BQ 41 (Autumn 2012)

The Autumn 2012 issue celebrates 10 years of Bicycle Quarterly. That’s right: Ten years ago, the first issue of what was then Vintage Bicycle Quarterly was mailed. It’s been a long journey from a magazine that focused mostly on vintage bikes to a general “magazine about the sport we love.” The anniversary provides a great opportunity for a retrospective of a decade of research, of great stories, and of wonderful rides.

We also present you the bikes that the Bicycle Quarterly team rides today. You will find that we share some preferences, but we disagree on others. Who rides a racing bike and who prefers a randonneur bike? Who rides 700C and who is on 650B? Want to know why one of us loves internally-geared hubs, while another doesn’t like them at all?

Bicycle Quarterly always been about the future of cycling as well as its past, and in this issue, we bring you independent tests of the latest generator hubs. How much does a generator hub really slow you down? We used a model based on the new tests and Bicycle Quarterly’s wind tunnel and tire resistance data to provide realistic answers for the various popular models of generator hubs.

Inspiration is a great part of every issue of Bicycle Quarterly. This issue takes you on an (almost) non-stop 1200 km ride in the Cascade 1200. Enjoy the small and large adventures as our editor trains, prepares and rides this amazing event.

No issue of Bicycle Quarterly would be complete without a bike test. We put a classic randonneur bikes from a young builder through its paces. Does the J. Bryant Randonneuse ride as well as it looks?

What kind of bike would you ride if you were going from Paris to Saigon in 1949? We bring you the story of the builder Lionel Brans, who set out to do just that, and feature the bike he designed to handle the rough roads of the Balkans and the roadless deserts of Afghanistan, while carrying 88 pounds of luggage. His mission also was to showcase the latest of French bicycle technology, so his machine was equipped with many interesting features, including what may be the first aero brake levers.