The Wheelie Good Round-Up

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Here’s our latest collection of cycling stories from around the web that got our attention in the past week.

Happy 125th Birthday Raleigh

If there is one British cycling brand that stirs the memories of us all it has to be Raleigh. Cyclists of a certain age will remember Raleigh’s kids bikes of the 70s and 80s when Raleigh models such as the Burner, Grifter and Chopper dominated. This year is Raleigh’s 125th Birthday and as part of the celebrations, the UK arm, Raleigh UK, is encouraging Raleigh owners, past and present, to upload pictures of them on their Raleigh bikes to the Me & My Raleigh section on its website. You could join Sir Chris Hoy on there with his Raleigh BMX if you do upload a photo.

Levi’s extend Commuter range

If there is one thing that show’s cycling’s growing appeal it is that mainstream clothing manufacturers want to get a cut of the cyclist dollar. Iconic denim brand Levi’s launched its cyclist friendly Commuter collection in spring last year. It featured, unsurprisingly, a pair of 511 jeans but there was also a jacket. Both had cycle friendly features built into the products such as the water-resistant NanoSphere fibre technology. For 2012, Levi’s has added a commuter trouser, a commuter cropped trouser, a hooded trucker Jacket, mobility fleece and a commuter work shirt. There is also currently a marketing drive in the US for the Commuter range with a super slick advert extolling Levi’s urban cool credentials debuting at the end of February. Still no sales in the UK though, which we think is a grand shame.

A folding Fixie

There aren’t many folding full-sized frame bikes out there. There is a reason for that. The size of such a contraption kind of defeats the object of carrying it. That said, one UK inventor has had a go at making a folding fixed gear bike and as the video below shows the result is simplicity itself. Alas this bike is a one off but we reckon there may be a market for such a bike among the urban hipsters here in London. Can you imagine it! Cycle to the pub, so ensuring your street cred remains, but go home in the evening carrying the bike on the bus.

Time for disc braking on the road?

Disc brakes are commonly seen on mountain bikes though more recently cycle cross bikes have begun featuring them. So why not road bikes? Italian bike brand Colnago has this week debuted the C59 Disc bike at the Taipei Cycle Show. The bike features hydraulic front and rear disc brakes. The advantages of disc brakes? Well it means you can design rims without a braking surface and this means less rotational mass and faster wheels. There will be no need for cables on the bike either. Widespread manufacture of road bikes with brake discs is unlikely however unless the UCI, the International Cycling Union, approves the brakes for racing use.

A bumpy ride

Infrastructure cycle item for this week is the picture below of a cycle lane on Chester’s Sealand Road. As you can see, you should expect a bumpy ride. We suspect they were put into slow down speeding cyclists. Why there appears to be so many bumps is however a mystery.