest shopping visit there. The proprietor, Stefan Stettler, had provided me with some good advice about what any
The ultimate ‘Aladdin’s cave’ of bicycle shops is in Switzerland!
A few posts back, I tried to articulate what my perfect bicycle shop might look, feel and smell like, and it was a kind of bicycle-shop-utopia-thing. However, today I’m going to introduce you to my actual favourite bicycle shop, and its owner, Stefan Stettler. But first, lets set the location
Music, the track, white cycling shorts, & personalised cycling food & nutrition.
The rock band ‘Free’ came out with the music track ‘All right Now’ in 1970, and whilst I do (just) remember it first time around, it’s popped up again recently for me. The first occasion was when I was a passenger in a colleague’s growling, open top, sexy car on
The thoughts of a track cycling nobody
Have you ever written your thoughts down before? I don’t mean like making notes at work or in the shed. I mean actually recording your train of thought and what it led to, if anything. Well, I did it one evening and during a session riding round, and round, and
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
Rant! Part 2 & last weekend’s bike ride
Sometime ago, I wrote a piece on this site, called ‘Rant!’, which was about the differences found in the cycling world between men and women, and particularly in the range of clothing, equipment, bikes, and equality in cycling sport. Since I wrote it, it is now my view that things
