Category Archives for old school

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!

Hell!

There’s not much to say about this years installant of HOTN, our ride was blighted by 5 punctures (myself taking the lions share of the gang with 4 on the front wheel) and not to mention Rowland’s rear derailleur hanger shearing off and snapping just as he descended into the forest section!
The ride was yet again treated to sublime perfect weather conditions, with the sun out and temperatures hovering around 21 degrees for the most part of the day.
The Rowland brothers hit the school track
This year there was a new sector taking in a deserted school yard, bringing back memories as the three of us queued for the water fountain. The ride was great, with 250 riders hammering down all manner of dirt tracks and gravel encrusted bridleways. A bottle of beligian brew and box of frites awaited every rider as we reached the pub in Barnet. For us three merry cyclists, this came a little sooner than anticipated after the derailleur hanger blow out. Cue some ingenious bike modifications and a broken chain and Si was able to TT with us straight to the pub after around mile 35 of the route. Although he had a ‘banana chain’ spirits were high, until my 4th puncture on the way home, due to my rim tape glue melting and the whole tape shifting to expose several holes! Minus points here for schwalbe tape!
Oh dear!
testing mechanicals in the sun
SS ghetto-style

All in all was a fab day in the sun and we chalked up 113k by the time we landed at home, albeit a little frazzled. And what about the race? a cracking result for the journey man Van Summeren, and in particular a bit of a fairytale ending, hammering out 5km on a flat tyre to propose to his girlfriend at the finish. Now thats what I want to see in my racing! fabulous stuff….
Gavin over at the wicked Spinwell blog was shooting the HOTN for rapha, so expect some wicked snaps appearing on their blog soon!

Condor Cycles World Series

Condor Cycles raising their game yet again, and releasing this very very fresh frameset as part of their continuing celebration of founder Monty Young’s 80th birthday. Each triple-butted steel frameset will have a pricetag of £550, and be available in white with a dash of colour. Crafted from  The colour highlights available will be from each of the world champ rainbow stripes. A very simple but striking design makes this a lustworthy steed. To add to its appeal, the frameset is only being produced as a run of 150 – once its gone its gone! And for the price condor are fitting each frame complete with a specially branded Concor world series saddle, colour coordinated bartape and a Condor branded seatpin. A natty classic looking frame, ideal for a retro inspired track racer and about-town single speed beaut. Head in to Condor Cycles to find out more.