Features

Vintage Bicycle Feature: 1938 Bates 'Volante' Track Bicycle

December 21, 2019

Bates is one of the most highly regarded of the English lightweight frame builders. The company became famous for its racing successes of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s but it...

Mariposa Feature: A 650B All-Road Bike

December 15, 2019

This bicycle was built with a Shimano Di2 GRX groupset and the frame was built to accept both 650B and 700C rims and tires, giving the rider a wide range...

Vintage Bicycle Feature: Gardin. Canada, 1983.

December 11, 2019

Joe Gardin came to Canada from Italy as a young boy. He settled in Toronto and later established successful business manufacturing material handing equipment. But Joe’s passion was cycling and...

Vintage Bicycle Feature: c1968 Cinelli S.C.

November 27, 2019

Cinelli Bicycles was founded in 1948 by Cino Cinelli, (born in Montespertoli, Italy, 9 February 1916, died 20 April 2001), a former professional road racer and president of the Italian...

Vintage Bicycle Feature: Griffon Paris Mixte Touring. France 1948

November 6, 2019

This Griffon is an example of a 1950s French mixte bicycle. The term mixte indicates that it is suitable for both sexes but outside of France, the mixte type frame...

Vintage Bicycle Feature: 1965 Hetchins, England

November 4, 2019

This frame is an excellent example of the ornate lugged Hetchins. The Hetchins "Vibrant" stays were claimed to make the bike more comfortable and resilient. Campagnolo Record derailleurs, hubs and...

Vintage Bicycle Feature: André Bertin "Type Special" French Racer Vintage Bicycle

October 29, 2019

This circa late 1940s André Bertin "Type Special" French Racer was built by André Bertin, a former professional cyclist. At Bicyclesport and Bicycle Specialties, we sold Bertin over the years...

Mariposa Feature: All-Road, All-Weather Bike

October 9, 2019

This all road bike, recently built in the workshop, is ready for dirt, mud, tarmac, mountains and plains. And of course, it has a frame pump. It was built with...

Building Bicycles

August 24, 2019

By Michael Barry for Soigneur Photography by Ian Patterson The rising sun breaks through the trees, as we thrash across the open fields. Beneath us, our bikes absorb the undulations...

Mariposa Cyclocross Ultegra Di2 Bicycle

August 6, 2019

This bicycle was built for cyclocross with a 1x Quarq Power crankset (but with a plug hole added to the seat tube to maintain the option to convert the bicycle...

Vintage Bicycle Feature: 1982 Mariposa Child's Road Bicycle

August 1, 2019

By Michael Barry A good steel frame can be used repeatedly, for decades. It can be ridden, crashed, fixed and adapted. In the shop, old bikes come in constantly that...

Vans

June 21, 2019

By Michael Barry The van revved with ferocity as we crested the rolling hills on the eastern side of Lake Superior. They weren’t hills so much as slopes but my...