uni(que)-cycle

We manage to find Kelly a very nice bike, carrying the brand name of our first lady of the velodrome, Victoria Pendleton.  It’s finished in a rather fetching shade of purple with gold lettering.  The only downside are the handlebars which are straight and uncomfortable; Anniemay tells Kelly not to worry - bicycle-repair man will sort it out. 

Back in Melbourne, Kelly had a bike with swept back handlebars - a style we would call sit-up-and-beg.  This is what I need to try and emulate.

As it happens I have a pair of North Road Bars hanging up in a corner of the garage.  These were standard on bikes when my Dad was a lad and have become fashionable once again.

About a year ago I blipped a story about a visit to a ‘shed’ full of vats of sulphuric acid, in the heart of rural Bedfordshire.  The purpose of that visit, which I did not reveal at the time, was to have these handlebars cleaned up and anodised. I wanted them black, to match my new black bike frame (I am not immune to making fashion statements on two wheels).

For reasons I now forget, I took them off the new bike and thus they are surplus to requirements.  My plan is to fit them to Kelly’s bike to see if the shape suits her - and then buy some shiny new silver ones.  But I’m amazed to see that over the past 12 months, the black anodising has faded leaving them a distinct purple hue.

Dan and Kelly, having spent the last 6 months living a more spiritual way of life, immediately think that it’s a ‘sign’ of some sort - that the purple bike was meant to be and so the purple bars have to stay.

I just think it’s a sign of cheap anodising.  I just hope it doesn’t fade any more of the next 12 months.  But for now it looks just right and makes the bike somewhat unique.