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Once again a large contingent from Retrobike took on the Hell of The North Cotswolds, an annual off road reliability ride around the, er, North Cotswolds. Click here to read the full Retrobike HoNC report.

To celebrate two bank holidays and lots of chocoloate egss (in the UK at least) we are offering TWO pairs of Retrobike socks in either colour for a barginous £16.50. Offer available here > http://www.retrobike.co.uk/shop/socks/sock-bundle.html Going to run this offer for the rest of April, get in now whilst we still have stock and before the price rise due to the postage increases 8)

Retrobike stalwarts EdEdwards and mrkawasaki and a cycle polo player took on the Ronde van Vlaanderen 2012 sportive. Read their Ronde van Vlaanderen 2012 ride report here.

Saturday saw forty six retrobikers arrive in a car park, in a wood, in Norfolk, UK. Not for anything untoward you understand but for the Second Round of the Retrobike National Events Series with support from Bikefood - The Thetford Classic 2012. A wide range of bikes were in attendance, everything from a Kleins, Fat Chance, GT and Yeti through to Drystonepaul's Diamond Back. An enjoyable day's riding was had by all around the endless dry and dusty thetford singletrack, click here for full aftermath report. We even managed to avoid adder attacks. The next round will be taking place in Surrey on 27th May, click here for details.

Just 9 months after the first ever UK Handmade Bicycle Show in Bristol, the 2012 edition was upon us. There was a new venue, the pre-show publicity looked like it was going to be bigger, much bigger. John, armed with his 'My First Canon', and I went to find out. What follows is very much a personal perspective. The UK Handmade Bicycle Show 2012 www.bespokedbristol.co.uk was based at Brunel's Old Station, basically part of the Templemeads complex. Waiting for The Guvnor to negotiate the one way system (he was within 10m a good quarter of an hour before he actually pulled up), I lounged outside on a wall in the sun, people watching. It was a battle between pretty girls with their floaty dresses and summer legs and bicycles. Steel...

Following on from his previous articles Paul Brodie kindly sent us a some pictures of the finished 1888 Whippet as shown at NAHBS 2012. To make the work more worthwhile Paul took the People's Choice award at NAHBS 2012 for his whippet build - congrats :D Click more for full set of pics

UK based online retailer Kinetic Rush have dug out their John Tomac Raleigh for display in their Leamington shop, John Atkins Cycles. What this means for us is they've done a whole load of great pictures of this iconic machine, enjoy the images :D This Tomac Raleigh was purchased direct from Raleigh UK by the store owner back in the 90s and is believed to be a Merlin built model. Check the Kinetic Rush blog for a full set of images and details.

:: Date: Saturday 24th of March 2012 :: Time: 10am for a 1030 start. :: Meeting at: Brandon Country Park Visitor Centre, Bury Road, Brandon, Suffolk, IP27 0SU :: Directions: Brandon Country Park Visitor Centre is situated on the B1106. from the A11 this is the elvden cross road, signposted for brandon & centre parks. traveling from the A11 towards brandon the Brandon Country Park Visitor Centre is on the left. Parking is now Pay & Display, £2.50 all day. there is extra parking in the Orchard car park behind the old peoples home. :: Terrain: Lots of single track, bomb holes and forest trails. Last year 47 people turned out for some great riding around the trails of Thetford. Sign up now! Click here to sign up now!

Following on from his previous articles Paul Brodie kindly sent us a further article detailing the rebuild of the 1888 Whippet at Flashback Fabrications. Enjoy :D I have quite a few photos of the Whippet sitting in the Ottawa Museum of Science and Technology. It's under plastic, sitting up in a mezzanine, and not on display. I do not, however, have one photo that shows an entire crank arm. So, here is the lower section, held to the BB axle with a tapered cotter pin > The top of the crank arm featured an adjustable slot for different crank lengths. Isn't that perfect for a cyclist that has one leg longer than the other? The starting point was a bar of 954 bronze that cost me $100 several years ago. 954 bronze has a higher...

Privateer Issue 8 goes on sale tomorrow the 16th March 2012. If you haven't subscribed already be sure to check out the special Retrobike subscription offer. In the new issue, and of particular retro interest, we have: *Steve Peat talks to Tym Manley about his career to date, and why de doesn't plan on quitting at the top. *Next on the agenda, Andy Waterman visits Nicolai Bikes in Germany to uncover the human faces behind these teutonic classics. *Later on in the magazine, another Mike, Mike Davies, continues his look at the technical side of mountain biking with an in depth look at the science of the bicycle wheel. There's more to it than you might think... Elsewhere, we interview John Lloyd, prolific organiser of endurance events...

Following on from his previous articles Paul Brodie kindly sent us a further article detailing the rebuild of the 1888 Whippet at Flashback Fabrications. Enjoy :D The Whippet bottom bracket is not so simple. It holds the lower spring mount, and also incorporates the swing arm pivot. On the far right is the "spoon" brake, used against the rear tire. The Whippet has no front brake. Good Luck if you're going downhill in the rain... More metal: 2 chunks of steel, a thick walled tube, and a couple of sealed bearings. I decided it would be easier to make a 3 piece BB, rather than carve it from solid > This setup is on the milling machine. The vise holds the blocks and the digital readout (not shown) makes it easier to locate centers...

Following on from his previous articles Paul Brodie kindly sent us a further article detailing the rebuild of the 1888 Whippet at Flashback Fabrications. Enjoy :D The Whippet rear hub was made of bronze on this original bike, and also had radial spoking, which I did not expect at all > I ordered a short bar of bearing bronze, and took a few cuts. I did make a quick drawing on a piece of cardboard.. Here, the shape is being "roughed out". This is Machinist talk. Also, if you can use a lathe, but are not too skilled, you're a "rough turner".. The hub shape is finalized, and the thread cut for the freewheel.. I took a short piece of 6061 aluminum, and cut an internal thread to go onto the freewheel threads. This will...

We have recently added a complete set of retro Saracen catalogues to the archive covering the classic 1987-1998 era > Saracen Catalogue archive. Big thanks to Neill who visited Saracen HQ to scan the content, Paul who completed the conversion to pdf and Ben for adding to the archive. Enjoy :D

Following on from his previous article on the Whippet seatpost Paul Brodie kindly sent us a further article detailing the rebuild of the 1888 Whippet at Flashback Fabrications. Enjoy :D The Whippet Chainring was my next project. This is a 17 tooth chainring, but I made mine 18 teeth because it was so much easier to hold in a 3 jaw chuck. The chain is a 3/8" block chain. It was hard to find; I finally located one in England. Notice the 2 "stops" on either side of the crank arm.. This is how I figured out the length of the chainstays. I knew approximately the size of the sprockets, and the cardboard cutouts worked fine for this > I used a scrap 1/4" aluminum plate and cut a circle on the bandsaw. Then I mounted the disc on a...

Following on from his previous articles Paul Brodie kindly sent us a further article detailing the rebuild of the 1888 Whippet at Flashback Fabrications. Enjoy :D I didn't have a lot to go on for the Whippet seat post. The Whippet drawing shows a straight seat post, so why does this one have a kink? If the factory wanted a bend, it would have been a smooth bend. I chose to ignore the kink, but I did like the shape of the top clamp > I used a piece of 954 bearing bronze. As long as the cutting tools are very sharp, machining is not a problem > After drilling 2 holes, the block is turned, and the centre milled out > The block is now mounted on a spigot, and spun in the lathe. I machined the top of the clamp at an angle and...

In the latest of our industry interviews, we visited a small outfit in the south of England producing some of the best known British bike components of the last couple of decades, Middleburn Engineering. Chances are you will have come across their chainrings at some point over the years in your retro chainset buying experience, but there’s a lot more to these guys than just cogs...as we found out when we nipped down last month for a cuppa and a chat with Matthew Starey, head honcho at Middleburn. There is also a companion article to this twenty questions in this month's Switchback Magazine, check the Switchback issue 3 preview here. 1) Retrobike: Hi Matt, how’s business at Middleburn in 2011? Matthew Starey: Hello Retrobike...

The February 2012 Photo of The Month (PoTM) contest was won by SwanHouseNappa's 'It's Not About The Bike'. Click here to see SwanHouseNappa's shot in all it's glory 1. SwanHouseNappa's 'It's Not About The Bike'