My New NOLOGO bike!

I really enjoy cycling, and after briefly cycling in Edinburgh in my final year, (on a fantastic vintage folding bike) I fell in love with quick commutes and free exercise!

Since I moved to London I have been riding my husband's hybrid touring bike, a very well build Claud Butler which has survived many miles and even a minor collision with a van. Claud is a great bike but very heavy and pretty slow, it is also starting to cost me more and more money to maintain as it gets older.

I have been researching getting a new bike for a while, at first I thought I would probably like something a bit more feminine, maybe a Dutch bike with hub gears and a comfy saddle? My requirements were that I wanted a brand new bike with all new components, it had to be light enough to carry up a flight of stairs to our flat, and it couldn't break the bank!

After a weekend of browsing bike shops all over London I had a moment of realisation that very possibly what I wanted was a single speed bike! This was not the plan initially, and i had been worrying about riding without and gears!

I found a bike shop on Hackney road selling aluminium frame bikes for £200, with new everything and a choice of colours for the frame, wheels and handlebars. You could pick your size and colour choices and they would built it for me within 3 hours. They also had a selection of 'women's frames' without such a high cross bar, but there were heavier, and I'm not sure they looked as nice.

The back wheel has a flip flop hub, so can be ridden single speed with coast or fixed gear. The owner also threw in a heavy duty chain lock for £10, bargain.

So far I am really pleased with it!! I chose all black, i didn't want flashy colours, hopefully looking as boring as possible will deter bike thieves.

It is so light, and I am finding that I can go pretty fast! I was worried about not getting up the speed very quickly but it does not seem to be a problem. The brakes are sharp (sometimes a little too sharp!) and everything feels tight, it is also just a pleasure to ride and puts a big smile on my face!

So far I would really recommend this bike to anyone wanting something very simple and light, and I think it looks really good without being too showy.