Condor Cassette Summer 2016

SPRING 2016

CONDORCYCLES.COM LONDON SINCE 1948

The

E T T E S S CA Italia RC We take a look at the history of aluminium race bikes and the story behind the all new Italia RC.

Design Icons

Spring Picks

Our pick of this season’s essential kit.

P.3

An in-depth look at the development of aero clothing from Assos.

P.4

2016 Range Overview Find your perfect Condor.

P.6

RIDING THE SHROPSHIRE HILLS Team JLT Condor rider, Luke Mellor, guides us through a maze of single-track road climbs over the Long Mynd to the adjacent ridge of Stiperstones, crowned by a line of spooky-looking crags where Satan is said to have held court. Welcome to Shropshire.

Words: Claire Beaumont Images: Angus Sung

When I was a child we had all sorts of Enid Blyton type tales piled up on a bookcase. I used to make my mum read the Lone Pine Adventures to me, it featured tales of derring-do by a secret society of children in wartime Shropshire, set among the moorlands of Wenlock Edge and the Long Mynd. The landscape was as dramatic as the plot lines, thrilling to a kid like me, exposed to only the urban sprawl and benign climbs of Crystal Palace in South London.

Nicknamed Little Switzerland, the Shropshire hills and its Long Mynd climb won’t exactly give the Matterhorn an insecurity complex, but there is a touch of the incongruously wild and gothic about the area. Over half the county of Shropshire has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), and its heather-covered hills and valleys make for

excellent riding terrain. We turned to team rider and local, Luke Grivell-Mellor, to guide us through the gorgeous county.

Luke, graduate of the 2012 Rapha Condor Sharp development team, is long in the leg and the tallest member of the squad, standing a lofty six foot five. Mellor, from a cycling family, has worked tirelessly for the past three years in support of the team leaders at key stage races. On two occasions he helped the team win the Yellow Jersey at the Tour of Korea, the Polka Dot Jersey at the Tour of Japan, and to his name he has a team time trial win at the Manzi Tour of South Africa. This year he rode the inaugural Tour of Yorkshire and took a brilliant solo victory on a rain soaked stage of the Irish Suir Valley 3 day.

continued on page 2

SHROPSHIRE HILLS (cont.)

ROUTE CLUB Route Club is our growing collection of rides. Our aim is to simply share hidden gems we enjoy. Each route has a downloadable Garmin navigation file, and a printable set of top tube instructions and cafe stops. bit.ly/condor-routeclub Wimbledon & Thames Pave

If you fancy a bit of Strada Bianche in west London, then this ride is ideal. Suitable for cyclo-cross bikes in the winter and road bikes with slightly wider tyres in the summer.

continued from page 1 We met Luke on a chilly morning on the outskirts of the county’s capital, Shrewsbury.

He made us a short Aeropress coffee using a Workshop Coffee blend that we quickly guzzled before heading out into the winter sunshine.

Tom Southam’s Mendips

It was not long before we hit the first ascent, climbing up onto the Stiperstones Ridge.

“Come late summer these hilltops are a sea of purple”, explains Luke, “and not to be missed.”

The descent off the top is fast and fun, bringing us out into Church Stretton, a cute town chock full of delis and coffee stops, decked out in black and white half-timers.

Only twenty miles into his loop, we passed Berry’s Coffee House, which is “renowned for award-winning cheap eats. All the food is locally sourced or Fairtrade and everything is home-made.”

We turn right in the town and immediately started climbing The Burway, a two mile ascent with a weighty 9% average gradient.

At the summit Luke continues on, but the photographer and I are forced to stop and gawp at the sheer natural beauty that is Luke’s homeland. Reaching out into the distance is Wenlock Edge, and in the opposite direction the rugged outline of Stiperstones Ridge.

A sharp descent off the top, we continue south, then begin to loop back and climb again, this time a two mile incline towards a place called ‘The Bog’. The bulk of climbing and riding done, Luke motors off down the descent and heads back towards Shrewsbury, just as the cycle computer hits the fifty mile mark.

The coffee stop is one of Luke’s favourite haunts, Ginger & Co. Coffee. “If you are out in the sticks you could visit Montgomery Castle Kitchen”, explains Luke after the ride.

The loop is one of his regular training rides.

“I usually ride a variation of this route two or three times a week. I tack an extra bit on Long Mountain to make it longer.”

“I would usually ride through a couple of smaller lanes but the winter weather and farmer’s tractors have forced mud onto the

f ry o Histo ondor C

The ride is a rollercoaster up and down some of the steepest ascents in the Mendips.

Kent Gravel Dash

road. There are four different ascents of the Long Mynd. Go up Asterton Bank if you want a real challenge.”

Despite that, the maze of small Tarmac tracks Luke led us over were perfectly quiet, occupied by a hardened walker or two. The roads offered dramatic soaring views over the surrounding countryside.

In just a few hours Luke has confirmed that, if Shropshire isn’t top of your list of regions to ride, you need to reassess your life choices.

Visiting Shropshire and Shrewsbury and need good quality service and support? Visit Dave Mellor Cycles, owned and run by Luke’s father.

Luke wears Mavic for JLT Condor. bit.ly/team-jltcondor

1948

1950

211 Balls Pond Road

Condor Cycles at

Condor Cycles opens

Monty Young opens 90 Gray’s Inn Road

A mere sixteen miles out of central London lie excellent gravel trails and bridleways. This loop twists around the Surrey and Kent borders, utilising some of the North Downs way.

1960

Era of the Condor Mackeson team, which nurtured top riders such as Colin Lewis and Dave Bonner

PAGE 3 / CONDORCYCLES.COM

DYNAMO SYSTEMS

Hub dynamo lighting is the ultimate upgrade accessory for anything ranging from a commuting bike to world tourer, and they generally outlast battery-powered alternatives by years, if not decades. We’ve chosen a range of build options to suit every riding style.

DISC

COMMUTING

RIM BRAKE

FAST & LIGHT

Shutter Precision’s PD-8 dynamo hub paired with a Condor Race rim offers value for money and is perfect for workhorse disc bikes. SON’s Edelux aluminium light creates a spread of light across the road.

Looking to set personal bests? SON’s Delux dynamo has low friction seals and paired with the anodised aluminium Lumotec lamp and Mavic’s race-focused Open Pro rim is ideal for fast training rides and epic record beaters.

SP PD-8 Dynamo Hub 6-bolt design

SON Delux Dynamo Hub compatible with LED lamps

– TWIN IT WITH –

– TWIN IT WITH –

SON Edelux Lamp alloy body design

Supanova E3 Glare Lamp maximum brightness

SON Rear Lamp seat post mounted alloy body design

Mavic Open Pro Rim 32 or 36 hole double eyelet design

Condor Race Rim 32 or 36 hole double eyelet design

EXPEDITION

ALL DAY

SON lives up to the German engineering folklore. Strong and robust with high quality seals and low friction roll, the SON 28 hub is tough to beat. Pair it with The Plug stem cap to charge your smartphone.

The Shutter Precision PV-8 is functional and won’t let you down. SON’s Edelux lamp’s waterproof housing will keep out muck and keep lighting your adventure, whilst the Open Sport rim is perfect for the budget conscious.

SON 28 Disc Dynamo Hub

SP PV-8 Dynamo Hub

– TWIN IT WITH –

– TWIN IT WITH –

SON Rear Rack Mount Lamp alloy body with clear or red lens

SON Edelux Lamp alloy body design

Mavic XM 419 Rim 32 or 36 hole double eyelet design

Condor Race Rim 32 or 36 hole double eyelet design

The Plug III USB charging device

Want to be dynamo powered? Our mechanics are expert wheel builders.

Hand built dynamo front wheels start from £165.

1968

1972

1972

World Pursuit Champion

son, begins working at

bike for Tony Gowland and

Condor

Patrick

Hugh Porter crowned

Grant Young, Monty’s

Condor make a special gold Sercu

London 6 Day

to

ride

the

DESIGN ICON: THE ASSOS SKINSUIT Unveiled at the ‘78 Track World Championship, the skinsuit revolutionised rider race wear.

Trends and technology change, but this Assos creation has never been out of demand.

At the Munich Olympic Velodrome in 1978, lateral thinking Swiss engineer, Tony MaierMoussa, unveiled his latest creation: Daniel Gisiger of Switzerland riding in the first anatomical skinsuit.

(

when wool and baggy jerseys reigned supreme.

Rewind to 1976 when Assos founder, Tony Maier-Moussa, was working on creating the first carbon bicycle frame. His aim was to make an aerodynamic frame to reduce drag using lighter materials. He poured all the money he earned from being Europe’s first Shimano distributor into developing his own components. There were aerodynamic rims, spokes, saddles, a chainset, a bottom bracket, and his ultimate goal: a carbon track frame.

He realised that spending hours trying to make the bicycle as aerodynamic as possible was only part of the issue. The rider atop the bike was the biggest barrier to being as

“He found the surface structure of skin was not the ideal medium for air to flow quickly over.”

Whilst Gisiger’s results didn’t garner much attention, his one-piece suit certainly did, and the first Assos skinsuit was born. The skinsuit feels as if it has been around forever. A onepiece, pocket-less, form-fitting garment, it is made from a mix of Lycra with padded chamois and long front zip and is worn throughout the world by amateurs to elites in disciplines from time trials to cyclo-cross.

And yet, there had to be a time before skinsuits,

)

aerodynamic as possible.

In the summer of 1976, Assos presented the first pair of shorts made from DuPont Lycra.

The Swiss component maker sponsored a small race team and when Maier-Moussa asked the riders to pull on his shiny black shorts, it took a lot of convincing to get the racers out of the wool. His next invention was visionary. Early work at the Zurich Technical University by Maier-Moussa found that gaps

between your shorts and your jersey basically act like miniature sails, catching wind and pulling you backwards while you lose valuable seconds. So he put a rider on a bike without any clothes. He found the surface structure of skin was not the ideal medium for air to flow quickly over. He clothed his test riders in full Lycra one-piece suits, with long sleeves and integrated hand loops to cover the skin. The material on the torso was stitched almost seamlessly to his Lycra shorts.

Assos pushed their original design further.

At the 1987 World Championship in Ronse, the Italian time-trial quartet claimed bronze riding in their Assos skinsuits. Their suit featured the notorious Cinto, a steel cable that attached the rider to the stem to hold them in a more aerodynamic position. It enabled the rider to generate more leverage against the pedals and create more power—and was instantly banned by the UCI. The Assos Lycra shorts and suit were almost triple the cost of a pair of wool shorts, which, compared with a wind-cheating carbon bike, was a worthwhile investment. Although there are various iterations of the cycling skinsuit, the principle of the garment has remained the same. Thirty-seven years later, MaierMoussa’s innovative ethos has remained integral to the fabric of performance cycling.

Shop the comlete Assos collection here: bit.ly/assoscollection

1978

1980

1986

of rock and pop icons Mick

Don Allen and Danny

Cycling Team, racing in a range of Pro

Jagger, Eric Clapton and Dusty

Clarke win final ever

tour races

Springfield

London Skol 6 Day

Condor attracts the attentions

Condor equipped

Condor Cycles support Percy Bilton Pro

PAGE 5 / CONDORCYCLES.COM

TWO WHEELS ONLY MALAYSIA

FURTHER AFIELD

There are many strings to the bow of premium road store, TWO Wheels Only. The retailer is home to the Malaysia Sports Council Cycling team, a young and ambitious squad who take part in the UCI Asia Tour aboard Condor Leggero framesets.

Can’t visit our London store? We work with a select number of outlets that we know provide the same level of advice and expertise that riders have come to expect from Condor Cycles.

Each stockist offers a full bike fit as part of the service and, like Condor, is a specialist retailer.

We know you’ll be in safe hands when you visit a Condor stockist. Here, we take a look at a handful of retailers in the Condor network. You can find the full list here:

Like Condor, T.W.O. is passionate about supporting talented riders.

The store in Damansara Perdana is split across several floors, retailing two key bike brands, Condor and Cannondale, whilst their specialist pro bike fit ensures riders get the perfect set up.

bit.ly/Condor-stockists

As store manager Soon proudly explains, “We love Malaysia, we love bicycles and we love what we do.”

PEDALHEAD ROADWORKS CANADA

www.two.com.my

Edmonton-based Pedalhead Roadworks (known to most as PRW) was set up by Guri, a former road racer and custom Guru fit specialist. His aim was to offer the best brands of clothing, saddles, shoes, frames and wheels, and importantly the best service to Alberta, Canada. His store is legendary. The attention to detail that is afforded to each customer exceeds expectation. You don’t just visit PRW, you experience it. www.pedalheadroadworks.com

KUSHOP & TAKEOUT BIKE SOUTH KOREA

RONDE SCOTLAND, UK Ronde Bicycle Outfitters is much more than a bicycle store. A converted former butcher’s shop, Ronde serves some of the best coffee, soups and sweet treats in Edinburgh.

The store offers bike fitting, servicing and a host of products for road riding and cyclo-cross.

www.rondebike.com

Most people hurtle past Carmarthenshire on their way to the more famous and trumpeted charms of neighbouring Pembrokeshire. But this green and peaceful county is well worth visiting. It is home to County Cycles, one of Condor’s oldest retailers.

Seoul was one of the first cities outside of the UK to offer a retail home to Condor. It is a region that was made for cycling and our pro team, JLT Condor, have twice claimed victory at the prestigious Tour de Korea stage race.

Regularly hosting talks, screenings and mini exhibitions related to all things cycling, their annual ‘cross event, Haughcross, has seen the likes of Helen Wyman attend.

Regulars to the cafe-cum-bicycle outfitters include former Scottish Road Race Champion, James McCallum, and mod photographer and friend of Bradley Wiggins, Scott Mitchell.

COUNTY CYCLES WALES, UK

CYCLE HEAVEN YORKSHIRE, UK A legend of cycling in York, Cycle Heaven has not one but three retail outlets in the historic city.

The experienced team recently opened a new store in a renovated warehouse, adding a café to the expansive selection of cycling goodies. The team are well versed in the Condor range and many of the staff own our popular Fratello model.

Fashion and technology forward, but also deeply traditional, Seoul’s four guardian mountains are beautiful places to ride on two wheels. You’ll pass World Heritage Sites including the Jongmyo Shrine and graceful Hanoks (traditional wooden homes).

Condor is available in two pro cycling stores: Kushop (to the south of the city) and TakeOut Bike (in the north east of Seoul). www.kushop.kr www.takeoutbike.com

MY BEAUTIFUL PARKING BARCELONA, SPAIN Hidden in a maze of streets in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, MBP offers hire bikes for city day trippers as well as a range of Condor single speed components and frames. www.mybeautifulparking.com

The husband and wife team, whose adventures by bike include touring across Scotland and rides the length of Wales, are a duo with decades of experience.

County run an incredibly popular Merlin Sportive, which tackles the beautiful black mountains, as well as supporting a local race team.

We recommend you grab a Welsh cake or two in the store’s café. www.county-cycles.com

CYCLE HONITON DEVON, UK

Slap bang in the middle of the country, Red Kite’s expansive two storey store is stashed full of bicycles. The team is well versed in all things Condor, especially the Fratello and Acciaio.

The husband and wife team at Cycle Honiton are a great pairing with years of experience in the industry and owners of several Condor road bikes themselves.

The newly-opened store in Devon is a paradise for steel bikes and in a region perfectly suited to all day riding. If you are just passing through the locale, pop in and say hi – the store and friendly service will brighten your day no end.

www.redkitecycles.co.uk

www.cycle1.co.uk

www.cycle-heaven.co.uk

RED KITE BIRMINGHAM, UK

2006

2007

2008

team formed

Cycles range including Galibier

60th anniversary

Rapha Condor racing

Reintroduction of the Paris

Condor Cycles celebrates

2016 RANGE OVERVIEW Discover more online at condorcycles.com

LEGGERO

ITALIA RC

Made from super-light, super-stiff, high modulus carbon fiber, the Leggero is a balance of light and fast. Featuring wind-slicing, droplet-shaped tubes and our finest nano carbon technology, the Leggero provides the responsive ride that jumps the second you drive power into the pedals.

Borrowing geometry cues from the race winning carbon Leggero and constructed from state-ofthe-art 7000 series aluminium, our triple-butted frameset is stiff and superbly light. Remodelled for 2016 with a tapered head tube and new smoother, lighter tubing, the Italia RC is ready to take you to the podium.

LEGGERO SL

BARACCHI

Our superlight frame with a sensational race-tuned ride.

Balancing superlight, expertly selected carbon with perfect geometry for pin-sharp handling. Weighing in at just 850g, it is the perfect weapon for battles into the sky.

Hand made carbon that oozes performance. Designed to offer comfort without sacrificing speed, making your longest ride the most enjoyable.

SUPER ACCIAIO Cutting edge technology married with traditional craftsmanship. Developed over four years with riders from our pro team and legendary steel manufacturer, Columbus.

The Super Acciaio is one of a kind, featuring a tapered head tube and BB30 bottom bracket. Custom drawn tubes are hand cut and TIG welded in Italy to create a unique, no-nonsense race thoroughbred.

PAGE 7 / CONDORCYCLES.COM

HERITAGE & HERITAGE DISC A modern bike with traditional accents, the Heritage is a robust mile eater, featuring a classic Tange steel fork, perfect for carrying heavy loads. Using a lightweight front triangle, the Heritage boasts light and fast handling and a smooth ride.

The internal mounted disc ensures pannier bags can be fitted and fully loaded without affecting the braking performance. Tackle round-the-world adventures or country to country sight seeing. The Heritage is designed for full on months-on-the-road touring without a hiccup.

FRATELLO & FRATELLO DISC Our flagship steel frame is as popular as ever. Used as a commuter by some, fast tourer or winter trainer by others, its inherent versatility makes it ideal if you don’t have space for a stable of bikes.

The responsive triple-butted steel in our latest incarnation of the award winning Fratello is lively and exciting to ride, whatever the weather.

The latest model uses lighter and smoother, custom-shaped Columbus Spirit tubing.

The Fratello is available with or without disc brakes. Both framesets will allow for 28c tyres to be fitted with full mudguards and rack.

ACCIAIO STAINLESS

CLASSICO STAINLESS

Light, fast and responsive. The Acciaio Stainless is our signature frameset built with Columbus XCr stainless steel tubing, offering top-tier performance with the ability to be ridden all day.

Available in a choice of 50 colours with custom geometry as standard.

A feisty ride with classic highlights, the Classico Stainless features sparkling rear stays, constructed from highly-polished Columbus XCr. Unlike chromed tubes, they offer a responsive ride and performance gains.

ACCIAIO The Acciaio is built for long sojourns in the saddle and grand col mountain climbing. It has a longer wheelbase and slightly taller head tube than our frames with race geometry to reduce

rider fatigue, while the triple-butted steel smooths the road on gruelling big ride days.

ITALIA

ITALIA STEP THRU

CLASSICO

The Italia is a lightweight commute and sportive-ready machine. The triple-butted aluminium frame and carbon fork smooths the road ahead. The Italia is, for many, the choice for their first road bike.

The Italia Step Thru is a confidence inspiring road bike. From social rides to weekly workouts and challenging centuries, the lightweight tubing is designed to absorb the Tarmac ahead, and the mudguard and rack options make it a bike ready for all conditions. This model is specifically designed for female proportions: the simple no fuss step through frame suits any outfit.

Fashion and trends come and go, but at Condor we have always believed in the value of artisan craftsmanship. The Classico is constructed using modern materials and traditional techniques for a timeless design. Available in road and single speed.

PAGE 9 / CONDORCYCLES.COM

LAVORO

PISTA

Custom-butted, superlight aluminium tubing is aggressively shaped for performance on the boards.

Welded by hand for maximum structural integrity, the Lavoro is designed to withstand the demands of track racing. Available with a front brake for road use.

Run it as a traditional fixed gear for supreme simplicity or use a freewheel for a sleek, worry-free, around town bike. Using triple-butted steel tubes and a carbon fork, the Pista is a performance frame with traditional styling.

TERRA-X

BIVIO-X

Lightweight and agile, the Terra-X is designed to be raced.

A curved scandium top tube assures maximum space within the frame for shouldering one’s bike. The conical tapered head tube guarantees the highest precision in handling.

Ride all week, race all weekend. Discreet rack and mudguard mounts add versatility without sacrificing performance. Bivio-X has you covered from your first ride to your first podium. The Condor Cross carbon fork handles the toughest dirt or paved road with forgiving, quick performance.

PARIS

TEMPO

The hand made, fillet brazed Paris is a beauty. The lightweight frame features the original bi-lamination design found on frames of the 1940s, married with modern triple-butted steel tubing for an exquisite ride. Available in road and single speed.

Imagine pure functionality with an unmistakably clean design.

It’s everything a fixie should be, and then everything a good road bike should be, too.

A POWERFUL ALLOY Aluminium has been given a rough ride over the past decade. It is back in the pro ranks and Condor is out to prove its new superlight race frame is smoother than ever.

T

he nineties brought us the colour Game Boy, Sony Mini Disc and Apple’s revolutionary iMac G3. It was a colour explosion. A revolution in size and design. Whopping chunks of eighties first generation tech became refined and affordable.

Italia RC 2.0 Like steel, the main parameters of aluminium tube design are wall thickness, butting, and shape. Aluminium is classed based on the International Alloy Designation System. Each alloy is given a four-digit number, where the first digit indicates the major alloying elements. 1000 series is essentially pure aluminium. 7000 series aluminium is alloyed with zinc and can be precipitation hardened (a form of heat treatment) to the highest strengths of any aluminium alloy.

“We know more now about road vibration, rider fatigue, and measuring power. We have new technologies to hydroform tubes, we have new ways to test frame and tube structure. We can take this knowledge and apply it to the material”, says Grant.

The most common alloy used on mid-level bikes is 6000 series and usually it is double-

In these pre-millennium years, aluminium tubing was surfing a wave of new. If you were at the top of the pro ranks, you had aluminium.

Big bold tubes, unusual shapes, aero design; it looked new and modern and most of all it was lighter than anything before. The possibilities seemed endless and it made cycling feel effortless. By the time the millennium bug threatened to destroy the world, the Game Boys and Mini Discs were collecting dust on shelves. Marco Pantani was the last man to win the Tour de France on an aluminium bike – a Bianchi Mega Pro XL – in 1998. However,

(

The frame shares many features of the handmade carbon Leggero model; a tapered headtube, internal cable routing and broad tubes.

aluminium’s renowned lightweight properties were quickly swept away in a fanfare for a new material; carbon. An influx of cheap alloy road bikes filled manufacturer’s catalogues. China could make it quick, make it cheap, and make it fast. Aluminium bikes soon disappeared from the pro peloton altogether.

butted as it is cheaper to produce. High strength 7000 series alloy can be triple-butted. Triplebutting a tube makes the tube go from thick to as thin as paper, if you so wish. Then it is down to tube design. With a better grade of material, tube design options are greater. This is why 7000 series alloy is used in the Italia RC. The frame shares many features of the handmade carbon Leggero model: a tapered headtube, internal cable routing and broad tubes. The top tube is formed into the same slender decagon shape as used on the Condor Super Acciaio for increased torsional stiffness.

Messy welds and a harsh ride meant the Far East’s affordable bikes quickly ruined aluminium’s reputation. Riders liked this new material, carbon. It was Formula 1, it was cutting edge, and everybody felt it was the best. Lance took the ’99 Tour de France on it.

It was the lightest, stiffest, most responsive material known to man.

So why should we be interested in an oldfashioned material when we have hi-tech black fibres to play with? Condor believes aluminium never quite got a fair run at the top.

If it’s made properly, by the right craftsmen, with the right selection of aluminium, then it rides well and races at the top.

Better ride The overwhelming problem with aluminium of the past is that the ride on low end bikes was considered too harsh or too boring. The trouble with cheap carbon frames is the same.

Triple-butting moves excess material out of low-stress areas, creating natural compliance in the tube, whilst more material is focused in the areas that matter. By bolstering the downtube and headtube, the ride is made incredibly responsive and reacts to rider input instantaneously.

The frame is paired with a new, lighter carbon fork and is hand welded by Condor’s master craftsmen. Their skilfully welded tubes use less material at each join, which helps smooth the ride.

“I was really quite saddened when we phased out our top-of-the-line aluminium frame. It felt like we were trying to wipe out something that was bad, when in fact, our frame was sensational. Other manufacturers made aluminium feel like a dirty word. I’d propose our aluminium frame to a customer and they would look at me like I’d misunderstood”, explained Grant Young, Managing Director.

“Now we see carbon bikes creeping in at entrylevel price points. The higher cost of the frame means that corners are cut on the rest of the kit and the overall bike is compromised. It can result in a poor ride quality and ultimately negate all the benefits of the carbon frame.”

2009 Kristian

House

the cost in mind. The result can be that frames at this price are heavier and rougher than the equivalent aluminium. Carbon will be lighter and stiffer, but only if you buy a high quality frame.”

They say hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Imagine getting the chance to launch something again. Aluminium, in the right hands, can be built to make a beautiful race ready machine. With all the modern technology and historic craftsmanship wrapped up in the Italia RC, the future of aluminium looks quite different from that of Sony’s Mini Disc.

The Italia RC is available this Spring.

Choices So, if you go into a bike shop with a grand or so to spend, should you opt for a carbon bike or an aluminium one?

Grant warns, “Remember that not all carbon is created equal. When you’re shopping at a £1,500 price point, the frame is often constructed with

wins

National

Road Race Championship on the Condor Leggero

)

2011

2012

Wallpaper Design Awards

medal at the London Games

World Series win Best Ride at

Condor rider, Ed Clancy, wins gold

PAGE 11 / CONDORCYCLES.COM

SPRING PICKS Four items we’re wearing this spring

Velocio Women’s Ultralight Jersey

Perforated fabric for hot days, fast wicking with minimal seams to keep it under 100 grams.

Gore Bike Wear Rescue Jacket

Pro fit, lightweight, wind beating jacket with rain resistant DWR treatment.

SWRVE Cordura Cycling Jeans

Abrasion resistant, stretch denim. Perfect for commuting or Sunday morning brunch rides.

(Top): new Italia RC,

frameset £749.99.

Complete bike weight 7.8kg as shown.

(Left page): JLT Condor’s Conor Dunne racing on the Italia RC at 2016 Tour de Taiwan.

(Above): smooth neat welds on the capped dropout.

(Right): large diameter hydroformed downtube.

(Far right): frame details of the new redesigned tubeset.

Condor Arm/Leg Warmers

A Spring ride staple, great value with reflective detailing for dawn ride visability.

2015

2015

team relaunched as

successful season taking the

JLT Condor with Mavic

combativity prize at the Tour

providing equipment and clothing

of Britain

Rapha Condor JLT pro cycling

Graham

Briggs

finishes

a

2016

Condor relaunches a refreshed Italia RC and an all new aero Leggero

RULES OF THE ROAD Do you wave to other cyclists? Can you mend your own puncture? Do you know your group riding etiquette? Here are our basic rules for safe and considerate bunch riding.

Acknowledge_other riders

Ride in two lines _ and together

Don’t run_ the reds

Always wait _for stragglers

Point out pot holes, parked cars and puddles to your fellow riders _

Carry food, spare tubes, tools, pump and know how to fix a puncture _

Dress appropriately, carry a rain jacket or gilet

Learn how to eat whilst riding without endangering others