This week we waved bon voyage to our own intrepid reporter, Emma Cole, who has set out to ride from London to Tunisia. It’s a serious undertaking, more than 2,000km in 16 days, but don’t you worry – she has reliably informed me that she has at least packed her electric toothbrush. No cutting off your manual brush’s handle to save weight here.
The World of Cycledom has also been enjoying Netflix’s new reality TV show, Tour de France: Unchained, while simultaneously, of course, looking ahead to the very thing itself. Check out our Tour de France stage-by-stage guide to see how La Grande Boucle 2023 might just pan out.
As for me, well I’ve been less intrepid, but I have been busy making Cyclist magazine’s 141st issue, starring our hardest ever Big Ride, The Circle of Death (no really, it’s what the Tour history books call it) plus an exclusive profile with Pippa York (who we also had on the Cyclist Magazine Podcast).
Then the weather, sweet glory! I’ve enjoyed dusting off my summer wheels and getting out into the countryside to marvel at just how quickly hedgerows grow while trying to model the relationship between the size of a car and the driver’s ability to assess space in it. Put it this way, Ford Fiestas will gracefully tuck in to effect a safe pass, but Range Rovers seem incapable of going within five feet of a bramble. Go figure, a Range Rover is a seriously less robust vehicle. Mind that paint!
But one shouldn’t get too mardy, because the sun is out, the riding is fine, and I’ve had this lot to spur me on my way…
Brompton C-Line Explore
Some bloke pulled over when I was taking these pictures and asked if he could buy the Brompton. He was in a car, yet he knew he needed the new C-Line Explore in his life. And as if I needed any more convincing on the matter, my partner told me that I look a bit of a wally riding it (which we both know is code for ‘you’re having too much fun’), while this morning the guard at Bristol Temple Meads station told me he liked the colour. And that guy must see a lot of Bromptons.
I am incredibly late to the Brompton party I know, but my goodness if this isn’t an incredible bike. The functionality of the design is just stunning. I’m blown away.
I’m going to write a full review in time – there’s too much to say for just here – but for now the headlines are the C-Line is Brompton’s latest revised line of folding bikes, once previously called things like the S6E or M6R. This C-Line ‘Explore’ version gets six gears (three internal hub gears, two external), mudguards, front bag mount and folding pedal, and weighs 12.24kg.
This distinguishes it from the A-Line (cheaper but less frills, eg. no guards or folding pedal); the P-Line (titanium rear end and fork, lighter and more expensive); and the T-Line (very light, titanium frame and carbon fork, very expensive). As I say, more coming in a future review, but for now, the Brompton has changed my life.
- RRP: From £1,415
- Buy now from Halfords (£1,415)
Pearl Izumi gravel kit
I’ve always had a lot of time for Pearl Izumi. My most faithful pair of overshoes is from Pearl (the Pro Barrier WxB since you ask) and they are remarkable in that I’ve worn them for much of every winter since 2013 and they’re still going strong. These are overshoes, remember, that piece of kit that usually comes with built-in disintegration as standard.
Thus while I’ve yet to use Pearl’s new Expedition gravel kit for the better part of a decade, I have every reason to believe it’ll last a good while. It certainly appears to be good quality.
The Expedition Pro bib shorts (£238.50) and Expedition jersey (£95.65) are very much in the true spirit of gravel, the jersey having a relaxed fit and feeling a little like merino wool, even though it’s actually woven from manmade yarns (65% of which are recycled); the bibs boasting thicker-than-road-bibs fabric (again around 60% recycled), with that crucial cargo thigh pocket.
Because nothings says ‘I’m on an expedition’ like a cargo thigh pocket (honestly, they are brilliant and every bib short, gravel or otherwise, should have one).
Pearl Izumi’s new Expedition Pro shoes (£217.39) also do an on-trend gravel turn. They lace up with twin Boa dials, albeit the thread is cord not plastic-coated wire as per many road shoes – something which I think helps add a bit of comfortable flex – and the lace loops are fabric, not plastic, in order to flex so as to eliminate hotspots.
The soles are chunky as can be for finding grip when plodding through hike-a-bike mud, but overall feel isn’t as bulky as one might imagine. The recessed SPD cleat holes and flexible (especially given they are carbon) soles make general off-the-bike wear an easy experience.
At just over 690g per pair (size 45) they’re also really quite light for an off-road shoe. Still, none of this comes cheap, but if the Expedition lasts as long as my Pearl Izumi overshoes, it’ll be worth the investment.
And a hint on sizing – jersey and shoes seem true to the guide, but I ended up sizing up on the shorts, so worth bearing in mind when ordering.
- Buy the Expedition jersey from Pearl Izumi (£95.65)
- Buy the Expedition Pro bib shorts from Pearl Izumi (£238.50)
- Buy the Expedition Pro shoes from Pearl Izumi (£217.39)
Oakley Mathieu van der Poel Signature Series Sutro Lite Sweep glasses
The longest-named Oakley sunglasses in history are also my new favourites. First, because they are orange, and I just like orange. Second, because the Sutro’s general shape is simple yet retro, harking back to the old days of Phil Anderson and Greg LeMond in their Oakley Eyeshades, while the ‘Lite’ and ‘Sweep’ bits here mean these Sutros are half frames (no under the eye parts) and the lenses are scooped away a bit at the bottom.
The drilled holes are also wonderfully retro but they also really do a fine job of reducing – nay, near eliminating – fogging. However, what is systematically impressive across Oakley’s range and here employed to full effect are the Sutro’s Prizm lenses.
Oakley’s Prizm lenses are tuned to filter out certain light frequencies, which thereby boosts the contrast between certain colours. Thus these road Prizm lenses make greys and greens appear more vivid, which means the clarity of detail in road surface and surroundings is enhanced, as compared to a non-Prizm lens.
It sounds like marketing guff, but honestly, you can see better (for road cycling anyway) with Prizm lenses than with just naked eyes.
- RRP: £152
- Buy now from Chain Reaction Cycles (£136.99)
FiftyOne Assassin OG1 Limited Edition
This is FiftyOne’s Assassin gravel bike, which if you want to know what I think of it, then best click here.
This precise one, though, is a bit special, because look… just look at that paint! It’s in homage to the man, the legend and the chap whom I’ve interviewed this week for an upcoming Cyclist Magazine Podcast, Greg LeMond (the paint scheme is reminiscent of the bikes he rode in the early 90s). Though for the record: I’m making that statement, not FiftyOne, so stand down Greg’s lawyers. Come to think of it, can you own the IP to paint schemes? Discuss.
Only 25 Assassin OG1s will be produced, each hand-painted at FiftyOne’s facility in Dublin, and each coming with Prototypo titanium hardware and a coffee table book about the process behind the bike’s manufacture (which is not attached to the frame).
Framesets will cost £3,850. I want one. It would match this FiftyOne perfectly, which I still regret ever sending back.
- Buy now from FiftyOne (£3,850)
What we’re into this week: The Week
This week I finally bit the bullet and got a subscription to The Week, a weekly news round-up that, wait for it… is a printed magazine. Yes, I’m buying the printed word, madness right?* I used to get a free sub you see, as The Week was a stablemate to Cyclist. But times changed, we parted ways and now… now I pay. But I am happy to, as we should all support print in some capacity – use it or lose it, people – and The Week is a wonderful magazine that I read before all major dinner parties in order to sound fully abreast of world news, because everyone needs an opinion these days.
This was my favourite news story from the week that was, from a section in the mag called ‘It must be true I read it in the tabloids’.
It reminds me of some Germans I met bikepacking around Iceland. Food is very expensive there, so they proudly declared they’d run the numbers and worked out one large (and cheap) bar of supermarket dark chocolate was the equivalent calories they burnt per day on their bikes. So it was ‘a cup of oats for breakfast, chocolate all day and then we use a lot the toilet in the evening’.
They were three weeks into a five week trip.
*Though might I recommend Cyclist magazine, which I can assure you is the best magazine in the world, even better than The Week – and right now you can get a free Restrap Canister handlebar bag with every subscription.
Ad feature
Stickman Cycling kit
‘Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time’
Welcome to Stickman Cycling…
Handmade in Barcelona: We value everything made locally. This has and always will be our priority. Thankfully, we’re based in beautiful Barcelona, with so much on our doorstep already.
Art from artists across the world: We’re a moving (literally) gallery, and our clothing is the canvas! We choose to partner with promising young artists, supporting them at the start of their careers.
Top notch Italian material and fitted cut: All of our materials come from premium fabric mills in Italy. You’ll understand when you feel our clothing – we work with the best fabrics on the market. And don’t stress about your body type, our apparel looks good on everyone.
Limited edition: With everything made locally, we have the ability to play around with our vision and creativity. All of our designs are first come, first served and once sold out, they will never again be available for purchase.
Ad feature ends