York Cycle Rally

A very very hot Sunday was not brilliant for an 85 mile round trip on the tandem to see the York cycle rally - it really would have been far more sensible to drive - but we've never really been sensible, so we rode there and back.

Here are some of the things we looked at:

JD cycles were there with an impressive range of tandems.

A lovely fixie.

And an equally lovely old Mercian.

A brand new Holdsworth Pro. I always loved these Holdsworths when I was a kid. Sadly production of frames in the UK stopped (like many British frame builders). Falcon Cycles have now started production of the Holdsworth Pro again. Still in the distinctive orange and blue and built from Reynolds tubing, but this time made in a state of the art factory in the far east rather than in a little workshop in England.

And something that is made in England. Feather Cycles.

A hub gear with coaster (back pedal) brake.

Another UK builder. Woodrup of Leeds with a belt drive bike.

But they don't come cheap.

A Woodrup frame made from Reynolds 953 stainless steel.

Another Feather bike.

Retro Mountain Bike

Here's the latest bike in the collection. It's a '90s rigid fork GT mountain bike that I saw on ebay just a few miles from home.

There are a few scrapes and scratches, but all the components are original and I don't think it's seen much actual use during its lifetime.

I lubed the chain, cleaned the bike, checked everything over, adjusted the brakes and replaced both gear cables.

Today I rode it to work and back (about 7 miles each way) and it's absolutely great. It feels fast, stable and everything works perfectly.

I don't currently have a mountain bike and have been looking at buying something new. I'm now thinking that this will do the job just fine for the occasional blast along the Trans Pennine Trail.

It has the distinctive "triple triangle" frame design associated with GT bikes - I really like this style of frame.

The only additions are my saddle bag and a yellow bottle cage (£1.00 from York Cycle Rally).

And my ebay bargain cost the princely sum of £45.00 - I think I've already had 45 quid's worth of fun in my first few rides!