He bid me come out, how could I say no? He said meet me at eight, round at my place, you know...Since my last entry, Joshua goes from strength to strength, racing round tarmac and trail at every opportunity. There's the usual thrills and the inevitable spills but he takes it all in his stride. However, we were preparing for winter, poring Waxoyl into the seat tubes while seizing the opportunity to test this fantastic wrench when he threw an uncharacteristic diva fit, refusing to help in any capacity!
Refitting the Univega's seatpost I set about tightening the binder bolt while asserting some parental authority. Distraction resulted in over tightening the clamp, shearing the bolt in the process. Sensing contained displeasure, my little protege' headed indoors while I searched in vain for a replacement. Every cloud they say has a silver lining, the good folk at Ison charging to the rescue with this arguably nicer Salsa lip-lock which comes in a variety of diameters and several pretty anodised colours.
So to Friedrichshafen in Southern Germany, home to Eurobike, the continents largest and arguably most important trade show. With over 1,000 exhibitors from across the globe, there was literally something for everyone and allowing for periodic bouts of show-blindness, I didn't come close to sampling everything in five, ten hour days. Focusing on the fixed scene, wandering through the halls lead me undecided as to the future of the genre. Literally everyone had one in their range and while some fired my imagination, many seemed content to cynically roll out track wannabes made from non-descript steel and alloy tube sets.
That said, its not all gloom. Sturmey Archer's three speed fixed hub seemed enticing enough and cropped up sporadically on complete builds. Cooper bikes, a new British marque proudly hung this configuration aboard a neatly welded 525 frameset. Sat beside it was a fully chrome minimalist sibling fashioned from Reynolds' thicker gauge 520 tubing, complete with Major Taylor drops and Brooks leather bar wrap. Leather remains a popular trend too-saddles, bags, toe straps, grips and tape were commonplace. Chrome has been riding the crest of a retro wave-fork crowns, blades , ornate lugwork and chainstays were literally dripping in the shiny plating. Aluminium mudguards (fenders) house branded tubing and components have made a comeback whereas wood had, with notable exception literally vanished.
Children's bikes fired my imagination for obvious reasons. Most followed the European tradition of fully equipped town n' trail mounts with full mudguards, carriers and integral lights. By the same token, the road bike revival is fast challenging the mountain bike's dominance. Several manufacturers including Atala and Schwinn have introduced junior machines to their range. A far cry from the ubiquitous gas-pipe, junk component "ten speeds" from the late 70s/early 80s, these sport neatly welded aluminium framesets, serviceable entry level components and price tags that won't require remortgaging.
Neons, fresh from 1989 are steadily creeping back into the mainstream consciousness with Charge, GT and others leading the battle cry. Then we had anodising, oh yes those skewers, binder bolts, brake hangers shunned in spares drawers since 1997 will net you a small fortune on eBay judging by their popularity this year. Stands were awash with mouth-wateringly beautiful high end hubs, headsets, pedals, seatposts, stems and fasteners in a whole spectrum of colours. Frankly, I couldn't get enough of the Far East, 853 framesets with floral livery mingled with titanium,carbon fibre (even the odd bamboo/carbon hybrid) or the halls glittering with thousands of lights from little blinkeys to retina roasting Li-on. Photography wasn't particularly welcomed-presumably on the grounds that copyright/patents were a little sketchy and just as factories churn out neatly fabricated framesets by the container load, doubtless many were producing lights under licence for several household names.
Commuter friendly USB charging types are another really exciting trend with pretty much everyone jumping on the bandwagon. Nite Rider have embraced this technology and applied it to the high power 150/250 lumen Minewt. This year sees rechargeable li-on battery hosted within the lamp's body, meaning it slips effortlessly from the redesigned tool free handlebar mount into the messenger bag or jersey pocket when locking in the street. Docking at the USB for five hours rewards with between to and a half and seven hours burn time depending upon chosen mode.
At the other end of the spectrum we've the Lightning bug and stinger set. Don't be fooled by their sweet, cutesy six colour bug caricature, the lightning bug 3.0 with its pronounced triple bulb design is just sufficient to see by in a sub/urban context. Powered by two CR2032 watch type cells. faithful to quoted, ours have returned between forty and one hundred hours-perfect snuggled up beside the winter bike's dynamo or high power mainstay system.
Back in the UK, upon hearing of the Holdsworth's recent structural woes, Trevor at Maldon Shot Blasting & Powder Coating has very generously offered to strip and refinish the frameset gratis once Paul Vincent's worked his magic.
Now, you'll excuse me, I'm off to play with this bunch of super bright blinkys.
