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

Primed, Painted and Restored to its Former Glory

After some considerable sanding and flattening of the filled areas, Thursday dawned with the naked Holdsworth eagerly awaiting the zinc-chromate. For those of you who skipped chemistry (or like myself- there in body but mentally “out on a ride”); Zinc offers excellent defence against rust and oxidisation, explaining its widespread use in marine applications. Powder coating might provide an extremely thick, protective cocoon for metal but without the zinc, any pinholes, chipping or comparable imperfection invites moisture and ultimately corrosion to fester beneath.Bottom bracket and fork steerer threads were masked along with the seat and head tubes, leaving Graham free to work his magic. Moving seamlessly around the frame and forks in a cloud of grey powder, he took a matter of minutes to achieve the rich, blemish free undercoat before passing the Holdsworth along the conveyor for five minutes cooking at 150 degrees.
It was getting progressively harder to contain my excitement as Chris foraged in the paint store for Sharon’s chosen blue. A few anxious moments later and he emerged triumphant with the huge bag of polyester powder. Graham explained that 5012 was in fact a satin finish so they would be applying a lacquer topcoat to effect a really luxurious shine. Compressor running and several pumps of the trigger feed later, he set about bringing the rear triangle to life in a mist of pale blue before tackling the main tubes.In my experience, high volume “We’re doing black this week” finishers will usually apply a chromate but are often poor when it comes to finer detail. By contrast, Maldon Shot-blasting and Powder coating, rather like the Powder Coat Studio (who also supply this colour for those of you in the states) specialise in one-offs and Graham was as thorough as he was fast.
Satisfied of even coverage, frame and forks were passed through the tunnel of love for a further ten minutes at 200 degrees. Whilst I braved intense heat to photograph its passage, the boys were already loading the gun with clear coat. Emerging from the oven, some pinholes had formed around the frame's head tube but were deftly removed before the paint’s final curing and subsequent cooling. Some clear coats can be applied directly to hot surfaces but Chris and Graham opted for a brand that leaves the gun as a flat white to ensure consistent coverage. Two Pac colours could’ve been applied atop the blue akin to the motorcycle tank pictured- had I wanted something more flamboyant but in my opinion, frames of this era deserve "Classic and Timeless" over “Tart’s Handbag”.

I am delighted with the end result, which unlike powder finishes of old, hasn't obscured the intricate lugwork. Moreover, this has become my preferred colour scheme for a future VW project car. Sharon and I have talked about buying a mechanically sound 1600cc Beetle (Her father owning a succession when she was a small child) and having it refinished in what we’ve collectively dubbed “Ninja” blue. Being bolted, rather than welded in place, panels are easily removed, making them ideal candidates for this paint process. However, in the meantime I’ve to find a bargain wheelset and a suitable solo for Joshua.

Road Path to Restoration:Blasting back to happiness

The good folks at Maldon Shot Blasting and Powder Coating have been indulging in some highly skilled, constructive vandalism inside their big blue shot blast cabinet. We had initially hoped the frameset would fit in their vapour blast unit but this proved impractical, requiring a more traditional approach. Under Trevor's watchful eye and steady hand, it took less than three minutes to blast the forks and half the frameset free of the old livery and back to bare metal.

Closer inspection revealed some slight denting/pitting along the top tube- repaired using Thermabond 3 (a filler specifically designed for powder coating). However, this delayed the painting process by a day or so as the product needs oven curing and laborious filing with emery cloth before zinc chromate and powder coating are applied.

Contrary to popular belief, Holdsworth and their subsequent acquisitions of Freddy Grubb and Claud Butler (forming the Holdsworthy company at the close of the 1950s) weren’t bespoke builders but small-scale batch producers of high quality frames.

Claud Butler enjoyed a reputation for ostentatious and fancy lugwork but with the end of Petrol rationing in 1957, quickly fell into receivership. History repeated itself in 1986 where after prolonged financial difficulty, Holdsworthy was bought by the Elswick group, moving from Wandsworth in London to Humberside. Today, as with many other famous marques, all that remains is their reputation and decals placed on lower end frames mass-produced in the Far East.

Some critics, particularly those in the US rightly cite that to achieve smooth uniform welds on such production volumes requires extensive use of filler. We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that manufacturers turned to Taiwan for reasons of profit maximisation and twenty years ago, weld for weld, firms employing home grown craftsmen couldn’t compete with those contracting out to Asia.

Now, there's nothing wrong with Taiwanese built framesets-I own several and am generally pleased by the standards of manufacture. However, I also appreciate the skill and craftsmanship of traditional frame construction. Brazing on the Holdsworth is to a comparatively higher standard than a frame tailor made for me some seventeen years ago. I had toyed with the idea of having bottle mounts added to the seat and/or downtubes but the availability of seat post mounting brackets and intricate cage design allows me to preserve the period feel.

My other notable deviation from the concors script is my preference for 700C hoops. I’d a set of 27 inch, thirty-six hole Mavic Super Champions hanging up somewhere but tyre and hub choice are limited at best. Something along the lines of Mavic Open Pros laced two cross to a pair of colour coordinated, large flange, sealed bearing IRO hubs topped off with 25mm continental rubber would, forgive the pun, round things off nicely

On the component front, Arty the border collie and I have been stocktaking. We've uncovered a bevy of component beauties including a set of Nitto TT bars, high lustre stem, Ahead adaptor and there’s a choice of On-One Twelfty, Thompson or Campagnolo victory seat posts topped off with a twenty year old Brooks B17 saddle.

Elsewhere, rummaging has unearthed Ritchey copy SPDs, 170mm polished alloy crank set, a Tektro dual pivot brake calliper, choices of half-link or traditional Miche track chains and last but by no means least-an EAI superstar track sprocket. All that’s required now is a UN53 or similar sealed, square taper bottom bracket, a good quality one inch needle roller bearing headset, brake lever and chain tugs…Watch this Space…

Next Week: The Moment of Truth

Restoration, Relaxation and an Unwelcome Ressurection

Since taking delivery of the fabled frameset last Thursday, I have managed to uncover some clues as to its identity.Constructive vandalism courtesy of a wire brush revealed the numbers 3670 with the prefix J or possibly P stamped on the bottom bracket shell. I initially thought it a Hill Special from this era but further investigation suggests it’s a Holdsworth of similar vintage. The forks whilst not original are very fetching and period appropriate. Centre to top, the seat tube measures 23 inches whilst the top tube a more modest 21.5- nigh on perfect for my long in the leg, short in the torso proportions. Having mislaid my micrometer, I’m needing to confer with the previous owner regarding seat tube diameter. Tradition suggests 27.2 but I know of quite a few builders who opted in favour of 27.0 so as to preserve tube-wall thickness.

Sharon (my girlfriend) masterminded colour selection and we’ve entrusted Maldon Shotblasting and Powder Coating with the task of blast cleaning and applying paint code 5012 to its tubes- a slightly different shade to the existing, neatly brush painted Greeves “Mooreland" blue in the photographs. For the uninitiated, Greeves were a highly respected small-scale British manufacturer of trials motorcycles, regarded by many as being ahead of their time before managerial incompetence, more dependable Japanese imports and widespread car ownership sounded the industry’s death knell in the early 1970s.

Joshua now seems convinced Santa will arrive astride a 50’s Road Path Bike sporting studded snow tyres and towing a 4130 cro-moly trailer full of goodies (five year olds are blissfully unaware of the present economic climate!). Followers in North America and cooler European climes will be laughing uncontrollably at the suggestion the UK has snow, let alone cold snaps. Having spent some of my formative years in Utah, I know the true meaning of chill winters- snow chains on cars until late spring, the sound of snow-blowers racing around suburban lawns etc, etc. Here in England, the merest mention of the white stuff grounds the nation and its infrastructure to a resounding halt!

Ignoring the mirth and mockery for a moment, we’ve been chasing through the lanes, I captaining the faithful, geared Univega RTB (wouldn’t manage trailer tugging’ in these parts on a fixed given the gradients) and my young apprentice aboard the single speed tag-a-long. I get some resistance training whilst he indulges in the scenery, a growing passion for cycling and there's usually opportunity for both to reflect upon life in general. In fairness, so long as we regularly brake for cake and something warming he’ll motor up the climbs like the proverbial mountain goat.

Chrome three piece BMX cranks limit scope for pedal upgrades so I might drill the OEM resin units to accommodate clips and straps, providing more efficient power transfer and maybe Santa will have a budget suspension seat post in his trailer....

Four miles across the water stands the now decommissioned Bradwell Power Station being the UK’s first phase one nuclear power plant constructed in 1963. The location was chosen given the sea effected cooling for the reactors. My late grandfather was one of a team of highly skilled welders who fabricated the Magnox unit. His initial excitement at being chosen for the project soon turned to guilt upon uncovering how potentially lethal the technology was.

Towards the end of his life and despite crippling illness, he revealed how they were building to a maximum design life of twenty five years. The notorious Magnox reactor had been in continuous service for considerably longer before the official decommissioning in 2002, courting further controversy when Nyrex proposed a nuclear waste dump at the site some sixteen years previously.

Local protests saw the project shelved but the regret of not putting down the torch, turning off the shielding gas and walking away tormented my grandfather until his death in 1998.

Once again, the site is being earmarked by the nuclear industry for new generation reactor despite mounting local opposition. It is widely acknowledged that fossil fuels cannot last indefinitely; neither should they be depleted to the point of exhaustion.

However, nuclear energy opens a real Pandora’s Box- as Three Mile Island and Chernobyl clearly illustrate. There are many alternatives but it would appear once more, the commercial interests of the few are riding roughshod over the welfare of millions.

Road Path To Restoration & Cross Dressin'

After some eighteen months of angst, hand wringing and several failed attempts, a friend has managed to rescue and gift to me the classic plain gauge 531 road-path frame that had been languishing in a friend of a friend’s ex-wife’s garage for nigh on a decade. Hand finished in Greeves “Mooreland Blue” it is remarkably well preserved save for some very minute traces of surface rust. Now rare, “Road Path” bikes were a genre of performance, fixed gear track machine with more relaxed frame angles and wheelbases, designed to double as capable working bikes in the post war period where few skilled workers could afford two bikes and car ownership was still very low in the UK.

Something of an orphan, little is known of this bike’s history or indeed it’s origins. Given my feeling that decals only serve to inform thieves your bike is worth stealing, this is not intended as a concours restoration, rather I seek to build a minimalist (single brake) fixie for time trailing and sunny day fun. Curious as to its heritage I took note of the frame number before it becomes hidden beneath a luxuriously thick powder coated finish-the most cost effective way of getting a durable and yet very alluring re-spray on my limited budget. However, it will remain a seductive ornament until I can harvest sufficient, suitably alluring and period sensitive components from various spares bins.

Regulars in the congregation could be forgiven for thinking otherwise but Michael cannot live by road path bike alone and so I've been popping out to savour the early season cyclo cross racing. Despite a small tide of cross-practical fixers from the like of Specialized, Surly, Bianchi, IRO and On-One, they're pretty thin on the ground at most meets. Whilst not the obvious choice for antics beyond asphalt, the transmission's simplicity makes for an extremely robust and dependable drivetrain when things get gloopy. Given conditions frequently demand riders dismount and carry their bikes, fixed enjoys a serious weight advantage over their (over) geared rivals.


It is easy to draw parallels between cross and fixed scenes. Races are undeniably competitive but riders take their fun seriously with an atmosphere suitably convivial to entice everyone. You'll find first category road racers looking to retain fitness in the darker months, mountain bikers looking for some skinny tyre action right through to children and those just wanting to try a cheap and accessible branch of cycle sport.

Start lines are nothing like the movies, £2,000 ti cross thorough breads rub shoulders with battle scarred, pared to the essentials tourers/hybrids shod with cross tyres and various incarnations of mtb. Despite owning a traditional geared crosser complete with carbon fork, I find myself drawn by the spirit of the road/path tradition to shod the Ilpompino with 35mm cross rubber, pin on a race number and join them all on the start line. Raised eyebrows? Possibly but Ilpompinos, Rob Roys, single speed Tri-Cross and Bianchi San Jose’s are in essence cross framesets with track ends, rack and fender mounts...

I’ll leave you to mull this one over….

Next Week: Restoration gets underway

Season of the Witch

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in cyberspace to denounce the derailleur as the devil’s device, a product conceived from the secretions of Satan himself…Well, you’d be forgiven for thinking so given the slightly fundamentalist viewpoints expressed by some of the fixed gear faithful. Make no mistake, I love riding fixed but as my MTB derived rough stuff touring bike bears testimony, I’m no puritanical zealot.



No, this week I’m taking a seasonal look at night riding. My phenomenal nocturnal mileage leads my five year old to conclude his daddy is a vampire-something he is only to pleased to tell his teacher... Maybe it was colossal horror film consumption during my teens but the dark holds a particular magnetism. I like the silence of the lanes, the opportunity to muse and mull things over in the witching hour. Riding even familiar routes under the cover of darkness invites not only reflection but a whole new cycling experience.

The rustling in the hedgerows, monk jack dear cantering out from the fields and across my path, deserted military/farm buildings, monasteries etc never fail to get the heart racing and thought processes flowing like Niagara falls. It was precisely these nocturnal antics that prompted me to draft a short story about a man who unwittingly unlocks the door to a parallel universe. Sprinting through the lanes on his winter training bike (yes-it’s a fixed) late one night, hitting 26.4mph at a given spot he discovers the ability to travel- between 1967 and the present day and ultimately leading a dual life (an accusation levelled at myself on occasion).

I must confess a healthy fascination for the supernatural, thanks in part to my formative years spent in the Anglia region of the UK which enjoys a reputation for ghosts and things that go bump in the night... Legend has it; the devil’s dog “Black Shuck” roams the East Anglian and North Essex coastlines. Black Shuck reputedly travelled with the Vikings, terrorising the Norfolk region. Anyone making eye contact with the beast is said to die within twelve months. Now the reasoned, bespectacled sceptic within me rationalises this sort of folklore as convenient deterrent used by smugglers in days of yore to keep their activities clandestine.




Countless sightings over the decades has lead many a driver, motorcyclist and horse-rider to run over him, only to find he vanishes into the darkness- do I subscribe to the legend? Maybe not wholesale but I remain open to the concept of a dimension we do not fully understand and shouldn’t meddle with. I may have unwittingly encountered Shuck myself on a cold January night in 1999. Carving into the corners that typify the back roads leading to my mother’s house, lighting system on full beam, two piercing eyes glared at me from the verge. Drawing closer revealed something of wolf-like stature which promptly vanished into the night.



I wouldn’t rule out tiredness or an over indulgence in coca-cola on my part but there’s plenty of cyclists who seem to share an affinity with the mythical creature- disappearing with the darkness. Unlike Shuck, an encounter with one of Henry Ford's finest is unlikely to leave them unscathed. These stealth riders breeze through the night without so much as a blinker to advertise their presence. Given the advances in technology and tumbling prices, there’s no excuse to be sans illumination. Sure, even the best systems can unexpectedly fail but that’s entirely different from a wilful and extremely foolish flouting of the law.



I'm fully aware some driver behaviour is appalling and gaining a car licence seems preoccupied with passing the test-considered something of a right, rather than a privilege. Until this mindset changes, careless and sometimes wantonly reckless drivers can simply escape prosecution through loopholes in road traffic legislation. However, we mustn't allow this rationale' to justify or condone irresponsible riding.

I have a particular fondness for high power Ni-MH, Li-on and lead acid battery systems-especially for unlit roads and very cheerful budget models can be had for around the £50 ($90) mark. LED lights are so inexpensive and just as frugal to run. However, a great many do not comply with the British Standard- despite their performance. Technically, in flashing mode they are illegal but most police agree it would be a very cruel cop who booked you. US law as I understand it, prohibits flashing red beams but the interpretation of such varies from state to state.


My all-time favourite lighting system has to be the dynohub. These have improved beyond recognition since the old Sturmy archer units. Shimano’s venerable nexus and greatly refined Ultegra and Alfine stable mates offer bright, rider generated light on tap coupled with nominal drag. Super smooth annular contact bearings translate into a serene, fluid self-sufficiency that marries perfectly with the oft-quoted zen-like purity of a fixed transmission-there’s even a disc mount option!


True, hub dynamos require building into a wheel and carry a slight weight penalty over other systems but there’s no messy wiring to snag if you only power a front lamp. Even factoring the cost of wheel building, regular night owls will recoup their initial outlay within a season.



Jackets, tights and knickers are commonly impregnated with discrete, yet effective scotchlite reflectives eliminating the need for gaudy day-glow yellows (although I stow such a shower-proof training jacket in my seat pack/ pannier in case of emergency.) These technological advances mean an end to dressing up like mobile Christmas trees on acid. That said there's only 59 shopping days until December the 25th.

Hmm, an October 31st alley cat through New Orleans' french quarter...Bet that'd be fast-paced!

Happy Halloween!

Welcome to the Velodrome...I was too sick to attend the show

Whilst the fellowship of road fixers enjoys seemingly ever fertile ranks, the disciples of UK track racing, despite enjoying an elevated profile thanks to recent Olympic success feel something of a poor relation at grass roots level. The disciplines and rituals being treated with a suspicion usually reserved for religious cults rather than an exciting and relatively inexpensive branch of the sport.

Herne Hill velodrome is situated in an affluent, leafy suburb of an otherwise tough and uncompromising inner London Borough. A far cry from the post war hey days where it regularly enthralled crowds in their thousands-especially at Good Friday meets, it now limps from funding crisis to threatened closure. Casting sentiment aside for a moment, balance sheet valuation would suggest turning the site over to a developer for luxury housing-infinitely more profitable, even in the present economic climate.

Weary porta cabins soldier on as Spartan, yet serviceable office and toilet blocks. Behind lie huge steel containers playing host to a tired, unglamorous but reliable gas-pipe hire/training fleet, nine Meriden built Triumph Thunderbird 650cc motorcycles from a by-gone era where riders drafted behind, turning knee shattering gears in the hope of setting/breaking speed/distance records.

Another entertains motorised two-stroke bicycles known generically as "Dernys" originating in France and are now manufactured in the Netherlands. These were designed to pace the riders along- a common sight at six-day races and still do a turn at club-track meets thanks to the skill of some endearing, fanatical and dare I say, pleasantly eccentric pilots.

I have a certain fondness for the spectacle and excitement that such racing presents but through critical eyes, I can appreciate in these image conscious times how this might be perceived as quaint and comical-especially amongst a teenage audience where image is nigh on paramount.

I taught the rudiments of track racing (in an assistant capacity) for a couple of years-predominantly to this age group. Some were from very affluent homes and rode top-end Merlin’s, Trek, Specialized etc to school and at the other extreme were kids from the school of the streets- Tough, knowing and yet curiously naive/vulnerable at the same time.

Getting past the latter group's surly insolence; wise cracking and persuading them aboard the hard used track iron brought a miraculous transformation. Initially, it was outright fear that gripped them, their veins coursing with adrenalin and a sense of the unknown as they held tentatively to the guard rail. One by one, they gingerly set off, the fixed transmission responding to their every pedal stroke. Even the most nonchalant cultivated ear-to ear grins, their hardened devil-may-care cynicism replaced by a new found sense of wonder as they powered with escalating confidence around the circuit.

It was ironic, if unsurprising that the fastest learners were often the biggest pains in the ass and this occasionally leads to misadventure… One such convert in a moment of euphoria, threw his arms skyward in a victory celebration that would’ve rivalled a pro’s…For a split second he attempted to freewheel across the line, locking the transmission and pitching himself unceremoniously over the bars. Aside from shock and some minor laceration, he went on to compete in another race.

Most of those I tutored rapidly developed a new found respect and fascination for cycling and indeed, themselves-even the more timid and those with self-esteem difficulties came out of their shells to ride as if their lives depended on it, begging for that “One last lap” before the session closed. For this audience, I think the displays of velodrome tradition would’ve alienated as many as it inspired, leaving impressions of an elitist and eccentric activity that fails to connect with their view of the world.

The all weather surface lain in 1994 was designed for low maintenance as removed from four season’s competition and takes several days to blast clean with high pressure water jets come the spring. There’s been much talk of reconstruction involving an enclosed stadium rather like Manchester, catering for year round racing, a much higher profile and revenue to boot. However, cycling and niche disciplines are funded accordingly.

Let’s be clear, I am in no way detracting from the phenomenal time and energy put into the site by clubs such as VC Londres, Friends of Herne Hill Velodrome and many, many others. However, I am hoping that the resurgence in the road scene, courier chic and the underground alley cats, messenger Olympics etc might inspire more to give track a try.

Affordable machines like Fuji’s aptly named track are venerable, road-legal mounts more than capable of velodrome duties straight from the crate. Purists will doubtless disagree but for me, the messenger racing scene is a force for good and has the power through the medium of "cool" to bring about a marked turnaround in fortunes for struggling stadiums.