Pretorious Outeniqua – ti lovely lickable bike

classic lovely ti ….

Road.cc review the new titanium model from Pretorius

You might not have heard of Pretorius before so let’s start by telling you a little about the brand…

Pretorius Bikes is a shop just off Shoreditch High Street in London. It’s been around since 2008. They offer Colnago, Scott and Cinelli bikes, and their own titanium models too. Like the other two options in the lineup – and the majority of ti bikes out there – the Outeniqua road bike is made from 3Al-2.5V titanium (meaning there’s 3% aluminium in the alloy, and 2.5% vanadium) which has excellent fatigue life and resistance to corrosion.

The Outeniqua’s frame is pretty classic looking; they’ve not gone over the top with the shaping here. The top tube slopes very slightly downwards towards the seat tube but it’s far from the most compact of compact geometries. The top tube slims down a little along its length too – from 38mm to 34mm – although you have to look pretty closely to spot that.

If you think the head tube looks chunky, that’s because it is. It has a 44mm internal diameter, taking a Chris King 1 1/8in InSet bearing at the top and a 1 1/2in external headset cup at the bottom, the extra width being designed to provide more front end stiffness. The fork is an Enve Road 2.0 which is full moulded carbon fibre, including the dropouts, and it weighs in at just 350g.

The down tube is oversized although, with a 42mm diameter, not excessively so, and the seatstays taper down from 22mm at the bottom bracket shell to 19mm at the dropouts. Speaking of the dropouts, they’re a neat half-moon design while the cable stops and bottle cage mounts are neatly welded in place.

There’s nothing too strange about the Outeniqua’s geometry. We have the large (58cm) model in on test and that comes with 73.5/73° frame angles, a 57cm effective top tube and a 19cm head tube – that’s including the stack height of the headset. It’s certainly a race-centric set-up – your ride position is low and stretched – but you wouldn’t call it extreme.

Our model has a brushed finish so any little scratches are easily buffed away with some wire wool. You can go for a painted finish if you prefer. Custom paint jobs are available and start from £200. You can also choose from a range of eight different decal colour options and select the headset colour.

The Outeniqua is available as a frameset including the Enve fork and Chris King headset. That will set you back £1,950. You can have it built up however you like so we opted for high-end components throughout… well, the guys at Pretorius did offer. We have a Campagnolo Super Record groupset, Reynolds Thirty Two carbon-rimmed wheels and Schwalbe Ultremo ZX tyres.

The handlebar, stem and seatpost (31.6mm diameter) are all carbon offerings from Enve while the saddle is a Selle Italia SLR which is, of course, the best saddle in the world (according to me). Oh, and we have a bottle cage and bar tape from Arundel on there too.

That little lot weighs in at 7.2kg – which is a highly respectable 15.8lb – and retails for £5,999.

Everyone around here reckons it’s a really good-looking bike. Cool, classy… words like that are getting bandied about. But so far we haven’t got a clue how the Pretorius rides so the next item on the agenda is to get out and get the miles in. We’ll let you know how we get on; there’s a full review coming your way shortly. In the meantime, check out the Pretorius Bikes website.

Joint the Hunt in London

On the 6th May Toyko Fixed are very proud to be hosting the UK’s first ever fixed gear Criterium at Hillingdon Cycle Circuit, a closed 0.9 mile race track in West London.

It will be an action packed weekend full of riding and festivities. Make sure you get down for the race and come and party with us afterwards at Look Mum No Hands. We have Roller Racing at Hillingdon and LMNH in the evening so everyone who isn’t competing in ‘The Hunt’ can still get involved and get the blood pumping.

Details Below

Pedal on Parliament this saturday – come on and join in

Safer cycling and cities fit for people is an important issue for Scotland. Pedal on Parliament will be gathering cyclists (and anyone who wants to join them) from across the nation to cycle on Holyrood to tell our politicians that cycling matters. In February, up to 2000 cyclists gathered in London to cycle on the Westminster Parliament in support of safer cycling and cities fit for people. On April 28th, to coincide with a follow-up ride in London, Pedal on Parliament will be gathering cyclists from across the nation to cycle on Holyrood to tell our politicians that cycling matters. We’re asking everyone who cycles in Scotland – or who would like to cycle, or would like their families to cycle, but who doesn’t feel safe – to join us for a big ride of our own – and a big picnic. Young and old, keen commuter or weekend pedaller, fit or not – you don’t even need to be on a bike.

You just need to show up and add your voice to help make Scotland safe for cycling. What do we want? We have created an eight point manifesto to help Scotland’s devolved government reach its target of 10% of journeys by bike by 2020, a target which is now also embedded in its low carbon and obesity strategies. The government’s present Cycling Action Plan [CAPS] is far too limited to achieve the target, whilst the proportion of the transport budget allocated to cycling remains wholly inadequate at under 1%. Our manifesto covers: Proper funding for cycling. Design cycling into Scotland’s roads. Slower speeds where people live, work and play Integrate cycling into local transport strategies Improved road traffic law and enforcement Reduce the risk of HGVs to cyclists and pedestrians A strategic and joined-up programme of road user training Improved statistics supporting decision-making and policy

Official Pedal On P site

I am going on my Brompton with other Bromptonites so come on and join in …

http://www.meetup.com/Bromptonites/events/56722072/?a=md1_evn&rv=md1

CYCLING HERO – Do you think you cycled far? – Tommy Godwin’s ‘unbreakable’ cycling record

Tommy Godwin cycled the equivalent of three times around the world in a year. It has been described as an “unbreakable” record. I only just heard about him after some news about him came out saying he was carrying the torch prior to the olympics and at the cyclist reference I had no clue …. luckily wikipedia and some googling came to light. According to Singletrack the chap Dave Bartlett is writing a book which will be good to read … he was also badly quoted in this shoddy BBC article … but you get an idea of the legend that was/is Tommy Godwin.

In 1939, Tommy Godwin rode 75,065 miles in a single year to set an endurance riding record that some believe will never be beaten.

In fact, he kept on going until 14 May 1940, setting the record for the time taken to ride 100,000 miles.

Born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1912, Godwin would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year. But unfortunately, Godwin’s record is now largely forgotten.

The Year Record has fallen out of fashion and is no longer the coveted cycling achievement it used to be.

Imagine spending every day in the saddle for 18 hours, covering over 200 miles, repairing any mechanical failures, picking yourself up after crashes and then riding even further the next day to make up lost time.

When I tell other cyclists about the record, they simply don’t believe it’s possible”

Dave Barter – Year Record historian

The distance is the equivalent of three times around the world in a single year, or riding from John O’Groats to Land’s End and back every week. 1443 miles per week – for transatlantic readers or those more worldly – that is Boston to Miami EVERY WEEK for a year.

It was all achieved on a heavy steel bike with only four gears. Yet more than 70 years later, the record still stands.

‘Beyond the limit’

“It’s those statistics that make the record virtually unbreakable,” said Dave Barter, a keen cyclist who is writing a book about the Year Record.

“I’ve gone through his mileage diaries and painstakingly recreated each day’s mileage into a spreadsheet.

“Sometimes he survived on four hours’ sleep and there were probably days when he didn’t even bother and just carried on and kipped in a field for an hour.

Godwin had to learn how to walk normally again when he finished the challenge

“He pushed it [the record] beyond the limit of any mere mortal.

“I worked with a guy who tried it again this year – he lasted about a month and a half.

“The essence of it is that for a year you have to completely give up your whole life.

“When I tell other cyclists about the record, they simply don’t believe it’s possible.”

‘Butcher’s bike’

Godwin’s daughter, Barbara Ford, described her father as “hard as nails” but also said that he was really “a big softie”.

“There was nothing he wouldn’t tackle or do, and nothing he wouldn’t do to help anyone.”

“At 14, he used to ride a bike in a pair of shoes he’d borrowed from the lady next door.

“He’d get on an iron-framed butcher’s bike and cycle a road race of 25 miles and win it.

“He never bragged or told anyone. He was so unassuming and didn’t want any fuss.

“He once saved a woman from a fire, and after checking she was ok, he simply got on his bike and carried on riding.

“All his cups and trophies, he gave away. It wasn’t that he was ungrateful – he just didn’t need any recognition.

“When they unveiled a plaque in his honour someone asked me what my dad would have said. I told them he wouldn’t have turned up.

“Everyone should have had the privilege of meeting Tommy Godwin, because he was just so lovely.

“I remember asking him why he attempted the record.

“He just said: ‘Why not? Why did Mallory Hillary climb Everest? Because it’s there.’

“He did it just because he loved cycling so much.

“Guinness did say that my dad’s record would always be safe. They won’t accept a challenge because they think it’s too dangerous.”

‘Unimaginable constitution’

Godwin often slept in a field to get some well-earned rest

There are also issues over verification: it would be all too easy for a rider these days to swap a tracking unit with other riders.

Tracking devices did not exist in 1939, so Godwin’s mileage was verified by respected figures such as police officers, and posted daily to Cycling – the magazine that originally set up the challenge.

Stoke-on-Trent cycling legend Brian Rourke said: “In theory, the record should be breakable because new road surfaces and modern bikes offer a huge advantage.

“They can do 500 miles in a day now. But to do over 200 miles, every day for a year, on a three-speed bike made of steel, is basically impossible.

“Nobody could ever match his record. Even if it was broken, the conditions just aren’t comparable.” After the feat, Godwin had to learn to walk normally again and uncurl his hands. Yet within weeks, he was serving his country in the RAF.

“I honestly don’t know how he did it. His constitution is just unimaginable,” said Mr Rourke.

“He is totally unique – someone the world will never see the likes of again.”

Here is a clip of him speaking – what a geezer and no mention of his amazing year feat JUST the olympic medals ……

Surly long haul trucker

Owners might be the best salespeople when it comes to bikes … Certainly breadbike.org speak about the virtues of the Surly LHT and our friend Tom Morton who is crossing Scotland on one later in the year (we are filming a small doccie on this) is a fan.

Other people like the one below give an eloquent appraisal of the good (and very occasionally weaker) points of the bike. This one is so well written I thought I would repost it here.

http://bicycletouringpro.com/blog/surly-long-haul-trucker-touring-bicycle-review/

Deciding which touring bike to purchase is no small undertaking. When you’re going to be spending so much time and money on a bike, it’s important to get it right.

Over the past two years, my partner and I have used our trusty Long Haul Truckers to carry us up and over the hills of Wales, along the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia, across the Peaks and the Pennines of England, and – in our most extensive trip yet – around New Zealand’s beautiful South Island.

But before we did all that, we spent hours poring through internet forums, blogs and reviews in our quest for the ultimate touring machine. We also talked to friends who have been cycling touring and were a wealth of knowledge. A few of them had the Surly Crosscheck or the Long Haul Trucker and rated them highly.

We looked at the Dawes, the Thorns and the Koga-Miyatas among the many touring bikes on offer. But it was the Long Haul Trucker that kept popping up as the touring bicycle to have: a steel frame with all the braze-ons that you would ever need for v-brakes, racks, bottle cages and even spare spokes.

We already had a Surly in our stable, the Steamroller, which had done a good service as a fixed city commuter. The Surly 4130 CroMoly steel gives a comfortable and reliable ride, the paint job was smart, and we knew that we couldn’t go wrong with a Surly.

At Brixton Cycles in London we had a chance to see the Long Haul Trucker in the flesh. Beautiful, aren’t they? We had a great chat with the staff there, who are real Surly enthusiasts. After some discussion, we found the right sizes for the two of us: quite comically I settled for the towering 58cm 2009 model in green, and my partner went for the diminutive burgundy 46cm, of which, happily for our wallet, Brixton had one left over from 2008 at a reduced price. We came away from the shop buzzing with ideas about how we’d build the bikes ourselves, to our exact specifications and needs. New additions to the stable were soon to be born!

The Build & The Ride

All the Surly bikes we’ve come across (the Steamroller, Crosscheck and now the Long Haul Trucker) are certainly not on the light side. But they are built to last – sturdy and rock solid. The relaxed angles and the longer wheelbase make the Long Haul Trucker a simply brilliant ride.

Over the years, we’ve each tried many other kinds of bicycle, from custom-made titanium racing bikes to aluminum hard-tail mountain bikes. Admittedly, we’ve never tried a different model of touring bike, but the Long Haul Trucker has made such an impression that we feel we’ll never need to. Simply put, they are probably the most comfortable bicycles we have ever ridden.

The Surly Long Haul Trucker is not built for speed, but for carrying you and the kitchen sink. It really does handle and feel most at ease when you have loaded it up. This is, I’m sure, a common principle of all good touring bicycles.

We’re ashamed to admit that our other bicycles have more or less been put out to grass since we got the Long Haul Truckers. We have a couple of fixed and road bikes along with a MTB commuter. But, over the last two years, they have just been gathering dust, since the Long Haul Truckers are so comfortable and a joy to ride. While the titanium road
bike is a flighty thoroughbred, the Long Haul Trucker is a sturdy and reliable cart horse.

We’ve even used our Long Haul Truckers as commuting bikes in London. They are slow and heavy but always get you there in comfort and with a smile on your face. It is no racer, but let’s face it, you’re not going to do a sprint finish when touring. Need to take lots of luggage, extra water and a stock pile of food when away from civilization? The Surly doesn’t complain. It just takes the load and keeps on going. You can almost hear it say “More luggage? Bring it on!”

Even at low speeds and fully loaded it handles very well. Nor is going up steep hills a problem. In the fastnesses of Wales and the Pennines we managed a few serious lumps – even a 25% incline – fully loaded, with the front wheel firmly planted on the ground.

I’m told I sound like a broken record when telling people about this bike, but it’s honestly the best way to describe it: It’s like riding a four-wheeled sofa. Heavy, but comfy as anything.

The Build & The Cost

We got hold of our two Surly frames at our local bike shop in London, Brixton Cycles. The 46cm was £50 cheaper than the 56cm, which set us back £350 since it was an older model (2008 rather than 2009). There are no substantial differences between the two frames aside from different lugs on the dropouts, and the colour: the 2008 frame was
only available in a rather fetching burgundy. Otherwise, they’re exactly the same. The 2010 model seems to differ from the 2009 frame in colour alone, and if there are further differences, they must be subtle as they’re not immediately noticeable. And, from discussions with other Long Haul Trucker riders, the ride quality doesn’t differ from model to model.

When it came to selecting the correct size, there were a few different schools of thought to consider. We took the advice of the bike shop to go for a smaller size than usual in a touring frame. The 60cm, and maybe even 62cm frame would certainly have fit me, but our man Barney at the local bike shop advised me to go for the 58cm in order to have
greater control over my steed when fully loaded, especially when getting on and off. I do have a rather long seat post and a raised stem. I didn’t even need to cut the fork down. What matters is that I feel comfortable on the bike, and so I’m absolutely sure I made the right sizing and set-up choices. Even my partner took the size down from her normal size, 46cm, and she just loves riding her Surly Long Haul Trucker.

If you prefer an off-the-peg bike, you can get the Surly Long Haul Trucker built up from Surly for just over £890. We decided that we wanted to build our tourers from scratch, as we had particular ideas about our preferred components. For example, I don’t get on with drop handlebars or downtube shifters, and my partner prefers shallow drops and women-specific saddles. I also looked forward to the process of sourcing the parts and building up our new steeds. And then there was the practical benefit of helping me understand the bikes inside and out, and be prepared for any potential mechanical breakdowns while out on tour.

I built up our Long Haul Truckers with XT groupsets, 44, 32, 22 chainrings and a 11-34 cassette which gives us plenty of low gears for going up the steepest of hills. I chose the Hollowtech II bottom bracket, which I admit I was a little worried about at start (new-fangled technology!), but they are running just fine.

My bike has butterfly/traveller handlebars, which I’m still playing around with to find exactly the right set up. I’m almost there. The wheels, 700c, I bought second hand from a friend who’d built them up himself with a HOPE XC rear hub and SON dynohub on Mavic A319 36 hole rims.

The smaller Surly was set up with women-specific shallow drop Bontrager handlebars and Ultegra STI shifters which work great with v-brakes when you use travel agents. The wheels, 26”, were built with HOPE front and rear hubs on Mavic A319 36 hole rims, by our very good friend and wheel builder.

Both bikes run Marathon Plus 35mm tyres which are pretty much bombproof, which is much needed for touring and commuting in London. Admittedly the tyres are slightly on the slow side (see a theme emerging here?), but it’s not speed we care too much about. Rather, it’s durability and longevity that are important. The Marathon Plus ticks these boxes. As for the racks, we chose Turbus Cargo and Ergo racks because we’d heard good things about them and I was lucky enough to get them on discount through my work.

It’s a bit hard to state the total cost of the bikes. To be honest, we got rather carried away when building our new toys and didn’t keep a close eye on the budget. Plus, we did have some of the parts stored up already along with several great offers we managed to pick up online and through my work. The bike building project began in January 2009
and the first bike was fully built by June of the same year. If you have time to spare, gradually picking up bits and pieces through online offers can save you quite a bit of money. For example, we picked up my partner’s Ultegra shifters for half price, and got the Hollowtech II crankset for over £100 less than the street price.

But I’m pretty sure if you go into a shop and order what we have, you are going over the £2000 mark for each of these bicycles. That said, I’m sure that the off-the-peg Surly would be a great ride still and a great starter tourer to build up when you can afford to upgrade.

The Small Things

The paint job is good quality. I have used my Surly heavily over the last two years and of course there are a few scratches, but the paint job is still sound. I had read that the paint job on the burgundy coloured Surly wasn’t the best. But, we have not had any problems with ours. There was a rather big scratch inflicted by the journey to New Zealand but no paint job would have survived that.

The smaller 46cm frame is rather compact so you can only have one 750ml bottle in the three cages. The one on the seat tube can just about hold a 750ml bottle, and it’s a bit of a faff to get the bottle out and in. The one on the underside of the down tube can only take a small bottle as there is no room for it because of the front wheel.

Since the Long Haul Truckers are on the heavy side, you will be a bit pushed keeping your packed up bicycle within your luggage allowance when flying. We try to add a little bit extra into the box, such as your sleeping bags and tent. But with the Long Haul Truckers you don’t have many extra kgs to play with.

The standard sized bike box you can pick up from your local bicycle shop, is a tight fit for the 58cm frame. Even with front rack and mudguards off your Surly will be bigger than the box. I had to take the forks off as well in order to get it all into the box. The 46cm frame, however, fit nice and snug into a standard cardboard bike box.

My very first ride on the Surly Long Haul Trucker was quite an epic one: a ride called the Dunwich Dynamo, a 110’ish mile long ride over night from London to a beach north east of London. Around one thousand people take part every year in the summer. It was pretty much thrown together in the morning before the ride, a quick spin in the carpark
to see if it worked, loaded it up and off we went.

After around 40-50 miles my shoulders started to hurt. I then raised the stem one spacer and the pain started to go away. And that was it for the rest of the ride. It was just so comfortable. When I got back onto the bike after a quick swim and breakfast it was not painful.

When people see the Surly they are really interested and only tell you good things about it, either from their own experience or from what they have read or heard. I recall that at 4am on the Dunwich Dynamo, I was passing two ladies on a hill, and we all were rather tired at this point. One of them asked me, “Is that the Long Haul Trucker, with the
long wheel base?” This made me smile, gave me a boost and made me rather proud that I had picked such a well thought of and famous bicycle.

The only thing that has broken on the Surly is the rear wheel which was second hand. After nearly 10,000 miles in total, the rim cracked. I think it handled it responsibilities very well since I’m not the smallest of people and do carry a lot in my panniers, including a heavy tool kit, while commuting in London. And we did ride on some rather rough gravel roads in New Zealand. Otherwise they just roll along taking in whatever you throw at them.

The Surly Long Haul Trucker: In Summary

You’re not going to win any races riding a Long Haul Trucker. But it does exactly what it says on the tin. It carries you long distances, with all your worldly possessions (well, almost) in comfort and style. It just gets better the more you load it up.

I’m now coming up to 8,500 miles on mine and when it’s clean it still looks like a new bicycle. In the meanwhile, our other bikes look out jealously from under the washing draped over them; they’re just glorified laundry hangers these days. We were warned that once we’d joined the Long Haul Trucker club we’d have trouble weaning ourselves off… and it’s true!

I know for sure that these lovely, dependable Surly Long Haul Truckers will be in our stable for many years to come. It’s testament to the comfort and quality of the bikes that we really can’t think of anything that we want to change about them. We might just top up the paint job when it’s needed. In the meantime, there’s a lot of world left to explore, so we’ll just keep on Long Haul Trucking.

The sh*t chopper may make a comeback

Raleigh, the name synonymous with British bicycles for 125 years despite a gradual half-century slide in market share and the fact it last assembled a bike in Britain almost a decade ago, is in talks over a possible sale to a Dutch competitor.

In a brief statement, Accell, the biggest bike firm in Europe but relatively little-known in the UK, said it had begun discussions “which, if successfully concluded, could lead to the acquisition of Raleigh”. Raleigh confirmed the talks but had nothing to add.

At is peak Raleigh, named after the Nottingham street where founder Frank Bowden bought a small bike shop in 1887, made 1m bikes a year and employed so many staff that the company had its own ballroom and bowling green.

While it continued huge production levels into the 1970s and 80s with famous bikes like the Chopper, Grifter and Burner, poor management and inefficiency brought losses and Raleigh was bought in 1987 by a former sportswear executive, Alan Finden-Crofts, backed with US money. Tough times continued, and after the parent company went bankrupt in 2001 Finden-Crofts led a management buyout.

The company he now hopes to sell employs fewer than 200 staff in the UK and stopped manufacturing frames or bike components in 1999, four years later outsourcing even the assembly of the bikes to companies overseas, principally in Asia. The loss of another British manufacturing icon to overseas buyers is thus largely symbolic.

The UK remains something of a cycling backwater, despite an upsurge in bike use in recent years. Figures suggest that fewer than 2% of non-walking journeys in the UK are made by cycle, as against more than a third of those in the Netherlands.

Accell, which had a 2011 turnover of £525m last year, sells the bulk of its bikes in the Netherlands and Germany under brands including Batavus, Koga, Hercules and Lapierre.

News of the likely sale comes as little surprise, said Carlton Reid, who runs the BikeBiz cycle industry website. Finden-Crofts, 70, and his fellow owners had been “openly and not so openly touting Raleigh for some years”. Reid added: “They’ve got it back on their feet and it’s a reasonably good time in the bike industry.”

The modern cycle industry is very different from the era when steel frames were hand-welded in Raleigh’s workshops before being fitted with components developed and made within the same company, like the famous Sturmey Archer gears, a company absorbed by Raleigh in 1902 and later sold off.

While a few smaller companies still make their own bikes, such as the folding machines produced by west London’s Brompton, the great majority of frames are manufactured by contractors in places such as Taiwan and Malaysia and equipped with Identikit parts from one of a handful of giant firms such as Japan’s Shimano. The main role for companies like Raleigh is design, marketing and adding a brand.

The Nottingham company has improved its performance in recent years, thanks in part to some highly-praised top-end bikes, joined in 2010 by a resurrected Team Raleigh squad of riders.

“There was definitely time when you would have thought, ‘Who on earth would mourn Raleigh? There’s a multiplicity of brands all doing it better than they are’. But things have picked up in the last few years,” said Reid. “That said, Raleigh are never going to be the 60%-70% market domination like it used to be, ever. Those days are well gone.”

Green Week – London Cycling

Reblogged from :

Check out all the stuff we have planned for Tuesday of Green Week. Bring spare bike parts to swap, t-shirts to get our logo printed on. There is a bike powered cinema so come and get involved!!!!! IT IS ALL FREE!!!!!!!

this is next week and I might be in London too

A quick Bike race – if you’re Phineas Fogg ….

World Cycle Racing will launch on the 18th February 2012, and ten riders will set off to race 18,000 miles around the world in what has been described as ‘the Longest, toughest, adventure race in the world’. The goal? Winning the race and hopefully claiming the ultimate prize of a new Guinness World Record.

Bikemagic will be following the ten riders in this challenge, and profiling each rider as they prepare and embark on this challenge. Before we get into that, here’s an overview of the massive challenge they face.

Currently the fastest circumnavigation by bicycle is 96 days, 10 hours and 33 minutes, and was achieved by Alan Bate (UK) who cycled a distance of 29,467.91 km (18,310.47 mi) and travelled over 42,608.76 km (26,475.8 mi) in total (including transfers). The journey started and finished at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, from 31 March to 4 August 2010.

Riders competing in the World Cycle Racing event will be tracked via satellite tracking in what is shaping up to be the most dramatic adventure race ever. With the ability to track each rider individually every 10 mins through Trackleaders and along with special race commentary you will be sure not to miss any of the action as it unfolds.

Five times longer than the Tour de France, these amateur riders will have to cycle and astonishing 190 miles per day to stand a chance of claiming a new World Record. Each rider in the WCR will be riding solo un-supported.

From racing across the Gobi desert, climbing the heights of the rocky mountains, battling the headwinds of the australian outback to revelling in the marvels of India. Each route is as unique as it is challenging at is sure to test every rider to the limit both physically and mentally. Only the strongest overall rider will return first victorious back to London just before the Olympic games.

The official race start will be from Greenwich Park, London at 12 noon with the opportunity to see off the riders as they embark on their epic journey’s.

The ten riders are:

There are two groups of riders. WCR – Grand Tour riders who will be setting off from the same location in London and WCR independents who are setting off from a different location in the UK. Both groups will depart on the 18th February 2012

WCR Grand Tour Riders

Mike Hall

Martin Walker

Kyle Hewitt

Jason Woodhouse

Simon Hutchinson

Richard Dunnett

Stuart Lansdale

Sean Conway

Stephen Phillips

WCR Independents

Paul Ashley-Unett

http://www.worldcycleracing.com

The Geek in me like this: Social Running Geekiness

It’s one thing to look at your own personal-fitness data and identify trends and tendencies. But what about crunching the numbers of 1,000 New Yorkers over a nearly four-month period? That’s the kind of project that requires some serious know-how.

Graphic designer Nicholas Felton enlisted 14 of his students at Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts to analyze the metadata aggregated by 1,000 Nike+ runs conducted from Sept. 7 to Dec. 21 of last year. The result is an incredibly detailed representation of New Yorkers’ running habits, where the most popular routes are, what time of day Nike+ runners are more likely to be outside, and more.

The above graphic (done by Cooper Smith) shows where the most popular running paths are in Central Park. The red lines indicate the highest trafficked areas, and as Smith notes on his blog, the lighter green and blue entrails extending from the east side of the park show that more people tend to enter the park from the Upper East Side. The same lines don’t show up nearly as often along the Upper West Side entrance points.

Felton’s team did more than just static graphical overlays. The video below (also done by Smith) puts the Nike+ into motion, illustrating where people are running during what time of day. (The actual date of the run is irrelevant in this analysis.)

Teammate Erin Moore opted for a more traditional day-by-day analysis of New Yorkers’ running habits.

In all, there were more than 500,000 data points to wade through, and you can see the rest of Felton’s students’ work at their SVA page. And although the visualizations end up highlighting shortcomings in the data collection, this effort and new fitness-tracking features being developed by the likes of Boston-based startup RunKeeper prove that the future of personal data tracking has never been more rife with potential.

 

—– even more info

check out his site here 

where you can find his London Nike+ stuff … was apparently in Wired UK

London pretty

Robert Penn backs call for proper London cycle map

Robert Penn, author of the bestselling book ‘It’s All About the Bike: the Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels’ has added his backing to the London Cycle Map Campaign – a single clear and easy to use unified network of signed cycle routes spanning the whole of Greater London.Robert told Cycle Lifestyle magazine: “I lived in London for nearly a decade – the 90s – and rode a bicycle almost every day. I invested a lot of time and ardour in finding the best routes across the city – the safest thoroughfares, the shortcuts and back alleys, the one-ways and parks that turned a simple bike ride into a gift. I remember how hard that knowledge was won. There weren’t many regular cyclists to compare trip notes with then. I kept studying the A-Z; I kept taking wrong turnings on purpose; I kept on nosing down the dead ends.

The knowledge did come, though. And through it, through seeing every common and cemetery, every allotment and every sweeping cityscape, I came to love a place I’d always expected to hate. I’m a country boy, really. And now I’m back in the country. I moved to the Black Mountains, in south-east Wales, eight years ago.

Now, I return to London regularly, on the train, with my bicycle in the guard’s van on the Great Western service from Swansea. Each time, I set off blindly from Paddington to Kentish Town or Dalston, Southwark or Soho. And each time, I seem to come unstuck. I arrive at a junction I know well… only to realise I’m lost. The knowledge is fading. Holes are appearing in my subconscious street map of the city – partly because I’m getting old, and partly because I don’t ink over the routes often enough anymore.This is why I believe the London Cycle Map is such a good idea. Clear, well-signed routes would be easy to follow. It would be a huge boon not just for me, but for anyone bringing a bike to London. Who knows, it might even encourage a few more people onto two wheels as well.”

As well as regular publicity drives and lobbying from Cycle Lifestyle Magazine, there’s also an online petition which has reached over 1,500 signatures to date – and they’re aiming for thousands more. MAP HERE

Cycle Lifestyle editor Ben Irvine said: “We’re aiming big – for the 100,000 signatures needed in order for a petition to be debated in the House of Commons. There are enough committed cyclists out there to make this possible: the Cyclists’ Touring Club has over 68,000 members, the London Cycling Campaign over 10,000, and Sustrans over 40,000.”

Currently, unless you’re planning a short local ride, you’ll need to check up to 14 folding cycle maps covering London’s different areas. Then, once you’re on your way, you’ll need to remember all the street names and directions – sometimes hundreds – for your journey because the signs on the London Cycle Network aren’t regular or informative enough to allow you to follow them as you go along.

Sign the petition now!http://www.petition.co.uk/london-cycle-map-campaign/

Small wheels big difference – brompton bikes lands end to John o groats

On brompton bikes no less – please go to site and donate £1 or £100…..
Whats more you can join them in the adventure …. Have a look at their site http://www.smallwheelsbigdifference.org/

When:

Starting at Land’s End on Saturday 16th June, arriving in John O’Groats a fortnight later on 30th June 2012.

———————————————

How:

“Nothing gives the English more pleasure, in a quiet but determined sort of way, than to do things oddly!”

Bill Bryson hadn’t heard of our project when he wrote that but if ever he needs evidence to back up his opinion, he need look no further than our website…

Though traditionally considered better suited to nipping around the road of London and folding neatly alongside your train seat, we think Brompton fold-up bikes are a brilliant way to take us the 1000 miles up the British Isles. Made in England, Bromptons are built to be durable and comfortable, and we’re looking forward to taking ours to pastures new!

Where:

Land’s End to John O’Groats; from the most south-westerly to the most north-easterly points in the British Isles. Almost 1000 miles, it is widely recognised as one of the most challenging long-distance bike rides in Europe. From the rolling hills of Cornwall and Devon, to the stunning views of western Scotland via the speedy flats of the Midlands, the route we have chosen will be as varied and interesting as possible.

June	Start	End	Miles	Difficult
16th	Lands End	Padstow	56	*
17th	Padstow	Barnstaple	77	*
18th	Barnstaple	Weston-S-M	79	*
19th	Weston-S-M	Ross-on-Wye	67
20th	Ross-on-Wye	Shrewsbury	70
21st	Shrewsbury	Liverpool	63
22nd	Liverpool	Lancaster	70
23rd	Lancaster	Keswick	58	*
24th	Keswick	Dumfries	66
25th	Dumfries	Ardrossan	74
26th	Ardrossan	Lochgilphead	56	*
27th	Lochgilphead	Fort William	78	*
28th	Fort William	Inverness	64
29th	Inverness	Brora	63
30th	Brora	John O’Groats	63

Nb/ We continue to optimise the route as we complete more research and consult experienced riders therefore the above is subject to change subtly. Our current plans are included, however, so that anyone interested can work out when/where to join in, and so that experience riders can offer any advice on our chosen path.

A new very special brompton

broken news on road.cc

London folding bike specialists Brompton have sneak peeked a Special Edition for the forthcoming London Bike Show coming up in only 36 hours. There will only be 500 of the black London Bromptons made and apart from unique graphics designed and installed by Clerkenwell artist Vic Lee, each bike will come with a signed print by the artist as well as some unique parts including the flap for Brompton’s unique front bag featuring the same London-inspired design, black mudguards and a Brooks leather saddle and matching grips.

Vic Lee is the very same artist who hand painted two Brompton prize bikes won by the Rachael Elliot and Michael Hutchinson, the Brompton World Champions at Blenheim back in the summer and he’s obviously developed a taste for the work because 500 of these beauties will be more of a challenge.

According to Vic Lee, “I initially worked with Brompton on a one-off, hand-drawn design for the prize bikes for the 2011 Brompton World Championship. These got a lot of attention so we started to investigate if there was any way we could do something similar on slightly large scale. I have been creating this style of London-inspired schemes for a couple of years now; it is great to see this translated into the London Brompton.”

Brompton’s Sales and Marketing Director, Emerson Roberts says, “In a year when the world’s eyes will be turned on London, we wanted to come up with something really special to celebrate the personality of this great city. We’ve been fans of Vic’s work for a while and he was the obvious choice for this limited run of London Bromptons. Vic lives and breathes this city and that was important to us as it’s where every Brompton is made and assembled.

“The final result looks fantastic, and it was no surprise to me that every one of the 500 was snapped up by our trade customers within two days of the factory reopening last week; consumers wishing to buy a London Brompton will have to be very quick.”

And they have to come up with £1,475 which reflects the extra work and Brooks saddle. Otherwise at Excel Brompton will be showing off a new ‘H’ format handlebar “along with a number of other developments .”

Details: http://www.brompton.co.uk

London not the cycle friendly city it tries so hard to portray

Excellent article in the guardian:

London is a city full of bicycles, but many of them don’t get out much. The thing that’s stopping them most is fear: the fear on their owners’ part of injury and death. As a Londoner whose bicycle rarely sees the great urban outdoors, I have no trouble believing a Transport for London analysis of cycling potential, published this time last year, which found that concern for personal safety “was the most significant barrier to cycling in general”.

The dreadful news that a 16th cyclist has died on London’s roads in 2011 – dubbed by the city’s mayor Boris Johnson the “year of cycling” – provides no reassurance. Two of those 16 perished in the autumn after colliding with lorries on one of Johnson’s four “cycle superhighways” that goes through a busy roundabout in Bow, just a stone’s throw from the 2012 Olympic Park. The mayor claims to be leading a “cycling revolution” in the capital. How is that “revolution” going, and at what cost?
The story told by the Tory mayor and those who implement his policies is that “cycling is on the up“, although what kind of “up”, and why, is in dispute. A recent written answer said that “cycle flows” on the capital’s main routes grew by 15% between 2009/10 and 2010/11, but does that mean that many more Londoners have started cycling? That TfL analysis of cycling potential found that between 2001 and 2008 there was a high degree of churn, with people trying out pedal power then thinking better of it. An increase in cycle travel was down to people making more cycle trips rather than more people taking up cycling.
The mayor claims that his commuter-route superhighways and loss-making cycle hire scheme – which benefits only central London so far – are popular triumphs. Yet these high-profile, Barclays bank-sponsored initiatives have been developed while funding has been slashed for a London-wide cycle route network that critics say would have done far more to foster cycling across the metropolis as a whole. Team Johnson and TfL are now insisting that safety is a priority, and are reviewing the design of all superhighway junctions, while rejecting accusations that these routes are little more than a few lanes of blue paint.
But the mayor is coming under sustained attack over an area of transport policy – where London mayors have their greatest powers – that overlaps inconveniently with his public image as a lovably eccentric “cycling mayor”. Brian Paddick, his Liberal Democrat challenger for next year’s mayoral election, has claimed that Johnson’s roads policy “puts peoples’ lives at risk” due to his prioritising “smoothing traffic flow” for private cars and commercial vehicles.
The Green party’s candidate, Jenny Jones, who is also a member of the London Assembly, is unimpressed by the way Johnson has distanced himself from the failure of TfL, whose board the mayor chairs, to implement recommendations by London cycling campaigners and its own consultants that would have seen the Bow superhighway designed differently. According to the “cycling mayor”, this was all news to him.
Johnson’s fellow City Hall Conservatives had a tricky time last week after a walk-out by the assembly’s Tory group meant that a cycling safety motion couldn’t be debated. Such sabotages have become routine, whatever the subject – they stem from a long-running complaint about scrutiny committees – and the Tory AMs do have cyclists in their ranks, including one who has backed the campaign against Johnson’s proposed junction redesign at Blackfriars bridge. But they might not have anticipated the father of the most recent fatal victim telling BBC London News that politicians should be “thoroughly ashamed of themselves“.
Nobody disputes that there is more cycling in London than there was 10 years ago, but the mayor’s progress towards creating the “cyclised city” he says he craves is coming under the spotlight not only from rival politicians – he’ll come under more pressure about safety at his monthly question time on Wednesday – but also articulate and energetic campaign groups mobilising on the blogosphere. Even the planning inspectorate’s response to the draft of Johnson’s new London Plan, the master document signposting the capital’s future development, thought his target for increasing cycling’s transport “modal share” unambitious.
It said he ought to find a place for a hierarchy of road-users, with more sustainable forms such as cycling at the top. There’s not much chance of that. Johnson’s encouragement of cycling falls short of causing too much nuisance to his first priority – the motorist, especially the suburban variety whose electorally loyalty he needs. He is, after all, a Conservative.

Locking the brompton

It is not often that I don’t take the folding bike on with me to meetings but today was rushing around in a small area. This should defeat most chance or opportunists thieves. Folded the bike which should daunt most then heavy lock through frame onto rack and 2nd lock keeping it folded.

Lastly it is insured – but that is a security you end up paying for yourself through increased premiums.

New Olympic velopark gets mixed reception

London Olympic Legacy Velopark – the original plan
From today (Monday) potential users of the planned Olympic Velopark can have their say on the designs for the road, mountain bike and BMX facilities that will form part of London’s 2012 Olympic legacy. road.cc

Last Thursday in what was billed as a pre-consultation event the new designs for the road and mountain bike areas were unveiled at a public meeting in Stratford Town Hall. The meeting was attended by around 30 people with interested parties from cycling groups across the London boroughs represented, as well as British Cycling and the Eastway Users Group (EUG) representatives from all sides that we spoke to agreed that the meeting was positive and constructive even so reaction to the plans was mixed – essentially it boils down to the thorny matter of access, what needs to be decided before the designs go forward for planning permission later this month is where the balance lies between ‘velo’ and ‘park’ in the proposed Olympiic Velopark.

So what’s changed from the original plan you can see at the top of this story? Well the good news is that the road circuit has actually gotten slightly longer, 1.656Km instead of 1.6Km and the crossing of the River Lea has also been retained from the original design. Both British Cycling and the EUG were very keen to retain such an important element of variation in the circuit from the original design. The eastern third of the circuit around the BMX park is virtually unchanged, the big difference is that the river crossing becomes much more of an out and back affair – freeing up access to more of the riverbank, which is what the OPLC wanted – now, when the circuit comes back over the river after a longish straight it takes in a circuit around the outside of the velodrome.

The Olympic Park road circuit Mk11, slightly longer and now centred on the Olympic Velodrome

The other big advantage claimed for the new road circuit design is it’s flexibility, as well as using it as a full circuit it can be used as either a fast truncated circuit – omitting the loop of the velodrome, or as up to three smaller coaching circuits. The full circuit has 23m of elevation change – the same as the old Eastway.

From what we understand aside from some technical questions about run off areas and fencing around the bailey bridges that take the circuit across and back over the River Lea (oh and slight concerns that the circuit narrows from 6m to 5m on the bridges) people were broadly satisfied.

There was less satisfaction though over the BMX and mountain bike facilities, according to the EUG report on the meeting the point was forcibly made that existing Olympic BMX park is simply too difficult to be left as a legacy provision unchanged. The feeling was that it will need fencing off as a matter of public safety. There were also concerns as to how suitable an Olympic standard course was as a legacy provision for non-Olympic standard riders the point was made that of 400 entrants to the recent SE Championships 120 withdrew when they saw the “gnarliness’ of the course at practice.

Possibly more problematic though are issues surrounding the mountain bike course, this too is bigger than the original plan and now also comes back under the A12 to occupy what appears as an empty rectangle of land to the east of the road and BMX circuits on the original plan – which you can see at the top of this story. The idea from the planners is that the mountain bike circuit ‘reaches out’ from the park to the neighbouring borough of Waltham Forest which is adjacent to the park’s north eastern boundary. The problem is that the boundaries to the MTB area are open and the portion of the circuit that lies south of the A12 is bisected by a diagonal path which to the consternation of the EUG only appeared on the new plan as late as mid-September. While marshalling should prevent problems during actual races the concern is what happens when the circuit is simply being used for training or leisure purposes, that is still a concern for the road circuit too.

“The designers and planners don’t seem to appreciate how disadvantaged any cyclist is by all the things that the general public does in parks. Footballs and dogs are disasters waiting to happen if you get too close,” Michael Humphreys told us and anyone who has used the commuter routes through some of London’s royal parks will know exactly what he means.

While the old Eastway was effectively walled in so riders could race or train secure in the knowledge that a member of the public was not going to wander across their path unexpectedly, or indeed at all accessl to the new Velopark would appear to be largely open. The Velopark itself is a part of the much bigger Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park one of the biggest tasks given to the Olympic planners is integrating the park and all its facilities with the existing local communities to avoid the creation of a gentrified Olympic enclave and spread the benefits of Olympic regeneration out in to the boroughs that border the Olympic site.

The Lea Valley Regional Park Authority intends to have the new cycling facilities up and running by the autumn of 2013, there’s plenty to discuss before then and users, and potential users of the Velopark can have their say this week 7-11 November before the planning application is made on November 30th – once that is done there will be a further statutory period for the public to comment on the planning application.

Rig143 – Glasgow ‘the bike man’

Popped into RIG143 today on what could be the start of an interesting film …. took some photographs as well (many more to come)

Brian holding a beautiful restored Flying Scot (painted at Bob Jackson) – the paint alone was £250 – open to sensible offers for a slice of history.

Rig Bike Shop

143 West Regent St.

Glasgow

G2 2SG

Opening Hours:

Mon – Sat 10:30-18:00

Sun 12:00-17:00

Contact:

rig143@hotmail.co.uk

07910 453 508

The run Commute

This is pretty inspiring

This is my daily exercise routine; my run to work is my run to keep my health!

I live 15 miles from my office in Midtown New York City. Each day I get to work by foot – I run to work! Exercise is one of the most important parts of my life, if I don’t exercise daily I just don’t feel good.

Having a tangible reason and benefit to running to work takes the mental pressure out of my mind on whether I will make time for exercise or not each day. I have to get to work, so I have to run, it’s simple, it’s routine, it’s a better life and lifestyle.

When I’m training for ultra marathons I run home too! Running ‘double’ workouts is another secret to my success in staying injury free, being accomplished in the ultra distance races, and keeping mental burnout at bay.

If you can work your exercise into your daily routine so it has a tangible use and benefit then you’ll have developed an important lifestyle habit that will improve all other areas of your life.

No excuses! You can commute to work too! Instal a shower at your office. Take a sponge bath in the bathroom. Shower and change at a local gym. Run home from work at the end of the day and shower at home, do it, you can make it happen!

“Exercise each day as if your life depends on it” – Dr. Douglas Graham

Introducing SUBVERT BEATS: Post 1 Running the right way

BY BEN @ SubvertBeats.

A couple of weeks back, Rich posted a blog entry about HR (Heart Rate) zones, and calculating your MHR (Maximum Heart Rate) using generic formulae that will be pretty accurate for many folks.
However, never one for being average, these calculated methods have typically been way off the mark for me.
In response to that post I commented about the fact that I seem to have a naturally fast HR, and even slow to medium paces would see me in zone 4, finding it nearly impossible to exercise in zone 3 or below (discounting walking).
I’d kind of resigned myself to this being just a part of my genetic make-up.

Well, since then, in an effort to increase my pace, I decided to focus on my running efficiency.
Like most people, I’ve never been taught how to run ‘correctly’.
You just lace up your shoes and leg it right? Apparently there’s more to it than that!

Having a high aerobic capacity helps (and at least I’m no longer crippling myself in this respect by smoking!) but is for the main part inherently limited by your genetic make-up.
Paula Radcliffe measured her VO2 max over a period of five years, and it was observed that she exhibited an 8% decline in her VO2 max. Yet over the same period her pace improved (to the extent of improving her 3000m time by 46 seconds!!). How did she manage that?!
Well, all becomes clear once you learn that over the same period, she became over 10% more efficient in her running.

As I understand, the two most important factors are to reduce wasted energy through vertical movement, and to reduce braking forces exhibited during the foot strike.

This analysis of 3 runners from the 2008 NY City Marathon is pretty insightful.
I was surprised to see such differences between these elite level athletes.
This reinforces how Paula Radcliffe has been able to become a faster running despite her aerobic capacity declining.

So, back to me…..apparently (according to studies conducted by folks like Jack Daniels (not of whiskey fame) for distance running, the optimum strike rate / cadence for maximal efficiency is around 90 paces per minute.
Not yet having a foot pod for my new Garmin FR610 (mini review to come), I had no idea what my cadence typically is, but I knew that it wasn’t near that optimal figure of 90. Turns out (just from counting) it was typically between 70 and 75.
So on the last couple of runs, I’ve tried to keep a higher cadence.
I haven’t really pushed for increased pace, as these have been (for me at least) fairly long runs of between 8 and 10 miles. Yet despite that, my pace has increased. But most notably, it’s been easier to maintain that improved pace.
Instead of running 12 minute / mile pace at around 160 bpm, yesterdays run averaged 9.42 minute / mile pace with my HR average being 158:http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/25576416.

I’m pretty chuffed with that!

Another benefit of efficient running style is reduced risk of injury – when you’re racking up the miles this is an extremely important consideration – next year I’m looking to do my first half marathon, and later on a full marathon – the last thing I want is to train for weeks only to be unable to compete due to injury….so I’m going to continue to work on running the right way. Of course it’s no guarantee of remaining injury free, but anything we can do to improve our chances has got to be worth trying, especially with the associated performance benefits.

For a funny video on (in)efficient running styles check out this recent blog post from Rich

British and Irish cities suck in the european index of cycle friendly cities

London, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast and Dublin are amongst the most car dependent in Europe. The four capital cities of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom plus Dublin in the Republic of Ireland are among the worst of 13 major European cities surveyed by the Campaign for Better Transport Car for its Car Dependency Scorecard 2011. Only Rome, in 13th position, was found to have more reliance on the motor car than London, Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh and Belfast, which respectively occupied 8th to 12th place.

The scorecard ranks cities on 16 indicators grouped into five main areas – car use, public transport service, public transport cost, side effects of car use and cycling/walking – with each indicator ranked individually then combined with the others to provide an overall score.

Stockholm emerged as the least car-dependent city of the capitals surveyed – Copenhagen, for the record, wasn’t among those studied – scoring well on all indicators other than the cost of public transport. The modal share of walking and cycling was said to be particularly high despite the city’s poor climate in winter.

The Swedish capital was followed by Helsinki, Prague,
Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam
and Madrid on the list.

At the other end of the scale, the cost of public transport was the one issue on which Rome scored highly, although the network itself, and issues with reliability and coverage, among others, dragged it down. The Italian capital was said to have a particularly poor record for road safety.

The cost of public transport in London, plus poor air quality and levels of congestion, contributed to the city’s poor performance and are expected to be topics that feature in the mayoral elections next year.

While cycling was seen as an alternative mode of transport in all the UK cities surveyed, the study’s compilers said that uptake was low and singled out air pollution, the expense and low uptake of public transport and levels of congestion as factors behind their low ranking.

On the positive side, London scored well for low car ownership, Edinburgh for journeys on foot, Cardiff for road safety and Edinburgh for passenger satisfaction with public transport.

Stephen Joseph, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport’s chief executive, comented: “Car dependency damages communities, affects our quality of life and has huge environmental consequences, so the UK cities’ poor standing should be of major concern to politicians.

“To catch up with the best in Europe the UK Governments need to recognise the economic benefits of good air quality and road safety, and ensure public transport, walking and cycling are comparable to car use in terms of cost, journey time and quality.”

The organisation outlined a umber of steps it believed UK governments should take to address the problem, but pointed out that currently, cuts to local bus networks have left many people without local transport and that train fare increases above the rate of inflation will prevent others from using that form of transport.

The recommended measures are:

• Making public transport fares affordable, with smart cards valid on different modes and operators
• Improving public transport journey times through bus priority, and investment in trams where appropriate
• Giving pedestrians and cyclists real priority over other vehicle traffic, including at junctions
• Supporting a good public transport network during off peak times, including evenings and weekends
• Recognising the wider factors which affect car dependency, such as planning regulations.

http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/system/files/european-car-dependency-scorecar…;

The rise of the Gentleman Cyclist

From the Guardian:

Most cyclists I have met are conscientiously contemporary in outlook, aware of their responsibility to both environment and community. The slight smugness this can engender is one of the things the gridlocked motorist so hates about us.

But if an increasing proportion of bike-related marketing is to be believed, this modernity is but a veneer, concealing a moustachioed Edwardian, keen as mustard on a spot of biking with his chums. Is the return, I began to wonder, of the sanitised class fantasy Downton Abbeyleading cyclists to embrace their inner General Melchett?

Browsing some of the increasingly popular retro bike designs recently, I came across the Old Bicycle Showroom (“Purveyors of Fine bicycles to Nobility & Gentry“); and I met Pashley’s owners’ club of “jolly chaps”, who look more Friedrich Nietzsche than Fausto Coppi. Then there is the Tweed Run, issuing its dress code like a public school prefect: “Now look here, proper attire is expected“; and Rapha, with its series ofGentlemen’s Races, and clothing for gentlemen.

Needless to say, this foppery is a million miles from the emergence ofcycling as a popular activity in the 1890s. Seventy early cycling clubs were named after the campaigning socialist paper The Clarion (founded 1891), with its ideal of fellowship. The brief aristocratic fad for cycling petered out when the bike became too popular to be posh.

It has, as Tim Hilton’s memoir One More Kilometre and We’re in the Showers relates, “belonged to a lower social class” ever since. Until, that is, the recent popularity of cycling among wealthy men persuaded some marketing departments to rewrite the history of cycling. But does this retelling make any sense?

The idea of a gentleman’s race (in which the whole team has to stick together as a group) makes for a good outing, but has little to do with the ruthless and sometimes drug-addled history of professional bike racing. And the Tweed Run, despite the semblance of tradition, has only been going since 2009, when it began under the sponsorship of Brooks saddles.

Brooks are perhaps the most promiscuous users of this kind of heritage porn, though their evocation of a fantasy past makes some concessions to modern feeling. One of their most popular recent posters features a Brooks-clad couple protecting a fox from the advancing hounds. Its originality comes from embracing the heritage aesthetic, while rejecting the more specific historical associations. We look like 1930s aristocrats, the ad seems to say, but we certainly don’t behave like them.

This marketing does make some sense when selling equipment which hasn’t changed significantly in over a century. To their range of leather saddles, Brooks have been adding product lines from early catalogues to meet the demand for retro chic. You may have to pay £872.30 for a 1930s-styled jacket, but at least you don’t look like a traffic bollard.

It’s the same story with other British heritage brands. Traditional bike bag manufacturer Carradice has seen a significant improvement in sales since rebranding its bags as “retro cool”, as its marketing analysis candidly explains.

Pashley has increased sales despite the recession by focusing on its Britannia range of heritage-styled bikes. They come with a little badge of a trident-bearing, union flag shield-wielding Britannia figure, for those riders who like to imagine themselves ruling the waves while cycling to Tesco.

For a longer perspective from within the trade, I spoke to Ninon Asuni from The Bicycle Workshop. Was this preppy look – it plays very well in the US market – putting off more down-to-earth cyclists, I wondered? She pointed out that the retro revival has had the thoroughly positive effect of encouraging the restoration of older bikes, which are a great solution for the stylish cyclist on a budget. The wide range of stylish, comfortable bike gear keeps people cycling all year round, and in bad weather. And the marketing, she suggested, was mostly good fun.

Some of the marketing – especially Brooks’s – is witty. It’s sad some bike companies feel the only way to make their products seem new is by associating them with this delusional world of jolly chaps, obscuring cycling’s traditional ideal of fellowship. Though as Downton Abbey shows, our fantasy of an aristocratic past extends far beyond the world of cycling.

The attention of big business is, at least, a sign that cycling has become culturally mainstream, a bit like football in the 90s. It has come of age. Like football, it’s losing its history of fellowship, which is being replaced by a marketed, corporate identity; it even has a “coming home” moment of sorts in the Olympics next year, where Mark Cavendish looks set to do well. The recent Intelligence Squared debate about cycling, addressed by high profile literary figures such as Will Self, as well as celebrated cyclists like Graeme Obree, would have been unimaginable 10 years ago.

Where cycling differs from football is that the majority of cyclists participate as well as spectate. The benefits of cycling’s high profile – facilities, driver awareness, and so on – can therefore be shared widely. But when you do go out, just remember, chaps: if male cyclists reckon it’s worth shaving the legs to reduce drag, just think what that walrus moustache is doing to your performance.