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Posts Tagged ‘Get Cycling’

Two Weeks With a Box Bike

Friday, July 8th, 2011 by Mick Allan

I thought I’d give it a couple of weeks before I started gushing about it. So here goes.

OMG. It’s brilliant.

It’s a testament to the builder that this machine has survived so long and still works – it spent a decade in the Get Cycling fleet. In and out of vans, usually with several bikes piled on top of it, or strapped to a trailer spending countless hours hurtling around the country in the pishing rain. To say nothing of the abuse it suffered when it got to where it was going, riding round and round in circles in a muddy field or dusty school yard in-between crashes. I exaggerate for comic effect but it’s not too far from the truth. Roadshow bikes do have hard lives. The original box was crushed by the over enthusiastic use of a cargo strap – and replaced by a monstrosity which weighs twice as much as the original. Why it needed to be quite so ‘well built’ escapes me since the original lasted a decade. But hey. The frame had a re-weld a couple of years ago when a crack was discovered in one of the box’s steel stays. And that’s about it. It ran and ran and ran, got a strip down and a rebuild, powder coated. And then the business changed and they stopped using it.

So now it’s mine!

box bike on bridge

The first thing I did was replace the rear wheel (a Nexus 4) for the one I had recently built for the Africa Bike (featuring the awesome Fallbrook Industries NuVinci CV hub). Actually, the Nexus has been brilliant, never skipped a beat, but the NuVinci is an awesome thing. A more in-depth review of which will follow shortly.

The original centre stand needs a bit of work to stop it falling down at the slightest bump. So I lashed it up with a bungee and fitted a nice Swiss two legged stand that’s been knocking around the spare parts bin in search of a bike for several years. And in a flash of mild inspiration I fitted a regular one-legged kick stand to the side of the box. God I’m good. Now I have a bike with three stands – there can’t be many of them about!

blue box bike on bridge

I take two of the kids (10 and 4) to school in it, transport shopping, bales of straw and compost hither and thither. It’s become my everyday bike of choice, though that may wear off in time… I went to town with the 10 yr old and her cousin on Saturday, bought half a ton of M&S’s finest and weaved our way home through the herds of tourists. It didn’t skip a beat. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. I love it.

I fitted a Peregrine front tyre (again, one of those odd components I’ve had for years, almost as if it’s been waiting for this bike to come along…) and squirted some Stan’s into both tubes for some comprehensive insurance against flats. And a dynamo and a halogen lamp – I just need to wire them together. Next up: A set of handcrafted wooden mudguards is winging their way from Israel. I want to upgrade the chainset, front brake and possibly add a rim brake to the rear. A new rear tyre would be nice – the Bonty which came on it is looking weary. And long term – a lecky front wheel would be nice.

But the main thing is, of course, that box. The very thing which defines this bike. Built by a cack-handed monkey and bolted on squint. The new box shall be a masterpiece. The trouble is, I can’t decide what to make it from. A little more research is required… Tropical hardwood? Marine ply?

Carbon fibre composite honeycomb laminate…?

big blue box bike on bridge

brilliant blue box bike on bridge

blue bakfeits

Blue box bike back end

There’s a lot going on in this last pic: note the twin legged stand, the hub mounted Shimano ‘M’ brake, those awesome dropouts with integrated chain tensioners, the magnificent NuVinci hub in all its glory – drilled for lightness (snigger!) and the bolt-on/strap-on V brake mounting plate. Rear rack – at least some of it – is welded to the frame so is plenty strong enough to carry a whole human.

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Posted in Ramblings, Technology | 4 Comments »

Let’s Get Them Cycling!

Monday, March 21st, 2011 by George Goodwin

I am what you might describe as an amateur cyclist.  I’ve been cycling since I was about five, and have always used a bike as my main means of transport.  It (and Britain’s rail network) have saved me having to learn to drive.  I don’t want to learn to drive.  It is horrendously expensive, enviromentally catastrophic, and… I’d miss the exercise.  I can fix a puncture, put a bike together so it works and adjust the saddle so it’s the right height, but that’s about it as far as maintenance goes.  Mick looks upon my efforts with scorn – but then, perhaps he’s right to. (Not scorn Geo. Pity. Mx)

I do wonder though if this type of vague elitism – of cycling haves and have-nots – works to the detriment of the wider cycling world.  I mean, there’s nothing more intimidating than walking into a bike shop where everyone knows their stuff inside out and you don’t. It’s no good, because it means that people are more likely to pick up derelict wrecks of bikes (thereby avoiding the shop stage), and be forever put off cycling by the sheer crappiness of their ride.

KMX riders waiting for the off at a Get Cycling Festival
KMX riders waiting for the off at a Get Cycling Festival

And cycling for a beginner is a difficult enough as it is.  Some people have never even pedalled a bike before.  For people that haven’t done any exercise for years, getting (back) on a bike must initially be torturous – especially if it’s anything like starting running again.  Your body just does not want to co-operate.  Not to mention the fact that exercise like running and cycling is something you just have to do outside, in front of strangers – it’s not like a language or musical instrument where you can make all your mistakes in front of a select few people.

It’s a shame that there’s this unaviodable ritual humiliation for people trying to get fit again (and perhaps shake off the shackles of the car commute to work), and so the added psychological barrier of actually going into a bike shop and getting a ride is icing on the cake.

There are several remedies to this sordid state of affairs that I can think of off the top of my head.  For starters, cycle maintenance should be a school subject, and cycling should form a part of school sports.  After all, schools are obliged to provide technology subjects like woodwork, cookery and textiles; why not bike skills?  Incorporating cycling into sports classes would get everyone riding (and having fun).  This would make walking into a cycle shop so much easier, since there would no longer be the knowledge disparity between shop and customer.  The awkwardness would just dissipate.

Secondly, (and until such time as “bike-time” becomes part of the National Curriculum), a message to existing cyclists – organise a bike ride with your cycling-averse friends.  Show them the fun side (cycling along car-free routes); let them gently acclimatise to the bike, and then later introduce them to roads.  Cycling, like so many things in life, is much more fun when done with other people.  (Thinking about it, this is exactly how I’ve got my own friends on bikes.)

If we really want to get more people cycling (and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t – less road noise/pollution and more smiling faces), we’re all going to have to go out and be fishers of men, women, children and anyone capable of pushing two pedals in a circle.  I can think of far worse ways of spending a weekend ;)

Incidentally (and I wasn’t out to cross-sell this when I started writing, promise), Get Cycling do a lot of fine work in introducing school children to bikes.  If only the schools themselves had the finances to take the initiative…

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Posted in Casual Cyclist | 1 Comment »

York Cycling Festival

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010 by George Goodwin
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I don't think I've ever seen so many bikes in one place before in York!

The weekend just gone was the York Cycling Festival, project managed by our  sister company Get Cycling.  I went for the first time this year (although for work, not play!) and it was absolutely cracking.

I was manning the Scalectrix tracks – two dynamo-equipped bikes are attached to each circuit, and riders power the cars by pedalling.  Looking after it was surprisingly tiring (since all the kids seemed to want to do was to throw the cars off tracks), but it was worth it because virtually all the people who tried it left with wide smiles on their faces.

There were plenty of other things to see and do besides – a basketball court was converted into a circuit for KMX Karts and some of the beautifully landscaped paths were taken over by all manner of cycles, from semi-recumbents to cruisers.

The thing I enjoyed most though was watching all the cycles going around the park that weren’t being ridden by the public – a rickshaw became an impromptu sandwich-cart, and there was a Yuba Mundo that was being used to convey important bits and bobs from place to place.  Sure, it’s not like they were transporting anything for hundreds of miles, but it went to show that cycles can successfully ferry anything over shorter distances.

The main try-out track

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Posted in Cycle Shows, Events | No Comments »

Get Cycling

Friday, March 5th, 2010 by Mick Allan

Get Cycling, Company of Cyclists’  sister company, ‘moved house’ this week. Get Cycling is a Community Interest Company which grew out of Company of Cyclists to become a highly respected cycle-promotion company. Their roadshow units tour schools, colleges, businesses large and small, corporate events and public festivals promoting cycling, all over the UK, from Cornwall to Inverness and with up to five units out at any one time. A unit being a long wheelbase van loaded with around fifty bikes towing a trailer which carries a Mega-Bike. Or a van and trailer loaded with 100 commuter bikes to loan to staff at a hospital, local government office or business.

Tigah trains a tricyclist
Tigah and a trainee tricyclist

For the last few years all of their 400 or so weird and wonderful bikes, and the full service workshop required to keep them on the road has been housed in a former chicken shed on a small industrial estate two miles outside of York. A couple of years ago, due to continual growth and constant accumulation of new bikes, the office staff were squeezed out to take up residence in a different building. But that didn’t last long – as their continuing success and resulting expansion ensured that any newly created space was soon filled and it was just a matter of time before new premises were required. From one van, a few bikes in a garage and the financial support of a couple of hundred cycling shareholders Get Cycling has gone from strength to strength in the decade since it was formed.

It is no exaggeration to state that the staff who crew the roadshows have engaged with very many hundreds of thousands of people. Young and old and from every strata of society. The mission: to demonstrate that cycling is easy fun and also to provide information about cycling. The hope is that a proportion of those people will be inspired to ride a bike, whether for work or pleasure, to get healthy or just to have some fun.
This week, while we sat here with our heads stuck in our computers, the guys who manage the bikes, the workshop and the warehouse were busy squirreling it all away, packing the tools and breaking down the storage racking. The vans drove back and forth between the old and new buildings. And now they’re gone! Only a few miles up the road, nearer town and with better access to the motorway network but I’ll tell you; this place is a heck of a lot quieter without all the mechanics, drivers and crew busying around the place, without all the vans and trailers and without all the weird and wonderful bikes.

Things change, nothing stands still, but it’s hard not to feel a little sad that they’ve gone. Before Cyclorama I was one of those crew members roaming the country in a big van delivering roadshow after roadshow. What a great job, spending my working day being surrounded by happy smiling people riding bikes. With enough great memories to fill a book, I can distill them all down into one sublime moment; A small boy ran up to me after we had delivered a Schools Roadshow in south London last year. He tugged my shirt sleeve and with his face totally lit-up with a smile he loudly announced; ‘This. Is the best day. Of my life!!!’

It’s a sign of their success that they’ve had to move, we’re sure that Get Cycling will go from strength to strength and we wish them all the very best. We wonder how many years before they grow out of their new premises…..!

Get Cycling

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Posted in Ramblings | No Comments »