Julie stayed in Chatel right near the France/Switzerland border. There were 7 of them in total all hailing from the excellent Rough Riders Mountain Bike Club and were guided by the good folks at www.holygrailmtb.com & went to take part in the event Passportes du Soleil.

Check out this ultra rare Momo Dart we had in last summer. Yeah I know it takes me ages to get this stuff online but this one is about to come up for sale so watch this space for details.

I know what you’re thinking “Momo make steering wheels for racing cars don’t they?” Yes they do but this bicycle comes from MomoDesign the Italian design house set up after the steering wheel business was sold to the Americans a few years back (more on that story here).

I’ve tried to find more information on this bicycle but it’s not been easy. Luckily for us this Dart has a Sturmey Archer three speed hub which as you know has a date of manufacture on it (yeah you knew that right??). This one says 1995 on the shell.

The frame is steel with custom made swept back bars also in steel. You’ll notice the saddle, grips and seat clamp lever are a light beech colour and there’s a very good reason for that…

…the rims you’re looking at here are wooden.

Made by Cerchi Ghisallo in Italy they are beautifully made and you can really see the craftsmanship that goes into every pair. Getting the Schwalbe Delta Cruisers on them was a bugger though.

If you’ve got any more information on this bike or are interested in buying it please get in touch.

Happy days.

It’s been a long time hasn’t it?

You well?

It was way back on the 31st May 2009 when the last post from me appeared and what a year it’s been since then. No excuses for not keeping up the blog I’m just busy and lazy – not a great combo for a blog as it turns out.

So what’s been going on?

First some sad news. A great friend of mine and the shop, Terry Stokes, sadly died last September at the Holme Valley Mountain Bike Challenge. The exact details are unclear but it appears that Terry came off his bike and hit the gable end of a house fracturing his skull causing internal bleeding. He died a week later at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary with his family by his side. He was 55. Terry loved his bikes and his biking. He had been riding since he was a young man from road racing to touring to the early days of MTB. He will be best remembered by me as the guy who could fix anything; whenever we had a stuck seatpost or a tricky job that needed some patience he would step in, take control and sort it out. Here’s a photo I found of him after he slid down a slippery track near Bolton Abbey – covered in mud but still smiling.

RIP Terry.

On to better news now and the birth of our son Alexander Michael Hanney Firth, born in the early hours on the 26th January 2010. Here’s a recent pic of him with his dad on his first holiday in Scotland. Not ready for his first bike yet but believe me when I say it’s in the pipeline – watch this space!

The shop is going well, getting busier every year and still getting some interesting bikes in for servicing. We have new signage, new windows upstairs and a new raised window display on the inside giving the shop a new look.

Hopefully another post soon, certainly not in 16 months time.

Name: Meg
Age: 18 months
Star Sign: Sagittarius
Likes: Cheese, tennis balls, socks, leaping in the pond & chasing the cat
Dislikes: Lemons, bath time & Yorkshire Terriers

Ahhh what a cutie…but looks can deceptive! Pop and say hello next time you’re about and maybe if you’re lucky she’ll chew your invoices and/or eat your Pyrex bowls too.

This is Jim’s £7 fixie that he rode for a week until the fella he got the frame from reminded him about the crack in the downtube – ‘only for the turbo trainer’ apparently! He managed to give it life using some of the many bike bits lying about in the workshoppe, the only cost being the chain & 2 tubes. Check out the crank set mounted on the left hand side (very cool but the pedals have to be Loctited in so they don’t wind themselves out) with coach bolts holding the chain ring on & the headset shim made from a chunk of old seat post. Jim is now on the hunt for another freebie track frame, preferably one that’s not already knackered!
Good work Jim.

Click the pic for more.

An interesting pair of wheels with 32 hole crow’s foot lacing (interesting in that crow’s foot is usually seen on 36 hole wheels), System EX sealed bearing track hubs, DT Swiss TK 7.1 touring rims and DT Swiss Champion double butted spokes. I’m hoping to convince to John to do a post so you can see what the rest of the bike looks like.
Watch this space.
B.

Close friend, former colleague, all round nice guy and fellow mountain biker Dave ‘Dangerous’ Mitchell is giving up his time to cycle from Riga in Latvia to Tallinn in Estonia in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. He’s doing it at the end of August and needs your help to raise some vital funds. The route, covering 530 challenging kilometres, links two beautiful capital cities in Eastern Europe following the Baltic coastline. More information on the ride can be found here:

Marie Curie Charity Ride – Riga to Tallinn

More importantly you can give a little here to help him on his way:

>>>>>>>>>>>PLEASE MAKE A DONATION HERE>>>>>>>>>>>

Alternatively you can donate to Dave’s charity ride at the shop or just send him a good luck message via this blog. Thanks for taking the time to read this; I know Dave will appreciate it too. Good luck buddy.

2007 ended in style when an interesting pair of recumbents came into the workshop for customers Dave and Helen Hart. Specially ordered from ICE (Inspired Cycle Engineering), the ‘Trice T’ models are an ultra-comfortable touring recumbent trike with rear suspension and the ability to fold up and fit in the boot!  As with all build-ups we have to test them (you’d expect nothing less!) and we were really impressed with how well they handle and as you can imagine they are also super comfortable with the laid back riding position. 

Check out the ICE website for pricing and parts.  This is Dave and Helen showing us how it’s done. 

Many thanks to them for their patience whilst sourcing the bikes and accessories, we wish them many happy miles of cycling. Click on any of the images for more pictures.