Rat Race Cycles

Unsure what to buy the cyclist in your life, who's probably already bought themselves All The Stuff and doesn't necessarily need another T-shirt with a bicycle on it...?
RAT RACE CYCLES VOUCHERS are the answer! You can, of course, buy more Stuff but you can also save them for when the bike needs some expert attention.
Available from all good bike shops.
Well, one. This one.
Call now!
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We love bikes like this. Seriously.
Of course it's always fun to keep a £15K superbike in race-winning form, but *these* bikes are the workhorses. These bikes are the ones that don't stand out, but quietly carry their riders thousands of miles every year, in every weather, often with luggage.
They're the ones with gradually-accumulated character. Tape. Stickers. Scratches, maybe a dent or two. They're the ones who know parts wear out, it goes with the miles. The wheels no longer match, the brakes have been upgraded, the bike's seen eleven chains in its life so far. It's received a bigger saddle, a more upright stem, ergonomic grips.
It may be a bit scruffy but that means it doesn't get nicked. But mechanically it purrs. For its rider, it's the old faithful that takes them everywhere. And we love being the workshop they come to, to keep them rolling well.
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An old mechanic here used to say "some days you are the dog; some days you are the lamp post."
Most days your very robust tyres keep you safe from loss of punctures; one day, something like this somehow happens!
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Test riding this bike, after servicing it, made me smile.

I had a very similar bike in about 1992 (mine was sparkly blue and said "Universal" on the downtube). Hi-tensile steel frame, steel nutted hubs loosely laced into single wall 26" rims, 18 Shimano SIS gears (that's 3x6), pressed steel canti brakes with plastic levers, big bar ends... A cheap and basic bike, but I loved it. And I rode it _everywhere_.

It took me to and from school every day. I had my first experience of "mountain biking" riding it through the woods and fields on a nearby hill. I slogged my way up and over that hill to visit my first girlfriend's house; it lasted a lot longer than that relationship and I was genuinely bereft when it was stolen.

With only a couple of new cables, some tweaking and adjustments and a lot of lubrication, we've been able to give this one a new lease of life - with all its original components! - and it's purring smoothly again and is grin-inducingly lovely to ride.

I did make a few spiders homeless in the process. Sorry, spiders...
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This rather lovely bar tape is made by the excellently-named Camp And Go Slow, this colour is called Brown Trout and it brought a warm autumnal feel to Nic's bike. It's nice and thick, long enough for the craziest gravel bars, and feels really comfortable to ride as well as being sturdy.
More nice kit at .and.go.slow
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We're going to miss this guy!
Billy's off to pastures new, selling e-bikes at .
He was our first employee, back in 2012, a slightly awkward 16-year old Saturday boy, but he was great with customers and handy with the tools even then. He's worked elsewhere too (ski instructor, excellent chef, outdoor gear expert) but he's been with us full time again for the last five years.
It has been an absolute joy to see him grow into a confident, witty, insightful, funny and eminently capable man. We wish him all the success in his new job - and of course we'll see him again out on the roads, trails and maybe pistes!
Thank you, . ❤️
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This weekend is the tenth annual Nunhead Art Trail. It's a brilliant couple of days where lots of local artists, creators and craftspeople display their creations to the public. Many open up their own houses, and there are displays in several public spaces around Nunhead as well as special events in local pubs, shops and community centres. It's all free and there are at least 60 artists exhibiting this year (and plenty of them will be selling their stuff too).
We're always grateful to the artist who decorates our shop window to advertise the event. This year it's the lovely Janet Johnson, who's given us an art-carrying mountain biker.
Look out for the decorated shop windows along Evelina Road - we've all got posters, badges and free booklets with the map and details of each artist and event available.
..see you on the this weekend!
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When dealing with SRAM, it's wise to assume their design approach is "what's the most exploitative, frustrating way we could do this?"
We've got customers preparing for the Transcontinental Race, London-Edinburgh-London and other ultra-distance events. These riders usually opt for aero extensions; not only is it great to have a variety of hand and body positions if you're riding for literally thousands of miles, small adjustments to your aero profile can make huge differences over long distances.
With Shimano's Di2 electronic gears, you can map any system function to any button. You can duplicate the functions all over the bike: you could have every button on every lever only shifting the front mech into the big ring, if you really wanted to. Just plug in the extra controls, and program them in the app.
SRAM's eTap system requires you to use a "Blipbox" as well as the extra control buttons. The Blipbox overrides the brake lever buttons, so if you want to use the aero extensions to shift gear, you can't use the brake lever shift buttons any more. The alternative is to use their little "Blips", tiny sealed shifters that go under the bar tape. These are £90 a pair, and the batteries are not replaceable. Meaning that when the very cheap CR1632 battery inside runs out, you have to throw away your £90 shifters and buy a new pair. Or, if you're someone who rides thousands of miles, you might not trust their claim of two-year battery life and you have to take a spare pair of shift blips with you along with everything else.
We were only slightly surprised that they haven't got a third option which _does_ unlock the ability to use all the buttons available to you on your bike, but requires a $40/month subscription - but now I've given them this idea, watch this space... 🙄
Plus, that little rubber strap looks like it's doing this: 🤷
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I love the warm weather, but I don't know any mechanic who enjoys having sweaty hands in nitrile gloves when it's this hot.
No, my hands _aren't_ normally that wrinkly - but the gloves keep them relatively clean through the messy jobs, at least.
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It has been an utter pleasure and a privilege to ride with this group of men (the "Sh*t Dads") over the last weekend.
They are funny, kind, honest, silly, wise, open and empathetic and I'm proud to call them friends. And riding together is a great way to hang out. There's something about rolling along beside each other that seems to open up conversation - knowing that we don't have to talk at all, or we can talk trivia or observe details about the ride, or that we can discuss our deepest fears and insecurities if we choose to.
We rode the "Coast to Castles" route from Newcastle to Edinburgh and were very lucky with the weather. And _every_ coffee stop. And the meals. And the hotels (except Premier Inn Newcastle Quayside, that place was rubbish). I have so many fond memories: brilliant pub toilet graffiti, endless innuendoes, the simplest pub game involving just a couple of hooks and little rings on string, everything-dog, swimming in the North Sea (twice!), Geordie sauna chat, is that battery charged, the stinkiest place I've ever fixed a bike (next to pub bins and an overflowing sewer!), chasing down riders who have missed a turning, the Hoop Of Destiny, the hotel lawn yoga session, is that Lindisfarne, put it on Stripwise, who snores most, critiquing Glastonbury, circumcision chat, region-specific playlists... and so many more.
A lovely, brilliant bike tour.
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*tdads

Now I am become death, destroyer of rodents... :/
If anyone can suggest a more humane - and *effective* way to deal with our kitchen's mouse problem, please let me know.
And not "get a cat" - a) we have an occasional shop dog; b) I'm not ready to deal with an Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly sort of faunal escalation...
(but we do make sure they get the good stuff in the traps! 😉)
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