The wave of new London bike shops

953 is as stiff as 531, which is as stiff as 4130, which is as stiff as t45. The (massive over generalisation) difference is hardness, which allows thinner walls, which allows larger diameter tubes, which allows stiffer bikes.

As alb said, over zealous regs gave lead to heavier bikes, as well as things like bosses and drop outs being chosen at a price point that dictates heavier, cast parts. Plus heavy otp wheels, finishing kit etc...

I like genesis bikes on the whole, and those team issue ones were great vfm, even with the silly bb shell.

The only brand new frame I've owned was a genesis fugio 853 I got on trade.

When I removed it from the box it arrived in the weight nearly pulled my arm out of my shoulder socket. Whatever I did to that bike, from lightweight wheels to carbon finishing kit and supple Japanese tyres, I could never bring myself to love the frame. The ride was so dull.

Maybe a Rourke decal might have helped

Rourke decals always help.
Although reynolds tubes are slightly lighter then the columbus equivalent. Many people say that tubesets like columbus sl have better quality of ride, some of them (Not sure which ones) have spiral pattern inside if that even does anything....?

Although it's hard to compare like for like, Reynolds would normally be heavier than columbus in my experience, they are more Conservative in regards to wall thickness.

When I removed it from the box it arrived in the weight nearly pulled my arm out of my shoulder socket.

Meh, it was a cross bike, albeit supposed to be a racy one. Out of interest how much more did it weigh than equivalently priced / specc'd steel cross frames?

Genesis claimed a frameset weight around 2.4kg for the mk1 version.

And a an average 953 road, frameset in an average size would be 1.9kg with a 320 gram fork, so not miles off that...

The RRP on the Fugio was £750 or something, but yeah it's OK to expect Enve like fork weights at that price point, right?

Didn't they supply a load of the road frames with enve forks? I'm sure @umop3pisdn s one came with one, and the 953 one definitely did. That was a great frameset for the money.

On the subject of actual bike shops, it's not a new one, but as I imagine they'll change significantly, I'll post it here.

The excellent Hackney Peddler are moving from Hackney Downs Studios to Stoke Newington Road in January. I'll post the exact address then, but they'll be roughly opposite Somerford Grove.

Bunch of Volare team stainless team editions IIRC - they pretty much gave them away on eBay IIRC. The current version is £2k odd as a 931 frameset.

Yep. Would love the 953 version but it's not really gonna be significantly better than my 853.

They do churn out some lovely builds, but I'm always amazed at the prices folk pay for mediocre 1980s steel from them. They know their market that's for sure!

I knew it was a cross bike before it arrived actually.

My comment should have emphasised the boring, sluggish ride. It was in response to comments upthread regarding genesis. Easily the least responsive frame I've ever owned and I own a decathlon series-m XC1. Which is sweet, btw

Well, there is that. :) As you say, there are some lovely things in there, too.

Customers on Stoke Newington Road might make them more of a commuter shop, we'll see.

I'm not a framebuilder but having had casual chats with three of varying experience levels I was very interested to hear them all say almost the exact same thing with regards to tubing: it's one of the last things that they think about when building a frame. More important are fit and geometry with an eye to the intended usage.

So when you pay more for a frame with "better" quality steel almost certainly the majority of your money is going to cover the costs of everything other than the steel itself, e.g., a talented welder/brazer, R&D (at least in the form of x years of experience), etc. That said there's nothing stopping a relative novice from using whatever materials s/he chooses, but I'd rather have a Sachs/Kirk/et al. frame in 4130 than a rookie's first attempt at 953.

edit: there's a good article somewhere from years ago where a magazine writer got the chance to test something like seven almost identical bikes, the only difference being the tubing used in each. Not a scientific test obviously, but ultimately the guy didn't have a clue which was the putative best.

https://cyclingindustry.news/velorution-to-open-urban-cycling-superstore-on-former-site-of-london-fields-cycles/

Working in Push Cycles on Newington Green today. Sometime, as we are a friendly local shop, we take parcels in for neighbours that are at work etc.

Today, a neighbour 3doors down comes in for her amazon parcel:

“Haha, it’s ironic I got it delivered here as it’s actually a bike lock”

Fuck you! Fuck you VERY much!

This is why LBS are died and can’t afford rent... that sort of shit!

I booed her out the shop and will not be taking anymore of her parcels!

Post pictures on social media at 6pm last night announcing big delivery of Bromptons.

Get burgled overnight

https://twitter.com/hubvelo

Had a really good experience with Pavé Velo in Stratford today. Would definitely recommend to anyone in the area.

I don't often go into bike shops for maintenance stuff, I like to try and do whatever I can myself, but when I had a slip on some ice, and couldn't get a di2 mech to go into crash recovery, I took it in for some diagnosis.

Staff were really helpful and knowledgeable, and though the di2 diagnostics couldn't kick it back to live, they were happy to send off to Shimano, free of charge, even though I didn't buy the mech there.

Soho bikes announced on facebook they closing down on 26th jan. sad face

Shit! They owe me a set of brake pads!! Best get down there...

Had a really good experience with Pavé Velo in Stratford today. Would definitely recommend to anyone in the area.

Pave Velo have closed.

That's a shame, any idea why? I was just there a week ago and there didn't seem to be any indication they'd be shutting.

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