Category Archives for fixed

Pista Pursuita

I spent last night changing the steering on my pista, I had been riding some nice light old 3ttt handlebars with a traditional bend, and a little trigger finger front brake (its a fixed commuter so iv actually only ever run a front brake), but fancied a change as i seem to be spending more and more time commuting about the place these days. A chance sale on components over at chain reaction sealed the idea, and I fancied giving a fun little pursuit style a blast.

The clear jelly Cinelli tape is lush, nice and spongy. Would look cool with a type of decolage done underneath on the handlebars, a la James Straffon shoe style.

Quoc Pham Derby

Quoc Pham has these white crepe souled Derby shoes available made to order in sizes 42-47. Could these be the ultimate in cycling-chic dandyism? I think so. Curse my size 38’s….

I saw Quoc Pham at the Cycle Show in August and was blown away with the quality of his footwear. Using high quality leathers he has encapsulated the bespoke shoe look perfectly and tweaked it for around-town riding. Now, lets see a ladies fixed shoe please!

Condor Crankset

Bianchista has had a long term test with the Condor Cycles branded Sugino Uno track Chainset. After literally putting a crack my awful Truvativ crank on my few-years-old bianchi pista, Condor came to the rescue supplying this crank for review. I have to say, in terms of an upgrade it certainly put the old crank to shame. Where the Truvativ was flexy and looked cheap, this sturdy offering from Condor feels super solid, and translates every inch of power right through the pedals stroke, which is not to be scoffed at when one is stuck fixed gear on a windy day, believe me.
The crank I used is 48t, which was a couple of teeth larger than the old one. I didnt really notice though due to the afforementioned stiffnes and ‘solid’ feel to each revolution. What I find most amazing though is the price Condor are selling these starting at just £65 for the silver version! Iv struggled to find a sub £100 Sugino crankset, I mean the 75 is pretty astronomical as its their top end hitter, but the lower end messengers etc are still super expensive in the UK, helped in no small part by the massive inflation of all bike components from Japan last year. Not only is the crank excellent performance-wise, its also incredibly reasonable in its price. The cranksets are available in a plethora of colours to suit all builds, and feature a natty little condor logo on the chainring. Pop down to Condor to take a peek and make an upgrade you wont regret.