Westbury Wheelers

Paul Timlett (Nov 2010)

The original "time crunched" cyclist, I live in Wiltshire and work in London so time on the bike is severely restricted. I therefore wage a constant war against lard and unfitness. Since I have no time to spend money on anything else (like getting bladdered) my one indulgence is bikes.

I have to confess to owning six bikes - five road (including a fixie - well I've got to what with working in the City and all that) and one mountain bike. OK, I have a second mountain bike but it's 25 years old and completely seized. So, to pick a best bike is tough. Therefore, I've picked three.

My bestest best bike is my Seven Alta. Hand crafted from 3-2.5 ultra butted titanium tubing by a small US company formed by a breakaway team from Merlin, it was custom built to my diminutive dimensions in 2005. Forks are Seven branded Reynolds carbon. Groupset is Shimano Ultegra, with Mavic Ksyrium SL wheels. It has a Chris King headset and finishing kit (seatpost, bars, stem) are all Seven aluminium.

I've enjoyed some of my finest and most terrifying moments on this bike. Finest must have been the climb of Col de la Madonne near Nice. As some will know, this climb was used as a proving ground by Lance Armstrong and his US Postal cronies as a final test of readiness before the Tour de France. The big problem with this climb is where exactly does it start? It's somewhere in Menton and climbs from sea level to 925 metres over 14 kms. Maximum gradient is about 10% but seems to average about 6%. Now in view of the uncertainty about where the climb starts I've subsequently discovered that we started our stop watches way too early. I know the record ascent was 30' 24" by Tom Danielson. My watch stopped about  1 hour 10!! Pathetic I hear you cry, but I reckon we started timing a good ten minutes too early. I'm also going to suggest to you that I waited for my climbing colleagues before taking off, so I'm claiming something below the hour. Not bad for an overweight old git.

Alas my worst moment in cycling was also on board the Seven. That was when I first experienced the terror that is speed wobble. I was riding with a recently broken finger (suffered in another bike crash) and had become a very nervous descender. Anyway, cutting to the chase, all hell broke loose at about 38 mph one day whilst on a descent into Wells. At that point my bike turned to rubber. After many months reading forums and talking to people who know better than I, I figured the problem was me and not the bike. Since my descending confidence has returned and I've learned to relax again, the problem has not returned.

My next bestest bike is my Rourke, built from Reynolds 953 tubing and Easton EC90 forks. Bearing in mind it's steel, incredibly it weighs less than my titanium Seven. It's a work of art and rides beautifully. Groupset is Campag Centaur, has Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels, a Chris King headset, and Ritchey bars and stem. The seatpost is Campag Chorus carbon. I can only imagine what the thing would weigh with a better groupset and wheels.

However, these days, as pressure at work and home impacts my time on the bike, I mostly ride my fixie. It's a 2009 Specialized Langster which I bought in early 2010 for £250 new just because it was last year's colour! What a bargain. In the limited time I have on the bike I get a good work out on this sucker. It might weigh a ton but you can't beat those days when you're humming along on a smooth, flat piece of tarmac on board a delightfully simple fixed wheel bike. It's virtually silent. As George Hincapie once described moments like that - no chain.