I’m definitely not nearly quick enough to wear them, and would undoubtedly look like a bit of a weirdo, but I still think they’re a great stocking filler.

I just came across Save Our Soles, a fab looking sock company based in Colorado (why are none of these sort of people ever based in the UK?).  They do a whole range of wool socks for cycling and other sweaty pursuits, including the rather nifty Argyll/hockey stick ones above.

Anyway, check them out – at $11.95 a pair they are pretty cheap for wool socks, although probably less so once shipping is factored in.  Our favourites include Boneshaker, Retro Pedals and Movie Buff.

Rapha have gone all the way and produced a limited edition tweed softshell jacket. Like many things Rapha, I both wonder if the world really needs, for example, a £50 silk cycling scarf, but also really, really want one. The jacket:

beautiful as it is (proper pictures here) just doesn’t quite do it for me – I’m more of a traditionalist when it comes to tweed, and would have preferred a classic green or brown, as opposed to what looks to me much more like a business suit check. In any case, none of this matters since, at £450 (which looks even worse from my vantage point on the Western edge of the Atlantic) I’m not going to be able to afford one. Ever.

But I still want it.

The first Raceguard was invented in 1994, an innovative seatpost-mounted rear mudguard, and it rapidly became the market leader among mountain bikers and commuters alike as the simplest and best-looking way to avoid that “wet stripe” up the back of your clothes.  It was a great design, simple to fit (although to do so you had to remove the seatpost and slide shims on and off), easy to adjust and once fitted it stayed in place and was hard to break.  I bought one in ’95 and it’s been in intermittent use since then and is still going strong.

For 2009 Mr. Crud’s been challenged to redesign it, chiefly so you don’t have to remove the seatpost to fit it.  Other manufacturers (SKS, Topeak, Cycraguard) have recognised the Raceguard’s popularity and produced similar offerings, some of which fitted straight around the seatpost, so after 11 years it was time for an update.

So what’s new?  As you can see from the photo above, the mudguard itself keeps the familiar (and very effective) shape of the recent “RacePak” incarnation, but the main thing that has changed is the clamp.  It can now be fitted straight around the seatpost and with a very British, very CRUD-like conciseness of design.

The pack contains two rubber shims, one seatpost clamp, one nut and bolt, the arm and the mudguard.  It’s all made out of flexible plastic that feels pliable but hard to break.  It weighs a lot less than it looks like it should.  It’s very simple to fit in less than a minute.  The shims mean it will suit seatposts from 25-33mm and, once everything’s in the right place, a few turns of the one bolt mean it’ll all stay put.

…and that’s just what it did.  Over lumpy rattly stuff and in soggy mud and rain, it kept our backs (and saddles) dry and free from The Stripe.  Neither branches nor not-going-to-make-it faceplants managed to shift it.  We’re impressed.  I’m sure that the 2009 redesign will be even more popular as its predecessor.

Mine’s going to stay on my bike.

I can’t decide whether this is a great idea, or a really terrible one.

While round-the-clock parts availability is a Good Thing, I can foresee drawbacks.  I can just imagine the typical phone call I’m going to get at 2am from some random hipster who’s snakebite-punctured his brakeless fixie slamming it into a kerb as he’s failed to stop in time; he’s dug out enough change for an inner tube and an energy gel and now, drunken but buzzing as the sugary caffeine kicks in, he decides to slur his way through asking me why the inner tube didn’t come with instructions…

The inventor (titter ye not, he’s only naked from the waist up) proposes waiting until your bike is stolen before giving the thief a little more than he bargained for (presumably first waiting for him to get stuck at traffic lights and put his foot down for maximum effect).  

I’d take it a little further and try to hook it up to something with a motion sensor – an iPhone or the like should do the trick, that way you can shock the perp automatically and get it to text you when the bike stops moving.

Of course, anyone nudging your bike while it’s locked up would get shocked too, but you can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs.

It looks like our new favourite bike has made it as far as the Telegraph.  Even if we forgive them for taking the celebrity angle:

The likes of Madonna, David Beckham, Paul McCartney, Paul Smith, Boris Johnson and Fatboy Slim are seen as prospective buyers since they can actually afford to own it.

(and are presumably stupid enough to buy it) what’s harder to ignore is the following:

This model is especially hard to ride since they don’t freewheel, which means that the pedals keep on turning as long as the bicycle does.

Hard to ride?  I think they mean hard to stop.

For a bike that normally costs £399, they’ve certainly managed to add some extras to bump the cost up including Velocity Deep V rims (naturally), “custom” chain, seat and bars. By “custom” they mean stuff that normally doesn’t come with the bike, rather than stuff that has been custom made. This includes what looks like a white KMC “Z” chain, white Charge Spoon saddle and Charge Slice “track” handlebar with white bar tape.

All of the above can be yours including the finish; copper plated and finished with 24ct gold, since you asked; for an eyewatering £9,500 – or you can enter the competition to win the bike on ETA’s website (the fools who commissioned this lunacy to promote their bike insurance). Unsurprisingly ETA’s insurance policy does not cover bikes of this value.

ETA are on your side though – they have attempted to reign in the price slightly as for your money you do not get a front brake and they’ve also seen fit to retain the cheap and nasty standard stem, chainset and pedals.

Ordinarily we quite like Charge (no idea who ETA are) but to our eyes this bares a passing resemblance to chavy yoofs driving around in “upgraded” Nissan Micras with tinted windows, non-silencing exhausts, boom boxes and bucket seats.

More info on the gold Plug over at the Charge site, if you have the time to kill for their overly slow flash movie to load.

I’ve just come across this rather interesting website – Dashing Tweeds.  They make a selection of modern tweed garments, some aimed at the sporting lady or gentleman.  What is particularly interesting is their use of a reflective material called “Lumatwill”.  It appears to be a Teflon coated tweed with reflective thread woven into it, creating the effect shown below when a bright light shines upon it:

The suit on the right looks like a particularly stylish way to cycle to work.

The sensors change the colour of the lights in response to the rider’s movements – the ones on the back go from green to red when braking and the ones on the arms trigger when the rider raises their arms to signal that they are turning left or right.

The video below shows the jacket in action.  Sadly it looks like it’s still got a way to go as the lights don’t seem to trigger very reliably and the main panel will be obscured by even the smallest bag – fitting the brake lights at the bottom of the rear of the jacket would have been far more sensible.

The designer, Michael Chen, is planning on selling the jacket in the UK by the end of the year.  There is no news on whether he is working on a matching pair of gloves that light up like a Christmas tree when flicking a v-sign at the SUV that just cut you up.

Since we’re not a courier, nor have we ever been, we don’t know Canadian Ryan – but we do like good t-shirts, particularly when they display something we’ve all wanted to do at one time or other: stick it to the man, or rather stick it right through his windshield. Unfortunately he’s got into a bit of trouble over the whole affair and needs your help.

From next week (hopefully) you will be able to purchase a t-shirt from courier run design/screen printing company House Of Pistard with the rather excellent graphic shown above, the proceeds from which will go towards paying off Canadian Ryan’s debt to society, whereby keeping him in the country to hopefully continue living out our red mist induced cycling fantasies.

We are currently laid up with a broken leg (unimpressive mountainbike crash) so we can’t make it to the John Snow but will be waiting for the mail order option to appear with interest.

Canadian Ryan, we salute you!

More info over at the Minx website.

We’ve uploaded a bunch of new cycling related designs to the London Singlespeed t-shirt shop. All t-shirts are made from the finest American Apparel blanks, so if you are unsure, nip down to your local shop and cheekily try them on for size and quality.

They also all feature the London Singlespeed logo at the bottom on the reverse, printed in reflective material for that extra bit of night time visibility.

We’ve also taken delivery of a box of merino cycling jerseys featuring the London Singlespeed logo on the chest. The shirts are 100% merino wool cut in a classic style and great to cycle in. A bargin at a mere £35. Stock is strictly limited though – please contact us for more information.