Feature Stories
Christmas Gift Ideas
Here's our shortlist of great gift ideas. We've divided them up into three categories to suit all budgets, and we're offering free gift wrap.
- Secret Santa gifts between £5 and £20
- Winter warmers up to £100
- Blow the budget luxury items up to £500
If you can't find something suitable, please don't hesitate to contact us, we're sure we have something that will light up any face on Christmas morning.
Secret Santa Gifts - £5-£20
Lights get mis-placed left right and centre. Knog make handy luminous companions available in a range of colours and clip onto the bars without any messing around with brackets and screwdrivers.
2. Cyclopedia: It's All About the Bike - £16.99
A guide to miscellany of facts, figures, interesting snippets and quirky characters, plus the first ten copies at Condor are all signed by the reknowned author, William Fotheringham.
3. Rapha Performance Skincare - from £7.00
Rapha's new line of skincare is based on the herbs of Mont Ventoux and includes chamois cream, soap and embrocation. The warming embrocation is particularly ideal for those cold winter starts and for toasty toes.
4. 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs: A Road Cyclist's Guide to Britain's Hills - £8.99
A must have book for any British cyclist. Sized perfectly to fit in a cycling jersey back pocket, this book is an essential read for anyone who thinks they know their way around the hill of the British Isles.
A tool box in your pocket, our Condor multi-tool is invaluable for home or when you're out on the bike. The 10 function tool from Condor has all the features one would need to fix common bike related issues.
Winter Warmers - £25-£100
Best for a warm head and ears. Made from 100% soft and luxury merino wool, the hat features a knitted peak and ribbed earband. Available in grey, red or grey with contrasting stripe.
2. Buffera Tubular Wool Buff - £21.99
Best for the keeping the chill from your face and neck. Made from insulating, breathable and odour absorbing merino wool. Buff say it can be worn 12 different ways from headband, to balaclava, cap and more, but we like it best as a neckerchief. Worn to stop the chills creeping through the gaps in a jacket collar. Pull it up over the chin and nose to stop the wind licking your face on a fast descent.
3. Endura Baa Baa Merino Baselayer - £34.99
Best for keeping your core temperature happy. Merino wool is a naturally insulating fabric and has low odour properties. Wear it in the morning on a commute to work and pull it on for the journey home without a stench. We like the Endura Baa Baa because it has a high warmth to weight ratio, even when wet. Its soft and the seams are flat-locked for comfort.
4. Assos Early Winter Gloves - £70.99
Best for toasty fingers. There is nothing worse than suffering from the painful discomfort of freezing cold hands. It's the impressive wind proof fabric used on the popular Assos AirJack 851 winter jackets that earns this glove the right to sit as the star atop of the Christmas tree. 851 fabric is a 3-layer system laminated for water resistance and supremely wind proof with internal 3D air channel to ensure breathability. The gloves are low in weight and bulk making it easy to grab hold of energy bars from the back pocket or fiddly zips.
5. Rapha Winter Embrocation - £20.00
Best for warm legs. Those first few miles, a descent, waiting at a junction. It's where the cold will hit you. Embrocation contains warming agents that help heat the muscles before taking to a long ride, while the massaging action loosens muscles and stimulates circulation.
6. DeFeet Woolie Boolie Socks - £11.99
Best for warm toes. Soft merino wool insulates while Lycra in the fabrics maintains 
shape and holds the socks close to your feet for extra warmth. A lighter material runs along the top of the foot for breathability while a cushioned sole and heal provide added comfort. They are our favourite winter sock; we dig them out year after year.
Luxury Presents - up to £500
1. The Peloton (Hardback) - £50.00
The Peloton is a five-year labour of love by Berlin-based photographer Timm Kolln. Kolln travelled the length and breadth of Europe attending every major race on the calendar to photograph the entire professional peloton and capture their images just moments after crossing the line. The results, as previewed in Rouleur issue 4, are the most hauntingly insightful portraits ever seen in the cycling world. Interviews accompany each portrait, every rider giving their very own taken on life in the saddle, and the trials and tribulations of a sport in turmoil.
2. Garmin Edge 800 GPS Computer with Heart Rate and Cadence - £449.99
The ultimate touchscreen bike computer with GPS. Follow a sportive route, monitor your training, speed, calorie burn, height, and distance, navigate, and record your ride - it's all in the Edge 800. Perfect for commuting, competitive cycling, touring, mountain biking, and cyclo-cross. Link to your PC or Mac for a finely tuned analysis of your ride.
3. Assos iJ.HaBu5 Jacket - £248.99
There's a breaking point when the weather gets cold enough that thermal jerseys alone don't provide eno
ugh warmth. The Assos iJ.Habu jacket is designed to take you beyond that barrier. It wears with the weight and feel of a jersey and is ideally used over one of Assos' three different Interactive base layers to vary the total effect of its warmth. Antonmically cut, using the same wind proof material as Assos' proven winter range, but with a lot less bulk.
4. USE Exposure Joystick Front Light - £144.99
The original and the benchmark for winter riding, Exposure's joystick is small and lightweight, but packs a serious punch. Ideal for off road at dusk and dawn on a cyclo-cross or mountain bike, or dark lanes on your road bike when the lights of a town or city are just a distant glow. It has three strong light settings to create a beam out in front of the rider. Recharge is merely a few short hours.
5. Brooks Barbican Bag - £209.99
For those who want to cycle in style and want the functionality of a bag designed for cycling. At home on the shoulder of a rider but equally suited to walking around town. In 1910 John Boultbee and his son, Wilfred Mason Brooks, filed two patents related to improvements in satchels, knapsacks and the like. Both these patents guaranteed more equal distribution of the load over the straps and more stability of the bag whilst cycling. This season Brooks have recreated the bag known now as the Brooks Barbican Bag.
6. Assos T FI.Mille Bibshort - £164.99
The ultimate bibshort. The short we recommend for your longest ride, hardest sportive, and perfect day in the saddle. For years Assos bibshorts have been tried and tested and have kept our customers on their rides. Tailored for total comfort, the full ergonomic pattern and four-pattern construction guarantees optimal muscle compression with plenty of freedom of movement. Worn in the summer or under winter tights, we can safely say these are our #1 cycling short.
7. Rapha Breton Sweater - £130.00
Sophisticated cycling wear for the city. Constructed from fine merino yarn, made using a traditional process of knitting pieces together rather than stitching. The jersey is soft, insulating, breathable, and odour resistant. Featuring a three button shoulder packet with fine rib, the jersey can be worn as a mid-layer under a jacket or outer layer in milder weather.
8. Campagnolo Corkscrew - £129.99
If you can't drink your Côtes du Rhône in the Rhone Valley itself, uncorking a bottle of big red in the comfort of your kitchen with this gorgeous Campagnolo corkscrew is the next best thing. As you'd expect from any legendary Italian component maker, this is a gem of beauty and is functional, too.
9. Lezyne Alloy Floor Drive Pump - £59.99
The highly polished aluminum barrel and varnished wood handle make the Alloy Floor Drive pump look as if it belongs on display. The large wooden handle lets you get a good grip on the extended length steel piston, which snugly fits the CNC'd barrel to let you pump your tyres up to operating pressure with ease.
10. Condor Cycles Gift Voucher
Does your Gran not know her Assos from her elbow, or her Campagnolo to her Rapha? Decrease the chances of unwrapping a Rubik's Cube this Christmas when you were hoping for Roubaix tights. Suggest a Condor Cycles gift voucher, available for any value and are valid for a whole year. Simply call or pop in to the store.
Tao Geoghegan-Hart: Condor Leggero
Le Stagiaire
One of the first things Tao says when we meet with him over a Coke is "I love my bike." The young rid
er first came to cycling through his swimming club. Members used to go out on Sunday into the Essex lanes in a casual chaingang. Since then you'll find him hopping off a ferry on the way to a road race in Belgium to gain as much experience as possible.
Tao's first real taste of competition was at a grass track event run by Cycling Club Hackney. From there Tao began training with some of the guys from the cycling club, riding longer, harder and more times during the week.
"2010 was my first real season, after trying out various disciplines and racing ad hoc. I chose real good equipment and properly went for it."
"Cycling is a tough sport, because you can always get better stuff. You're always looking for better kit, always looking for that edge", explained Tao, who is a self-confessed pro-cycling nerd who, if not riding, has his head in a magazine or can be found looking up results on CyclingNews.com."
"I'd ridden a Leggero, it's an amazing bike. You can see all the background that goes into building it, all the heritage as well as all the product development. You could see the pros riding it and that is what I aspire to be. If you've got the opportunity to ride it then why not?"
Freedom of the bike
Tao explained he'd been riding his bike since he was two or three. "It is a clichéd thing, but you feel free. Riding my bike I've explored so many places. I know Essex like the back of my hand. I like pushing myself hard, otherwise I just feel bored. I like cycling, it's a really great sport."
"I love getting to go abroad on the weekend, and saying, 'I've just been to Belgium'. Whereas everyone else has just been sitting at home on their PS3."
Cycling is multifaceted with its the mix of heritage and pro culture. Most of all the young racer loves travelling to what many consider the home of criterium racing: Belgium. "I love getting to go abraod on the weekend, and saying, 'I've just been to Belgium'. Whereas everyone else has just been sitting at home on their PS3." He went on to explain that, despite the suffering, riding hard brings an enjoyable feeling: "the way it feels when you've just smashed it up a hill... you feel absolutely shattered and going to be sick... that's the best thing about it."
When it comes to aspirations, Tao has several riders in mind. Firstly, the British born, Rapha Condor Sharp rider, Kristian House. "I love his style, the way he rode at the Edinburgh Nocturne, on the hoods the whole time. He's very cool. The dude."
Overseas, Tao points to the success of Andy Schlek: "Once he gets into the groove on the longer climbs he is really strong, and also Haussler and Voigt are both really really strong and it shows you what it means to be a pro cyclist. When they are pushing themselves on the front for their team."
Tao was recently accepted onto British Cycling's Talent Team program. You can follow his progress on his blog at http://taogeogheganhart.blogspot.com/.
Don't take our word for it, hear exerpts from when we met with Tao before a race earlier in the summer.
2011 Condor Range
Each frame in our new range builds upon the success of the 2010 cycling season. Click on the images below to learn more about our frames, or build a 2011 Condor bicycle using our bike builder.
Road Race and Road Sport
Our road race category is headed up by the flagship Leggero, as used by the Rapha Condor Sharp pro cycling team. For the last four years the team have ridden the Leggero to success, both domestically and internationally. It's the feedback from the team that helps form the rest of our performance road bike line up.
The road sport category takes cues from our performance road race range, but we've adjusted the geometry to make the ride and position less aggressive. The aim of our road sport bikes (Baracchi, Classico and Italia) is to make your hours in the saddle fast and fun. Road sport bikes are the perfect choice for a summer sportive.
| Leggero (frame £1,999.99) |  |
| Moda (frame £1,999.99) |
|
| Acciaio (frame £699.99) |  |
| Squadra (frame £799.99) |
|
| Baracchi (frame £1,299.99) |  |
| Classico (frame £899.99) |  |
| Italia (frame £499.99) |  |
Touring and Commute
It is difficult to find a category for some of our models, the reason being is that they are super machines; give them any task, any road, and they'll handle it. Our Fratello steel road frame is one of these models, perfect for training as well as commuting and light touring. Now how to do you classify that?
| Heritage (frame £599.99) |  |
| Gran Fondo (frame £1,999.99) |  |
| Fratello (frame £599.99) |  |
Cyclo-cross
The Condor cyclo-cross range has been re-designed from the ground up this season. We've been testing the new lighter frames since the summer. For 2011 a flattened, curved top tube and internal cabling were added. A lightweight carbon fork finishes the package and provides improved mud clearance.
| Terra-X (frame £799.99) |
 |
| Bivio-X (frame £599.99) |
 |
Single Speed and Fixed
Our single speed and fixed models offer supreme simplicity. Run them as a sleek, worry-free around town bike, or even a commuter. Our frames from the single speed range are constructed from a range of grades of steel. We find that a steel frame offers unrivalled comfort and, therefore, perfect for all day riding and commuting. Condor also offer a titanium single speed bike for the ultimate stylish ride.
| Percorso (frame £1,999.99) |
 |
| Pista (frame £549.99) |
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| Classico Pista (£899.99) |
 |
Track
The Condor track models feature geometry ideally suited for lapping riders on the boards. Our Potenza is a simple track bike that will double as an about town ride, while the Lavoro has been designed as a pure track frame built for speed.
| Lavoro (frame £499.99) |
 |
| Potenza (frame £449.99) |
 |
World Series
In 1948 Monty Young was conscious that he was doing more than running a shop; he was building a specialist business in a crowded market.
From the mid-fifties Monty was out most weekends with the Condor service van, helping at road races around the UK. Many of the riders at these races became his customers and it was from this pool of rider that the Condor racing team would be formed in 1959. Numerous world champions have been supported by Condor Cycles for over half a century. Olympic medals have been won and national bands have been earned.
In celebration of Monty's 80th birthday, Condor Cycles has created a limited edition range of bicycles called the World Series. World Series frames are built from modern butted steel, but Condor have employed the same artisan techniques that were employed when Monty started building frames at Condor. The traditional round steel tubes and cast lugs have featured on Condor bicycles ever since the doors opened in 1948.
Of the strictly limited 150 framesets produced there are five versions, each featuring a colour of the World Championship rainbow band. The World Series range includes matching World Series Concor saddle by San Marco, with Condor alloy seatpin and colour-matched leather bar tape. The framesets are available with track or road dropouts, in 49, 52, 55, 58, and 61cm.
Each frameset kit (road or track) are available to build on our bike builder .
World Series framesets and builds are available from 1 November 2010. Detailed shots can be viewed on our Flickr.
Each frameset kit, priced at £550, includes:
- Round profile lug steel tube;
- Curved fork blade;
- Silver headset;
- World Series Concor saddle for Condor by San Marco (in black or white);
- Condor Alloy seatpost;
- Colour-matched leather bar tape;
- Numbered commemorative booklet;
- World Series cap (black or white).
Wallpaper Award Winner 2011
In January 2011, the Condor World Series bicycles were awarded 'best ride' by uber design magazine Wallpaper*. Take a look at our blog post about the awards evening.
The 2011 Condor Range: Coming Soon
Blood, sweat and tears went into creating our latest bicycle range. Some of our frames didn't need re-vamping - why try and fix what isn't broken? Take our review winning, popular as ever Fratello, for example - we simply decided on a new colour for the 2011 model.
Some of our bicycles needed a refresh in continual persuit for bike ride nirvana. We've improved some of our models and introduced new frames to the range. We've created something that we are all truly proud of. Here's the run down of what to expect.
Italia
The all new Italia is a lightweight race, commute or sportive ready machine. The triple-butted aluminium frame and carbon fork smoothes the road ahead. Mudguard compatible and rack compatible the Italia will happily double as a racey winter trainer. We've chosen a new curved design for the top tube and the frame features internal cabling.
For 2011 we will also offer the Italia as a complete build at £999.99, featuring a SRAM Apex groupset and new look Deda alloy bar and stem. It is a perfect bike for Cycle to Work scheme vouchers, too. You'll still receive the same attention to detail bike fitting service as with all our bike builds.
Frame: Dedacciai Force Curvo 7003 triple-butted, heat treated alloy
Fork: Deda Nero Forza 5 full carbon
Colours: black, white, blue
Frame, fork and headset price: £499.99
Complete build: £999.99
Also available in relaxed geometry (RL) popular amongst female riders and those wanting a shorter reach.
Acciaio
There is something about the quality of a steel-framed bike that is hard to quantify. Assembled by hand in Italy using super-light Dedacciai steel tubing provides excellent rider comfort, stable handling, and superb quality at a reasonable price.
Frame: Dedacciai Zero Replica triple-butted steel with Boron
Fork: Deda Nero Forza 5 full carbon
Colours: blue/red, metallic red
Frame, fork and headset price: £699.99
Complete build from: £1139.99
Squadra
The stiff and razor sharp ride of the all new full carbon Squadra forms the heart of our new performance road machine.
Using a modular monocoque carbon fibre frame and fork the Squadra is built using the racing pedigree earned by the Leggero. The Squadra uses a tapered, oversized headtube between the perfect balance of lightweight zing and powerful pedalling stiffness. A lightweight road bike that can sprint, climb and hammer the flats with equal aplomb.
Frame: Dedacciai Custom Nero Forza Monocoque
Fork: Deda 5.6 Oversized Carbon
Colours: black/white, yellow/white
Frame, fork and headset price: £799.99
Baracchi
The Baracchi has one aim, which is to make your long ride not only smooth, but also fast. Hand wrapped and hand cut carbon creates a frameset using the same labour-intensive techniques as our Leggero. For 2011 we've chosen internal cable routing and a new lighter climbing wave fork.
Frame: Condor RC90 carbon tubesetFork: Condor carbon wave fork
Colours: white/silver, matte black
Frame, fork and headset price: £1,399.99
Complete build from: £1,799.99
Also available in relaxed geometry (RL) - popular amongst female riders and those wanting a shorter reach.
Terra-X
Lightweight and agile, the Terra-X has been redesigned for the new race season, using a curved top tube for additional space within the frame when shouldering the bike. The carbon fork with tapered steerer ensures the best balance of strength, stiffness and compliance on rough terrain.
Make no mistake: the Terra-X is for the cross rider who wants to build the perfect race bike.
Frame: Dedacciai EM2 triple-butted Scandium tubing
Fork: Condor Pro Cross full carbon
Colours: chocolate brown/blue, limited edition team
Frameset: £799.99
Bivio-X
Premium lightweight triple-butted tubing features on the new Bivio-X. The Condor Cross full carbon fork handles the toughest dirt or paved road with smooth, quick performance. The Bivio-X is mudguard and cycle rack compatible, and features bottle bosses on down tube.
We've used a similar curved top tube and internal cabling on our Bivio-X. The technology and research earned by the Terra-X has been passed it down to its younger but equally handsome brother, the all new Bivio-X cyclo-cross.
Frame: Dedacciai Force triple-butted, heat treated for tensile strength
Fork: Condor Cross full carbon
Colours: silver/white
Frame, fork and headset price: £599.99
Coming soon
There are a few more bikes within the 2011 Condor range that haven't just received a lashing of new paint and decals. More details coming soon...
For now, take a look at our 2010 range and we invite you to have a play on our bike builder. Why not design your ideal bike?
Visit our blog or Twitter for the latest musings from the staff at Gray's Inn Road.
Kwai Lau: Pista and Classico Pista
Why I Ride
“You’re really aware of the seasons on a bike, even though we had a hard autumn/winter. You watch things grow and stuff die down and following year come back again. It’s a rhythm just like cycling.”
Kwai, a Walsthamstow native, journeys everyday to her place of work at the Tate Gallery. Her ride takes her across London from East to West.
“It's wonderful, first thing in the morning, getting on that saddle. I go through the marshes, and really I don’t see anyone apart from maybe a man with his dog. It’s a really content place, and then I hit Hackney, which is suddenly quite crazy compared to the open fields of the marshes. You have to change your riding, pace, be more controlled and aware; Hackney is full of traffic, urban landscapes. And that’s what I love about cycling it’s not just one momentum.”
My First Condor
Kwai started with what she explained as a ‘postman style bike’ heavy clumpy and awkward before long realised it was time for a change and chose a hybrid for more speed. She began to play about with the bike, taking parts from it to make it lighter and more comfortable.
One day Kwai passed Condor’s London store and went in to see what it was all about. “I got to know the people at Condor. They are real people; they are people who really know about cycling. Not just selling you stuff but understand components.”
One day Kwai pasted Condor’s London store and went in to see what it was all about.
The staff in Condor let her make up her own mind about what she was purchasing, no hard sell or push, “what I like about it was it gave me free thinking, even though they advised me on aspects of the bike they give you room to manoeuvre. So I decided to buy a racing style bike. For me I wanted something really simple. As I get older in life I feel like ‘less is more’ I explained this and Condor encouraged me to look at the Condor Pista.”
Kwai sat down with a member of the sales team and we worked out what I wanted and put the bike together. A bike fit is part of the service at Condor and Kwai is a small rider, the bike fit was a perfect way for her to understand how she would feel on this new style of bike. “I didn’t want to feel overstretched,” the sales team played about with various stem lengths on the jig and varied the length of the frame to find the right fit.
Kwai decided that one bike wasn’t enough and after a year came back looking for something minimal. “I love the riding a bike where it makes me feel good.” Kwai decided on the Classico Pista choosing a colour and Campagnolo record components.
Sky and Molly
“Cycling for me is not just getting on getting from A to B. But I like to understand the details and components. And that’s what I like about Condor it’s the focus on the small detail.”
Kwai has named her bikes because they are not just object but an extension of her personality and that’s another reason why one of the bikes has a custom colour.
“I chose the pinky colour for Molly because I wanted some quite unique something like a bit of an ice cream colour. I wanted to have top of the range Campagnolo components because I always think if you do something properly you should do it all the way.”
Sky was Kwai’s first Condor. A simple parred down Pista with carbon fork. The bike is named after Kwai’s mother who passed away six years ago. Kwai uses the bike more frequently the her Classico, for regular commuting and running about town. It’s always around “like some sort of guardian angel.”
Alex Murray and his Condor Tempo
Sitting in a busy central London cake shop we met Alex Murray, Condor Tempo owner since 2007. A racer, commuter and cyclo cross fan, Alex is often found on a bicycle if he’s not on two wheels he’s writing about it as part of his job at the BBC.
Alex explained he was first led to Condor through a desire to understand the brands rich heritage choosing to purchase the Tempo singlespeed bike because of its inherent versatility. Among the Condor his stable of bikes includes an Eddy Merckx, Ridley Crossbow and Raleigh Burner team edition re issue. “I’ve always ridden bikes so I didn’t learn to drive when I was young, so I always had a bike for getting around since I was about five.”
The Tempo is pulled out for the daily commute “it’s only about ten minutes up and down the Uxbridge road, but if I have to go to an office in town its 35-40 minutes.” With the Tempo Alex found a bike that could do everything. “Put guards on, put a rack on. I wanted something that could go everywhere, put 28mm tyres on for toe paths, carry shopping or stripe it down for summer cycling.”
Listen to our interview with Alex by clicking on the play button below:
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