Christmas time, Bike Gifts and Wine

According to Andy Williams ‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year’..obviously this statement is dependent on whole a host of factors…for those with an imminent visit to see their  dysfunctional family on the cards and a fear of turning on the heating since gas costs the same as liquid gold, it’s not a very wonderful time of the year is it?

Oh sod off will you

Well fear not people, we can help you prepare for the battle. I can’t get enough of Brasher 4 Season walking socks, these are the king of socks, guaranteed to keep your plates of meat nice and warm. Heating is for wusses.

As for dysfunctional families, I say if you can’t beat them, join ‘em. If they think they are odd just wait till you turn up at the table with your new found tourettes condition.

And their is more…we have ideas…Christmas gift ideas…we are brimming with them….and since we are having a late night opening tomorrow night, you can come down, grab a free glass of wine, and peruse at your own pleasure…

Italian made Silca Pista Floor Pump - £40.00

Black Suede Double Toe Straps - £30

I have been riding with the same pair of these for over 18 months now and they are still in good nick (unlike my B.L.B ones that disintegrated in the rain- sorry, I don’t mean to bad mouth other peoples gear, but they did disintegrate!).

New old stock- Olmo Musette- all the way from Italy! - £15.00

Where to Ride London- super nice riding guide- £15.00

Brooks saddles, old and new!!! From £40.00...

Silca Tool bottle, handy bottle sized tub to pop your tools in, sweet - £5.00

We have more nice things on the way too…I can’t wait to get me mitts on some of the cork/bamboo bar ends we have got coming on..they are mint

Exhibition – The Herd

Tomorrow night is the grand opening of ‘The Herd’ exhibition…the Mechanical Alchemist himself has been in this week, hanging his show and it looks great…it turns out ‘The Herd’ have a few friends, including a tribal monkey mask sculpture and a rad lamp…

Oh I say what an interesting window display

We have had cold noses pressed up against the window all morning…their is a mob forming outside…I hope we don’t have to get the rozzers down…

The Herd basking in the morning light

Dalis' Sheep - £50

Grants' Gazelle - £45.00

White Tailed Gnu - £40.00

We have 9 Herd sculptures, 4 tribal sculptures and 1 lamp.

We have sold 2 of The Herd already and I reckon most of them will go tomorrow evening as they are magic. If you are around, please come and join us for a glass of wine and have a nosey at the exhibition…the pieces, although individual are not part of a limited run, so if you can’t get your hands on one this time, their will be more in the future….

See you tomorrow…

(moo….baaaaaah)

It’s a mystery

We keep getting traffic directed to the blog from a website called Pyoereae…I don’t know how you pronounce this word, I don’t know what it means, and I don’t know whose website it is, but they have put some of our snaps up on their site.

It is a mystery…

Anyway the reason I mention it is because it is a really lovely site filled with beautifully arranged bike related images…

And it’s worth taking a look because bikes and nice images rule.

The Mechanical Alchemist

Next week, on Thursday 25 th November at 18.00, we will be hosting an exhibition. The exhibition ‘The Herd’ is the brainchild of a very talented local fella called Paul. He creates amazing sculptures using bits of old metal.

‘The Herd’ is a series of Picasso inspired trophy heads made solely from old bicycle parts.

A right old beast

I (for one) am very impressed, I think they are incredible.

The sculptures will cost from thirty to fifty British pounds.

If you can’t make it on Thursday please feel free to pop by during normal opening hours (Wed- Sat 10.30-18.30) to have a ganders.

You can have a peek at his blog here, he also has some wonderful lamps and pot belly stove which is the best thing ever. He is a Mechanical Alchemist!

For Sale- Frames,Frames,Frames

In light of the fact we are tripping over Italian bling, we thought we ought to have a wee clear out…we have selection of frames (some with forks, some with bottom brackets, some are simply bare naked) on Ebay.

1980's French bit of fluff

Dawes Tourer, a Supergalaxy methinks

Click on the Ebay link above if you fancy a punt…alternatively if you can’t be bothered messing about with Ebay, you can email us a cash offer, to take it now…no questions asked…rob@sargentandco.com

New shoes sir!

Rob wears Blundstone boots at work. Blundstone 500′ to be precise. He has been rockin’ 500′s for the best part of 20 years, so imagine his surprise when he ordered a pair online and the price had shot up the best part of 30 quid.

The trusted boot in question

Unfortunately for Rob he had placed the order before double checking the delivery and import tax costs. So when he received the invoice he nearly choked when he saw the delivery charge was going to be 48 U.S dollars.

The delivery charge coupled with the import tax was going to cost as much as the boots themselves…Rob decided to take action. He had to cancel the order. An email was sent explaining that due to the delivery charges which he thought ‘were outrageous’ he would not like to proceed with the order.

And this was the reply….

‘yes, 17,000+ prior customers must all be wrong.

Let me know where in London you can buy a pair of 500′s for 110 pounds.

Meanwhile, I’ll be sitting here twiddling my thumbs not waiting for you.

The only thing outrageous here are your idiotic comments. You’re very immature

Goodbye’.

Laugh! I nearly cried this morning when I read this.

Funnily enough I found a pair for £90 including V.A.T and delivery, so narky pants stick that in your pipe and smoke it (once you have stopped twiddling your thumbs).

Accidents in the home

Hanging around

The frame on the left nearly had Robs’ eye out this morning.

 

The roads I hate the most

We have just had a customer in who has had 4 punctures in as many weeks on the same spot of road.  This of course prompted us to get on our high horses.

‘Flooded roads, glass coated tarmac, pot holes the size of small counties, erratic black cab drivers’, blah blah blah….

It turned out Amhusrt Rd is the bane of our customers life, causing him to be late to work on a weekly basis…

I hate Bishopsgate. It’s meant to be a road, but it’s not. It’s a light controlled strip of singletrack oozing with police officers and drunks.

I also hate Wharfside Way. A ride down this kamikaze run is not for the faint hearted, it’s teaming with foreign H.G.V drivers who haven’t got the foggiest where they are going and they are ready to cut you up all the way…it’s dog eat dog.

Apparently (according to the Doctor we had in today) the roads to the North of Glasgow are a real menace…

Please send us the ‘Roads You Hate the Most’ for a chance to win a belter of a prize.

T & C’s: The prize draw will be on the 31 st December 2010 at 23.59…we will phone the winner immediately, if they do not answer the phone within 3 rings, they will loose the right to the prize and it will be allocated to a member of Sargent and Co staff.

Eddie Merckx video

Some time ago Robs beloved Eddie Merckx was used as a prop in a music video…you an watch it here, it’s a super nice video, it was used as a backdrop at the Metronomy gig at the Bicycle Film Festival…the band aren’t my cup of tea, not that it matters….the video is sweet and the bike is awesome…(Rob watches this video like a proud father watches his daughters walking down the aisle).

For Sale- Pet Baskets for your bike

I dream of carrying my kitten around on my bike. Ideally I would carry him and a miniature sausage dog in a basket (they would get along like a house on fire) and I would have a big sheep dog or a great Dane running by my side.

The reality is I have a kitten and no dogs, and my kitten doesn’t like the great outdoors.

The whole point to this story is that we now sell pet baskets for bikes. We got asked quite a lot over the summer for them and well here they are.

This is goodness right here

They are handcrafted using high quality Rattan from Indonesia.

The dimensions are :- 33 (L) x 30 (W) x 41 (H)

The baskets come with a handlebar mount.

They cost £90.00…(if someone put a puppy in one of these for me on my birthday I would probably explode- hint hint).