Cycle Show 2008 at Earls Court
This weekend was one of ups and downs. Definitely on the upside was our annual trek to Earls Court for the Cycle Show 2008, of which more later. Balancing that in a manner which shows that what is given with one hand is swiftly taken back by the other I arrived home parched from a long day admiring bicycles and promptly slaked my thirst with a bottle or more of wine over dinner with friends.
Big mistake. That was my Saturday written off and the chance to get out on one of the best Sundays of the year for some actual mountain bike riding. There’s a lesson there, called ‘moderation’ that I’m stubbornly refusing to learn.
But back to the Cycle Show. I thought I’d give a brief summary of some of the highlights that caught our eyes and expand on them a bit over the course of the week. First up, Charge Bikes had their Plug Grinder, which I found was whispering sweet but naughty ‘Buy me’ thoughts in my ear. And over the course of the weekend has continued to do so. Well, how would singlespeed, 50’s olive green paintwork, 700c wheels, full mudguards, flat bars and a £460 price tag grab you if you’ve been toying with a do-it-all hack bike?
Next up, Hope have taken the best part of their Vision 1 LED light (i.e. the LED) and lopped off the bulky battery compartment to leave a neat single LED, 240 lumen light that can be fixed to bars, helmet or head to give a properly versatile light. It’s £100 and gives Colin’s Exposure Joystick MaXx LED killer light a run for it’s money, powered by a remote 4 x AA battery pack that can be stuffed and restocked with rechargeable batteries as needed. Neat and good value I reckon.
Moving on, it’s time to admit that 29ers don’t look weird anymore, at least not to my eyes. The attention of my eyes is easily caught anyway but I think I had good excuse on the Salsa Cycles stand with their Big Mama 4″ full sus 29er and their Selma singlespeed 29er with its Scandium alloy/carbon fibre mix.
Either bike would be gratefully received by me if the company needs some extended UK testing although at present the mud clearance on the prototype Selma is non-existent. Don’t worry, they know so no cheap shots eh?
Flattened chain and seat stays on both bikes introduce a bit of back end flex to help the ride and the blue anodised Hope components on the Selma was nothing if not a head turner. Both serious contenders for ‘bike I would most want to buy’ in my view.
Closer to home, a real find although it seems I should perhaps pay more attention to postings on the Singletrack forum. But for me at least, coming across the Singular Cycles stand was a bit of a revelation.
They have a focus on 29ers (but not exclusively) with lovely 50’s retro looks but modern as you like geometry and I’m thinking most likely handling too. Oh and mech hangers and EBB versatility too. Their prototype titanium Pegasus singlespeed frame with carbon (On-one) fork and bars was both very pretty and astonishingly light and looks set to be a popular cult classic. Hearing that Dorking’s Head for the Hills were stockists had me thinking about getting hold of a steel framed Swift for a demo though.
So, there’s a few of the things that turned our heads this year. One thing I’d like to say is how friendly just about anybody we spoke to was this year, there was a great feel to the show compared to previous years and people really did seem to love their products and want to talk about them.
Look out for more later in the week or just sate your curiosity with our Cycle Show 2008 photos on Flickr.
About the author
Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.
Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.
An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.
If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.
There are 6 comments on ‘Cycle Show 2008 at Earls Court’
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DaveW says:
I like that Plug – I’ve been eying various variations of the Plug for a while, but the ones I’d seen didn’t have mudguard mounts. I think they have a flip-flop fixed-freewheel hub too which is a bonus. I quite like the Pompino and the Cotic Road Rat too.
(Welcome back to mtb by the way – you healed quick!)
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Posted on October 13, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Matt says:
I thought the retro looks were just soooo cool, I could really see myself running one of these as a practical road machine.
Looks stylish but actually quite a ‘core bike when you start to look closely — decent frame, reliable singlespeed set up, love the flat bars…
Cheers Dave, it’s good to be back on the bike although I’m feeling very rusty!!
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Posted on October 14, 2008 at 4:45 pm
DaveW says:
Have you considered the Pashley Guvnor, or is that too eccentric?
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Posted on October 15, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Matt says:
I saw the Pashley Guvnor at the Bike Show! It’s a lovely machine, hub brakes, singlespeed, Reynolds tubing, Brooks saddle. Love the moustache bars and cream tyres too.
Trouble is if I had that I’d have to buy the whole Rapha catalogue and ride round in tweed plus 4s!!
Now that Singular are on my radar there’s always the Peregrine too which is designed specifically for drop bars…
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Posted on October 16, 2008 at 9:29 am
Colin says:
Hello guys, I was about to jump in here and say ‘Oh no, not another mtb website going on about road bikes bla bla bla’, then looked at the Pashley Guvnor on their website.
What a great looking bike (bar the saddle). A brown Charge spoon on there and the 3 speed option would be a great commuter bike.
Shame I missed the show, but feel I was there thanks to Matt’s pics. Didn’t Hope suspect you of industrial espionage-you must have been on their stand ages ?
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Posted on October 16, 2008 at 9:46 am
Muddymoles says:
Cycle Show 2008 trend alert
Red, black and white is the new brown from what we saw at the Cycle Show 2008.
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Posted on October 16, 2008 at 3:45 pm