The Season of Goodwill

The once orphaned Holdsworth, lovingly tucked away under an acre of bubble wrap in my bedroom appears to be a Zephyr of mid 1950s vintage. The seat tube diameter measures the time-honoured 27.2mm and oddly enough, I prefer the unoriginal fork-especially the detailing around the crown. I’m opting in favour of silver components as they’ve a timeless quality- looking at my custom road bike from 1991, reveals an ill-advised purple phase (some would say haze) in the mid 90s- really en-vogue at the time but now looking decidedly dated.

Initially lusting after some pale blue cartridge bearing hubs, my inclination is to play it safe and plump for a pair of silver medium flange System EX units. I’m reaping further rewards of squirreling stuff away, having uncovered a pristine Mavic Open Pro hoop and a pair of unused Vredestein Racer 23mm tyres which had been quietly maturing in an outbuilding.

Such prudence has not extended to headsets so the search is on for a nice mid – high-end threaded model, stopping short of a Chris King or similar exotica, more likely a Campagnolo, Primax or maybe even a Miche…However, the season brings with it other financial commitments… Not least “Florence”; my faithful Ka who has developed a sudden and slightly disconcerting clutch fault. Diagnosis points to a weeping hydraulic assembly which will require £300 outlay in the New Year.

I had earmarked a nice Cro-moly framed Raleigh for Joshua but it appears to have been eliminated from the range, meaning I need to look elsewhere. Specialized, Trek and Giant all produce nice bikes for little people so might merit further investigation. There’s also an agent in the village for re-cycle- a charity that exports unwanted bicycles to Africa. He often trades in second hand machines so I might hunt for some buried treasure…Viscount used to make some fantastic children’s bikes with proper ball bearings rather than the plastic sleeve stuff all too prevalent nowadays. Knowing the hectic nature of our seasonal schedules, Sharon and I chose to spend last weekend together. I put a further 600 miles on the Ka’s odometer and we enjoyed a delightful carol concert by candlelight, bringing a really spiritual and genuinely festive flavour to the season. Hosted by Angela, a long-standing family friend who’s appeared on national television it was a really warming experience, influenced in no small part by her soulful voice and consummate direction of the choir.

Angela has a gorgeous little baby boy named Josiah whose face radiated excitement at the merest hint of his mother breaking into song- it was the sort to soften the hearts of even the most ardent cynics. Even I managed to behave myself and avoid suggestion that the bearded fella bearing gifts would appear on a fixie complete with fenders, dynohub and towing a bulging Bob Yak….

There’s not much of a fixed scene in Coventry- this seems largely the preserve of London and Manchester, although as the gallery demonstrates there are plenty of folk a wheel (or should that be a-fixed) in the midlands. The economic situation is starting to bite hard here in the UK, particularly amongst the retail, building and what’s left of the nation’s comparatively minute and oft forgotten manufacturing sector.

The latter I find really sad. Not all British manufacturing was memorable for the right reasons (as anyone who’s ridden a Panther motorcycle & Sidecar outfit will confirm) but the sight of Viking, Coventry Eagle, Freddy Grubb, Holdsworth and others still makes my soul sing.

Now, you’ll have to excuse me while I leave some WD40, a bottle of Coke and eco-friendly chain-lube by the hearth….

Happy Christmas Everyone