- I've got no idea where to start really,
so why don't you tell us how this started, and when.
- Okay, it started about four years ago,
I put just USB charger, and a horn, on it,
and then, it kinda took off from there, really.
I kept adding indicators, more lights,
more horns, and it's kinda grown into this, so--
- Yeah, four lorry horns, which we're not gonna
let off, until later on, in case we draw too much
attention from the locals.
Okay, let's start at the front end,
because there's an awful lot going on, just here.
Oh, and also, yeah, the only bike I've ever seen
where you have to turn it on with an ignition.
- Yeah, this goes in ignition switch,
so if you take the keys out,
nothing on it will work, so if I leave it locked up
anywhere, take the keys out, and nothing will get
messed around with, so it's good for that.
- Right, let's take a look at this front end,
because as I say, there's a lot going on here
at the control centre.
- [Simon] the control centre, so we got,
yeah that turns everything on,
and then we've got main lights, fog lights,
spotlights, USB chargers, find that really useful
these days for charging your phone, Garmin, Ipod,
and then, we got a rear view camera,
so I could see buses, lorries, and other cyclists,
and then we've got heated grips,
so had them on not long ago, they're still a little bit
warm, but yeah.
- [Interviewer] Yeah, these wre one of the first
modifications that you made to this bike.
- Yeah, I put these on first, but I found the battery
didn't last long enough, so I had to get a bigger battery,
and then from there, I could kinda keep adding to it,
and then, we've got normal indicators, front and back,
and then if we put them both on together,
they're hazard lights, so if I get a puncture or something,
I can put them on at the side of the road.
- Talking of the lights, you got the indicators
that are also hazards as you said,
but I love this front light here,
where did you get that from?
- Thank you, I got that on Ebay a couple of years ago,
and then it was in a real state when I bought it,
so I cleaned it all up, put it on the front of my bike.
I have no idea what it's off.
I think it's about from the 1930s,
but I don't know what it's come from.
- Amazing looking stuff.
I should point out, early in this video,
actually that this is not just a gimmick bike,
which sits in your shed, is that you do actually use this
genuinely touring around.
So you've been to Edinburgh recently,
and also around Belgium.
- [Simon] Belgium, yeah, I went through France,
Belgium, Holland, then like you said,
been up to Edinburgh through Wales.
- [Interviewer] It must get a lot of attention through
those countries.
- It does get quite a lot, to be fair.
A lot of people, they kinda spot the horns,
and then they, kind of, do the horn symbol,
I'll press it, and they love it.
It gets a lot of attention.
- Yeah, let's take a look at the horns,
as you've got three silver ones here,
and a brass one on this side.
- So with these switches on the back,
what I can do is just let one off at once,
so if I'm down a canal or something,
I don't really want to press all of them at once,
so I can press just one.
Quick demo of that.
Yeah, that's just one. - It works.
- And then if something like a lorry,
or something, overtakes me too close,
I can press all of them, and then,
do you want a quick demo of those as well?
- Go on, then.
I've only got one finger to put in an ear.
- Okay.
- Yes, yeah.
No one's coming out their doors just yet,
I'm sure there will be some soon.
Yeah, amazing stuff, so let's have a look at all
the other stuff at the back end,
because along with the heated grips,
you've also got some heated insoles for you shoes,
but how on earth, do you get them heated?
- Basically, so I'll have two panels in my shoes,
and then the cables go up through my jeans,
and they come out through my jersey,
and then I plug them in down here,
so I can adjust with these two temperature knobs,
kind of how hot, and cold, my feet are,
dependent on if they're very warm, or not.
- You're kind of attached to the bike at that point,
so also, here at the back end, we've got an air compressor
somewhere, haven't we?
- Yeah, there's an air compressor which is controlled
by the ignition switch.
So that's that, and so I can plug this hose
onto my valve, and then I can pump my tyres up
if I get a puncture, as well as that,
there's also a tracker on the back,
so the bike's got his own phone number,
so if you ring the bike, it'll text you back where I am,
and how quick I'm going, and if the bike's switched on,
or not.
- Yeah, so presumably if it ever gets stolen
by someone that's gotta be incredibly strong,
we'll get onto the weight of this thing shortly,
you will know where it is.
- Yeah, I'll know exactly where it is,
as well as that, what I can also do,
there's a microphone built in,
so I can ring the bike, and in theory,
I can listen in to what's happening,
so it's not happened yet, but it's a useful feature.
- So when we featured this about a year ago on the show,
I think the total weight was in the region of 25, or 26,
kilogrammes... - It was.
- There's been a few additions since then,
what's it up to now.
- It's up to just under 40 kilogrammes now,
so it's really heavy.
Reason for that is there's quite a lot of brass on it now
which wasn't on before, and as well as that,
I've also got bigger batteries,
so I can go touring for longer,
and I don't have to charge them as much.
- So how does it ride, that's the big question.
- It rides pretty well to be fair, you'd be surprised.
I mean it takes quite a while to set off
from a set of traffic lights.
You have to be careful as well if shifting under pressure,
because obviously, don't wanna break the chain.
But yeah, it rides pretty well.
I've got electric E-Bike tyres on at the moment,
just for a bit of extra grip as well.
- In terms of the riding, I mean,
you've only got standard breaking on here,
so do you have to be relatively careful
of your breaking distances on this, or is it okay?
- Yeah, I do have to be careful,
particularly in the wet.
I mean in the dry, they're absolutely fine,
but in the wet, I do have to be really careful,
because with them being cantis,
they can be quite interesting in the wet.
- I've got to ask you, actually,
what was the inspiration four years ago,
when you first started this project?
- I find, that's a really difficult question to be fair.
I mean a lot of people refer it to the Delorean
from Back to the Future,
which I kinda suppose it does look a lot like that,
but there's been so many different things that have inspired
me to make it the way it has now.
I mean, it's quite steampunky,
so it's got a good, kind of,
vintage steampunk look about it.
- [Interviewer] So the batteries, Simon, I understand,
are located in this bag at the back.
- They're in the back, so there's four batteries.
You can't see two of them, but two of them are on display
here, and these power each of the horns,
and then the bike itself.
- [Interviewer] How much do they weigh?
- They weigh about between two, and three, kilos.
They're not too heavy, but I get a good week
out of each battery, so it's worth it.
- I can't help but notice also, whilst we're in the bag,
you got an old tin in here, what's that?
- Yeah, that's basically my toolkit.
So in here, I've got things like my soldering iron...
- [Interviewer] A soldering iron?
- Yeah, a spare solders, I find that that's the tool
I have to use the most, because when I'm out touring,
sometimes I'll snag a wire, or I may have to do some
repair works, like solder one of the switches,
or something, and then in here,
I've got old spanners, superglue, chain splitter,
all tools I have to use at some point, so--
- I think you'd probably be the only cyclist I've ever met
that takes a soldering iron out with him.
- I think so, yeah, I mean like I say,
I use it the most, it's the most used tool I've got,
and it's pretty small, and portable as well.
It's just like a small pen.
- That is very cool, now with so many gadgets,
and gizmos, on the bike, it's quite easy to ignore
the heart of it, which is of course the frame,
and the forms, so tell us a bit about that.
- Okay, so the frame, originally got the frame
of a chap on Retrobike, a couple of years ago.
Had it completely stripped down, resprayed,
I had extra mounts fitted to the front, for the front rack,
as well as for the mudguards on the back.
I find it's really strong, durable frame,
Reynolds 531 tubing, so had no issues with it at all yet,
so it's really durable.
- And local as well, just down the road from us in Bath,
in Bristol.
- Yeah, only literally 12 miles, or so, down the road,
so it's come back to it's home.
- Now, I guess another question that we should ask you,
Simon, is what's next?
I mean you even got any room to put anything more on this.
- A friend at work, suggested to put a radio on it,
which I think could be a really nice feature,
it's just where I put it, I mean I might have to
fit it on the back somewhere, because I've kinda run
out of space in the front, so that's in the mix.
- [Interviewer] And would you go analogue or digital?
- Analogue, definitely.
Analogue, it's got to be analogue.
- Next up, then, under the saddle here,
you will notice there is a small cylinder,
Simon has just admitted to me that this is his
very own bodge, but tell us what it is.
- Yeah, okay, so the proofide basically keeps the
saddle nice and supple, so I can basically use two
cable ties, proofide sits in there nicely,
can't fall out unless I really pull at it.
It's just a handy place to keep it.
- Space is kind of at a primi on this bike,
so he didn't have room for his spoke key,
or that inside of the bag, had to find other
spaces for them, and what I love about this bike
is the fact that it's a combination of new and old.
There's a few digital components to it,
but there's also a whole load of analogue things,
in terms of the battery power, et cetera,
the clock, you've got here at the front.
I've already talked about the rear view cameras,
there's a lot of inspiration from motor vehicles,
motorbikes, and cars in this bike as well,
and if you come to the front here,
these lights are light sensitive, aren't they?
- Yeah, so if I'm cycling through a tunnel,
or something, and I want the light to come on quickly,
give a quick demo there, lights go on and off.
So it's handy, it's only those two at the moment, but--
- Yeah, absolutely amazing, it's a stunning bike.
One of the most interesting things,
if this didn't have everything else on it,
would be the vintage Shimano dual group set,
and these Avid brake, which always wanted
in my mountain bike in the late 90s.
Why did you choose those brakes,
and that particular groupset?
- Well, I find that these brakes stop me absolutely fine.
I've had no issues with them really,
like I said, in the wet, they're a little bit sketchy,
but I find so long as I put my brakes on soon enough,
they stop me fine, same with the groupset really,
I mean I've had no issues in terms of it breaking out,
or breaking down, wearing out quickly.
Seven speed on the back, so I've got a 32 sprocket
on the back, and there's 20 in the front,
so I can get up quite steep hills,
I can get 25 percent hills on it quite easy,
I've been up Winnat's Pass on it,
which was interesting.
- Okay, so one of the main things,
we've probably missed out, before we finish this.
You have taken apart, and used on this bike,
from a Lancaster bomber.
- Yes, this is the Lancaster bomber map light,
which does actually work, I tend to put maps,
and directions for campsites, and things, underneath,
on top of the screen here.
- Well as I said, thank you ever so much
for coming down, and showing us this bike,
it is absolutely incredible.
If you would like to see the entire story
from the very start, you can see the website there
on the top top tubes, just head over to that.
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