Cyclefit - Phil and Jules
Not forgetting the ever patient Barna - talented mechanic, technician
It’s the year 2003, Tuscany beckoned. I enjoyed riding up the hills - and down at crazy speeds I’d never contemplate now. On return home I unpacked the bikebag only to find that the rear wheel would not fit the frame: a cursory inspection showed that it had been reshaped by the baggage handlers at Gatwick. Insurance to the rescue and I bought a shiny Colnago frame.
Reading about a shop in Central London promising a new level of bike fitting expertise, I paid my first visit to Cyclefit (which I seem to remember may have been called something different then). Phil took my medical and riding history, explored my goals and subjected me to detailed analysis by eye and video on a specialist jig. He then made some changes to the setup of my bike. Sadly, I hit a post that had fallen over one dark morning in Regents Park; I shouldn’t have been riding there as the Park had not opened for the day. The Colnago frame was shortened and no longer safe to ride.
Good things often come from bad. In this case Phil assured me that while a bikefit on an existing bike would give a better ride, there was nothing to beat a custom bike. At that time Cyclefit’s main if not exclusive offering was from Serotta. I was soon the owner and rider of a Serotta Concours in shiny blue titanium, kitted out with new wheels but with the groupset and some other parts from the Colnago.
This proved to be my faithful companion on many rides, including Audax 100s, a few 200s, a 300 and a 400 plus also most of the 600 km Beast from the East which I abandoned in heavy rain and floodwater only 50 km from the end. Whatever the distance, it was always comfortable.
Start of the Audax Coastlet 2012, Wareham Dorset
Needs and technology move on. Invitations to join rides in France and Spain required me to think about gearing and how to carry luggage. The Serotta had been upgraded from Dura ace 9 speed to 11 speed with a compact chainset but the rear cassette was limited to 11-28: not low enough for my limited capabilities. I bought an almost new Cube from someone who had bought it online and found that it did not fit; I had the documentation to prove that it was not stolen. Time for another cyclefit and some new parts to adapt it to my body. Luggage carrying was courtesy of Tailfin - subject of a future blog post.
The Cube, equipped with stock wheels and 105 groupset, provided the platform for me to try out some technologies - a better groupset, Carbon wheels, tubeless tyres, various bags for luggage. Having decided on what I wanted, I returned to Phil at Cyclefit for my “forever bike”. Ordered in June 2021, it was finally delivered in January 2022.
Phil took great care with the design, tweaking the head tube angle by 1% to accommodate the front fork I wanted with internal cabling for the dynamo light. Jules kept me informed about communication with Seven in Boston USA on progress on the frame and then the actual build which was carried out by Barna, again with meticulous care to get it exactly right for me.
The many riders who pass me on older less technical bikes are proof that it’s about the rider, not the bike!
