The Great Tour 2010

I can't have a cycling blog without writing something about The Great Tour.

This was one of my defining moments in cycling, encompassing all the joys associated with great rides - superb company, scenery, sunshine, mileage and accomplishment; just on a much bigger scale. In cycling, you have to accept that for every up there is a down, in every sense. The Great Tour also delivered the worst spill I have experienced.

In a nutshell, the 2010 ride was planned as a circumnavigation of the coastline of Great Britain in 64 days to raise money for The Prostate Cancer Charity and retail trade charity Caravan. Graeme Knott, Hugh Roberts, Alistair Cope, Mike Sweeney and Sam Mashford were the hardy souls who completed the whole thing, starting and finishing in Seaton, Devon.

My involvement was just to ride the first two weeks - Seaton to Scarborough - approx 900 miles. My trip was cut short on my home stage, close to St Osyth, when I had a nasty spill and was carted off to Colchester A&E. My focus then became getting fit enough to rejoin the ride, which I managed and subsequently had the priviledge of taking part in the final week.

It was special for me, and pulling the video clips together for this 8 minute summary of my time on The 2010 Great Tour was a really nice trip down memory lane. Sunshine, bikes, great people and an excuse to air the Superstars theme tune! My thanks go to Dan Broom for producing such a fine video record of a great event which I have randomly plundered and shoddily edited for my own purposes.

Cycle Show Roundup

OK - loads of pictures and not too many words. This year's Cycle Show didn't throw up any earth shattering, new developments or must have items, but there was some cracking kit on show.

It was noticeable that the big boys were not in attendance, particularly Specialized who had a massive stand last year. Also missing for 2011 were De Rosa, Merckx and MCipolini.

Seven - bespoke titanium - Sigma Sport

Seven - enve throughout

Some very tasty cross bikes were in evidence, including Condor's Terra X Prototype and titanium stunners from Seven and qoroz.

It is worth noting that qoroz bikes are handmade in the UK and come with a lifetime guarantee.

 

Bianchi had one Crossover bike (rather than pure CX) sporting a triple chainset and aimed firmly at the commuting/touring/do anything crowd.

Bianchi - CX bike or jack of all trades?

 

I was particularly taken with the whole qoroz range which encompasses Road, MTB, 29er and folding travel options. However, if I were lucky enough to get my hands on one, their cross bike featuring hydraulic disc brakes would be top of my list. It is gorgeous.

qoroz - pure class

qoroz CX bike - discs

qoroz CX bike - hydraulics

The impressive Condor Terra X Prototype CX bike

Colnago had some great bikes on show - the stealth-black C59 Italia was a highpoint and I just love the timeless Master X-Light.

Colnago Master X-Light

One failure from Colnago for me is this £3000 city bike with a Ferrari badge - I really can't see the point.

Why?

Peugeot was an interesting one - as mentioned on a live post last week, I am delighted to see them back but puzzled that I have not seen a retail presence or much press over the last year. The range is small, but there are some crackers in there, from the full carbon racer RSR-01 at £5750, the unpriced fixie (rumoured at around £1500) and a very reasonable traditional town bike for £300. Interestingly, all of these bikes are available on order through any UK Bianchi dealer.

Peugeot Fixie - Classic

Peugeot Carbon Racer - looks the part

Dutch Style Peugeot Town Bike - only £300!

After qoroz, there was only one stand where I loved every single bike - Paulus Quiroz Design. Bespoke craftsmanship of the highest possible level and some of the most innovative and stylish designs on display. They went down a storm at the Bristol handmade show and I sincerely hope they get all the attention they deserve form the Cycle Show audience.

Stainless Steel 953 silver brazed frame - faultless

Super stylish hard tail MTB

Classic Paulus Quiros Design Road Bike

Paulus Quiros Design Town Bike

Paulus Quiroz Design Fixie

I regularly have trouble getting my head around Pinarello - I know thousands of people adore them and I think they produce some great stuff but it just bugs me that they insist on throwing in kinks and curves where they are just not needed.

Top tube with an annoying bend - why?

Dogma 2 with wavy davy forks. More Italian black stealth chic.

Don't get me wrong - if anyone wanted to give me a Dogma 2 or even a Graal TT bike, I would bite their hands off!

The Graal... Just like Alex Dowsett - very nice.

Some people asked me to keep my eyes peeled for cool clothing and I have to admit I didn't see a huge amount - from personal taste Shutt Velo Rapide were offering the most stylish kit, Santini launched an ill-advised World Champs Jersey with Giani Bugno's signature for £129 and Castelli had their brand new speed suits (skinsuit/road racing hybrid as worn by Johan van Summeren to cvictory in Paris Roubaix this year).

Everyone knows these are a no-no for us mere mortals!

Shutt Velo Rapide - Classy and pick of the clothing bunch

Castelli's skinsuit with pockets and a wee hole - might be useful.

Castelli speed suit in civilian colours

Of course, Assos were at the show in force, and its just a personal opinion, but I am not that keen on their stuff - I think its fine if you want to turn out on a club run looking like an extra from Blakes 7, but frankly I can think of better ways to spend thousands of pounds!

Assos - 70's Sci-Fi anyone?

The misses this year included Felt's AR1 purely because they left the cassette chain guard on, Pearson's lovely frames spoilt by lurid graphics and the new Specialized Crux CX bike, which I thought just looked cheap.

Pearson - how many words can you fit on one frame?

Love Spesh and love CX, but this is a disappointment. 2012 Crux just looks cheap.

Felt AR1 Aero Road Bike - height of tech - top spec, so why leave the plastic saucer?