SIS now instock….

A great range of flavour’s from Chocolate to Tropical now in stock

Posted by: simon on Monday, April 9th, 2012 posted in: News > Shop

Creme of the Crop-Arrive at Herberts!

Creme Cycles stand out with their attention to detail and fantastic colour palette.

The Holymoly bikes are the perfect choice for anyone who believes that the journey is just as important as the destination. The Holymoly’s design is influenced by classic Dutch bikes, with a lugged frame and great care to details giving this bike a fine retro taste. With the completely upright position, we can guarantee that if you take a ride on the same route as you normally do on your mountain bike or road bike you will notice things that you never saw before. At Creme, we use the Holymoly bikes on our evening cruises that take us to our favourite restaurants in our seaside resort of Sopot. If you value style and comfort over speed, then this is the bicycle for you.

From £499-£649.00

Posted by: simon on Thursday, March 29th, 2012 posted in: News > Shop

Mario Cipollini Gran Fondo

Event Details

The Cipollini Gran Fondo is a sportive of a special kind. 115km of the most iconic climbs and roads of the south west are waiting for the exclusive group of rider, paired with an un-presidented back-up structure and last but not least the man himself – Mario Cipollini.

On the weekend of the 21-22nd April 2012 Mario Cipollini will come to Bristol to ride the Cipollini Gran Fondo as well as welcome the riders to an exclusive pre-ride dinner at The Redwood Lodge Country Club.

Event concept:
The Cipollini Gran Fondo is a non-competitive road sportive with a twist. Contrary to ‘normal’ sportives where riders turn up grab their number board and rush to the start line the Cipollini Gran Fondo offers the riders an exclusive and relaxed ambience as well as a prolonged experience.

The Cipollini Gran Fondo opens its doors at 5pm on Saturday the 21st April at Redwood Lodge Country Club with the opening of the registration and a welcome drink. The registration will stay open till the start of the exclusive 3 course gala dinner.

During and after the dinner we will have interviews with Mario Cipollini as well as a surprise after dinner speaker.

See further details on the hotel and the area here (LINK). The facilities at the hotel and the 1st class leisure facilities including pool, tennis courts and gym are obviously open to the event participants and their partners.

The next morning (Sunday 22nd April) will then see the start of the Cipollini Gran Fondo from 9am onwards. Prior to the start we will have coffee, tea and pastries available for the riders before they make their way to the start line. Registration for the Sunday only riders will be open from 8am – 10am at the Redwood Lodge Country Club.

Support structure:
The Mario Cipollini Gran Fondo is designed for all levels of ability and fitness and offers detailed route marking (optional shortcuts available), well stocked feed stations, mobile mechanics and Mercedes-Benz broom wagons.

The course:
The 115km long course will be primarily run on quiet road away from the main flow of traffic and will showcase some of the less obvious climbs and sections the area has to offer. That doesn’t mean that you will not be tested on iconic climbs like the Cheddar George or Burrington Combe but on top of that there will be a few surprises thrown into the mix which will make the ride a real experience even for local sportive riders.

NOTE: There will be a shortcut avoiding Cheddar Gorge available if you should not feel up to it on the day. This reduced the course by approx. 15km and 300m of climbing.

Mario out on course:
Even with Mario’s active racing career being over he still carries a hefty punch on the bike. Mario will obviously be out on course all day and will jump from group to group, therefore giving as many riders as possible the chance to rub shoulders with the former World Champion.

Marking:
The course is fully marked but every rider will get a small ‘backup map’ given in case that marking is not 100% clear or gets damaged or removed. We will also have marshals at important points of the course as well as roaming marshals during the day who will look after the riders in the best way possible. Further to that we will have a group of out-riders that will inspect the course and the marking prior to the start and feed back any important updates for the pre-ride briefing.

Feed stations:
Around the 115km long course the riders will find two amazing feed stations. Here they can expect not just the latest in energy food and drinks but hand-cut sandwiches, homemade cakes, fresh ground coffee and freshly brewed tea and lots more. The 2nd feed station will even go one step further and offer the riders a buffet style lunch sampling local dishes which are perfectly adjusted to the needs of the riders.

Mechanics:
At the Cipollini Gran Fondo we will not just have mechanics at the registration to give the bikes the last few tweaks before the off but we will also have a mechanic on every feed station. On top of that we will have two motorbike mechanics equipped with spare wheels who will patrol the peloton throughout the day.

Broom wagon:
And should you have more severe problems with either your bike or your body we will have three broom wagons at various points on the course who will be able to take and your bike back to the start.

Team car:
On top of that – and to give the real tour feeling – we will also have Cipollini team car patrolling the course which is equipped with a selection of the latest Cipollini bikes in case your bike is not repairable on the side of the road.

Chip timing:
We will use timing chips which will be fitted either to your bike or to the number board. These will give riders an idea how long it took them to complete the entire course (please keep in mind that the event is non-competitive and we don’t reward fastest times or such like). We will also have 1-2 further timing points along the course so that the riders get a better idea how long it took them to get to those selected points.

Before the ride – Sunday:
Before the start of the Cipollini Gran Fondo on Sunday morning we will offer the riders some refreshments like coffee, teas and pastries and hold a short riders briefing (including the latest update on the course and road conditions). The start of the event is open from 9am and stays open for one hour. There is also a massage team in place that will be happy to assist with any pre-ride rub downs. As there are only limited slots available – please make sure that you pre-book your appointment to avoid disappointment when you arrive at the event.

After the ride – Sunday:
The Cipollini Gran Fondo is not over when you come over the finish line back at the Redwood Lodge Country Park. Once you have finished your ride you will be given your unique Cipollini finisher jersey as well as some well deserved après-ride coffee, tea and cake. On top of that you will get the chance to share your experiences from the day with your fellow riders as well as with Mario himself. Once the active and social part of the day comes to an end you are welcome to use the Red Wood Lodge gym facilities to get changed and showered. We will also have the massage team back in action for any pre-ride massages. As there are only limited slots available – please make sure that you pre-book your appointment to avoid disappointment when you arrive at the event.

Mario Cipollini Gran Fondo.

Posted by: simon on Thursday, March 29th, 2012 posted in: News > Shop

Rapha

 

La Moustache Ride in Pictures

Posted in Rides

La Moustache Ride in Pictures | Rapha.

Posted by: simon on Thursday, March 22nd, 2012 posted in: News > Shop

Eddy and me – Rouleur Magazine

Being the youngest of four children, hand-me-downs were a fact of life – not that any of my siblings ever got a new bike either. Uncle Ted would scour the local tip for abandoned frames and wheels, take them back to his workshop and somehow fashion usable machines from piles of junk. Scrapheap Challenge had nothing on Uncle Ted. His creations were invariably painted in the same disgusting shade of green paint liberated from his workplace, sported Sturmey Archer three-speed hubs and weighed more than dad’s Mini, but they did the job.

Until I joined a cycling club, that is. Then it became abundantly clear that Uncle Ted’s clunker would have to go and be replaced by something racier. Much parental badgering ensued – threats issued, tantrums thrown – until they relented and allowed the princely sum of £50 to be withdrawn from my savings. Cash in pocket, I headed for the nearest decent cycle emporium in the glittering metropolis that is Swindon.

A host of gleaming lightweights awaited, mostly too big or too costly for a 13-year-old, but the smattering of machines within my price range looked adequate. Falcons, Raleighs and Carltons vied for my attention. They were all distinct possibilities. And then the Swindon Cycle Centre came up trumps. The moment I saw it, I knew it was the one.

The shade of Molteni orange paint used for its 19-inch frame is a colour that remains deep in my affections. Steel-rimmed 26-inch wheels didn’t so much spin as grind their way round, but Weinmann centre-pulls were a step up from the stopping capabilities of my old clunker. It had those curious ‘mudguards’ – lengths of dull silver metal extending a few inches either side of the brakes that deflected no road muck but rattled incessantly. Five gears, courtesy of French company Huret, seemed plenty to me.

But none of these things informed my choice. What counted – more than the wheels, more than the gears, more than those infernal chrome guards – was the picture on the headtube: a diamond-shaped sticker, framed by World Championship bands, containing a portrait of the greatest rider in the World, the impossibly handsome Eddy Merckx. The sticker repeated on the downtube for good measure.

It was hardly what you would describe as ‘lightweight’, but Eddy and me travelled far and wide on increasingly lengthy club runs, into the hills of Somerset or the Cotswolds, and we got on just fine. Youth Hostelling excursions into Wales or Dorset were a regular feature once proper mudguards, rack and saddle-bag were added. We tackled five-mile time trials every Wednesday evening, recording PB’s week after week. Come the winter, the gears were stripped off and a donated fixed wheel with 40 spokes and no chrome whatsoever (it appeared to have spent several years at the bottom of the River Avon) was fitted. Not once were we defeated by a climb, although one snowy descent at Easter saw us flying into the hedgerow at speed due to my inability to stop.

But Eddy was with me. We were fine.

My legs were growing ever longer and skinnier. The seat post had reached its limit before long. Me and Eddy would have to part company. It was years later I discovered my bike was made under licence by Falcon Cycles in England and had no input whatsoever from the great Belgian, apart from his picture on the frame. Not that the news clouded my feelings about my first racing bike. Me and Eddy had something special.

But it was over. The next machine would have be a step up: self- assembled, one piece at a time, with every component hand-picked by me. No walking into a shop and picking some factory-built, mass-produced mount. The next time would be different…

via Eddy and me « Rouleur Magazine.

Posted by: simon on Thursday, March 22nd, 2012 posted in: News > Shop

Great Ride Out….

Well the weather held for Sunday which was great, because I had wanted to have a ride out around Romney marsh.

 

Posted by: simon on Monday, March 19th, 2012 posted in: News > Shop

Nice and Smooth – Rapha

Nice and Smooth

By Joe Hall

_{All colour © Jake Stangel}

Cyril: Hey! Are you really gonna shave your legs?
Dave: Certo! All the Italians do it.
Mike: Ah. Some country. The women don’t shave theirs…

— Breaking Away (1979)

The knives are out, well the razors anyway. Spring arrives and with it riders head for the bathroom, reach for the cutters and perform a practice that truly signifies the new season. Leg shaving.

_{All B+W © Ben Ingham}

It’s hard not to see the procedure of leg shaving as a ritual – performed in anticipation of the first ride or race of the year where tights and leg warmers are left in the drawer. The feeling of spinning through the gentle spring air with legs divested of hair and covered only by your freshly laundered socks and bib shorts is something akin to that new pair of wheels or sparkling-clean bike. It promises a reanimation of your legs and the world in which they travel.

A simple if somewhat time-consuming act that is emblematic of six-hour rides in the sun, racing upon contours of countryside, eating the road and conquering mountains. (Or just sitting at the café working those tan lines.)

I’m certain some riders, particularly racers, ‘keep their powder dry’ all year long, ensuring the leg hair never encroaches beyond a few millimetres. But the first ride of the year in bib shorts should be honoured (if your wife lets you) with an act that has a similar ceremonial aspect to that of wrapping bar tape or steeling up for the battle with embrocation (just ensure you don’t do the embro bit straight after your shave).

From time to time we encounter the uninitiated’s question, why do you shave your legs? Aerodynamics is the assumed answer for the naïve, whereas a more sophisticated suggestion is that hairless legs ease massage and road rash treatment. But therein lies the real clue – the majority of road riders with sleek legs are not receiving post-race massages at the team hotel. But they wish they were.

_{Roger De Vlaeminck shaves and relaxes in A Sunday in Hell}

Cowboys don’t need spurs or ten-gallon hats, they simply wear them to prove they are the Real McCoy. A tribal symbol that – apart from looking better with shorts (shaved legs not cowboy boots that is) – makes you at least look like you’re part of the pack. Indeed, for those with the misfortune of having a dark carpet of leg hair, shaving is a necessity if they want to be taken seriously in any kind of peloton.

Just like the budding trees and sprouting flowers, your bare legs suddenly appear in the morning like a peacock springing his plumage and the cockerel crowing before most have eaten their cornflakes. So it’s time to get fresh, lather up, break out the sharpest of razors (careful) and shave those finely tuned legs.

_{[Please note: waxing is for girls.]}

Just in case you’re somewhat shy about the ritual of leg shaving, here are our instructions to ensure things go smoothly.

Leg Shaving Instructions:

01. Run a sink of hot water.
02. Soak razor to ensure a clean cut.
03. Mix cream with water to obtain good lather.
04. Massage into legs using circular motion.
05. Always shave against the direction of hair growth.
06. Rinse blade regularly for smooth, aerodynamic finish.
07. Rinse skin with cold water.
08. Pat dry with a clean towel.
09. Apply pre-race superstitions liberally.
10. Roll out into the sunshine.
11. Escape 10 kms from home.
12. Beat friends/ rivals.
13. Repeat frequently.

For more info Click here – Rapha

Posted by: simon on Tuesday, March 13th, 2012 posted in: News > Shop