We went down to the trade day at the Cycle Show at the NEC today.
After getting over our initial shock of paying £10 to park our car we headed off into the show in search of retro loveliness.
It did not take us long to find some.
It seems like steel is back in fashion with the old school established bike makers.
Our first stop was Chicken Cycles to have a look at their offerings. No Supercorsa or XCR but a lovely Gazzetta dela Strada. Speaking to one of the guys on the stand they sell about a dozen Supercorsas a year but with 12 different sizes and a dozen colours to choose from they are built to order and buying one is like buying an internet bride – you see the pictures, pay your money and wait for it to turn up.
Next stop was Colnago who had the 30th aniversary Master on display and then onto Pinarello.
Pinarello have a whole quiver of steel bikes on offer for 2013
I haven’t a clue who the guy in the GB top is in the background, but it’s a shame he spoilt my picture. (Sorry Sir Chris !).
It’s interesting that Pinarello have gone the whole hog and re-introduced downtube shifters.
Next stop was Raleigh.
They had a good selection of Steel bikes on display. It’s a shame that they do not sell the Raleigh USA models in the UK which are to a higher specification.
Other manufacturers of note that had steel frames on display included Condor, Swallow, Light Blue and even newcomers Ribble.
It’s great to see steel back in fashion as it’s a lot more individual than carbon and not everyone needs the lightest and fastest.
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