My time with Flame.

The Royal Mail Pashley Mailstar I will be using for the
2014 BHF London to Brighton Bike Ride.

A new bike has come into my life.
I was thinking what to call it, and my wife suggested "Flame", because of the bright red colour.

Flame is a Pashley Mailstar, the Royal Mail variant of the Pashley Pronto.
Flame is on loan from the local Royal Mail depot, and I will be using it in the 2014 London to Brighton Bike Ride on Sunday 15th June, and then I will have to give it back :-(

A real Pashely! And made in England too!

The Mailstar features a chain tensioner - unusual for an IGH.

But, hey, that gives me two months to enjoy Flame's particular style of cycling.

First, some more details about Flame.Weight (as weighed by me): is 25.2 kg without panniers, but including centre stand, lights, racks, and front basket.
Gears: Sturmey-Archer X-RD3 three-speed
Brakes: Sturmey-Archer,  X-FD 70mm drum (front), X-RD3 70mm drum (rear)
Tyres: Schwalbe Marathon Plus, 47-507 front, 47-559 rear.
pics and more to follow over the next two months, as I prepare and then ride Flame in the 2014 London to Brighton Bike Ride

Long Term Test: Basil Boston XL front basket

Anna has been using one of these for more than four years.

We feel it is the best combination of size and practicality, with the metal mesh being more durable than a wicker basket.

It can be fitted to either a 26" (559 wheels) bike or a 700c (622 wheels) bike, and, indeed, we have fitted it to both - first to Mermaid when that was Anna's regular bike, then to her current bike (26" wheels).
The support that goes under the basket has a pair of adjustment screws so that the two struts can be varied in length.

We looked at some of the larger American "Wald" baskets, but they seemed just too big.

The Basil Boston XL basket in use

I screwed a reflector to the front of the Basil Boston XL basket,
and Anna uses it to hook the handles of her bag to.

Of course, baskets like this mean that a light mounted on the handlebars is not very good, as the basket gets in the way. You could either buy a specific light mount for a basket, mount the light on the struts or the forks of the bike, or make/adapt a bracket to fit - the last is the course we followed, and the mesh structure of the basket lends itself to small screws being bolted through it.

On the downside, putting a lot of weight in a front basket makes the bike feel top-heavy, and makes the steering feel a bit strange, but you get used to it :-)

The Basil basket is rated for a 10kg load -although it survived the 16+kg load I put in it (eight 1.5-litre juice cartons and 4 pints of milk)

pics and more to follow