Innholdsfortegnelse for July - August 2016 i Urban Cyclist

I USED TO BE A PROFESSIONAL TRIATHLETE. Well, I use the term ‘professional’ loosely. I competed at international level over ‘middle-distance’ (1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21.1km run) but didn’t really earn a living from it. I trained as an aerospace engineer and then took a Masters in sports biomechanics, but I was working as a bike workshop manager alongside competing before a crash killed my tri career and framebuilding took over. THE FIRST FRAME I MADE WAS FOR MY WIFE. It had 650b wheels and was designed for comfortable cycling along the canal paths and cycle paths around where we live in South Wales. LEARNING THE CRAFT WILL BE A LIFELONG EXERCISE. I’m always trying to improve what I do whether it be furthering my understanding of cycling biomechanics or…

The life of a bicycle messenger is often portrayed as a somewhat bleak and isolated existence, but within the worldwide community there are many bold, bright and colourful personalities. One of those is Alfred Bobé Junior. Born in the South Bronx but raised in Puerto Rico, Alfred returned to NYC and has now been living in Brooklyn for the past ‘20 something years’, working as a messenger for the duration. His warm and friendly attitude is contagious, though he’s a very different man when racing. Like a matador sidestepping a charging bull, you’ll want to get out of his way when he ‘releases the devil’. Alfred has spent more time in the saddle over the past two decades than some Grand Tour cyclists. Racing through the streets of New York,…

BIOMEGA OKO The Biomega OKO starts from €1,999 and is a striking e-bike that’s optimised for commuting. Its full carbon frame includes integrated mudguards, and it’s fitted with a low-maintenance Gates belt-driven transmission. The OKO’s 250W motor is good for assistance for up to 40 miles, yet a respectable weight of 18.6kg (41lbs) means that running out of juice needn’t ruin your day. It’s available in white or silver, and comes in two- or eight-speed. JIVR FOLDING BIKE Born out of a highly successful Kickstarter pledge, London-based JIVR captured the Like Bike Show’s attention thanks to this folding, chainless e-bike. An integrated battery holds enough charge for a 20-mile (30km) range and can be fully charged in 90mins. Electric power is delivered directly to the front wheel, while a chainless…

 Fuji are one of the oldest bicycle brands on the planet, and their catalogue of bikes is as vast as any manufacturer out there. The Feather sits in their urban range, coming in at a very reasonable £399 for the steel-framed singlespeed or fixed-gear city bike. For the relatively low pricetag, you get a lovely, classic-looking bike, which is comfy yet nippy around town. The forks are a flat crowned, vintage style but feel tough when being beaten around urban streets There are no branded components, which is to be expected at this price point, but the components you do get feel tough and are all finished to a high standard, like the timeless quill stem and ‘aero’ style alloy seatpost. That said, though great looking, the post is extremely…

CHARGE PLUG 0 £349.00 The West Country brand’s classic singlespeed/fixie, the Plug 0 has powerful cyclocross-style cantilever brakes, and elicits a comfortable ride thanks to 38c Kenda tyres. Comes in satin grey with bullhorn bar. www.chargebikes.com FIXATION WEMBLEY £325.00 The Wembley’s constructed from hi-tensile so is no lightweight, but it’s still a great-looking bike, adorned with polished alloy parts and black alloy wheels, all topped off with brown grips and saddle. www.fixation-london.co.uk FUNKED UP FIXIE £425.00 Fancy your singlespeed with 11 parts coated in 11 different colours? Now you can thanks to the FU crew. Beyond the technicolour riding dream, the frame’s 4340 chromoly steel and you get a 44x18 crankset. www.funkedupfixies.com ROSSIN PRESTIGE £499.00 This is the ideal bike for a crosstown cruise to a café or pub. Geometry’s…

LOCATION REDBRIDGE, SURREY 15 MAY 2016 LATITUDE: 51.593993 LONGITUDE: 0.155773 Despite the Red Hook Crit having a huge worldwide following, circuit races on track bikes are still few and far between in the UK. But come Sunday 15th of May, against a relatively sunny backdrop, the North London Thunder Cats Black Metal Bicycle Club hosted ‘Thundercrit’ chapter one at Redbridge Cycle Centre, open to all those with brakeless track bikes and nerves of steel. The horseshoe-shaped course was fast and much more flowing than a city-centre criterium with riders migrating from across the UK and Europe – over 100 in total across the men’s and women’s races. The WhyBeNormal team dominated the women’s race, the squad of four coming away with two slots on the podium thanks to winner Jo…

“ My backyard made me do it. I live near the Alps, so that inspired me to tackle the mountains ” Patrick Seabase is synonymous with fixed-gear riding, arguably creating some of the best content on the internet. In many ways, Seabase is the renaissance guy of cycling. An ex-pro-skater-turned-fixed-gear star, creative mind and music connoisseur, bike shop owner and clothing designer, video maker and product designer, exhibition organiser and cycling team manager, bike designer and bike distributor, coffee connoisseur and marketing expert, but above all he is a ground-breaker, wholly in love with the mountains. We chat with Seabase, the lone wolf from the Swiss city of Bern, the city of bears, to find out what makes him tick and why he rides fixed-gear bikes up and down mountains.…

 The Foffa Premium is the UK brand’s high-level fixed-gear and singlespeed offering, sitting above their basic £319 range of singlespeed bikes, though sharing the same chromoly frame, with an upgraded finish and build kit for those looking for something extra special. The retro-styled singlespeed Foffa is finished in beautiful chrome with looks to turn heads Coming in at a competitive £499, the retro-styled singlespeed or fixed-gear bike (flip-flop hub as standard) is finished in beautiful chrome with looks to turn heads. The standout features on the frame itself are the neat internal rear brake cable routing and built-in chain tensioners, making flipping the wheel and maintaining good chain tension a doddle. The Premium’s cockpit is a little confused straight out of the box. The bars, inspired by those usually found…

A nod to fashion derives from subtleties like the Duracork grips Bobbin enters their 10th year in existence and, to celebrate, they’ve just rolled out a collection in partnership with that bastion of academic excellence – Cambridge University. We offered a glimpse of the roll-out last issue and will test at least one of the retro or classic models down the line. But right now, it’s time for the single-speed Noodle to undertake the Urban examination. And, in all honesty, it passes with flying colours. The Noodle comes in single- and eight-speed depending on your riding vice, but with the relatively flat city-centre streets of Bristol – except the Eiger-like Park Street, of course – we went single. That’d set you back £380 with an extra £55 if adorned with…

HOW WE TEST Our testing is based on this principle – we're honest and we give you the same advice as wed 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 isnt 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…

OOEY CUSTOM PAINT The rather fantastically named Ooey is a Camberley-based outfit that goes to great lengths in the search of perfection – owner Stuart Harris even cut holes in his roof to increase venting options! Ooey paint all frame materials, though much of their work is based around carbon fibre. How much does a ‘whole new bike’ cost? Ooey Custom prices jobs based on time and materials involved, but as a ballpark figure, a full one-colour respray for a frame and fork is around £280, with the majority of custom frames that feature multiple colours and graphics costing around £380. Details such as repainting a crankset start from around £65 and custom helmets from around £75. www.ooeycustompaint.com COLOUR-TECH CUSTOM SPRAYS Colour-Tech is based in Dartford, Kent, and have been…

GRAN CANARIA   https://vimeo.com/125788909 In January 2015, Seabase explored the volcanic island on his track bike, ratio 47/17. He covered 12,000m of altitude over 25 hours of freeriding within six spectacular days. The soundtrack’s featured on the album ‘Head Over Heels’, which was one of the first cassettes he owned as a child. Filmed and edit: Alex Rankin Audio: ‘Musette and Drums’ by Cocteau Twins GALIBIER   https://vimeo.com/59996430 The video that made Seabase. And you can see why. The Col du Galibier, that pierces out of the Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble, is often the highest point of the Tour de France. Seabase’s cadence ascending and descending the 2,645m-high Galibier has to be seen to be believed. Editor: Jonas Scheiwiller Audio: includes ‘Cumulo Nimbus’ by Paul Mottram and Dark 3.13 by…

The colour generator means you can customise to your heart’s content Mango’s Original singlespeed was their first bike on launch four years ago. It remains their most popular model and the one most associated with the UK brand. All Mango bikes are painted and assembled in house in the Cotswolds, while selling directly to the customer cuts out a lot of the end costs, meaning you get a great deal for your money. The Original sits at the bottom of the range, starting at just £270, with Mango offering a disc-brake road bike for a very reasonable £550. The ride is nimble and the bike provides a fun ride nipping around the urban environment, and is a perfect platform to roll around the city or to the local. There are…

 Who said steel was dead? Though carbon proliferates the top echelons of professional road and mountain-bike racing, there’s an argument that they’re missing out, technologically advanced steel like Reynolds 953 taking the metal to a whole new level of strength and weight. But that’s not to say there’s anything wrong with the more-affordable hi-tensile steel that proved so popular in this grouptest. The ride quality and general look of the Fuji Feather truly astounds, bettering that of more expensive bikes Take the Mango Original. Its hi-ten construction means it’s not the lightest of bikes but it’ll last for many a mile, which isn’t bad for sub-£300. It also rolls on a pretty impressive wheelset for the price, though, as expected, some of the component choices are pretty parochial. The same…