Cycle Show 2009 - London

Kerry, Owen and me (Ty) hit the Cycle Show in London on Saturday, it was a nice day out, pictures:
This was just one of the many cutesy, attractive fixies at the show, practically every booth had one of their own, they nearly all sucked in the way that any ready made fixie does. As a first bike they would be ok I suppose but I stand by the conversion route, even though your conversion will be shit and have a terrible paint job and start falling part pretty soon it's still a great way to learn about how your bike works.
I'd seen this in a picture not so long ago and loved the idea of it, at the mo I'm carrying around a Pedro Trixie which is great and has a lifetime guarantee but it's a bit long and how often do I really need a lockring tool? This new folding adjustable wrench from Knog just looks awesome to carry for the occasional wheel adjustment. As with all of the other Knog stuff it's pretty AND functional, they should be available some time around the end of November.
Owen gives the BMX inspired PK Ripper the thumbs down, so do I. We aren't into trick bikes.
Kerry gives this one the thumbs up, it's an SE Lager and was at the nicer end of the 'bike in a box' ones.
Absolute classic jersey.
The new Bianchi Pista Via Condottie looked awesome on screen and at first look was pretty snazzy in the flesh too, but after looking past the shiny chrome and Celeste paint job I was left a little bit less impressed.
Owen giving the international sign of the spaz at one of the few belt drives in the show.
Just a funny picture of Kerry.
Kerry got a free tent to wear after signing up for something or other.
Thumbs down for another belt drive.
Like, seriously?
Kerry loving one of the handmade jackets in the Cyclodelic booth.
Sweet forks on one of the Globe Bikes.
Kinda nice looking but not all that really.
Cool customisable headbadge casing on the Globe.
Owen gobbling up some sweaty crotch.
There are the shite Urban Outfitters bikes, poop.
I don't remember what make this is but it's quite snazzy, not sure what the point is though.
Me rocking the fastest hat in the show.
There were a few 3-speed fixed gears in the show, the idea is good BUT the whole point of the fixed gear is that it has a single fixed gear is it not? With these you get all the fashion of the fixie with non of the misery of struggling up hills.
Victoria Pendleton talking about chocolate.
Vicky Pendleton absolutely LOVING Fixed Gear Wales, she loved it so much she said "this is NOT a sponsorship", I feel obliged to submit to her demands and not claim that she is our newest and most powerful ambassador.
Kerry in the most redneck, death defying hat of the show.
We all like to have a laugh at the Specialized Langster, but when we saw the new one with it's chrome forks and classic styling on the internet we were almost prepared to give it a chance. Unfortunately in the flesh it sucked ass, it's gross and cheap looking.
Me getting as close as possible to Eddy Merckx 24hrs late :'-(
This is one of the GB Team track bikes, it was IMMENSE! The highlight of the show for me, after all the pretty, shiny price point fixies this industrial, black beast was a breath of fresh air. It looked like a weapon, not a toy. I tried counting the teeth, I'm pretty sure it was 98 gear inches, booyaa!
Some serious bike porn!
Me loving it.
The Cyclodelic fully customised bling machine, nice!
Kerry giving one of the Demon bikes the thumbs up. We spoke to the frame builder for a bit, he was nice. You can get them fully custom right down to the lugs but they bring a VERY hefty price tag!
Nitto stem porn.
Kerry was loving Andy Schleck.
And this chap who I'm sure I should know but I don't (comment if you know!)
Trying out one of the Swobo's. She was quite fond of them indeed.
It's fair to say that Kerry doesn't love Contador, in fact she hates his guts, she still enjoyed stroking his winky.
She couldn't wait to try out some of the Eddy Merckx brand "energy juice".
After 6 hours we resorted to coming up with cool hipster outfits.
I just can't look cool.

All touched out and tired Kerry resorts to pointing at nuts.
-
And here are a couple of things we missed but Evs and Amy caught the day before...
Fuck knows how we managed to miss this beast, Bruce Bursford hit 209mph on this thing in 1996, wild!
The obvious highlight of the show, the one, the only, the legend that is Eddy Merckx! I was fuming that I couldn't get up there on the Friday to meet him, damn you Evs!
The biggest shock of the show was the £25 parking bill at the end of the day, fuck you London, fuck you very much!

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Alleycat Sponsor Profile: 14 BIKE CO.

14 Bike Co. is the hottest fixed gear shop in the UK, this place has all the gear you would need from nuts and bolts to full custom built bikes and everything in between. I was at the shop a couple of weeks ago and was really surprised by how nice all the staff were, not something I am used to in London! There's so much stuff in there I came out having really not looked at anything and as soon as I got home I wanted to go back there for a proper look!

The custom bikes they build are just perfection, words can't explain how awesome they are so check out their flickr stream: flickr.com/photos/shopfourteen and then click on any of the photos below to go their blog.

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City Sprint Bike Messenger

Last summer I spent two days in London shooting photos for City Sprint which is the UK's leading courier company. I had no interest in bikes back then and didn't even know what a fixed gear was so I shot some pictures of a girl on a fixie wearing all the gear and going about her business blissfully un-aware that in 6 months I would be eating, sleeping and breathing bike culture, weeeeeeeird. Check a few of them out below...

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