The Bike Show - celebrating The Tour de France in Yorkshire

Yorkshire proudly hosts the start of the 2014 Tour de France in July and The Civic, Barnsley has celebrated with BIKE SHOW; an exhibition examining the spectacle of the Tour De France, the best in bicycle innovation and the influence of cycling culture on contemporary design.

Some of Grey Fox's vintage cycling jerseys at Bike Show

I was privileged to be asked to lend some of my vintage cycling jerseys to the show. I love their colour, style and the links to the perhaps more innocent days of pro cycling when bikes were heavy and jerseys were made of wool and/or thick knitted acrylic.

Part of Yorkshire Festival 2014, BIKE SHOW is 100 days of art and culture welcoming the Grand Départ of the Tour de France. 16th May to 12th July at The Civic, Barnsley, Yorkshire. 

Images courtesy Nigel Barker and Our Favourite Places.

Vintage cycling jerseys - a Tour de France special

I promised many months ago to show you some of my vintage cycling jersey collection. The Tour de France provides the excuse. 

I love their colour and vibrancy; many have beautifully-embroidered lettering. Made of wool, or knitted acrylic, they're uncomfortable to wear in hot weather and are reminders of the rough, tough days of professional cycling.

Anquetil and Merckx

Bradley Wiggins x Fred Perry cycle jersey collaboration

I make no apologies for featuring the winner of the Tour de France for the third time this month. His love of mod culture (he has a collection of scooters) has become better known recently. Recently Fred Perry (beloved of mods everywhere) launched a range of cycle jerseys in collaboration with Wiggins. As can be seen, they match the Paul Weller-style sideburns very well. They sport GB stripes at the collar and the rainbow World Champion stripes on the sleeves (he has been world champion in several track cycling disciplines).

Cycling jerseys were always a popular mod essential, and these are suitably retro in design. They are available from Fred Perry, priced at £65. Ideal also for those older gents who were mods the first time round!

CHRISTOPHE ENA / AP

Celebrate Bradley Wiggins's British Tour win with an Aston Martin - style on two wheels

After over 100 years of Tour de France history a British man has, at last, reached the Champs Elysée wearing the iconic maillot jaune. Unencumbered by his sideburns, Bradley Wiggins and his Sky team dominated most of the three week race. Cycling, already hot in the UK after Team GB's track successes at the last Olympics, is set to go viral. Suddenly, veteran cyclists like me find taxi drivers and white van man being polite and leaving us room as we thrash out the miles on our racing machines, or potter to work on our commuter bikes.

Coinciding with all the excitement, Aston Martin has seen the light and produced a real machine - a hi-tec bicycle called the One-77 (only 77 are being built). Essentially carbon fibre, the bike features hydraulic brakes and an electronic gear system. It comes with a fully integrated, multi-channel ergonometric data recording system that provides a record of athletic performance on the handlebars.

This lovely machine isn't going to make you go faster - only less beer, fewer chips and more miles in saddle will do that for you. With a price tag of £25,000 it's likely to be seen under the undeserving bums of big-bonus-spending bankers, but hopefully a few  real cyclists will be able to own a one-off technological cycling masterpiece carrying the Aston Martin name.

Aston Martin has been involved in bike design before. I remember Chas Roberts built a mountain bike for them about 18 years ago at about the time he built a bike for me. Here's a video from 1984.

The return of the sideburn? Bradley Wiggins to set a trend?

For the first time in over 100 years GB has a possible Tour de France winner in Bradley Wiggins. I'm not going to say that he will win, that would be tempting fate; however, as a keen cycling fan, I find the prospect very exciting.

Anyway, on to the serious consideration of his sideburns. Why he bothers, when he probably shaves most other parts of his body to reduce wind resistance, I don't know. The question is, will he start a trend?

Update, 22 July 2012 - as we all now know, he won despite the 'burns!

Image BBC Sport AFP