Innholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2016 i Urban Cyclist

IT ALL BEGAN WITH A BIKE RIDE. I was building and painting retail displays and furniture for a few years and had a string of work frustrations that led to me leaving for a bike tour, riding from Seattle to San Francisco. I wasn’t real sure what to do with myself when I got there but frame building caught my interest and was consistent with things I knew I already liked doing. I’ve always mostly worked with my hands. I LEARNT WITH THE BEST. I took a course with Koichi Yamaguchi in Rifle, Colorado in 2006 and built a lugged track bike. It’s a bike I still ride all the time. I raced it for about five years before I started fillet brazing and built myself a new track bike…

HOW WE TEST Our testing is based on this principle – we're honest and we give you the same advice as we'd give our best mate so that you can make a well-informed choice. We use a 0-10 scoring system, taking price into account, and we mark fairly but firmly. If something is crap, we say so. Scores of 10 are reserved for flawless leaders; 7 is a good mark and you'll like your purchase; 5 is okay but you could do better; below that it's a question of do you walk or run away. RIDING TYPE ICONS Cruising Products suited to steady riding, performance isn't a design consideration All-round Kit with broad talents that can do fast and slow riding without compromise Racing Performance focused kit that wilfully compromises…

It really is a great looking bike up close – ‘classy’ my old man would say, and he’d be right Fixation are a bit like Quella, in that they design and make a stable of fashionable and youthful singlespeed/ fixed city bikes. However, Fixation also make a few bikes my dad would consider riding. That I like these models, too, is a worry. The Wembley is a handsome bike in this trendy grey. Like the Quella – and unsurprisingly at this price – the frame is made from high-tensile steel. It’s certainly no lightweight, though with no Alpine passes to navigate between home, work and your favourite coffee shop, that isn’t a deal breaker for a metropolitan machine. The detailing and finish is good, given the price point. It really…

Many of you have been calling for this right from the first issue so we are now chuffed to announce that Urban Cyclist is making the step from quarterly to being a bi-monthly magazine. That’s six issues a year of fantastic photography, features, bikes and kit, all dedicated to the joy of cycling. Because of the shift to a new schedule, the next issue (#16, May/June) will be on sale just seven weeks after this one, on 3 May. Make a note right now or, better still, go to page 102 and check out the great new subscription offer. If you already have a subscription, you will continue to receive the number of copies for which you signed up but at the greater frequency of one issue every two months…

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to travel, so when by some kind of miracle I managed to arrange 84 days off work, I was determined to make the most of it. The idea was to start in China, hop over to Japan and then fly to Australia. Having made my way down the east coast I’d then fly to Singapore for a couple of days, before visiting some of the islands in Malaysia and Indonesia, finishing up in Thailand. With so much to see, and not wanting to leave my passion for cycling behind for three months, I hoped to explore as much as possible on two wheels, using whatever sort of bike I could get my hands on. I figured it would be the…

If you find some smooth tarmac on a day when you can feel a bit of zip in your legs, wind up the gear and the Fuji has the substance to put a big smile on your face The pretty Fuji Feather is the purest of the four bikes on test, in terms of its authenticity and execution. The lovely flat crown fork marks it out as a retro bike from half a mile away and it’s backed up by the short headtube and traditional 1-inch threaded steerer. While the fork’s only compromise is a bit of extra weight (and the Feather, while not quite true to its name, isn’t a heavy bike), the old-school quill stem trades off the hassle of threaded headset adjustment against its bolt-free beauty. As…

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOUR BIKE FEATURED HERE, SEND A HI-RES IMAGE TO JAMIE.WILKINS@IMMEDIATE.CO.UK Any that don’t make it to print we will share at: www.facebook.com/UrbanCyclistMagazine 1 : Hoy Shizuoka, “My pride and joy, my Frankenstein… Half city bike, half CX, half MTB, with Sram Force 1x11 and a Tomo bar I’d seen in Urban Cyclist”, Jay Leyland 2 : Pias Agra, “My daily commuter to beat the horrendous Jakarta traffic. It’s made locally and this a limited team colourway”, Kevin Oei, Indonesia 3 : Dahon Mu Uno, modified with a Gates Carbon Drive, bullhorn bar and Brooks saddle, sold the car soon after buying this, Sergio Sicard, Bogotá, Colombia 4 : Devinci Mission, owned for a decade, first ridden on trails but now…

ASSOS GTASSOS GIGOLO OUTFIT { £342 } www.assos.com “Optimal comfort when travelling, whether by plane, car or bike,” say Assos of their new GTAssos collection. This is ultra-techy leisure wear, a track suit that’s closely related to riding gear. And yes, it really is called Gigolo. The trouser costs £219 and it feels like a jogging pant – very light and with almost zero tension, let alone restriction, against your movement. It’s very easy to ride in, and would be for a few hours if paired with the chamois-equipped Boxer (£70). Zips on the outside of the calves keep the legs out of your drivetrain without requiring a rolled up leg. The zips are used as design features and are anything but discreet, so we’d question the assertion by Assos…

Bad blood between cyclists and motorists is often the result of not knowing the rules of the road. Much of the conduct called by each side is already mandated. Here are some key points from the Highway Code that will help avoid conflicts: • It can be a criminal offence to break the Highway Code. It contains advice and guidelines but breaking the mandatory rules might bring you before the beak. For example, cyclists are breaking the law if they ride at night without a lit white front light and red rear light, as well as a red rear reflector. Such rules are prefixed in the Code with ‘MUST NOT’… • It is not compulsory for cyclists to ride in bike lanes and use Advanced Stop Lines. While they can…

MANCHESTER THE VICTORIA WAREHOUSE 6 - 8 MAY LONDON THE TRUMAN BREWERY 20 - 22 MAY The Spin Cycling Festival has always been unique, with a great vibe and a brilliant mix of exhibitors that all stems from the same joy of cycling that we cherish in this magazine. Spin celebrates the artisan frame builders yet it’s free of pretense; it hosts some of Europe’s biggest brands and is also the very best place to discover cool new start-ups. This year sees a big change, with a new venue in Manchester alongside an expanded London show and more diverse content than ever. We have always felt a close a inity with Spin and this year we’re happy to be o icial media partners. Here’s what you can look forward to.…

While we wished the Trinity 20 had a nicer feeling tubeset and fatter tyres, we have to say that we still had conspicuous fun Founded in 2012, Quella is a young brand that was literally born in a shed, a former chicken coop, no less. Since then the range has expanded, first with more colours and options, and more recently with new models, including a £2,000 retro geared racer produced in association with Ted Baker. That’s quite a coup for such a young brand. This bike is from the Varsity Collection, the entry-level range where it all began for Quella. It comes in five colourschemes, each named as separate models but sharing an identical spec and price. The Trinity 2.0 is ‘the yellow one’. The heart of any bike is…

Charge Bikes are designed deep in the West Country for use on the meanest of streets, all over the world. The Plug is their classic fixie/singlespeed but beware of mentally pigeon-holing it – the Plug has more twists than a bath full of water swirling down one. Charge are thinkers as well as bike fetishists and they outfit the entry level Plug with powerful cyclocross style cantilever brakes and big bump-surfing 38c Kenda Tendril tyres, with on-point tan gum-walls, giving it real versatility. It comes in satin grey with a bullhorn bar and, unlike the other bikes here, there are no other options for either handlebar or colourscheme. If styling your bike to match your favourite trainers or football team is your priority, then you will need one of the…

The Charge Plug rides brilliantly. It’s tough as well. Through everything, it will have your back Each of these bikes would be a worthy addition to your shed as an affordable first urban bike and we’d be happy to spend lots more time riding all of them. There are no duds here, though we do have an order. In fourth, it’s the Quella. It does its job decently as an entry-level singlespeed/fixed, and there’s lots of fun to be had, but it’s limited in the breadth of its abilities and the extent of its possibilities. If you purely want it for short journeys, and you love this or one of the other colours, it’s still worth a look. Next up is the handsome Fixation Wembley. We love the uprightness and…

FAIRDALE COASTER UK-SPEC £399.99 The Fairdale’s aesthetics are part polo bike, part cycle speedway machine, though it’s a cruiser by nature and has relaxed angles. The 36x13 gear and tough 28c tyres are well chosen but the cheap high-tensile steel frame gives a jarring ride on bad roads. www.fairdalebikes.com FOFFA ONE £299.95 The Fo a One is an o -the-peg build of the Prima for maximum value for money. The chromoly frame has a satisfying zing to it. Some parts feel a bit cheap but when the bike is really cheap, that’s actually a compliment, albeit a backhanded one. www.foffabikes.com FUNKED UP FIXIE £425 With a choice of colours for 11 parts, plus four bar and nine wheel options, there are literally billions of ways to build this bike. At…