My Bikes

Here are my bikes in chronological order.

Not my bike but one almost the same.
Mine only had a fixed wheel see below.

My Raleigh Clubman,  with two fixed wheel sprockets,
on the left of the picture which was taken in 1952.

This was my first proper road bike which I rode for over 5,000 miles uphill and down dale with just a switch over choice of gears. The Chainring had 46 teeth and the choice of cogs gave ratios of 78 and 66 inches. Now I struggle with a 27". I went hostelling in both Wales and England on it. Everything carried in one saddlebag and a small US army surplus bag hung on the handlebars over the twin aluminium water bottles. Now I have two panniers which hold about 20 lbs in total.

Raleigh Nitro which I bought in 1996 and sold in 2007.
Equipped with 15 gears. 

Over the ten or so years I had this bike I rode about 1326 miles. About 80 rides (Average length about 17 miles and longest of 32).

A lot of these rides were on tracks and bridleways. Then when I started to ride more regularly on roads I bought Tiny.

Tiny Bought August 2007 Sold 27 July 2014. 
Re-acquired 11 September 2017.
Then sold again 9th June 2018.
Total Miles 10,785 

Shortly after I bought this bike I rejoined the CTC, of which I had been a member in the 1950s. Started riding with the South Hampshire CTC 26th January 2008. Then on 7th February 2008, I joined the HCMF and am now the coordinator for the group. 
Tiny carried me for 10,735 miles. Tiny was returned to my pack of bikes after a three years exile with Andrew McWhirter and was only ridden another 50 miles. 
Tiny has now been sold again making a further contribution to my cycling budget. Final mileage 10,785.

Sporty.
Total Miles recorded 15.862.
Sold 9th June 2018.

With the encouragement of my cycling friends, I was persuaded to invest in a lighter and more suitable bike for road use. This was my next step on the ladder. Sporty has been an excellent servant and has carried me over more miles than any of the other bikes I have owned. I have ridden him regularly on all kinds of rides including Audax and hostelling. I rode him in France in 2015. He covered over 15,862 miles. Pedals replaced, rear-wheel replaced, many tyres worn out and some gears too! 
He has now been sold to a young man who is keen to make good use of him. 

Posh.

For my 80th birthday, I was given this lovely Specialized Secteur Sport by my wife. He has taken me for 10,646 miles and he is still my favourite for all-round performance.

Milo

I had my head turned by Milo when I spotted him in Owen's Cycles. But the love affair was short-lived. I realised that he was very similar to Posh in many ways and I did not need two bikes with such similar characteristics so I gave him to my brother Robin who has been riding him regularly for over twelve months now. (I only rode about 100 miles on him).

Paris.

Then in 2016, on my way back from a cycling trip in Scotland and the Midlands I fell in love again this time with Paris a Specialized Roubaix Carbon Road bike. She is the fastest of the bunch but not so good on the steep hills. Definitely a fun bike!
During the early part of 2018 I mostly rode Posh who has winter tyres but during the last three months, Paris became my first choice and has now covered 6,951 miles. He has accompanied me on many Camper Car trips.

Scottie.

Scottie is a veteran. He was given to me by Sue, widow of Bob West. I only rode him a few times. Twice to test him out and earlier in 2018 we joined the Hampshire Lightweights V.C.C. on a special veteran ride from Fishbourne. An interesting day, fortunately very flat as Scottie only has two gears.

Scottie was sold on October 12th to a young lady who seemed to be very thrilled to buy him. She and her partner tour on veteran bikes. 
I am glad he has gone to a good home. I have since heard that she has enjoyed touring on him!


My latest acquisition was an E-bike. Needed to help me keep up with some of my younger and stronger pals. He is at present on long term loan to my son in law Steve.

Txiki (Pronounced Cheeky).

Txiki is from the Basque Country and so has a Basque name which I feel suits his character. The colour was chosen to honour the Euskadi- Euskatel racing team that rode in orange on orange Orbea bikes. Txiki has helped me ride 5,187 miles.

Used carefully I have not got anywhere near using the whole of the available battery power. I rode him once with the power on all the time and managed 68 miles.  On another occasion I managed 48 miles before I had used 25%!