Peddle power

At the start of this month, within the space of two days, two British sports car makers launched bicycles bearing their branding but made by someone else, each costing deep into five figures. A degree of cynicism can be forgiven. Aren’t these just an attempt to cash in on the boom in high-end cycling, and the seemingly inexhaustible appetite for expensive, showy kit among the alpha males who are increasingly adopting this sport rather than golf as they age?

I am one of those middle-aged men. Along with Catchpole, Twohig and Green I’m one of Ti’s resident cyclists: the other contributors just about tolerate our divided loyalties. I’ve ridden, wrenched on and – when I was much younger and lighter – raced bicycles for nearly 40 years. I can’t afford either of the new bikes from Lotus and Aston Martin, but I am as excited to ride them as I am to drive the Emeya or the Valour.

It is extraordinary how something as long-lived and seemingly simple as the bicycle can constantly be reinvented, and both of these bikes do that. In each case, the design, engineering and aero skills of the car maker – and its fresh perspective – have produced something genuinely novel. Suspend that cynicism: I defy you not to want to ride these bikes, or just to lust after them.