It's been brought to my attention over the last couple of years that I've ritualised my cycling somewhat. Selecting and laying out kit the night before a big ride, checking routes and weather, preparing food and drinks, charging devices - it's all begining to lack spontaneity.
This in itself is not a major problem for me - I love all that shizzle - but it drives my family mad. It's no use asking me to cycle to the shops to pick something up, I'll either take too long getting ready or I'll make an hour's detour to make it worth my while (no one should post a Strava ride of 3km, should they...)
I'd recently done some riding at a velodrome and, although it involved all of the kit choice indulgence, the simplicity of a track bike appealed to me enormously. However, the prospect of having no brakes scared me poopless, so if I was to dabble in a bit of single speedery it would have to be with a freehub and stoppers. I'm also not made of money, so any experimentation had to be within some sort of reasonable budget.
Black Dog Bikes sells an entry-level model and they lent me their Vilano Rampage, which ticked all of the above boxes with a price tag of just £180 (even less on Amazon). As well as a flip-flop rear wheel (a fixed cog on one side, a freewheeling cog on the other) it has both front and rear caliper brakes and, for my inner hipster, 45mm deep and fabulously red-rimmed wheels with matching anodised hubs.
The bling wheels make an impressive contrast against the unmarked, glossy black steel frame, the only ackowledgement of the bike's origins a shiny 'V' on the head tube. It comes in other retro colours - grey with orange wheels looks particularly trick - but the red and black is the one that appeals the most to me.
The Vilano Rampage is only available online so it comes boxed up, but as it's as technically complex as a knife and fork, building it up is simplicity itself, especially as it comes with pedals and a very comprehensive multi-tool. All I had to do was bolt on the handlebars, adjust the brakes and saddle and pump the tyres up, and I was good to go.
No changing into lycra or cleated shoes, I just hopped on and pedalled to the end of my street and back again - I didn't even don a helmet or gloves. I felt naked, but in a good way. The simple joy of going as fast as my legs could pedal with the wind in (what's left of) my hair. I had an epiphany and suddenly understood the difference between cycling for leisure and leisure cycling.
Over the next few days I kept finding excuses to run errands, zooming about making whooshing noises like a seven-year-old. I fixed on a pair of lights and cycled to the next town to meet my wife from work - a longer ride than I'd previously done - and was astonished at the speeds I was maintaining. The 28c tyres and high tensile steel frame soaked up all of the lumps and bumps. The 46/16 gearing was pretty good for getting up most urban slopes, although I found the bars a tad narrow to get any sort of climbing leverage - this may be because I'm used to a drop bar bike and my elbows stuck out like Froomey's doing a high-cadence alpine climb.
All in all, the Vilano Rampage is a fabulous way to get into single speed biking. It's affordable, simple, robust, relatively lightweight, comfortable, nippy and looks stunning. I couldn't bear to part with it, so I contacted BDB and bought it off them. Fortunately, it's not as frivolous a purchase as you might think - it's being lent to my son now he's home from university. That is, until I want to pop to the shops for a packet of polo mints.
Vilano Rampage fixie, £180 from bdbikes.co.uk
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