I'm not sure what's with the white thing lately.  It seems every Joe and his sister in law's uncle are re-releasing their product range with a white paintjob.  Its probably got something to do with the world's finest bicycle manufacturer sporting some deadly white frames.  I don't know who started it, mind. 

E13 are the latest company to jump on the white bandwaggon by releasing their chainguides with a limited edition white parts tree.  They also have a silver back plate, instead of the usual black. 

Not wanting to miss out on this makeover madness, we got these LG-1 guides this week. 



Now, personally I like to keep things simple and plain so that the lines of the frame stand out - I'm not so keen on the, 'Look at my upgraded gold anodised seatclamp and pedals' look.  However, tasteful highlights that compliment the overall look, can really work. 

(Mind you - I think I'm bordering on the fussy side of tasteful with my Supreme DH which recently got some of those white HEL brakelines.  The white Halo wheels were probably enough, and I'd have got black hoses if I wasn't trying really hard to be noticed..)

However, personal style notes aside, they look pretty cool.  And everyone seems to pick them up and say things like, 'Sweet, you've got them in white...'.  So who am I to tell them not to overdo the highlights? 

Heck, you could probably build an all white bike if you tried hard enough.  Now there's a thought...

Commencal 2008 : Les Deux Alps, France. June 2007 The weather was hot, the trails dry, dusty and scary fast, and on the outward journey at least the planes all took off & landed on time.



The trip to Les Deux Alps, or 2Alps as the locals say, to see touch and play with the new Commencal 08 range was much looked forward to. Not just because of the aforementioned touching seeing and playing with one of the most anticipated bike ranges of 2008 but also because part of the deal was a day long chairlift pass to ride some of the fantastic 2Alps trails.    more »

Its another one!

Our 4th Nicolai in as many months came through this week. Here it is mid build. I will be getting busy with building a new tubeless wheelset after some much needed lunch. 40s, XTR, carbon bits, Thomson, XTR brakes etc.... Might as well do it right, eh?



I promise we do other normal stuff too. Like servicing manky, gritty headsets, changing stubborn tires, replacing mangled hangers and mechs which managed to take a chain and a few spokes with them. Its not all glorious, exciting, custom jobs like this one as a Real Cycles mechanic.

I was putting this frame kit together for a customer, and I was just about to pack it up, when I thought, you know, this is a really nice build. Its kinda just how it should be. You know? There's nothing out of the ordinary, nothing you haven't seen before, just good quality stuff, that works.

If you can't tell from the pic, its a Meta 5.5 VIP frame, with a (bargain of a) Cane Creek headset, Fox Talas 32 RLC forks and some XT cranks. Not cheap stuff, but not super expensive for what its capable of.

I'm sure this will eventually build up into a killer all day bike, that isn't afraid of climbing and doesn't pansy out when it gets rough on the downs.

I better get it packed in its box before it misses the post....