Bikes from LEL 2025

London Edinburgh London 2025 was cancelled midway. A bitter pill to swallow for those of us who'd been counting down the days and travelled a long distance for it, but such is the nature of adventure. Sometimes the weather, the logistics, or simply fate conspires against even the best-laid plans. Yet, whilst the event itself was cancelled on the second day (and I will write about that later), the spirit of LEL lived on through the remarkable collection of bicycles that graced its roads. I had never done any audax before but quickly developed a soft spot for the peculiar, the unconventional, the downright odd machines that make audax such a fascinating and personal pursuit. There's something rather wonderful about vintage steel frames in their honest simplicity, I captured some beautiful titanium and quirky Al and carbon bikes as well. Most bikes in LEL are characterful, individual, and utterly charming in their own peculiar ways, each one tells a tale of its rider's personality, their approach to long-distance cycling , and their peculiar way to suffer!

A word on gear

The interest of researching and later documenting bicycles from events like LEL stems from a rather practical necessity: understanding what gear, layouts and types of bikes actually work in these events. There's quite a large amount of knowledge condensed into these photographs if you know where to look. The way someone's chosen to mount their bags and racks they are mounted on, the particular configuration of their handlebars, the mudguards they've fitted (or haven't), the lighting setup that's seen them through night sections, each detail tells a story of experience, trial and error, and wisdom or lack thereof. I've spent hours poring over similar images from other audax events trying to decipher what makes a successful long-distance machine. I hope this collection proves useful to others embarking on their own audax adventures. There's no substitute for seeing what actually works in the field, rather than what looks good in a catalogue or in product placement.

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The Bikes from London Edinburgh London 2025

Roberts was a custom british framebuilder, Rob Hickman, a close welsh friend rode one of these custom steel Roberts all around the globe and it was a sight to behold. (Read about him here). These were all handmade by Charlie (og founder) or Chas Roberts (his son) as far as I know. Probably most of them using steel from Reynolds: purveyors of high quality british steel and inventors of the butted tubing process. The british Reynolds were also involved in WWII though not to be confused with the american Reynolds which developed the Aluminum for many of the fighters and bombers of WWII. Sadly Roberts ceased operations in 2015.

Make way for the Guv'nor! Note that this bike has front and rear drum brakes integrated into the hubs and is probably driven by a Sturmey Archer 3 or 5 speed! I must say I did not see this bike in the later controls, it's probably a heavy and slow bike although its rider looked exactly like you imagine and probably is very capable of finishing the event in this. I have a Pashley I ride in the city when I feel like being slow but elegant so I'm a bit partial to these bikes. It's so understated and elegant, love it. Pashley is a also a historic british bike manufacturer, based on Stratford upon Avon and previously supplying none other than the Royal Mail. Love these bikes.

Another british staple and difficult ride. This Brompton was ridden by a slight asian lady who was going quite fast. I love that she was fit and confident enough to ride this. It must have been much harder to ride in this but I'm confident that wherever she traveled from, it must have been MUCH easier.

I had not heard about Pearson bikes before but I think I did see it afterwards and he was MUCH faster than myself. I've since found that Pearson is one of the oldest english bike manufacturers. Look at the classic touring form, this is the bike equivalent of a Saville Row suit. The bike is probably vintage (70-80s?), the gentleman who owned it is rather young. Look at that classic Dawes in the background fully kitted with Carradice kit as well.

From Harrogate England, this is a modern Ti audax style. You can see its modern features, disk brakes, etc. Quite good looking and balanced with Carradice kit and Brook's saddle though.

British bikers really are into challenges, I had not appreciated that until I saw this bike. They also have great sense of humour.

The last of the british bikes in this writeup. I found out Brother Cycles was founded in 2007 in Kent, pretty bike with regular kit.

The Japanese had some of the finest vintage machines in the event, I loved each and everyone of them. This Felino custom race bike eluded any attempt of finding provenance from the manufacturer.

This minimal Bianchi Volpe was ridden by a friend of mine, Shodhan Babu. We had not met when I took this picture but we traversed the Fens together with a team of outcasts on the way back, the team was later baptised "team lel without e" (a reference to Floris, the storm that got LEL cancelled). Shodhan also rode with a classic 5610 G-Shock, a man of good taste.

This beautiful bike embodies the x-biking ethos. So elegant. Love the handlebar bag, frame pump and down tube shifters. This is what I imagine classic PBP and audax riders who care about style would choose.

I had never seen anything like this. People who know how much I'm into bikes might be surprised of that statement, but you just don't see this in Mexico. These guys were really fast in the flat wind (the Fens) but apparently struggled in the uphill sections. They were always much faster than me so I did not even see them riding.

This is my bike. An american made bike from Waterford WI. I bought it second hand in SF on a business trip, I rode many SF2G rides on it! A couple of years ago Gunnar and its upscale brother Waterford shut down. The setup was good, but my front setup was shite. I had trouble finding a handlebar bag that fit well with my choice of rack and narrow handlebar, on the other hand my lighting setup was extremely effective. I'll write more about the bike later on.

Another Japanese beauty. I can't see who made this bike but the restraint and simplicity of the setup really shined.

I've often pondered whether I should sell my gunnar and find a Ti bike that will last forever. I like this model, and as an engineer love titanium's properties and it's raw look. That said, I don't think I can justify buying any more bikes at the moment.

Again with the Japanese magic. This vintage frame is just on another level.

I don't know much about this bike, but the rider looked exactly like the bike, (not unlike the Guv'nor and owner duo), his kit was perfectly matched to the bike. Respect for such commitment.

Another american machine, a bit on the heavier side I guess but I love Ritcheys!

This bike was also owned by one of the "Team lel withuot an e" members, Thomas Serrand. A short conversation using my terrible-but-effective-french made our first connection and he later told me to cut in when his peloton overtook me. Never hesitate to talk to people, you never know with whom you can connect. Thomas was one of the lightest riders I met, his kit was scarily scarce, I need a lot of training to be confident with such a light setup. He did break a rim or wheel mid-race as you can see by his mismatched wheels.