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took the moustache bars out the difference was noticeable the bars feel far more aligned with the way i ride they give me upright comfort when i want it multiple hand positions to adjust subtly through a ride and that slightly forward hoods position which almost feels aero like a soft tt stance without compromising comfort or control they bring an elegant roadster vibe to the bike too the long sweeping lines complement the original paint and patina framing the quill stem and giving the bike a classic purposeful look it s a bike that looks like it s meant to be ridden not just admired practicality is where moustache bars really shine the extra width gives excellent leverage off road helping the bike feel planted and confident on rough tracks bridleways and loose gravel yet they re narrow enough that city streets and tighter lanes don t feel cumbersome the lighter front end combined with the natural sweep of the bars makes the steering intuitive and responsive while helping the bike absorb bumps beautifully braking is another noticeable improvement the neutral wrist position and inward sweep let me apply more effective power through the levers while my body remains balanced even rim brakes feel sharper and i feel fully in control whether i m on tarmac or grit covered trails and again the drop section which i ve appreciated on other bikes feels almost entirely redundant here i don t need extreme forward posture aggressive weight shifts or extra leverage the moustache bar gives me everything i need comfort multiple hand positions control and style all in one tidy elegant package a brief history of the nitto moustache bar and grant petersen the moustache bar itself has an interesting lineage grant petersen designer author and former product manager at bridgestone usa played a key role in popularising it petersen is well known for championing practical durable bikes that prioritize comfort and versatility over outright performance after bridgestone u s closed he founded rivendell bicycle works carrying forward the same ethos the moustache bar first appeared on the bridgestone xo 1 produced in the early 1990s under petersen s direction the xo 1 blurred the lines between road and hybrid bikes road bike geometry but with wide 26 wheels capacity for racks and fenders and the ability to handle mixed terrain petersen s aim was a versatile do it all bike and the moustache handlebar was a key part of that vision inspired by semi drop handlebars used by schoolchildren in japan petersen refined the bar over several prototypes experimenting with sweep reach and bend until it offered multiple hand positions comfortable leverage and intuitive control the xo 1 s bars were polarising at the time but they perfectly reflected petersen s philosophy bikes should be ridden comfortably and confidently no matter the terrain today nitto still makes moustache bars in the same spirit they carry forward that legacy of practicality comfort and understated elegance which is why they feel so perfectly at home on a classic steel raleigh like mine for me this isn t just a bar choice it s a culmination of my riding philosophy practical versatile understated and perfectly suited to the kind of routes i love quiet roads rough tracks and everything in between finally moustache bars have found their home rate this ten years by bike almost on october 28 2025 by theeverydaycyclist in uncategorized leave a comment 27 000km and counting looking ahead to a decade of there and back again on the trans pennine trail in 2016 i started a new job and almost without thinking began riding there a couple of times a week thirteen kilometres each way flat and familiar never dramatic just enough to wake up the legs and ease the mind before the day began i didn t set out to save the planet or count carbon credits i just preferred the feeling of rolling through the morning light to sitting in traffic almost ten years later i ve covered something like 27 000 kilometres on that commute when you add it up that s roughly two thirds of the way around the world or the sort of distance that quietly defines a decade it s also about three and a half tonnes of co that never made it into the atmosphere the equivalent of twenty odd short haul flights or a year s electricity in a typical home all from pedalling those ordinary miles the route itself hasn t changed much the same cut throughs the same stretch of path along the trans pennine trail the same smell of damp leaves on autumn mornings what has changed is what the bike means to me those weekday rides sit alongside the weekend exploring the s24o camps the overnighters with a trangia and a tin of beans the rough stuff inspired forays into the hills together they make up a kind of whole commuting and touring and wandering different shades of the same freedom there s a quiet satisfaction in knowing that the miles that get me to work are part of the same story as the ones that take me into the countryside they all speak to the same idea that the bicycle is enough enough for everyday travel enough for escape enough for a life lived at human speed a decade of simple choices has shaped more than just my carbon footprint it has shaped a way of living that feels grounded and connected a reminder that the tools we use most often can also be the ones that carry us furthest one bike one route one small habit repeated it s amazing what that can add up to rate this carradice odyssey xl ranger hx limited edition review on september 25 2025 september 25 2025 by theeverydaycyclist in uncategorized 5 comments do you know when you see a new product and you hesitate to pull the trigger you sniff around it favourite the page add it to your basket remove it circle back rinse and repeat and then when you re finally ready to commit it s out of stock or out of production so it was with the carradice odyssey xl ranger hx it hit the market a year or so ago along with a few other bags in the same limited range the cambrian saddlebag colorado seat pack and pennine top tube bag the ranger hx variant of the odyssey was made from sand coloured british millerain ranger hx fabric a dry wax cotton with a hexagonal ripstop weave rather than the standard black cordura used in the regular odyssey xl while the standard bag is great and fully waterproof thanks to the seam sealed liner i was smitten with the british millerain version but it was too late or so i thought time passed then a few weeks the hankering returned for a tan coloured saddlebag with a roll top having spent unhealthy amounts of time looking at the swift zeitgeist and the ron s bikes fabio s chest both of these are fabulous bags but prohibitively expensive for me being a long time carradice customer i was aware of their amazing customer service and their ability to fulfil custom orders so i dropped them an email to see if they have any plans to bring back the ranger hx fabric a few hours later monika from carradice replied and said they still had the fabric and could make me a bag of my choosing as a special order the odyssey xl has now been replaced with the odyssey in the current range with a few changes the 26 litre capacity is the same but gone is the long flap the side pockets have a dry bag material lid along with a few other detail changes however i liked the original with its long flap and ability to overstuff i replied and asked if they could make me one and the reply was quick snd affirmative a week or so later machinist sue had completed my custom bag amid a big standard production run and it was on the way to me from nelson to my home in liverpool as soon as i unwrapped the bag i knew it was going to be great the material is technical yet classic in the same way as fjallraven g1000 is it s light and tough the whole bag weighs in at 700g which is super light for such a capacious bag the design manages the same trick as the material in that it s modern yet classic the roll top closure is a huge step forward compared with the drawstring closure on my super c rsf special edition which for a few years now has been for me the ultimate carradice saddlebag the odyssey xl trumps the super c in every way when empty it keeps its shape thanks to the stiffener in the base it manages to be compact despite having three more litres of space than the super c the side pockets are smaller but have the ability to flatten down like on a swift zeitgeist or fabio s chest making handlebar mounting a possibility too the lid is great lined with orange water resistant nylon it opens out to double its length and accommodate tents extra gear or chronic overstuffing the final upgrade is the sleeve that receives the bagman support when combined with the qr attachment it makes for a super stable mount that is wag free and silent when in use it also slips on and off in seconds and the d rings for the accessory shoulder strap make transitions from bike to office seamless more d rings on the lid allow extra stuff to be strapped on making this a serious piece of load lugging kit i m delighted with the bag and even more delighted that carradice were able to make it for me that s the kind of service you can only get from a small maker the fact that it s made in britain from british materials is the icing on the cake all this for 119 including shipping which i think is astonishing value compared with the 200 price tag of the much smaller zeitgeist and considerably more for the fabio s chest thank you carradice thank you monika for sorting me out and of course sue for the amazing artisanal work on the bag itself i m looking forward to many miles together rate this why my raleigh clubman still makes sense today on september 10 2025 by theeverydaycyclist in uncategorized leave a comment as appropriate and durable as the bridge it stands on i ride a 1983 raleigh clubman not as a museum piece not because i m trying to cosplay as a retro roadie and not even because of its looks though i ll admit the lugged steel frame and its lived in patina have a quiet beauty that modern bikes rarely match the real reason i ride this bike every day is that it represents a point in bicycle evolution where form function repairability and sustainability all intersect the sweet spot of technology by the early 1980s road bikes like the clubman had reached a maturity steel tubing and lugs gave frames strength resilience and comfort in equal measure they were light enough to ride fast tough enough for loaded touring and crucially repairable if things went wrong the standards were simple and widely shared bottom brackets headsets seatposts and derailleurs could be swapped and upgraded without hunting down obscure proprietary parts forty years on i can still service or replace almost everything on my bike with tools that fit in a saddlebag function over fashion the clubman isn t a featherweight race replica it was designed as an all rounder equally at home on the commute a weekend ride or a long tour it takes mudguards racks and wide tyres without complaint its friction shifters aren t about nostalgia they re about simplicity and freedom from obsolescence i can run a wide range triple chainset with a modern cassette and the levers don t care everything just works together and then there are the rim brakes my choice is tektro r559s paired with trp sl levers powerful easy to set up spares available everywhere they ve stopped me safely on mountain descents and in city traffic alike sustainability built in what s more sustainable than still riding a 40 year old bike to work every day this is the opposite of built in obsolescence the clubman carries its paint chips and scars with pride each one tells a story rather than spelling the end of the frame if it did ever crack a competent framebuilder could repair it try doing that with a carbon frame steel endures because it s both strong and forgiving and because it was designed to last not to be replaced every few years why it matters today we live in an era of hyper specialised bikes with ever more integrated and disposable components in that context the clubman feels radical it shows that good design doesn t need to be reinvented every model year this isn t about looking back with rose tinted glasses it s about recognising that sometimes technology reaches a point of balance that is hard to improve upon the raleigh clubman is living proof of that balance practical sustainable and a joy to ride every time i swing a leg over it i m reminded that cycling can be simple resilient and human centred that s why i still ride it and why i probably always will rate this in defence of lugged steel on september 9 2025 by theeverydaycyclist in uncategorized 1 comment hayden olympic lugs and reynolds 531 still going strong after 42 years following on from my post about rim brakes i ve been moved to write about another so called outdated technology that i think still represents the best of what bicycles can be lugged steel frames and forks my everyday ride is a 1983 raleigh clubman lugged and brazed in worksop sympathetically upgraded with modern parts it still feels alive under me in a way that few modern bikes do there s a resilience in the frame a sense that the tubes are working with you rather than against you with steel that resilience and flex is intentional part of the design rather than a flaw a well built steel frame will spring back taking the sting out of rough surfaces without feeling soggy or inefficient compare that with aluminium which is usually made oversized to chase stiffness often at the expense of comfort and longevity or carbon which can be wonderfully light and tuned for compliance in theory but in practice often feels brittle hard to trust and impossible to repair titanium comes closer to steel in ride feel and durability but the cost makes it unattainable for most of us then there s the question of aesthetics and craft lugged joints aren t just practical they re beautiful they give a frame character a signature of the builder s hand thin walled tubes elegantly joined look right in a way that hydroformed aluminium and monocoque carbon never quite do and steel is endlessly repairable a skilled builder can re braze a lug replace a tube cold set a rear triangle or even drill out and replace a seized bolt try doing that with carbon steel frames don t just last years they last lifetimes for the sort of riding i do commuting light touring rough stuff excursions a lugged steel bike is still the most complete solution lugged steel may not be the lightest or the most high tech but it strikes a balance between resilience ride quality repairability and beauty that no other material has bettered for me it s still the benchmark against which everything else is measured carbon may be the future but steel is the past present and future rate this in defence of rim brakes on september 8 2025 by theeverydaycyclist in uncategorized 4 comments yes warren you can have wide tyres rims and fenders and have excellent braking i...