If cycling through the cold and wet is getting you down, fear not, we have a present for you:
20% off everything in the shop! (Including servicing parts)
That includes our great range of lights from Lezyne and Infini, mudguards from SKS and Crud, winter gloves from Madison, tyres from Continental and Maxxis – everything!
Also, if you’re thinking of getting a service to keep your ride working well through into the new year the 20% can be used on parts.
(offer ends 31/03/2015, offer excludes items already discounted, i.e. only one offer can be used at a time, offer excludes all Labour charges)
We will be opening extra days just before the Christmas break, so will be opening on Sunday 21st (10AM – 4PM) and Monday 22nd (9AM-5PM) , for last minute presents or bike servicing.
Also from then on over the holiday these will be our opening times
‘I would thoroughly recommend Tom at Green Park Bike Station. If I need some advice, a bike service or to pick up some kit for my bike he’s always extremely helpful and takes the time to answer my questions. Tom serviced my bike for JOGLE recently and I didn’t have a problem with it for the whole 982 miles’
A new top for this year from Madison, these act as an alternative for the Flux top, and have come on a fair few leaps and bounds.
The Flo top is a lightly fitted jersey, with more breathable panels under the arms and on the back. It also has a small side pocket for keys/ bars etc. and has a glasses wipe on the inside. It comes in three colours- black, coral and aqua.
Overall I found it to be a really nice top to wear, despite the high temperatures combined with the backpack and protective arm/ leg pads it never felt too hot, especially with the 1/4 zip to keep extra air flow when climbing. The glasses wipe was also handy for taking off mud and sweat!
I had my doubts about coral, but it turned out to be a bright, fresh colour!
First, ignore the price Madison’s clothing site has listed them as, they are £19.99.
Bamboo has antibacterial properties, so makes for a great combo when combined with wicking materials for helping to keep smells at bay. This seemed particularly useful on such a hot weekend, where sweat was definitely a factor.
I really really enjoyed wearing these, and actually wished that I’d had them to wear over the four days instead of just for two (I had the standard Madison liner for the other two days)
The liner that Madison include in many of their shorts is actually already of a good quality, I’ve used on several rides with no problems. Where the Bamboo liner steps forward is that it’s actually shorter in length down the leg, so a tad cooler, and doesn’t use rubber grips on the legs, which makes it much less noticeable when wearing.
The material is softer, and the waist band is wider, so again just makes it less noticeable when moving.
The pad seems fairly bulky when walking around, but actually on the bike fits perfectly, and certainly helped to prevent saddle soreness over the four days of riding.
My new bike. It’s had quite a few test runs around Bath now, as a bit of off road practice before going away, so it was great to get out on some “proper” big trails.
I was surprised at how easily the bike climbs – on technical sections the rear suspension is actually really handy for extra grip, whilst on fire road sections of climb it still feels stiff enough to get some good power down.
Of course going down is the important bit, and this bike sure gives a huge amount of confidence through even the trickiest of areas! The 150 mm travel at the front and 140 mm at the back are more then enough to happily get over even the bumpiest of descents, a great confidence booster for someone like me!
Lapierre Zesty 314 with Hope/ Stans wheels
Hope/ Stans Arch rims wheel set with Continental tubeless tyres
An upgrade to the wheelset that came with the bike (Mavic Crossrides) the Hope/ Stans wheelset come out as lighter, and with the tubeless capability. The Hope hubs are also the Pink version, which looks pretty cool too!
These were hand built in the shop by Tom!
The wheels themselves felt really nice, just that bit smoother and easier to turn, whilst they have the benefit of being sealed cartridge bearings (for extra weather protection) that are more readily available than replacement Mavic parts.
It was also really interesting to try tubeless out myself for the first time. Having gotten a pinch puncture the other day from the lower pressure combined with a big drop we hoped it would be less of a faff to get it set up before heading to Wales. The system seemed to work really well – happily ran the tyres at a lower pressure then I would with a tube, and had no issues at all, whilst benefiting from loads of grip.
The tyres themselves were a Continental Mountain king (black chili, folding, UST 2.2)Â on the front and a X king (black chili, folding, UST 2.2) on the rear, which was basically the combination I had on my previous Zesty and got on well with. Again they both seemed to perform well – I had been a bit unsure about the 2.2 as opposed to a 2.4 on the front, but I think being able to run at the lower pressure meant it actually rode fine overall.
Pink Hope Pro Evo 2 hubs with Stans not tubes Arch rims
We’ve been through a few Sensiums now, both of the 300 and 200, and all have gone to happy new homes!
This years Sensium features a brand new carbon frame with beautiful shaping to absorb and soften the vibrations of the road so you feel comfortable mile after mile. However, comfort does not mean sluggish – it takes aspects of the Xelius (the pure bred race frame), so could actually be used for racing too!
In the shop they’ve had lots of attention, with their eye catching colours, carbon smoothness and great value spec! They look particularly nice in the flesh, so if you fancy seeing either the 200 or 300 in 52cm come down and have a look.
Sensium 300Sensium 200
We even briefly saw the ladies 200, which was in such high demand it's now not available until next year!
Road.cc took a Sensium for an extended test ride for over a month and really loved the ride, read more about their experience on it here. Cycling Plus tested the 300 version as pictured above, read their write up here. The 200 is also reviewed here.
So we are part way in to the Bike Bath weekend now – yesterday the Midsummer Madness mountain bike ride kicked things off with a great, challenging 11 mile  route around the south of Bath and today the first three sportive rides took place.
We hired out the three road bikes we have for hire halfway through the week to a group of Americans, who after some practice rides during the week, then took on the 60 mile route today.
All three had a great time – they found the route to be well marked and easy to follow and the food stops to be well stocked with tasty food.
They were also all grateful for the mudguard equipped road bikes, as the rain through the night and morning left the roads muddy and wet!
Main offers include discounts of up to 50% on lights and helmets, as well as 10% off all bikes!
Light brands include:
Lezyne, Electron, Blackburn and Cherrybomb
Helmet brands include:
Giro and Cratoni
As well as the 10% off bikes, we’ll  give you 15% off any accessories purchased alongside. Fitting of items such as racks and mudguards is also included.
Shoes, cleats and pedals
We’ve also now got a continuous deal on shoes, cleats and pedals – any pair of shoes bought will get a free pair of Shimano cleats, or if a pair of shoes is purchased with a pair of pedals we’ll give you 10% off the total.
The Lapierre Audacio road bike is a great model, one which myself and Becci owned for 18 months riding day in day out.
Its nicest feature is the built in comfort of the superbly designed frame, having ridden all over Somerset on it I can safely say that it copes very well with bumpy and worn roads.  The rear is where you really notice the benefit of all the tube tweaking – the skinny seat stays flex slightly producing a very cushioned ride and dampening out vibration from rougher surfaces.  I did at least 7 100 mile rides on it last year with no ill effects to my rear!!  It has even come down in price slightly from £999 to £949.  Its got some great reviews over the last couple of years (Bikeradar.com), the only thing I’d suggest you upgrade straight away are the tyres as they’re not the greatest. We’d probably throw in some Continental Gatorskins in fact if that seals the deal!
We currently have two of the Audacio range in stock, the 400 (the same one I owned) and the 300, the model below. For the extra £100 there is a slight decrease in weight, but the main difference is the transmission, and the upgrade from 9 speed Sora to 10 speed Tiagra. The frame also has a better overall finish, looking more like carbon then alloy!
Currently we have the 400 in a 52 cm and 49 cm, and we have the 300 in a 55 cm – a perfect range of sizes for most men and women.
We’re quite keen on supporting British ‘made in UK’ brands. Â So stocking in Carradice seemed commonsense. Â Carradice panniers and luggage are highly regarded by British bike tourers and commuters. Â Their signature luggage items are handmade canvas ‘Cotton Duck’ roll saddle bags, which we have in stock. Â But here we are taking a look at their more ‘up to date’ 100% waterproof panniers.
I first came across Carradice luggage at the Cycle Show at Birmingham’s NEC last year, I knew about them before this and it was great to see it in the flesh. Â They had an amazing collection on display including a new range of ‘designer’ Ally Capellino waxed cotton bags. Â These can be ordered in if required but what really interested me were the practical everyday panniers.
The rucksack pannier is really genius, there are others out there but I don’t think done quite as well.  The rucksack straps are attached to the pannier, with velcro webbing and standard buckles, really easy to take on and off.  The bag itself is constructed with high frequency welded seams, less material is used and 100% waterproof as they don’t need to tape stitched seams.  The best bit about it is that it is only £60 and comes with a very nice padded laptop holder, complete with accessory pouches, it holds 27 litres.
Rucksack pannier
There are 2 other types of pannier that we have in the shop, universal / front panniers and  rear panniers. The universal / front panniers can be used on the rear!  The one feature that is nice on these panniers is the bombproof rack attachment, it really is secure and very easy to click on and off.  The universal / front panniers carry 20 litres for the pair and the rear panniers 58 litres for the pair.
Rear pannier with side zip pocket
They are prices at £55 and £85 for the pair respectively.  All the bags have plenty of reflective detailing, without being garish.  Replaceable items are guaranteed for 2 years (zips / hooks) and if the bag fails due to manufacturing defects will be repaired at Carradice’s discretion, pretty much a lifetime guarantee for the original owner then!
