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.”