It’s not every day you get your hands on a a classic track bike.
I couldn’t believe my luck when I came across one in London a few years ago… I can still remember feeling as if I was about to be conned. When I held the frame in the flesh it was only then that I realised how lucky I was.
I was told in the past that it would be absolute sacrilege to ride this on the road, and maybe they were right after I managed to put a heart stopping dent in the top tube. None the less bikes are to be ridden and with every bike I own ridden the get. Even after the accident never a day goes by where I don’t love riding this piece of beautiful track history, it’s performance and response even on the road exceeds any track bike I’ve ridden in the past. In some sense the dint was in some respect a blessing in disguise, this bike is now but through it’s paces and see’s much of the Yorkshire hills I love.
This is in my opinion one of the most beautiful aspects of riding these kind of track classics, the abuse they get tells stories that often words can not describe. A few years ago a friend of mine came up from London to attend Restrap’s 3rd Birthday alleycat, he brought his Bianchi Pista Concept 2004, now more like a rat bike then anything. The bike had so many dents, scratches and scuffs and to add to it the bike had a frightening amount of flex! None the less it only added to the beauty of the frame…
