Innholdsfortegnelse for Winter 2015 i Urban Cyclist

It’s amazing what can be saved with the right attitude. The city of Budapest has transformed itself from being a cyclist’s worst nightmare to a well-planned joy. Read our insider’s guide on p62. Similarly driven, the Cycleast bike shop in Texas (p76) will go to almost any lengths to restore a vintage bike, searching globally for parts, even though they know it isn’t great business. On the flipside, this issue we’re also reminded of the value of starting young. On p68 you can read about the pupils at Adams’ Grammar school who are learning frame building in GCSE classes thanks to one inspired, and inspiring, teacher. Just think how good they might be by their mid-20s. Enjoy the issue. BE AN INSIDER We want to know what you think. After…

CANNONDALE FULLSITE ARRAY £32.99 www.cannondale.com Battery: AAA (x4) Measured flashing runtime: 19h10m front, 76h14m rear The Arrays have five LEDs each, with constant and flashing options on the front and a multitude of flashing modes on the rear. They’re held by rubber straps that are part of the weatherproof cover and offer great visibility from all angles. Head-on, the Arrays are bright enough for daytime use, even at quite obtuse angles. The straps are very stretchy so fitting is easy. The only drawbacks are that the rear light isn’t angled for fitting to a seatpost and the switch needs just a single push to turn on, though it does have enough resistance to make accidentally turning it on in your bag pretty unlikely. {7} Bright even from the side but…

Engineered Bikes are from Bristol, just a few minutes ride from the Urban Cyclist office, in fact, and they make bespoke bikes in steel and aluminium. Like every bespoke builder, their focus is on delivering your dream bike, perfectly fit for purpose and precisely custom fitted. Where Engineered Bikes differ is in their high performance soul and their crisp aesthetic, thanks to frame designer David and graphic artist Adrian. The frames are designed in the UK and built in Italy. The Gezel is their ‘road endurance’ platform, a premium steel frame built for all weathers and routes. Disc brakes are the default but cantis are offered and you can go with standard sizing or either of two levels of custom geometry at extra cost. Since this demo bike was built,…

Back in the mid 60s, the Bianchi Specialissima pro-issue bike cost £80. To 21st century wallets that seems like a bargain but a new Mini then cost £497, so the bike was around 16 per cent of the price. Today a new Mini is £13,935 so the new £2,500 L’Eroica, which is a faithful reproduction of the original Specialissima, is around 18 per cent of the car’s price. It’s nice to know some things don’t change, even if today’s top Bianchi race bike is £9,900… The L’Eroica was created to be ‘legal’ to ride at the Tuscan vintage ride of the same name, which Bianchi sponsor. The rules of the event prohibit clip-in pedals and STI shifters, among other things. L’Eroica events now take place around the world and the…

LOCATION SWAINS LANE, LONDON 16 AUGUST 2015 LATITUDE: 51º33’57.6”NLONGITUDE: 0º08’47.5”W British fashion brand Fred Perry’s love of cycling has already seen them partner with Bradley Wiggins on several collections of cycling inspired clothing. This summer, to coincide with the release of a series of five patches celebrating the places held sacred to cyclists in five global cycling hotspots, Fred Perry launched the first of their ‘ride outs’ in London. The ride was designed to appeal to every kind of cyclist, with a strict ‘no drop’ policy and an emphasis on the social side. But with London’s patch depicting one of the cities most infamous hills, Swain’s Lane, riders were in for a bit of climbing. Drinks at cycling café Look Mum No Hands were the reward at the end. A…

Custom builder Tom Donhou approaches each bike he makes with the aim of making something unique to his customer, no matter how much work it takes. This bike’s owner is an architect and wanted his new machine to be built from the finest materials and also light enough to cut it as a race bike – the complete bike weighs a tidy 8kg. Tom made the frame in Columbus XCR stainless steel tubing and built it up with super-light carbon fibre parts from Enve Composites, including the fork, seatpost, bar and stem, the latter painted to match the bike. And that paint is something else. When Adrian first went to Tom to discuss the build he took along various prints and images of WW1 war ships painted in dazzle camouflage.…

FOX WILSON JACKETS As their brand continues to build momentum, Orro’s clothing label, Fox Wilson, have launched two new jackets. Pictured here are the men’s Camden and the women’s Portman. The latter is a very high spec quilted jacket with a flattering feminine cut and an asymmetric waterproof zip. The shoulder construction moves seams out of the way of bag straps, there are discreet reflective details and the sleeves feature soft merino wool inner cuffs to block the wind. The Portman uses Schoeller’s advanced c_change fabric which is windproof, waterproof, temperature regulating and breathable. There are two outside pockets and two zipped inside pockets. The men’s Camden is a smart softshell that’s handmade in the UK using the same Schoeller membrane as the Portman, so it’s weather resistant and breathable.…

“THE CITY MAY NOT BE LAYING LOW FOR MUCH LONGER. AUSTIN RACERS HAVE BEEN WINNING AROUND THE WORLD” Let’s play word association. When you hear “Austin, Texas” and “cycling”, what do you think of? A cowboy on a bike? Close. Most people think of Lance Armstrong, the seven-time, de-throned, former winner of the Tour de France and local Austin celebrity. But times have changed, and now there is more to Austin cycling than Lance. As one of the fastest growing cities in America, with a pedigree in the cycling world and a growing creative class, Austin is re-imaging itself as a fully bike-integrated community. Bike paths and trails encircle the city, including Austin’s first protected bike lane (The Lance Armstrong Bikeway) and the multi-million dollar Hike and Bike trail. The…

The Escapade is designed as an ultra-versatile, go-anywhere, do-anything road bike, with potential to radically extend its ability in whatever direction takes your fancy thanks to lots of mounting bosses for racks and guards, and a huge tyre capacity of 46mm. It could be a quick road bike one week, a cyclo-crosser the next, a fully-laden dirt-road tourer the one after that. What’s more, thanks to the DogsBody2 dropouts, the Escapade can be run geared, singlespeed/fixed or hub-geared. Three standard builds are offered: this bike with Shimano 105 and hydraulic disc braking, a Shimano Sora build with cable disc brakes for £999, and a singlespeed for £899. Cotic also sell the frameset for £349. As well as this bold gloss yellow, it also comes in a very cool gloss gunmetal…

8BALL YEATS £800 While the Yeats looks like a path racer, it has conventional geometry. That makes it easier to get on with but less authentically vintage in feel. The riding position is well resolved and the modern steering is complemented by surprisingly keen acceleration. The 30mm tyres strike a good balance between comfort and speed. The Sturmey hubs and cranks are impressive items at the price and the {9} Frame4130 cromo steel / Fork 4130 cromo steel / WheelsRyde Racer rims, Sturmey Archer hubs / TransmissionSturmey Archer crankset, gearing optional / BrakesBrakes Acor calipers (2015: Sturmey Archer drums) www.8ballbikes.co.uk ALL-CITY BIG BLOCK £799.99 With a classy frameset – custom, multi-butted 4130 steel – and light wheelset, the Big Block is nimble and great fun. The frame has classic track…

The books on this page are usually of the coffee table variety. Not this one; this deserves real time. Author Emily Chappell is a London courier. She took it up as a stopgap job after studying at Cambridge… that was in 2008. With remarkably intricate and evocative detail, Chappell takes us through her journey from wide-eyed new girl to hardened veteran. She combines fascinating insight into the job with raw personal experience and passion. It feels a privilege to be allowed in. The book’s heartfelt odes to cycling mean you don’t have to be at all interested in actual courier work to find this absorbing. In fact, it’s so well written that you probably don’t even need to like bicycles to be entertained and engaged. What Goes Around: A London…

1 : State Bicycle Black Label 6061, built with BLB stem and riser bar, orange Charge Bikes saddle and grips, Motobicycles pedals, Thorsten Hasenkamm, Germany 2 : 1966 Moulton Standard, bought as a box of parts then lovingly stripped, powder coated and rebuilt with a 5-speed hub and Brooks saddle, Les Crook 3 : AMPierce, a “cyclo-cross inspired commuter” with Paragon Machine Works sliding dropouts, 1x10 gearing, internal cabling, disc brakes and a K-Lite 1000 dynamo light, Tom Walwyn 4 : Monark Donald, decorated by hand using ink pens in a live show at the three-day Hallifornia festival in Varberg, Lisa Stina, Sweden 5 : Stooge tourer, handmade in Shropshire, UK, finished with a Brooks Flyer saddle and ‘beach racer’ handlebar, Andrew Stevenson 6…

The last time I rode my bike on the streets of Budapest was back in 2008, before I moved to London. Through my formative years up until that time, I used to ride my fixie everywhere, even though the network of bike lanes was limited, badly designed and only the most ardent cyclists were brave enough to withstand the anger of motorists on the roads. Driving a car was (and still is to a certain extent) perceived as a status symbol and natural right in Hungary, so anything that impeded the swift flow of traffic was met with puzzlement at best and hostility at worst. In Budapest, like in so many cities with a strong automotive bias, the growing presence of cyclists on the roads was spearheaded by the bike…

The Four Corners is part of Marin’s Anniversary collection that champions its 30-year history. Those who have been riding for a while will recognise the finish as an homage to Marin’s 90s mountain bikes. As the name suggests, this is a bike to ride to the ‘four corners’ of the Earth, running massive tyres and gears to get you up and over anything. The Four Corners is one of Marin’s Utilitour models which brings very relaxed geometry. It’s tall at the front with a slack head angle and a huge wheelbase – at 108.5cm it’s one of the most stretched we’ve come across. The frame has mounts for three bottles, front and rear panniers and mudguards, and it has huge tyre clearances, accommodating 45mm road rubber (with ’guards) or even…