We can't all ride Colnago C60s and Pinarello Dogma F8s and if you're commuting around a city then you probably don't want to, unless you have more money than sense.
At sportive.com we tend not to review every day city runaround bikes. We look for road bikes that could be used for at least a 50km ride and that would keep you comfortable on journeys of up to 200km. But the founder of Fred's Bicycles came round to see one of my colleagues in my London office and mentioned that he had his trusty steed outside and would I like to give it a spin.
As it happened, I had spent a bit of time this week looking at commuter bikes under £400. My wife wanted a traditional, old fashioned bike for riding between the schools she teaches at but one that was not too expensive as she feared it would be stolen. As a result I had spent a lot of time researching bikes that, with the honourable exception of the Bobbin bike brand, were pretty basic and seemed quite expensive for what you get.
When Tom Davenport, one of Fred's Bicycles' two founders, told me that the basic version of the Gentlemen's Model I bike retails for £229, I have to say I was impressed (there is a Lady's Model I too which comes in duck egg blue). They only launched in July 2014 and are firmly aimed at the university market and are trying to make a name for themselves, so they are keeping the price as low as possible. But I cannot believe they have much margin for profit and would guess that if they properly accounted for the time they have spent getting through the EU health and safety approval process and dealing with a variety of Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers then they could have made a lot more money working for McDonalds (then again, most people in the cycling industry seem to do things more for love than money).
My test ride was short. A ten minute spin around Bloomsbury in central London. My impression of the Fred's Gentleman's Bike was good. It is a single speed bike and handles pretty smoothly. For my liking the gear ratio was slightly too low, meaning that it lacked acceleration on the flat but I guess for the average commuting rider you need the ratio to be like that to ensure that they can get up any hills without suffering cardiac arrest.
The bike has the continental braking method that you can reverse pedal to help slow the bike, which is unnerving if you haven't been warned about it (I hadn't) but you quickly get used to and is actually pretty useful around town.
One thing I have found about cheap bikes is that they tend to be incredibly heavy. For its price, the Fred's Gentleman's bike is remarkably light (although it could never pretend that it anywhere near featherweight) and manoeuvrable. It weighs in at 18kg, which must be at the low end of the spectrum for bikes under £500.
Aesthetically, it looks pretty good, at least from a distance. Tom told me they are based on a century-old design that he saw when travelling in Uganda, where this design of bike is almost ubiquitous. The tyres and saddle are definitely at the very lowest end of the quality spectrum but what would you expect for the price? The bike has a nostalgic feel to it and looks like a classic that your grandfather might have ridden.
The Fred's Bicycles website definitely plays on this vintage classic feel with lots of pictures of Hoxton trendies with beards and girls in floaty dresses riding their products. The women's version of the one I rode comes with a basket on the front and is no doubt being bought by girls called Francesca or Rose who are just starting a Modern Languages degree at Cambridge. Frankly, their website slightly drove me nuts (mainly the content....for example the FAQs has the question 'When did Fredreick III rule Norway?') but then again I am definitely not the target audience.
Fred's Bicycles are currently sold either online (you can have a bike delivered to you and you assemble the pedals and handlebars yourself or they can send a mechanic round to do it for you) or at various markets around London as well as at some universities in late September and early October.
As an entry level bike this is a really very solid machine. For the price it would be hard to find better value anywhere else and for anyone with a limited budget and not too many hills to tackle, this is a really good start. I have a feeling Fred's Bikes will be a very successful brand, with word-of-mouth recommendations driving their growth, and wish them the best of luck.
Fred's Bicycles Gentlemen's Model I, £229 (or £249 with a basket, lights and 'complementary' tote bag).
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