Last week I watched a bike documentary, 'Ride of My Life: The Story of the bicycle'. Presented by Robert Penn, a true cycle nut. The following day I watched it again in iPlayer. Then started googling and found the book, It's All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels. The book (roughly) on the same theme as the TV programme. By then I was intrigued. I bought the book and watched the TV programme again, this time trying to work out the parts list. The bike forums niggled that he hadn't stated clearly what he wanted the bike for. IMHO it was clear. He wanted quality parts for a bike that would last him years in a widespread use of the bike (racing excluded I guess). It was the 'quality' aspect that bit me. I've slowly come to realise you get what you pay for these days. Also that in the UK, if not elsewhere, after a throwaway society, we are slowly coming back to the realization of the fact that quality does matter sometimes. Not always, but for a long term bike, it matters.

Anyway, I scribbled all over the book, started to draw up a web page and (largley, I think) came up with a parts list that Rob used. It's up there for correction if I'm wrong, at my website, complete with the price using August 10 prices almost randomly taken from google searches. Rob Reckoned on 3.5K, my tally awas nearer 4K. He's certainly paying for his quality, but in some of the parts that we got to take a closer look at, the quality shows. The frame cost I can appreciate. The groupset raised my eyebrows. Similarly the bars, though is it worth it for comfort? I'm almost disagreeing with Rob on the saddle. Not based on any personal experience, just a gut feel that a leather saddle will become more comfortable (over time) than other more modern designs. Yet the feedback on the brooks website seems to back him up. I know my father used a B14 when he cycled in the dales in the thirties. I've ridden bikes since I was four and currently (like many?) have a mountain style bike which I use for local trips, three or four times a week and pleasure about the same. I'm really quite tempted to go for it and see what difference a bike tailored to me would be like.

My major doubt is drops vs straight bars? I'm starting with arthritis in my shoulders and have recently raised the bars by a couple of inches to take weight off them. I simply couldn't see me using the drops (or at least the low position) much, though his bars have sufficient sculpting to tempt me that they could offer support and variety in the top parts.

Either way, a good read for anyone interested in bikes. I can thoroughly recommend it, even if you aren't interested in the historical aspects which he weaves in between his window shopping turned real.