A good pair of cycling shoes are a must for any serious cyclist. They should be stiff, comfortable, light and stylish. Many professional cyclists (who are often superstitious) value their favourite shoes so highly that they won’t let them out of their sight in between races. But there are times when you’ll want something a little different from the flashy, garish, ultra light and Velcro-strapped footwear that we see in the pro peloton.
Read MoreRide Velo 2016 Highlights
With political turmoil and the sad death of some of the greats of the music, art and entertainment world, 2016 seemed a bit bleak at times. But, as HG Wells once said, “Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair of the future of the human race.” So, while the year had its tricky moments, we were lucky enough at Ride Velo to see plenty of adults (and children) on bikes as well as ride a few ourselves. Here are some of our highlights of the year.
Read MoreEroica Limburg: a European Vintage Cycling Adventure
Eroica: a vintage cycling celebration and ride that started in 1997 on the Strade Bianche in Tuscany, has many incarnations these days. California, Japan, South Africa and even Uruguay have their own version. Eroica Britannia in Derbyshire just celebrated its third year and has developed into a full on festival with dressing up competitions, food stalls and entertainment on a scale that caters for thousands, winning the award of best non-music festival last year. So, Ride Velo were very excited to be invited to Holland for the first edition of Eroica Limburg.
Read MoreReview: The Light Blue St John's Retro
With Eroica Britannia just one week away, Ride Velo has been busy preparing for the three day festival and, in particular, the Sunday morning bike ride. This must be undertaken on a pre-1987 bike... with a couple of exceptions.
Two of the new 'sport range' of Light Blue bicycles are eligible for Eroica Britannia even though they are were only released last year - they are the Kings and St Johns retro steel bikes - and they are gorgeous! Ride Velo was lucky enough to take three of the new range out for a photo shoot back in December: the Robinson, Trinity fixed and the St Johns. We loved them all, but it was the St Johns that I kept coming back to.
Read MoreHow to Dress Vintage
Vintage cycling events have become massively popular in the last few years. The Tweed Run has been going for eight years and tickets for this year's London event sold out in just 30 seconds! The Eroica Britannia festival had its second outing last year and attracted 50,000 guests as well as winning the UK Festival Awards prize for the best non-music festival. This year, 4,500 are set to ride around the glorious Derbyshire countryside on pre 1987 vintage steeds, including Ride Velo and lots of our friends. If, like us, this is your first time, we're here to help you look the part!
Read MoreHopkinson Saddle Bag Review
Hopkinson England must have heard that we’ve been vintage bike shopping for the upcoming Eroica Britannia as they asked us to review their ‘Louis Bag’, a leather cycling bag with a classic look and simplistic design. Good thing too - It looks great on my new 1970s Bianchi road bike.
Read MoreVintage Bike Shopping for Eroica
Ride Velo has never been to Romford before and, an hour into the journey, we were seriously considering why we were enduring the traffic jams to get across London to a place that we’ve successfully managed to avoid for several decades without worrying about it. If we’d known what an Aladdin’s cave we were about to enter we would never have questioned the sanity of spending a beautiful spring Sunday afternoon stuck in the car negotiating the dubious driving skills of the inhabitants of Essex, rather than enjoying the country lanes of the Kent Alps on a road bike.
Read MoreThe All New R.E.W. Reynolds
Many of us who get into cycling immediately start chasing down the lightest carbon fibre bikes, and snap up replica apparel as worn by our pro cycling heroes. After we’ve been riding for a little while, however, we look back at the history and heritage of cycling, learning about the great riders as they tackle the most iconic climbs. Images of pain, heroism and grit etched on the faces of the true stars of the sport, such as Hinault, Simpson and Coppi put the likes of Contador and Froome in the shade. And the clothing… well you only have to look at the shocking new Tinkoff-Saxo kit to know that the teams of the 60s, 70s and 80s just oozed style and sophistication compared with their modern equivalents.
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