Last updated: 10th May 2012

Partly to encourage myself to risk RSI by writing a lot of emails, and partly for the benefit of anyone who’d like inspiration for their own efforts, I’m going to be maintaining a public correspondence file in the aftermath of Pedal on Parliament.

The council election has been and gone, and that means your newly elected representatives could do with a reminder of what their priorities should be for the next term – make sure cycling is uppermost in their minds by sending them an email or ten!

Table of Contents

Here is the list of correspondence, hopefully categorised meaningfully enough. New correspondence is marked in green while unanswered correspondence is marked in red.

• Scottish Parliament
  • Regarding Motion S4M-02764 (Congratulations to Pedal on Parliament)
    • 10/5/12 – Jim Eadie MSP, Edinburgh Southern
    • 10/5/12 – Lothians List MSPs
• City of Edinburgh Council
  • Post-election
    • 10/5/12 – Mr Gordon Mackenzie, former Lib Dem councillor for Newington/Southside and Transport Convenor
  • Pre-election
    • 2/5/12 – Cllr Steve Burgess, Green candidate, Newington/Southside
    • 1/5/12 – Mr Jim Orr, SNP candidate, Newington/Southside
    • 1/5/12 – Cllr Cameron Rose, Conservative candidate, Newington/Southside
    • 1/5/12 – Cllr Ian Perry, Labour candidate, Newington/Southside
    • 30/4/12 – Cllr Lesley Hinds, Labour (Transport)
• Lothian and Borders Police
  • 1/5/12 – CC David Strang, Ringmaster

Mr Gordon Mackenzie

Unfortunately (on balance, since I loathe the trams but like people who deliver on cycling improvements more), Gordon Mackenzie lost out at the recent council elections and is no longer a representative for Newington/Southside – or, obviously, Council Transport Convenor.

10/5/12

Dear Gordon,

I’m taking a punt that this email address will still reach you, at least for a short while.

Although we’ve never had cause to meet in your capacity as councillor for Newington/Southside, and not much more in your capacity as Transport Convener, I’d still like to thank you for the hard work that you’ve undoubtedly put in for many years.

It has recently been my pleasure to see Edinburgh take a giant step forward in terms of commitment to cycling and as someone who drives a lot outside (and around) the bypass but bikes within it, I hope this may be a lasting legacy of your time in office. In fact I’m pleased to report that the first few bits of the Quality Bike Corridor have, against expectation, measurably improved my morning commute to Leith.

I can’t say that I am a fan of the trams, but neither do I hold you responsible for them, and as someone sympathetic to many Lib-dem policies I think it’s unfortunate that your party has taken quite such a pounding. Can we look forward to seeing you again at the next Spokes Hustings, I wonder, as a candidate?

Yours faithfully,

David McCraw

PS. I wrote up my experience of the Pedal on Parliament event at http://mccraw.co.uk/pedal-on-parliament-triumph/ and thought you might be interested (especially as you’re quoted, however haphazardly, on the second line)

Jim Eadie MSP

At the time of writing the Edinburgh Southern MSP had not signed up to support Motion S4M-02764 (Congratulations to Pedal on Parliament).

10/5/12

Dear Jim Eadie,

I am writing to you as Edinburgh Southern MSP to bring to your attention Motion S4M-02764 (Congratulations to Pedal on Parliament).

My wife and I were somewhat unlikely attendees at the demonstration – we felt it was an opportunity to ride through central Edinburgh in safety and wish to add our voices to the call for the sort of sensible, commonsense changes advocated by the Pedal on Parliament manifesto.

We are pleased that a growing number of representatives have felt able to support and encourage this most excellent piece of grassroots campaigning, including several Lothians list MSPs – but note that you have not yet done so.

It would be great to hear that you have signed up to the motion. We’d be happy to discuss this with you further if you do not feel able to do so.

Yours sincerely,

Dave McCraw

Lothians List MSPs

(Alison Johnstone, Gavin Brown, David McLetchie, Sarah Boyack, Margo MacDonald, Neil Findlay, Kezia Dugdale MSP)

Of the seven Lothians list MSPs, at the time of writing four had signed up to support Motion S4M-02764 (Congratulations to Pedal on Parliament) and three had not.

10/5/12

Dear Member,

I am writing to you as Lothian Electoral Region MSPs to bring to your
attention Motion S4M-02764 (Congratulations to Pedal on Parliament).

My wife and I were somewhat unlikely attendees at the demonstration -
we felt it was an opportunity to ride through central Edinburgh in
safety and wish to add our voices to the call for the sort of sensible,
commonsense changes advocated by the Pedal on Parliament manifesto.

To those of you who have already given your support to the motion,
thanks!

To those who have not, I look forward to seeing that all my elected
representatives have felt able to support and encourage this most
excellent piece of grassroots campaigning.

Yours sincerely,

Dave McCraw

11/05/12
Thanks Dave – well done for taking part in the event. I have supported the motion and will campaign for additional resources for cycling.

(Neil Findlay)

11/05/12
Dear Mr McCraw

Thank you for your email to Sarah Boyack MSP.

Sarah was delighted to lodge the ‘Congratulations to Pedal on Parliament’ motion (S4M-02764) – http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx?SearchType=Advance&ReferenceNumbers=S4M-02764&ResultsPerPage=10

Sarah attended the Pedal on Parliament event on 28 April and as a keen cyclist shares your concerns regarding promoting cycling as a sustainable form of transport. Sarah regularly travels by bike around Edinburgh and is acutely aware of the safety issues involved.

You may be interested to read Sarah’s recent blog on her website that she wrote following the event:

http://www.sarahboyack.com/?p=1481

I hope this information is of useful to you.

Kindest Regards

Fiona

Fiona Trafton
Office of Sarah Boyack MSP

Chief Constable David Strang

The poor Chief Constable has previously had his ear bent over some injudicious media statements attributed to one of his officers…

1/5/12

Dear Chief Constable Strang,

I am writing to you as some years ago it was unfortunately necessary for me to complain to you over the conduct of one of your subordinates.

I am pleased to say that this is not the case today- quite the reverse. I thought it only fair to match my previous communication with a letter of compliment regarding the policing of last Saturday’s “Pedal on Parliament” demonstration, at which my wife and I found ourselves unlikely attendees.

Although I must admit initially the number of officers involved seemed slightly on the low side, we were extremely impressed by how smoothly the event ran and that such a large crowd of cyclists (apparently still leaving the Meadows when it began arriving at Parliament!) were all shepherded without obvious drama.

We were particularly pleased to see that the force maintains a number of cycling officers, which really seems much more practical and approachable than officers in motorcycle helmets or trying to negotiate crowds in patrol cars. Of course, we also found it rather appropriate for a cycling demonstration!

I’d particularly like to single out Sergeant Quentin Russell as a shining example of what (in our opinion at least) the face of a modern police force should be. He found time to be very helpful and approachable both to ourselves and others despite having to cope with what must have been a large number of last minute issues.

Please could you convey my warmest regards to him and all the others who were involved in making last Saturday’s demonstration a big success?

Yours faithfully,

David McCraw

Jim Orr

At the time of writing, Mr Orr is standing for election for the SNP in the Newington/Southside ward of City of Edinburgh Council.

1/5/12

Hi Jim,

I’ve tried hard to find an email address for you (assuming you’re the same Jim Orr listed as standing in my council ward, Newington/Southside!). Please accept my apologies if this isn’t the case!

I understand you’re a cyclist yourself – can I ask whether you were able to attend last Saturday’s enormous Pedal on Parliament demonstration?

http://mccraw.co.uk/pedal-on-parliament-triumph/

Obviously I have to try and decide where to place my votes on Thursday and it would be helpful for me if you could provide reassurance on a couple of points:

- the current council has, at the end of the day, come out looking pretty rosy as far as the “cycling vote” is concerned. I know the SNP has agreed to maintain the landmark 5% funding level after the elections and so I’d just like to confirm that you personally will be able to offer the Pedal on Parliament manifesto your full support?

Where would you stand on issues such as extending the 20mph zones, including to the bigger roads (for instance, the 20mph stretch of Radcliffe Terrace to the whole of the Quality Bike Corridor?)

I’m hoping to get down to the hustings if possible, but if not – as a previous SNP voter but current “floater”, I’d very much appreciate hearing from you.

Kind regards,

David McCraw

1/5/12

Hi David

Yes, i was there. It started 400m from my flat so hard to miss it!

I saw the manifesto and there is a lot to it. I won’t have time to look at it again before the election (I’m also the campaign manager for Derek Howie in Liberton Gilmerton – he’s visually impaired so its a big job!!). Without looking at it again, I can’t say I agree with every thrust, but I am very very keen to make Edinburgh safer for cyclists and increase numbers. I’m a non car owner myself and cycle everywhere. The demonstration was commendable and great to see.

20mph zones – I can’t get enough of them!

Need to dash now to prepare for the hustings tonight. Hope thats ok…

Regards

Jim

Cllr Cameron Rose

At the time of writing, Cllr Rose (“the nice one from the Tory party” – no, really) is standing for re-election for the Conservatives in the Newington/Southside ward of City of Edinburgh Council.

1/5/12

Dear Cameron,

I’m emailing you as my Conservative party candidate for Newington/Southside, mainly in the aftermath of Saturday’s extraordinary Pedal on Parliament demonstration:

http://mccraw.co.uk/pedal-on-parliament-triumph/

There are a couple of questions I’d like to ask:

- you’ve previously intimated that cyclists are pushing at an open door when it comes to Tory support on cycling issues in Edinburgh. Yet, I know I’m not alone in being skeptical that either the investment or the leadership would be forthcoming… when push comes to shove and we need to redesign busy junctions or street layouts/parking restrictions, with the aim of reducing danger and increasing cycle participation.

Are you at least able to reassure me that you personally will be able to support the Pedal on Parliament manifesto when these issues come before the new council? For example, where would you stand on extending the 20mph restriction from Ratcliffe Terrace along the length of the Quality Bike Corridor (and enforcing it!)?

Also, I understand the idea of volunteer/police partnership enforcement of our 20mph zone has been mooted but met resistance. Can you comment on your position there?

Kind regards,

David McCraw

Cllr Steve Burgess

At the time of writing, Cllr Burgess is standing for re-election for the Greens in the Newington/Southside ward of City of Edinburgh Council.

1/5/12

Dear Steve,

I am writing to you as the Green candidate for my ward, following on from Saturday’s huge cycling demonstration.

http://mccraw.co.uk/pedal-on-parliament-triumph/

Mostly I’ve been writing to the other candidates in Ward 15 to ask them for reassurance that the message of Pedal on Parliament has been received, which I think is unnecessary in your case. In fact really I’m just writing to say I was pleased to see you and other Greens at the demo – many others were conspicuous by their absence – and that I hope for the sake of cycling if nothing else to see you returned as one of the Southside councillors later this week.

It seems like there is growing momentum on this issue in the city and I know you can be counted on to help whoever forms the next administration remember the promises they made ahead of the cyclists’ vote…

I’m including correspondence on this in a follow-up blog post and so if you have any comment that you’d like to make ahead of Thursday, I’d be happy to publish your response, even though I think cyclists and Greens are pretty much preaching to the converted

Kind regards,

Dave McCraw

2/5/12

Many thanks Dave. It was a fantastic turnout – my only disappointment was my two year-old couldn’t be there.

cheers
Steve

Cllr Ian Perry

At the time of writing, Cllr Perry is standing for re-election for Labour in the Newington/Southside ward of City of Edinburgh Council.

30/4/12

Dear Ian,

I am writing to you as the Labour candidate for my ward, following on from Saturday’s huge cycling demonstration.

http://mccraw.co.uk/pedal-on-parliament-triumph/

I’ve already written to Cllr Hinds (as transport spokesperson) asking for her reassurance that Labour are willing and able to build on the momentum of campaigns like PoP to make fundamental changes to the city. We have the money, thanks to the present administration – and I do note that it has cross party support, so thanks for that.

This is especially pertinent given Labour’s mooted two year period of “stability” which sounds like the perfect excuse against making substantial safety improvements like junction redesigns, adding more Quality Bike Corridors or 20mph zones. Can you comment on that?

Of course, I’m sure all Labour councillors have a hand to play in determining policy. As such I’d love a personal reassurance that my own councillor would be able to support motions and initiatives that deliver on the Pedal on Parliament manifesto (http://pedalonparliament.org/the-manifesto/), whoever is in power.

Can you reassure me that a vote for Labour will not be a wasted vote in Southside/Newington?

Kind regards,

Dave McCraw

1/5/12

You have my assurance

Yours sincerely

Ian Perry
Labour Councillor for Southside/Newington Ward

Short and to the point..!

Cllr Lesley Hinds

At the time of writing, Cllr Hinds is the Labour transport spokesperson for City of Edinburgh Council.

30/4/12

Dear Lesley,

I am writing to you as the Labour representative on transport in Edinburgh to raise a couple of quick points following on from Saturday’s huge demonstration.

http://mccraw.co.uk/pedal-on-parliament-triumph/

I’m sure I’m not the only person who gets about by bike in Edinburgh who has noticed your aspiration for a two year period of “stability”. As I just had to shift the car for more works outside the flat, I sympathise – however, (at least) two more years of the status quo is totally at odds with the Pedal on Parliament manifesto that brought at least 2500 out onto the streets.

I have to be honest – I think there’s an appetite for fundamental change and the current administration have secured a hugely increased budget to start paying for it.

If cycle safety in Edinburgh requires junction redesigns or long stretches of work such as the Quality Bike Corridor, or even just expansions of 20mph zones, what reassurances can you offer to people like myself that a vote for Labour is not going to be a vote wasted?

Kind regards,

Dave McCraw

The Fuego is a popular bike in the UK, one championed by David Gardiner of Laid Back Bikes, who lent me this demo (often used as his own means of transport).

With a seat height of around 35cm (but see David Gardiner’s comment), reclining down to 25 degrees, the Fuego is a fairly low, but by no means extreme model. In fact it was one of the first I tried- some years ago with a bike to work voucher burning a hole in my pocket!

This easy accessibility to complete beginners, combined with comfort and great versatility at not too great a price is what makes the bike a compelling proposition. Of course, the relatively low seat height and reclined position (the seat goes down to 25 degrees) keep the experienced rider equally happy.

You can spend more and buy a lighter bike, a faster bike, a higher (or lower!) bike. But many people don’t, and it’s not too hard to see why this all-rounder wins them over.

Ride experience

With rear coil suspension and Kojak tyres, the Fuego is very comfortable while giving up little in the speed stakes. The fastest riders may wish for a rigid frame, but to be honest I found it hard to remember I wasn’t until I got onto rough terrain!

The connoisseur may feel the small front wheel suffering a little on very rough ground, but this is largely mitigated by the choice of tyre and overall, the benefits in terms of getting normal-leg-length riders into a very aero position are unarguable.

On one 55 mile test ride around the Pentlands, I was able to average 16.5mph despite a couple of respectable climbs and a frustrating headwind. Not bad as I’m so far out of shape.

A view from the cockpit of the Fuego, eating up the roads of south central Scotland…

Steering is precise without being nervous and the bike’s turning circle is unencumbered by any conflict with the chain, which is lifted. This makes it easy to handle on so-called cycle “facilities” or filtering in town (I spent a few days commuting through central Edinburgh to put this to the test).

The suspended rear end has superb traction as you’d expect, staying planted on really rough ground both powering and braking (like most recumbents, the bike is inherently predisposed to lock the rear wheel).

At 25 degrees, it’s not hard to maintain good situational awareness and the bike is very easy to ride one-handed for the purposes of taking photos, drinking, signalling and so on. I can’t ride any bike no-hands, so no comment there!

Suspension

The Fuego features Nazca’s characteristic split frame to accommodate suspension (coil as standard, air shock available as an upgrade).

Aesthetically, opinions on this are doubtless mixed – the aluminium plates on the Fuego are big and bold compared with Challenge who often conceal the pivot in a continuing line of the frame (see the Furai rollover on this page). You may prefer one or the other – I don’t personally mind either way.

As a more practical low bike (especially as a low tourer) the suspension has a lot to be said for it – keeping stresses on the bike and luggage, not to mention the rider, lower than is otherwise possible.

Comparing the complete assembly with a simple tube frame, you can see the weight penalty inherent in a suspension bike (which seems to be on the order of a water bottle or two) – but it’s only fair to point out that 95% of riders could easily lose that much from their paunch before worrying about the weight consequences of their particular bike!

Riding the bike, I wasn’t able to distinguish any suspension bob when powering hard, although a lab would surely be able to measure it.

On the image above you can see the two quick release adjustments under the Fuego seat – the upper adjusts the seat recline alone, the lower the suspension geometry (and preload). There’s a rollover for that too:

Roll over for a comparison of quick release adjustment

This really highlights the adjustability of the Nazca Fuego- other bikes take minutes (and tools) to adjust while I was actually able to finish a climb, undo the seat QR while gaining on a roadie to drop five degrees, do it up and scream past on the flat. Sadly you can’t do it the other way around without dismounting!

Luggage carrying

The Fuego comes with a rack fitted to the seat back which is rated by Nazca at 7kg. Unlike the Challenge day rack, there are no side supports so you can’t fit a conventional pannier.

However, you can easily fit a rack-top bag (either recumbent specific, or any DF rack-top bag would work fine too) and this is how the test bike came equipped, with around 20L at a guess of easily accessible storage, plus two bottle holders:

Unlike the Challenge Furai, however, you can fit the Nazca Fuego with a heavier duty touring rack – in addition to the “day rack” as demoed – and this will accommodate full-size panniers up to 30kg (15kg per side).

You could combine all of this with modest side-panniers – in fact, as an alternative to the heavy rack Nazca supply a side-pannier support bracket to avoid the paint-rubbing experience I had on the Furai. All in all, it’s hard to think of a bike so low that can be equipped to carry so much, although it’s a shame that the basic rack won’t support panniers like the Challenge day rack does.

(Hopefully Nazca won’t mind me illustrating this with a pic taken from their Fuego gallery):

Drivetrain

The Fuego has a triple chainset to give a broad range of gears – the exact model depends on the version you go for, with the sport featuring Tiagra, the top-sport 105.

A little weight could be saved by fitting a double, perhaps, but it isn’t much and would mean losing a chunk of gear range or accepting giant steps between gears. The weight of the smallest ring is seriously tiny.

The shift motion was fairly stiff, but the bike did change quickly and precisely between all three rings on demand, and with gripshift there’s no possibility of the mech rubbing.

The minimalist derailleur post is nice – with a regular size drivewheel there’s no question of needing the ~70t drivewheel of a Raptobike so there’s less need to allow the mech to sit at widely different positions on the post.

I assume it does preclude the use of Terracycle-style adapters that fit on normal diameter derailleur posts (for fitting lights), but not to worry – Nazca can supply a fitting for the front of the boom that takes a regular handlebar light with no issues whatsoever. Without the adapter, a standard dynamo light will screw on securely.

The chain itself is routed fairly conventionally, with the power idler below the seat and a return idler to keep the chain above the wheel. This gives the Fuego plenty of maneuverability at low speeds, when a dropped-chain bike can derail the unwary:

Chain tubes feature on both sides of the chain, and this combined with the excellent idler cover (something I complained about in my Furai review, for instance), there’s small chance of getting oily. If utmost efficiency is a priority, you could certainly put protective tape on the fork and run the chain bare.

The seat, in this case, is a standard glassfibre hardshell. ‘Standard’ of course just means it isn’t made of weight-saving carbon fibre – this is still a serious improvement if you’re used to mesh seating.

The Ventisit pad provided excellent ventilation and comfort – it’s pretty much the industry standard, although it’s worth noting it’s fairly heavy in comparison with foam pads, in exchange for keeping your back fresh and comfy.

Bars, controls

In this configuration, the Fuego is equipped with SRAM X7 shifters and Avid Speed Dial 7′s. The brake levers are particularly good, as they offer reach adjust in addition to the usual barrel adjuster – great for getting things just as you like them.

As with the Challenge Furai, cables are routed internally through the stem, although in this case, rather than the rear brake suffering, I found the front mech to be stiff – I wasn’t able to determine the cause and it was perfectly useable, just had a much stiffer feel than the other shifter.

These are the same bars as fitted to the Nazca Gaucho, and it’s interesting that I thought them wide and ponderous when I first tried that bike (see my review of the excellent Nazca Gaucho), because this time around, I didn’t have such a bad view of them!

To be fair, I think I may just be a bit weird with hand positioning, as I found myself quite often resting my hands on the bar either side of the stem, not on the grips at all!

The superficial similarity to Challenge ends at the frame, where the cables run externally, rather than inside the main tube.

Each arrangement has pros and cons, but here one criticism of the Fuego that I would offer is the lack of little cable guides on the frame above the fork, as you might find on a Raptobike. This means that the cables had a tendency to be quite wide of the left of the frame, brushing against my leg.

I fitted a couple of cable ties as seen in the picture (one around the stem, one around the main frame) to keep this under control, then no further problem. However, some way to cater for this would be a nice improvement in future versions

Wheels

The entry-level Fuego comes with standard wheels – but on the Sport and Top-Sport models, these are upgraded to low spoke count versions with an attractive paired-spoke lacing pattern.

With mudguards fitted, I’m not absolutely convinced of the benefit of low spoke wheels but at the same time, every little helps and they do add to the bike’s racing pedigree.

If you’re worried about sturdiness, it’s noteworthy that this bike has been ridden for quite some time around central Edinburgh, has disc brakes (certain, we’re told by bike luddites on the internet, to lead to wheel failure!) but both were as tight and true as you’d expect from a brand new bike.

I wouldn’t choose them for a touring version of the bike (and Nazca probably wouldn’t recommend them for that anyway) but other than that, they seem like a nice upgrade.

Braking

At both ends, braking is provided by the ever-excellent Avid BB7. The more I use these, the more I think they’re better (all things taken into consideration) than my Elixir and Juicy hydraulics.

Note that, unlike on a Challenge bike, there’s no quick-release clip on the front guard. This will make it inconvenient to use a roofrack as well as, perhaps, a teensy bit more hazardous to ride over wood and other obstructions. (In fairness, you can pick these up for a couple of pounds at your LBS)

A quality kickstand was fitted (hurrah!) and this kept the Fuego stable and upright for shopping, photo opportunities, and will help keep the paint nice if regularly locking up to a bike rack.

Comparison

In this section I contrast the Fuego with three other bikes: the Raptobike lowracer, Challenge Furai 24″, and Nazca Gaucho 28″. I make no apology for these being aimed at completely different markets (in fact, that’s what makes the discussion interesting):

versus Raptobike lowracer

Roll over for a comparison with the Raptobike lowracer

The Raptobike has a very similar wheelbase and steering geometry to the Fuego, but whilst the bottom brackets are at a similar absolute height, the Raptobike has a much larger seat / bottom bracket delta (24cm VS 16cm on the Fuego) making for a very different seating experience.

The Raptobike has the edge in aero terms by fitting more of the rider’s body behind the legs for the same seat angle, and is also lighter by virtue of its rigid frame. However, the Fuego is significantly more comfortable and enormously more capable in the load-carrying stakes.

Configured similarly (double chainset and front disk brake) the Raptobike costs broadly the same as the Fuego.

versus Challenge Furai 24″

Roll over for a comparison with the Challenge Furai 24″

The Furai is an interesting comparison with the Fuego – both have suspension, both are sold in stock configuration as day bikes or light tourers. On balance, the finish quality on the Challenge bike feels better (despite, for instance, having an X5 rather than X7 groupset) while the Fuego is the bike I would trust for longevity and load carrying (although at no point did I feel like I might break the Furai).

The Fuego definitely has the edge in terms of aerodynamics (it feels considerably more efficient once speeds get above 20mph) but the Furai has a clear advantage on rough terrain – I mean literally unpaved surfaces – by virtue of its larger front wheel. On tarmac roads in sustained poor condition, I’d say these two factors broadly cancel out.

The Furai costs significantly, though not drastically more than the Fuego.

versus Gaucho 28

Roll over for a comparison with the Nazca Gaucho 28″

Here you can see Nazca’s own Gaucho 28″ race bike. (The Gaucho is also made in a variety of day trip / touring configurations, but this isn’t one of them).

Although there are similarities between the bikes – the steerer/bars, boom, maybe even the chainstays, with carbon upgrades and skinny racing wheels there’s not much direct overlap.

I wanted to include this more just to give an illustration of the different riding positions – the Fuego down low and the Gaucho up high (especially dramatic in the jump from bottom bracket to ground, each time you want to stop).

The Gaucho also has a much shorter wheelbase, which gives it handling in corners especially more akin to an ordinary bike than the stretched lowracer.

I wouldn’t like to say which is faster – probably the Gaucho as it has the advantage of weight and great finishing kit, but I’d be surprised if there was a huge difference, with the Fuego having the clear aero advantage.

Conclusion

The Fuego is well worth a look if you’re in the market for a recumbent that will be fast and exciting without being crazy (or crazily expensive!), especially if versatility and all-weather riding is important to you.

The sturdy build quality and predictable handling also make it ideal for those who picture themselves bashing over cratered moonscapes or playing in rush hour traffic.

David Gardiner almost always has a Fuego in for demos and I’d encourage interested parties to get in touch if they fancy dropping in to the central Edinburgh showroom of Laid-Back-Bikes.

Not one for rush hour

This route is a short form of the classic open road loops to the south of Edinburgh – getting some good miles under the belt without going too far from home.

As ever, the early bird enjoys the empty road, while latecomers may find the traffic (at either end just south of the bypass) less to their liking.

It can be ridden either way – I generally prefer anticlockwise, but the significant advantage of the alternative is that you can get through the City Bypass – Penicuik ‘corridor of death’ before people are up and about.

Leg one: Escape from Edinburgh

You want the A70 through Juniper Green, which is easily accessed either by Colinton Road from the south, or Slateford/Lanark Rd from the west. Neither have much to recommend them, in fairness.

Leg two: Edinburgh – Carnwath (20 miles)

The ‘lang whang’ climbs around 650 feet from the bypass, up to around 1100 feet – but this is over 14 miles, so the gradient is slight and nothing to worry about. Good views over central Scotland are presented including several wind farms and an impressive bing (heap of industrial waste, mine spoil).

On the far side, just under 7 miles of gentle descent bring you Carnwath, where there is farming.

Do note that there is little shelter from the weather on top, so the foolhardy and the ill-prepared may still be punished. It’s not outer Mongolia though.

The A70 has the dubious distinction (along with almost every ‘A’ road in Scotland) of being one of the three roads in the UK with the most dangerous drivers. As is their wont, many motorists have killed themselves or others by driving too fast for conditions or trying to overtake and slamming into oncoming vehicles.

Nevertheless, outside of rush hour it’s hard to think of a more pleasant or suitable road for cycling, with comparatively low traffic volume, largely excellent visibility and a width that is conducive to forcing a considered overtake. It is consequently popular with clubs and individuals alike, and it can even be hard to get any peace for all the other cyclists you may see.

Leg three: Carnwath – Blyth Bridge (10 miles)

From Carnwath, turn east and work your way across to the A701 by the A721. This is a particularly quiet road with a few 60 second lumps, but no real hills to speak of. Again, good cycling terrain, and with your fire damped by the ‘lang whang’, this is where you can really start to suffer if pushing the pace. While trialling the Nazca Fuego from Laid-Back-Bikes, a couple of roadies who had stayed with me over the moors vanished as soon as we turned into the brisk wind…

Around the midpoint you will cross the A702 Edinburgh – Biggar road, which is an option for cutting the loop short, if you want to trade a few miles on quiet roads for more hills and all the Edinburgh-bound traffic from the M6/M74!

Leg four: Blyth Bridge – Leadhill (10 miles)

You turn north on the A701 just before Blyth Bridge, and this you will follow for some miles, riding almost due north-east.

Connecting Moffat with Edinburgh, the A701 carries a fraction of the traffic of the parallel A702, making this the road of choice if you need to leave Edinburgh to the south or southeast – it features in many epic audaxes. While the surface on this stretch is not perfect, again there are no real hills, just a few undulations so you can develop some hardy speed.

Leg five: Leadhill – Straiton (8 miles)

There’s a straightforward choice to be made between turning left (keeping on the flatter A701) through Penicuik or the lumpy A6094/B7026 Penicuik Bypass.

If you’re early or late, the former may be a great choice, but be warned that the road between Penicuik and Straiton is a long stretch of (initially railing-lined) high speed, killer traffic island “fun”, which gives way to worse-than-nothing cycle lanes interspersed with disappearing bus lanes.

Unfortunately the Penicuik Bypass isn’t great either, being a relatively narrow/windy/poor overtaking road (especially given the relatively high volume and high speed of motorists), and lumpy too! Still, keep out of the gutter and you’ll enjoy a pleasant enough transit, and there are good views to your left of the schemes (housing estates) of Penicuik to be savoured.

From just north of Auchendinny, those who wish to avoid the strain of the last bit of the A701 can opt to turn right down a minor road leading to Roslin, which is connected to Loanhead via a rapid and direct converted railway / minor road (pretty much traffic free).

Unfortunately, incredibly, yet typically, the rail bed runs under the bypass to Gilmerton but only Midlothian Council have developed the route, so it’s impassable at the boundary line. Come off at Loanhead and use the main road to Straiton and the gyratories under the bypass to get into town. This should not be over flustering, as bikes are at least common here (there are ASLs, for instance) and traffic lights keep initial speeds low.

You must under literal pain of death avoid riding around the outside of the southern Straiton gyratory and across the bypass on-ramp in the “cycle lane”. Encouraging motorists to cut across you at high speed is not healthy, I sit in the middle of the inside lane and physically block any would-be dangerous drivers. (You’ll be surprised how undramatic this is in reality, motorists don’t care for 50m of downhill, but the presence of a painted lane may trick the tired and trusting rider into exposing themselves badly).

Leg six: Straiton -> cake

From Straiton, a huge and well-observed bus lane takes you up to the junction with Frogston / Captain’s Rd, and you can choose the best way to your chosen cafe yourself, I’m sure. Continuing down this road to Liberton Brae is exhilaratingly fast (can you average over 30mph? Are you a moral vacuum?) and will have you grinning ear to ear.

Mission complete, a solid loop and 55 or so extra miles under your belt.

As reported elsewhere, I borrowed gear from Laid-Back-Bikes in Edinburgh to take on a three day, ~200 mile tour around the west highlands of Scotland. This included a pair of excellent Radical Banana Bags (recumbent side panniers) which I’ll cover briefly here:

The capacity of these bags is 55L, they’re reasonably water resistant, easy to use, light, stable, seem well built and come with a matching price tag…

Fit

The bags sling across the seat / rack (if applicable) as seen below. The three straps are all burly and offer a good range of adjustment for various shapes and sizes of seat:

I found it pretty easy to set them up – plop on the seat, adjust, away you go!

One caveat is that I did have to pull the bags quite far back (using a bungee on the rack) to keep them clear of the power side of the chain. Careful packing might mitigate the risk, otherwise you need an underseat rack or chain tubes in my opinion:

In the pic above you can see great clearance under the seat as a result of the extra couple of inches rearward alignment. There really is no dramatic problem when you let them slide forward, but as borrowed bags, I didn’t want to risk damaging them.

Unfortunately the paint on this particular bike wasn’t up to being rubbed against the Banana Bags for several days (as the suspension travelled, the rear stays moved up and down against the bags) and both sides of the frame suffered instead. Oh well!

Capacity

The pair pictured here are medium size, 55L. This compares well with rear panniers (such as the classic Ortlieb back roller), most of which are in the 40-45L range.

You can go bigger or smaller – Radical offer bags at 10L (Solo Racer) 25L (Banana Racer), 40L (Small Banana) and 70L (Side Pannier large).

One thing I will say is that the notional capacity is perhaps not so easy to access as in a pair of traditional panniers – because the bags don’t have an internal frame, I found myself using them a little bit like a giant stuff sack, then having to redistribute stuff to close the zips!

In use

The top surface of each bag has a mesh pocket on the leading edge – big enough to take spare layers, a thin waterproof, or bike bottles (not all together!). This is easy to access while riding and I used them to hold water, gloves, hats, and snacks very usefully.

There are also a variety of small loops, perfect for the attachment of odds and ends externally (camera bags etc).

The main section is accessed by a long zip, which sits under a very ample storm flap, all cinched down by a pair of sturdy compression straps. See it all done up in the photo below.

Internally, there’s a strap which connects the bottom and top of each bag around halfway along. The main thrust of this seems to be to keep the bags from being too big and flappy when only half full, although it also has useful implications for dividing stuff between front and rear:

Both front and rear have a strip of very useful retroreflective material – you can see this variously in the photos – which performs powerfully as it’s just at the right height to be struck by the headlamps of cars and other bikers:

Price

At the end of the day, the price at around 200EUR (£165 / $260 at time of writing) is steep compared with regular panniers but not outrageous.

In this respect the small bags suffer a bit, as 200 Eurobucks for the 25L Racers is a lot more than an equivalent size seat or saddle bag, while 200 Eurobucks for the 70L side panniers (yes, really) seems like quite a good deal!

Performance

While Radical’s bags aren’t cheap by any means, they are pretty sweet. The Banana Racer, for instance, offers the same 25L volume of a Carradice Camper Longflap saddle bag, but at half the weight (less than half the weight if you consider a bag support to be necessary to ride with a saddle bag), the Solo Racer likewise versus the Carradice Barley.

For most purposes there’s no meaningful aero penalty – on my Easter tour, I had to freewheel into the wind to let upright tourers behind me stay on my wheel.

The Banana Racers are competing more with a back-box or tail bag, and in this respect may not offer such a clear advantage. They look to be slim enough to sit behind the shoulders, but I haven’t seen a pair in real life to know for sure.

The image on the right shows a traditional pannier (grey) mounted behind the Banana Bag on a Challenge Furai. The cross-section into the wind is over 2x larger, yet the pannier is much smaller (40L vs 55L per pair).

You also don’t need to worry about the weight limit of your rack, because the bags are supported almost entirely by the seat (although if you’ve got personal weight issues, you may have to worry about the seat!). The Challenge day rack, for instance, has a 12kg limit and although that’s quite a lot of stuff, I’d be worried about exceeding it on anything longer than a weekend.

Unlike the saddle bag, or even panniers, it’s easy to whip off and carry Banana Bags – there’s nothing clipping them to the bike, and you can put them on one shoulder to keep both arms free (what a contrast with carrying a pair of heavy panniers!)

Water resistance

I spent three days in solid wet misery with the Radical Banana bags!

Not all of my stuff was in dry bags inside them. For a non-waterproof bag, I was impressed that very little moisture penetrated, but you’d be in for a shock if you entrusted something like a down sleeping bag to them alone, because after 8-10 hours of rain, there was certainly moisture (not pooling fluid however) on the inside.

They don’t come with waterproof covers and on a short ride I wouldn’t worry about rain finding its way inside at all, but for touring use, a liner bag has to be recommended.

Conclusion

The Radical Banana Bags are a great product for keen tourers – or in the smaller sizes, for keen ultra distance riders – but for casual use the price of the smaller bags especially is a bit prohibitive. (Even I would find it tricky to justify over 200 euros for the recumbent equivalent of a £40 Carradice saddlebag!)

I own a small range of bike luggage and have to admit that the bigger bags on test were quite impressive though – very light for the capacity they offer, comparatively aerodynamic, robust and very stable (absolutely no chance of them coming loose, after all!)

You can take a look at the range at Radical Design, but I’d encourage you to get in touch with your local dealer, aka Laid-Back-Bikes, for some personal service.

Over Easter I had the pleasure of three days touring a Challenge Furai on loan from Laid-Back-Bikes in Edinburgh.

(Thoroughly drenched on the banks of Loch Sunart)

This was a short ride of a little under 200 miles, evenly split between each day.

We took the ferry from Oban to Craignure, rode round the periphery of Mull, got the ferry from Tobermory to Ardnamurchan, rode to the westernmost point of mainland Britain and thence to Glenfinnan via the wild road along the banks of Loch Shiel. On the third day we returned to Oban via the Corran ferry and sections of the Oban – Fort William cycle path.

(The laden Furai caused a bit of a stir among the pack of riders sheltering at this hotel.
Note my camera bag clipped to the Radical side pannier for easy one-hand access.)

The weather was extraordinarily wet, and I was very glad of the benefits of being laid back – dry feet, freewheeling into the wind as everyone else pedalled away behind, need I say more!

The Furai impressed on a number of scores – it was very smooth and felt light and responsive despite being well laden. It rolled quickly on tarmac, ate potholes and broken surface easily, and even handled the 16 mile logging track by Loch Shiel with a minimum of fuss.

(Sharp bends and a slippery surface made this section of north shore
near Glenfinnan an excellent challenge)

The Furai is no match for a racing bike, in this configuration at least – but compared with an upright tourer or utility bike, it is quite a rapid piece of kit. Even pulling into the wind with my companions taking a draft, I often had to ease up, while I had no difficulties on the climbs.

The gearing allowed a respectable top end combined with a winch-like ability to take on sustained gradients up to 20% (1:5), aided by the slightly smaller wheels. Both at low speed and high the handling was predictable, lazy even – I can’t ride any recumbent no-handed but this is as close as I’ve come.

(Only aquatic Furai range much further west than this…)

Through tightening corners the bike showed no tendency to understeer and wash out as I’ve experienced, with various degrees of pain, on past adventures.

Ride height / comparison

Height-wise the Furai comes in at a happy medium of 46cm (18″), noticeably above low bikes like the Rapto (+19cm/7.5″) and noticeably closer to the ground than the Gaucho (-14cm/5.5″).

The main advantage of being higher is that you can hang bags without worrying about ground strikes while cornering, although if you’re inclined to believe a few inches of seat height is significant in terms of safety you’ll get that too.

Roll over for a comparison with the Gaucho 28

Roll over for a comparison with the Raptobike

Like the Gaucho (in fact, like many European bikes and almost all Challenge ones) the Furai features rear suspension:

This makes a massive contribution to ride comfort when you hit unpaved surfaces (or potholes on the so-called “paved” ones!). It also makes life much less punishing for the frame, seat, and rear wheel which should all see a significantly longer service life.

The suspension is a simple coil rather than the tunable air shock provided by Nazca on my PBP Gaucho 28, but there is some kind of preload mechanism and it’s probably possible to use different springs (in fact, it’s probably possible to fit an air shock if you like, although Challenge would need to confirm).

In case you’ve also read my Gaucho 28 review – whereas I’d take that bike rigid, the Furai is a recumbent whose purpose and construction is ideal for suspension and I highly recommend it on that basis.

Controls

Attention to detail in the cockpit is as high as you would expect. The stem is adjustable for easy entry/exit and cables are routed internally:

This maintains very clean lines indeed (although it would be lovely if the front brake also ran straight through the frame, perhaps there is a structural reason this is to be avoided).

In terms of the bars themselves, these are of the ‘preying mantis’ type and were extremely comfortable and precise – even covering rough unpaved roads in the middle of nowhere, these (combined with the thick tyres) really made light work of it.

Having your arms tucked in is considerably more aerodynamic and there’s plenty of real estate for computers and the like. Perhaps the only issue is that to fit into the aperture for internal cable routing, some quite severe curves are required, and indeed the rear disc brake of this bike functioned very poorly.

I didn’t try to fiddle with this as I could have made it worse, but I could actuate the disc caliper manually with good power (i.e. using my hand to press the pads together) so friction was causing the problem somewhere. That said, Challenge sell a lot of bikes with this cable routing, so it’s probably quite fixable and just the result of teething in the setup.

The finishing kit was good – solid SRAM branded parts, works every time. The shifts were crisp and rapid and the front brake at least was powerful and effortless easy to modulate (vital when riding a slick tyre at speed on a muddy gravel logging track!)

At the front, the boom is very clean, with just a small projection of cable outer to help turn the bend (other than this, it’s fully internal which is really nice):

Wheels, mudguards

The Furai is equipped with 24″ (ISO 507) wheels, which are just a little smaller than 26″ MTB wheels. The book circumference of a 24″ Kojak is 1844mm vs 1976mm for the 26″ version, a difference of 6.7%.

This makes the Furai noticeably more surefooted at the front than a 20″ bike and allows the bike to tackle unpaved terrain with ease. (By “unpaved”, I mean forestry roads as opposed to mountain biking. This would not be good on rough ground). This, in fact:

Loch Shiel track – off limits to motorists, a 16 mile, wild ‘short cut’ with no tarmac in sight…

The Kojaks are, of course, full slicks with volume and this really lets the bike fly on hard surfaces – loaded or unloaded – while it’s also fine on dry hardpack and dirt. If you make a habit of riding dirt however, something with tread will be worthwhile for muddy days!

We spanned 16 miles of track (from Glenfinnan down Loch Shiel in the Scottish Highlands) and some sections had an inch or two of surface mud from forestry plant that mandated careful attention to detail with the steering column!

There’s a solid range of tyres available in 24″ from Schwalbe amongst others – both wide and narrow.

In the interests of being comprehensive – the 507 rim size is generally paired with wide tyres while narrow ones go with 520 rims. The extra 13mm of the bigger rim compensates to make the final diameter roughly 24″ in either case – hence both are “24 inch wheels”.

(I’m not sure whether Challenge can spec the Furai with 520 wheels from stock. Obviously it makes no other difference to the bike setup, since the discs don’t care)

The mudguard stays are carefully (and finely!) bent to work around the disc caliper.

As we unfortunately experienced three long days (dusk to dawn) of riding in the rain, I had plenty of time to put these to the test and they did a fine job as you’d expect.

Seating

The Furai comes with Challenge’s aluminium hardshell seat, and you should be careful to get the right size, since this one was a bit too small for me and I had to fiddle around to make it tolerable.

This makes trying a bike essential (for instance, at a popular dealership such as Edinburgh’s LaidBackBikes).

The seat is extensively drilled and ribbed for lightness and ventilation – yet it’s strong enough to support a max rated weight of 125kg, so you shouldn’t worry about hanging heavy luggage.

The bike comes equipped with the industry standard Ventisit pad. Unfortunately I left the pad in a different car on our way to the start of the trip!

This logistics error then enforced the purchase of a camping mat which I hacked into shape. However, I’m happy to recommend the Ventisit on the basis of many thousands of happy kilometres

Luggage

The Furai comes equipped with a ‘day rack’, pictured below:

This will support a seat bag nicely, or a pair of panniers – the maximum rated capacity is only 12kg however.

Since the total load limit for the Furai is 125kg (enough for a serious amount of luggage) you will need to look further for a complete solution.

Challenge also make “voyager” racks – which usually take four panniers, two behind and two below the seat, but I don’t think you can fit these to the Furai (the Challenge website isn’t completely clear) so if you wanted to go bigger than 12kg on the luggage front, side-panniers, rather than conventional bags, would need to be taken.

Indeed, I was pleased to be able to demo a pair of Radical Banana Bags, which sling across the saddle and are voluminous indeed (55L for the medium version as tested). I’ve posted a separate review of the Banana Bags here.

You can see below a shot of the fully loaded Furai with bulging Banana Bags and a conventional pannier (to help out another member of the team):

(Yes, that carry mat again!)

The Radical Bags, in the interests of fairness and diplomacy, are a bit tricky to set up correctly, although they have a dozen or so different straps in an attempt to make them one-size-fits-all.

I had some rubbing between the bags and the frame (a bit like cable outer rub) which would need to be addressed with some kind of frame protector stickers if you wanted a setup like this long term.

Drivetrain / Idlers

Unlike the idlers on, say, the Raptobike, Challenge fits ‘floating’ idlers which can move from side to side to accommodate different chain angles without as much side-loading and friction.

Like most SWB recumbents, a return idler holds the chain above the front wheel, giving the ability to turn the bars as far as 90 degrees without fouling (naturally, there’s no possibility of achieving this whilst riding!)

This bike was fitted with two tubes, one power and one return side. To be honest, I didn’t really notice much friction from the drivetrain and they did prevent an overload of oil on my touring clothes.

My one criticism in this area is that the return idler has no guard. As a result of the idler position, which is just inside the knee, it’s possible to ‘run over’ baggy clothes which then derail the idler – this happened twice over the three day trip, although both times the chain ran inside the idler and the bike remained rideable, rather than spilling off the other way.

Nit-picks and Conclusion

Sadly, the Furai didn’t come with a kickstand – although this is certainly something Challenge can provide, so perhaps not a true criticism (buy one!). It will save your paint and make accessing things when there’s no handy fence posts or walls to prop up the bike much easier!

Other than that, and a little trouble with the return idler, I couldn’t really find anything significant on which to mark down the bike. (If I was desperate, I’d point out that the handlebar grip on the left became a bit slippy after three days rain – it’s only a half grip because of the shifters). Really, that’s about it!

Challenge bikes aren’t built to be the cheapest, but for your money you have a well considered, sprightly yet not overly fragile bike that’s about as well mannered and as versatile as a recumbent can be.

With the seat laid back and racing tyres it would be quite a different beast to the loaded tourer with all the trimmings, and in either configuration you can happily mix it with rush hour traffic, secure in the knowledge that you are much larger than painted road markings.

I would say there are two types of people who shouldn’t look at the Furai – those who want to buy a recumbent just to go faster (Challenge, and others, make vastly faster models) and those who want to go expedition touring (get something heavier and less refined).

For the vast majority of riders however, this is a pretty strong offering.

A quick report on the recent Spokes Hustings. The following councillors canvased for the “cycling vote”:

• Steve Burgess – Scottish Green Party
• Gordon Mackenzie – Scottish Liberal Democrats
• Alasdair Rankin – Scottish National Party (SNP)
• Lesley Hinds – Scottish Labour Party
• Cameron Rose – Scottish Conservative and Unionist

Three of the above (Steve Burgess, Gordon Mackenzie and Cameron Rose) are Southside councillors. Do cycling councillors try to stand in Southside, or does Southside turn them into cyclists?

As much for my own benefit as anyone else’s, I’ve drawn together my thoughts on the hustings as follows:

Conclusion (tl;dr)

Personally, I was not impressed by the representations made by Labour, the SNP or the Tories. The Greens and Lib Dems came out looking good.

Pragmatically the SNP are going to be the largest party post-election, but they won’t have an overall majority. This will give significant power to the Lib Dems and Greens, and so my own vote will be targeted at ensuring these two parties do well and the SNP do not gain from my ballot.

I’ve also scrawled some thoughts on each councillor/party:

(The venue was attended as well as the bike parking outside would permit!)

Steve Burgess, Green

Steve Burgess, of the Green party, is the easiest to summarise. He went through the cycling manifesto and more or less confirmed (with a few caveats, perhaps) that he supported everything on it. His answers to my focus group were also pretty positive.

An easy win, if not personally, perhaps, the strongest performance. (Hold the mic up! )

Gordon Mackenzie, Liberal Democrat (and defending Transport Convenor)

Gordon Mackenzie, has personally overseen significant improvements for cyclists in the city in the last few years.

Of course, the tram insanity has forever tarnished his coin for many in these quarters – for instance, the stupid simultaneous severance of the only two north/south cycling links through the city centre at the same time (St Andrews Sq with little justification as there were no real works there for years).

In particular I was very disappointed that the Southside 20mph zone excluded all the roads in Southside that people actually use to get from A-B (excluding the first and last 100m which will now be 20 zoned). However when I challenged Councillor Mackenzie on this directly, he was happy to admit that it wasn’t ideal, suggesting it was the only way to get the scheme off the ground at all, from which point it will be eas(ier) to extend.

It’s unrealistic to expect much frankness from a politician and it’s easy to be critical of the many simple things the council is getting wrong, but in the interests of fairness I wonder what proportion of other botch jobs, like the Quality Bike Corridor, are at least being delivered *at all*, in conspicuous contrast to other parts of the country?

Edinburgh is also about to become the only place in the UK to give drivers 3 points for violating the bike safety boxes at junctions, although I’ll also believe this when I see it.

Ultimately a strong performance from someone with an improving track record.

Alasdair Rankin, Scottish Nationalist Party

As Cllr Rankin was content to defer to Gordon Mackenzie on the council’s cycling record and talk about the Scottish Government instead, it is surely fitting to attack him on the same basis

If there was ever a big disappointment for cyclists who follow politics it was the realisation that the SNP aren’t interested in leading on the issue of active travel.

They are uniquely positioned to take the country in a different direction from Westminster on this (a direction that might win them universal applause from ordinary people once the ideas bedded in) but they just seem to be sleepwalking past with scarcely anything that could be called a policy, and certainly no policies that haven’t been reneged on (or reneged and u-turned on, in the case of the last budget).

I got absolutely no sense that this might change from anything that Cllr Rankin said. However, as the SNP are in coalition with the Lib-Dems, it’s true that they must be given part credit for supporting the things that have been happening here.

As the SNP are likely to do very well, but still be short of a majority, a vote for whoever will be kingmaker to the SNP (out of the Greens and Lib-dems) would be a wise choice for your vote.

Lesley Hinds, Labour

Cllr Hinds was an interesting case, representing as she does very much the drivers of our fair city (in my opinion).

I was hopeful that Labour would position themselves to build on the work of the SNP/Lib dem coalition but it seemed to me that Cllr Hinds was slightly baffled to be speaking with a group of people who actually use bikes to get about.

She admitted that she doesn’t cycle because she feels it’s too dangerous, but monumentally failed to connect this in the obvious way: no credible transport convenor in Edinburgh can personally reject the transport choice of a sizeable and growing minority because it is unsafe without offering radical commitment to make it safe.

Situated as the hustings was close by to survey sites which now see 20% of rush hour journeys into the city being made by bike, it’s laughable that anyone could miss such low hanging fruit.

(Some people would argue that cycling in Edinburgh is actually quite safe, and Gordon Mackenzie pointed out that the KSI rate is flat, even with all the recent deaths increasing the absolute numbers. However that is to miss the point – most people think it is dangerous, and someone who agrees could certainly be a powerful driver of change… just not in this case).

Deeply unconvincing, unfortunately.

Cameron Rose, Conservative

Cameron Rose, of the Conservative party, came across as a nice enough guy, although I thought he rather dropped the ball by introducing anthropogenic climate change denial into the mix, since while that is for some a sufficient reason to improve cycle policy, it’s by no means necessary.

(In fairness I suppose that might have been part of the point he was trying to make, but still I thought it a regrettable digression.)

While Councillor Rose himself gave good answers to many questions and had sensible enough opinions, at the end of the day cycle policy needs two things that the Tories are genetically incapable of providing (in my opinion):

• strong leadership away from car use in favour of active travel
• vast investment in European-style redesign of the road network

So at the end of the day I was left putting Councillor Rose down as a wise choice of delegate from his party, but there’s no way I could concience a vote there.

Not recommended.

I was lucky enough to meet much-feted bicycle guru Nick Lobnitz at Laid-Back-Bikes in Marchmont on Saturday, just after he’d made a rather exciting delivery…

Yes, it’s the long-awaited luggage rack for the Paper Bicycle! Huzzah!

Combining the funky looks of the bike itself with a wee nod to the spaceships of Star Trek, the Paper Bicycle rack was exactly what you’d imagine – bold, stylish, and strong.

Even on this early model I was impressed by the attention to detail – check the cork inserts on the open tubes, for instance.

In the first version I did make a note here to the effect that the burly tubing was too thick for standard panniers. However, as Nick left a comment below that he’d checked this, it’s only fair to guess that my pannier clips are thinner than normal for whatever reason!

Fitting is by a single expanding bung:

I just have to leave you with this fantastic shot of Nick putting the prototype Paper Bicycle rack to the ultimate test of faith (considering where he will end up if it collapses…)

(mercilessly appropriated from Flickr)

If you’re interested, pester Nick about this over at Paper Bicycle!

Fatally flawed, great if it works

The Sturmey Archer S2C is a hub full of golden promise within its very specialised niche – without any cables at all, you get a low/high gear and a brake, with good efficiency and reasonable weight.

If it wasn’t sold off the shelf with a serious mechanical fault requiring the end-user to rebuild it with a new part shipped out by Sturmey Archer (yes really), it would indeed be great – but more on that later.

Unlike with a 5+ speed, with the Sturmey Archer S2C you need to think in terms of building a ‘sensible singlespeed’ rather than a hub geared alternative to a derailleur bike. It flips between 1x and 1.4x (say, 50″ and 70″, or 60″ and 84″).

Previously I had a fixed-wheel running about 65″, so in other words, it’s geared to ride quite a lot faster (and climb a lot better) than my old fixed, but the range is miles off what you’d get even with a single ring and 11-32 (which could do 30-106″).

First, the good

Compared with other hub gears I’ve used (the Sturmey Archer 5 and 8 speeds and the Alfine 8), the S2C is extremely efficient.

The low gear is direct (the sprocket is locked to the hub shell, effectively the same as a track hub), while the high gear goes through a single ‘step-up’ planetary assembly. I can’t identify any friction in high gear; that doesn’t mean it isn’t there (in fact I’m certain that obsessives could measure it without particularly high-tech lab equipment)… just that I can’t distinguish it riding through the real world.

With the coaster providing invisible braking, the Sturmey Archer S2C does build up into a very clean rear end – it needs a reaction arm secured somewhere to the frame, but I was pleased to discover that the slot disc mount on my Pompetamix is perfect for a clean attachment as you can see in the image above. Very stealthy!

The only other way to get something like this is to ride fixed with your back brake removed. The brake is smooth and strong and easily modulated, although it’s worth noting that you can ‘bite’ extremely hard if you put the pedals back hard.

I almost came a cropper when I absent-mindedly tried to rotate the pedals backwards to 3 and 9 o’ clock while standing up to jump over a kerb. The bike suddenly and dramatically slowed down under me as I came out of the saddle, I slowed down and mis-timed my kerb lift… but luckily the sensible tyres came through for me!

116mm OLN means you’ve got to be bold… or get a new frame

Unlike most hub gears, which either come in ‘normal’ (~132.5mm) or at least normal and track widths, the Sturmey Archer S2C is only available in the eyewateringly-small 116mm OLN. The axle is not long enough to space it out for even a 130mm aluminium frame, sorry.

If you have a steel frame however, which can basically just be bent (cold set) as you please, it is possible just to fit the S2C by springing in the stays (indeed my 135mm Pompetamix has not been cold set, I just stuck the S2C in there and did it up, and it’s not exploded so far). Placing the locknuts inside the dropouts adds another few mm on each side to ease the situation. Caveat experimentor!

The above is a stock 135mm-spaced Pompetamix rear end on a stock S2C axle. The plate to the right is the hitch for my awesome Carry Freedom Y-Frame trailer.

Probably no good in winter

The bearings on the Sturmey Archer S2C are not only unsealed, but practically begging to be contaminated. There’s not even any kind of contact seal at all – the balls are basically peeping out of the side of the hub shell and are lightly covered by a metal ring, which I’m sure doesn’t keep out rain of any strength.

You can see these in the photo above (the non-anodised light sections to the outside of the hub flanges).

I’m prepared to give it the benefit of the doubt for now – and it can be easily maintained in truth – but it’s a far cry from the S5C, which I ran for a whole winter with nary a whiff of trouble.

Broken off the shelf, requires user disassembly

The original wheel I assembled for my utility bike was a Sturmey Archer S5C – a five speed hub with coaster brake. How that went wrong is a story for another day, but I ended up buying an S2C in my quest for robust simplicity.

However – no sooner had I assembled the wheel than I realised it was unrideable in the the lower gear (direct drive) – even going downhill without pressure on the pedals, the slightest rotation of the cranks caused horrendous crunching and pinging. Another failed hub!

To cut a long story short, I chased this back to Sturmey Archer – who essentially admitted that the S2C was produced with a piece missing – but never mind, I could have the piece mailed out and fit it myself in the mysterious guts of the device!

As the hub is relatively cheap and simple, and I’m not afraid to break things, I decided to go for it and managed to effect the repair myself – disassembling the hub completely, breaking apart the drivetrain pieces and fitting a thick flanged spacer to support the suspect part.

Here you can see the hub inner. From top to bottom: the brake shoes, the direct-drive ratchet pawls, the planetary with high gear pawls (these change in and out to toggle the selected gear ratio).

It was amazingly messy and to make a successful job of it you will need C-clip pliers and cone spanners of the correct (nonstandard) sizes to tighten everything up. You’re trying to get the piece in between the two subsections that have pawls on the picture above… the long-term implications for the life of the hub have yet to be seen, naturally, and who knows whether anyone will warranty it now I’ve had to perform a triple heart bypass!

S2C repair detail

Since I found it extremely difficult to work out what was wrong with my hub until I heard back directly, I’ve uploaded the two documents provided by Sturmey Archer in the hopes that they will be useful to others:

It’s evidently taken almost a year for pre-fix hubs to still be working their way through the supply chain, so that’s okay then…

Working hub, 4 stars out of 5. Broken hub, 1 star out of 5.

With the massive caveat that there’s a good chance of buying a broken hub and having to perform neurosurgery on it to get it to work…

The Sturmey Archer S2C is a nice piece of kit that provides a pleasing solution for the urban workhorse – climbing and travelling gears, a brake which doesn’t need to be adjusted or maintained, good efficiency and reasonable weight. No cables to maintain!

When winter comes, fit a different sprocket and you can run something like 43-60″ for the real grinds…

This comes at a very reasonable price (mine was £55, which is comparable to a cassette for a normal hub!).

Tentatively, cautiously, recommended…

Bakery Workers Union: “Cake supplies holding up”

Today I took delivery of a new fridge freezer and so I had to run the old pair out to the dump Community Recycling Centre. I could have got them in the back of the car, but I hadn’t bothered to defrost or clean out the insides, so chucked them on the Carry Freedom Y-Frame instead.

It took two trips instead of one, but taking into account the mess advantage (no hovering up polystyrene chunks from the upholstery!) it came out as a wash.

• I poked the people queueing for fuel at the local station in both eyes (one each trip )
• I’m in pocket to the tune of £1.64 – maybe more if the pump price is being hiked
• I can eat a large cake and still need trousers with a smaller waist
• My CCE awesome “power” rating has crept up a notch

What a winner.

At somewhere north of 320 litres, the fridge represents the largest load I’ve carried (by volume) although certainly not the lightest or longest (for those, see the links below).

If anybody is interested in the Y-Frame, I’ve touched on it a couple of other times. You can check it out directly at the Carry Freedom website.

Very highly recommended.