Bicycles Inside the Factory

Every year, people in Britain cycle more than three billion miles

and over half of us own a bicycle.

We buy over 3.5 million of them every year.

But what engineering skills does it take to build a bike

and get it on the road?

We've come to the UK's largest bicycle factory to find out.

GREGG LAUGHS

'I'm Gregg Wallace...' Wheels!

'..and I'll be joining this multi-stage manual production line

'to make my own bike...'

There's just over 16.5 million different combinations.

Don't be ridiculous!

'..learning skills that take years to master...'

-You're holding 1,000 degrees in your hand.

-Er...

'..and trying to keep up with their 24-hour production targets.'

I was chatting, I'm sorry. Let's go, let's go!

'I'm Cherry Healey.'

Whoa!

'I'll be getting some tips from Team GB

'to help us all improve our pedal power...'

-Wow, look at that.

-So, how do I know

if I've got the right pressure in my wheel?

'..and learning the secrets of painting a bike

'fit for the British weather.'

You bake it in an oven!

Historian Ruth Goodman investigates

the role bikes played in the D-day landings...

This seems an enormously heavy machine

to be wearing whilst you jump out of a plane in a parachute.

..and how two wheels helped women fight for equality.

The bicycle really was, then, a part

of the sort of tools of the trade in their political ambitions.

A brand-new bicycle comes off this production line

every three and a half minutes.

-Hey!

-Ta-da!

And we're going to show you the amazing engineering

and craftsmanship that goes into making every single one.

Welcome to Inside The Factory.

Welcome to the Brompton Bicycle factory in west London.

It's the largest and one of the few remaining bike factories in Britain.

This is their classic folding bike

and it can be unfolded in as little as six seconds.

Over 1,000 of these a week roll out of this factory,

-ready to be shipped around the world.

-Um...

-I've nearly got it. Ah...

-Do you need a tiny bit of help there?

Let's have a go.

Thank you, Cherry.

That's a clever design but quite complicated to manufacture.

They start off life like this - 1,200 individual parts.

Tonight, we're going to show you how a team of hundreds can turn this

into a working bicycle in less than 24 hours.

This is the largest company manufacturing bikes in the UK.

And they hand-build every frame.

All the raw steel they use comes from Spain in six-metre lengths,

so first, it goes to a specialist company in Leicester

to be laser-sliced or machine-sawed.

At the London bicycle factory, the material intake section

receives four tons of made-to-measure parts every week.

That's enough for more than 150 folding bikes

every 24 hours of production.

And I'll be responsible for one of them.

The countdown from metal bits to my bicycle begins.

I'm going to need a lot of help,

starting with training manager, Barney Fox.

-Are you going to give me my bits?

-Absolutely.

First, we should start with the main frame.

Two bits of tubing for you. Take one of those.

That's where your bottom bracket will go.

That's where your crank and chain set go. Main frame tubing.

All right, couple of chain stays for you - left and right.

So, you can take that as well. Going to need a handlebar stem.

Are you sure this actually makes a bike?

You're also going to need a fork to be able to...

METAL CLANGS ON FLOOR

-Well.

-Sorry, Barney.

-There you are. Keep hold of that.

Where can I put that?

Just to finish off the main frame, put in a seat tubing in there.

There's a little bit more than I thought there'd be.

-Is it starting to look like a bike yet?

-Not at all!

I feel like the Tin Man! That's not a bike, surely!

33 separate pieces of metal will form the skeleton of my bike

and every single part will be joined together,

not by robots, but by artisans.

First out of my box of bits, it's the biggest tube in the main frame.

It needs bending into its distinctive shape

and they do that with the original mould press,

designed more than 30 years ago.

That machine is set to do this at the right angle every time, is it?

-Yes.

-Where does this bit go - up?

-Over here.

-Like that?

'It's shaped every folding bike that's left this factory,

'using a pressure five times the weight of a white rhino.'

-And now, is this...that bit?

-No, it's not that bit.

-If you turn it up, it will be this way.

-So, that's...

-Yes.

-That bit.

'Just 15 minutes after the raw steel arrived at the factory,

'and I've now got all the parts of my frame ready.

'Now it's time to start turning it into a bike.' Thank you.

The 33 steel parts of the frame need joining together by brazing.

It's like soldering but at an extreme heat of 1,000 degrees.

It's all done by hand.

There are 42 braziers and the most experienced is Abdul El Saidi.

-Hello!

-Hello, Gregg.

-'He's worked here for 18 years.'

What is your role here, Abdul?

-I train every single person in here how to become brazier.

-Right.

Training takes 18 months and, after qualifying,

each brazier is allowed to sign their own work.

-They stamp their own initials?

-Every single brazier has his own initials.

These bikes are going all over the world

-and it's got one of your boys' initials on it.

-Exactly.

The wall of fame shows the pride in their work

and I'm hoping I can live up to the legacy as Abdul's latest trainee.

There's a sleeve for extra protection.

-You're holding 1,000 degrees in your hand.

-You're kidding me.

'That's the melting point of bronze,

'which forms an incredibly strong and solid bond between the joints.'

-When was the last time you burnt yourself?

-Maybe three months ago.

-Oh, no, Abdul!

-It's only a little touch.

'I'm right out of my comfort zone.'

-Er...

-Very safe, very safe.

Nothing to worry about. Like a pen in your hand.

Right, what we're going to do - the wire in this hand

and I'll show you how simple and easy and you're going to love it.

-Oh, yeah.

-Don't worry. Like everyone.

-I'm not at all nervous(!)

Slowly... Excellent. Keep going with the torch.

Excellent, that's the one.

So, you're wishing to become a master brazier?

Well, I tell you what, I would be tired at the end of the day,

-because this is quite precise work.

-Very good, go.

If that's melting metal together,

that would make a terrible mess of my fingers.

'Now I've practised, Abdul's letting me braze

'one of the joints on the bike I'm building -

'under his watchful eye and, well, safe in his arms.'

# Oh, my love... #

Straight line, little bit.

-# My darling... #

-Close the joint together.

# I've hungered for your touch... #

-I'm going to leave you to continue on your own.

-No! You can't leave me!

-# I need your love... #

-I'll break it.

'Not bad, but nowhere near as good as these guys.'

Can I take one of yours? Is that OK?

-Abdul!

-Yes.

-I've finished.

-Well done.

-What do you think?

-Wow, fantastic!

-Not bad, huh?

-Professional. Very good.

-Actually...

-Is that the one you brazed?

-No, actually...

I thought that looked OK until I saw my friend's.

The more you practise, the more you get better and better.

'I don't deserve to be here, but I made it to the wall of fame.

'And luckily, Abdul's team is giving me a hand,

'brazing the rest of my bike joints -

'normally an intensive four-hour job.'

There you go. With a little bit of help from Abdul,

I've finished the parts of my bike frame

and now they're going to go off and get painted.

My bike frame leaves London to travel 150 miles

to a factory in Cardiff, where they paint 1,000 folding bikes a week,

and Cherry's in charge of my paint job.

So, when you order your bike,

you can choose from over 100 different colour combinations

and every single bike comes through this one factory,

here in Cardiff, to be painted.

I suppose I'd better get cracking then.

'First, we're dipping the parts into a series of 11 giant baths

'and that's just to prepare the steel for painting.'

Have a nice bath!

'In the two-and-a-half-hour process, the frame gets an alkaline wash

'to clean it, a coating of crystals to protect it from rust

'and it's dunked in a bath of base paint with an electric charge

'to make it stick to the metal.

'The manager here is David Morgan.'

Do you have to do this with normal bikes?

It sounds extremely labour-intensive.

The importance of this, with a folding bike,

is that when you open the bike,

you're opening the bike to the elements, effectively.

So, if the inside of the bike isn't protected,

the inside of the bike will rust

and the bike will effectively rust from the inside out.

Is that really the only way to get that protection?

If you want a premium finish, yes.

If only Gregg knew how much hard work

goes into just priming the frame.

-You're not even painting it yet!

-Nope.

Before we can start, Gregg's bike frame is heated for 45 minutes

at 180 degrees to harden the primer.

At last, overalls on, I'm ready.

CHERRY GRUNTS

'Showing me how to do a professional paint job

'is managing director Steve Rosher.'

-Can I have a paintbrush?

-No.

-What you need is a powder coating gun.

-A powder coating gun?

Surely if you put powder onto metal, it will just blow off.

Not if you use the proper equipment.

'The paint powder is electrostatically charged,

'so it's attracted to every little bit of the steel surface.'

That looks painted to me. That looks like a painted piece of metal.

OK, but at the moment it's held on just by static electricity,

-so if you touch it...

-Whoa!

-..it comes away.

-What?

-So, it's still a dry powder.

Wow! Amazing! It just falls off.

Obviously, you can't send this bike out for someone to ride

cos it would come off in one rain shower.

-So we have to bake it in a oven.

-You bake it in an oven!

'But before that happens, I need to get Gregg's frame painted.'

Ta-da!

-Well done. Job looks good. Shall we put them in the oven?

-Yes!

'After baking for 15 minutes at 180 degrees, the parts are ready.'

So, it goes off down to quality control now

and then it's up to London, back to Gregg.

This bike has been primed, painted and baked

and now I look like a Smurf!

Back at the factory,

and we're now 16 hours into building my bike.

I've got my hands on my frame again

and now it's looking fabulous.

Right, Barney, I'm back here. I've had my tubes, I've bent them,

I've brazed it, we've now painted it -

surely we are now ready to put a bicycle together, aren't we?

Before we pop it onto the line, we need to give it a quick visual check

to make sure that we're happy with them.

So, if you want to pick one of the parts up.

Let's have a scan over with our eyes

and just make sure there's no imperfections,

no defects on the part whosoever.

Are you sure that paint seems all right?

The main parts we're going to look at are the top of the tubing

and if you're happy, I'm happy to put it on the line.

-Yeah, I'm happy.

-Let's go for it.

-I think that's good work, mate.

-Sounds good. Let's go.

-Come on then, lend a hand, Barney!

You'll be all right, come on.

My bike parts will pass through a 28-person production line.

The 12 most time-critical jobs on the main assembly

have just three and a half minutes before the bike moves on.

And the target board keeps everyone on track.

They build 153 bikes a day and each one can be completely different.

There's just over 60.5 million different combinations.

-Don't be ridiculous!

-Absolutely.

-How? Forgive me, but how?

We can have lots of different colours,

different types of handlebars, different gear rangings,

you can have mud guards, you don't have to have mud guards.

To help the team keep on top of each unique order,

every bike travels through with a kind of passport.

This is quite simply named a "pink".

It tells the operator on our production line

what parts need to go where

and this is pretty much the DNA of the bicycle.

-So, is there one here for me and Cherry's bike?

-This is it.

This is it. You do realise, don't you,

-everyone's going to want the Gregg bike in Cherry colour?

-You reckon?

'Before I can get going with MY bike,

'I've got to find the beginning of the assembly line.'

Someone's got to help me.

I've got to put a bike together - where do I start?

Start over there?

-I need help! Are you the first bit? I'm Gregg.

-I'm Rafael.

In the Main Frame Station 1,

16 hours and 8 minutes after they were plain metal tubes,

Rafael Sarkovski will start connecting them together.

What is this bit? What is it? Where does it go?

On the front, front of the bike.

-Here we're going to put a handlebar and fork.

-Oh, OK, OK.

-Yeah, like that.

-OK, OK, OK.

'First, the chrome spacers go on.'

Argh!

'The front and main frame is attached with a hinge

'to form one of the three key folding points of the bike.

'Rafael attaches the quick-release clamp.'

Done?

'Next, in Main Frame 2, Carl O'Brien will fit the seat post,

'which is inserted upside down.'

-Do you want to just flip the bike over?

-Oh, oh, Carl, you're a star.

'Then we need to add its all-important safety features.'

But first, Cherry's investigating what's being done

to make our roads safer for cyclists.

SIRENS WAIL

As an enthusiastic urban cyclist, I generally feel safe,

but it is hard not to worry when you see flowers laid out

in tribute to cyclists who've died on the roads.

In London alone, there have been 66 fatalities since 2011

and more than half of them were collisions with a truck.

'To find out why cyclists and trucks are such a deadly combination...'

It's a pretty big lorry.

'..I'm getting behind the wheel of an HGV...'

Whoa, that is so high!

'..with instructor Doug Johnson.'

-Ready to fire it up?

-Holy moly!

-So, you bring your clutch up gently, gently, gently.

-Whoa!

Oh, my God, the weight of this thing.

'Doug's going to show me the challenges of keeping cyclists safe

'from a lorry driver's perspective. First, a left turn.'

Now, looking left and looking right,

we're going to treat this like a junction, OK?

Bring it to a nice gentle stop.

Have a good look in your mirrors. Is it clear?

-I can see the lorry, I can see the cone.

-If it's clear...

-Yes, absolutely.

-Let's just get out and have a look from the outside.

-Whoa! Oh, my God!

-CYCLISTS CHEER

How is that possible that all of you and the car...?

I can't believe it.

-Literally, you cannot see anything.

-Yeah, yeah, it's scary.

'There are seven cyclists here

'and the left-turn blind spot can hide a great many more.

'I was convinced it was safe to turn but it wasn't.'

That's just bizarre.

'And many truck drivers have another blind spot right under their noses.'

-Look in all your mirrors, look out the windows.

-I can't see anything.

Whoa! Where did they come from?

Oh, my gosh, you've got to be at least, what,

three of four metres away for me to be able to see them.

Yep, don't be close to a big truck.

'This spot is so dangerous. Since 2015,

'all lorries in London over 3.5 tons must have special mirrors

'to improve vision directly in front of the cab

'and both sides of the driver.

'But this isn't yet law in the rest of the UK.

'Now I want to know what I can do to protect myself on my bike.'

So, where is it that I should be that is safe?

Ideally, you need to be here,

-so you've got good eye-line with the driver.

-Yes.

-He can see you, you can see him.

-Right.

-So you need to be quite assertive.

-That will keep you safe.

LORRY HORN BEEPS

I had absolutely no idea

that the blind spot was such a huge area next to the lorry.

It just goes to show that when you're cycling,

you have to be so aware.

HGV designers can play their part too.

A number of manufacturers have added extra visibility to their vehicles,

like this Mercedes Econic lorry.

CHERRY KNOCKS ON DOOR

-May I come in?

-Of course you can, Cherry.

'Joe Riley drives one of the 5,000 that are on our roads.'

-I can see how much more you can see.

-Yes.

You have almost a 360 view around your cab.

Yes, I can see more so there's less chance of me having an accident.

'We're hitting the streets

'so Joe can show me its safety features in action.

'First, the floor-to-ceiling folding glass door.'

When we're turning left,

it's the most dangerous manoeuvre any lorry driver can do.

This is what it's all about. It's that point there.

-So, this area here, the clear area here...

-Yeah.

..is, potentially, the difference between life or death for a cyclist.

-Indeed it is.

-Isn't that amazing,

-that a clear door could save someone from a fatal accident?

-Yes, it is.

-What other features does this lorry have?

-It's got side sensors.

SENSORS BEEP

The cyclist also gets a danger alert.

Can you hear the verbal warning system?

LORRY: 'Stand clear. This vehicle is turning left.'

And it repeats itself every time I've got an indicator on left.

So, cyclists know you're about to make that turn.

This lorry also has a state-of-the-art safety camera.

-The camera picks up down the near side.

-Right.

-So, I can see cyclists coming up. There's a cyclist.

-Here he comes.

Totally clear view. That is absolutely brilliant.

The difference is incredible.

The huge windows and added sensors

mean that cyclists can just feel that much safer on the roads.

At the factory, it's 16 hours and 15 minutes

since I collected the parts for my bike.

We've bent the steel, brazed the frame and Cherry's painted it blue.

We've put together its front frame, main frame and seat post.

The target board shows that, somehow, we're still on schedule.

'Now, Gary Franklin...' I've got another one coming in.

'..attaches the fork for the front wheel.'

Station by station, bit by bit, this is looking like a bike.

You need to tighten the top nut, and then back off the bottom nut.

Just make sure that you can feel the ball bearings working.

Then he fits the front brake, reflector and mud guard.

If you don't do this right, does it get rejected further down the line?

Yeah, it'll go down on the computer system and you have a talking-to.

Whoa! It's like being a proper mechanic, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Cheers, mate.

'Overseeing the entire operation is the company CEO, Will Butler-Adams.'

It's not what I expected at all.

That's what I was going to ask - what did you expect?

-It's far more artisan. I expected...

-Machines, robots.

..30-foot high automatons.

What I didn't expect was two rows of people.

Tell me about the idea of a folding bike.

If you're going to use a bike, you need a bike that's convenient.

If you live in a city, dragging a big bike is a bit of a pain.

So, if you can have a bike, like a Swiss Army knife,

suddenly appears when you want it,

disappears when you don't want it, it's handy.

Whilst modern folding bikes are made mostly for urban use,

that hasn't always been the case,

as historian Ruth Goodman is finding out.

Imagine the scene.

You are 8,000 feet above northern France,

about to jump into enemy territory.

You've got your parachute and your pack, and you've also been told

to take the airborne military folding bicycle.

And it's not light.

But it was long before the Second World War

that folding bikes went into military action.

They appear from the 1870s onwards

and collector Colin Kirsch has the proof.

This is the front end of a detachable Dursley-Pedersen

from 1900.

The idea was to use it to carry on a soldier's back during the Boer War.

Oh, right. You're supposed to carry both parts?

Yes, so the two parts would strap together.

So, did this idea get developed further then?

Yes, there were quite a few folding bicycles at that time -

lots of prototypes.

But it wasn't until World War I

that the British army really appreciated their potential.

In 1914, the first year of the war,

14,000 British soldiers were in cyclist battalions.

So, here's the World War I BSA folding bike.

-And these were used in action?

-Yes, they made large quantities of these.

The problem was, soldiers didn't really want to spend the time

unfolding them to put them on their back.

It was one of those things

that was not necessarily used for its purpose.

-Right, so it seemed like a good idea back in the office.

-Exactly.

Even so, by the end of the war, in 1918,

100,000 troops had used a bike in active service.

They were used again by the military from 1939,

the start of World War II -

first, to helps save the lives of paratroopers,

getting them away from their drop zone as quickly as possible.

Colin, this seems an enormously big and heavy machine to be wearing

whilst you jump out of a plane in a parachute.

-Oh, well, this was probably the lightest!

-Really?

-Yes.

It managed to get the design of this one under 20lbs in weight.

It would give you mobility once you got on the ground,

if you were off trying to find specific targets.

-Yes, as long as you weren't under fire.

-So, did they see much action?

Yes, there were two major campaigns they were used.

They were used on D-day in the landing craft

and they were used at Market Garden,

when 8,000 paratroopers were dropped,

many of them with bicycles.

-How does it go together then? It sort of...

-Right...

-You wouldn't want to do this under fire.

-You wouldn't, would you?

Fabulous design.

Ready to jump on and...ride away.

70,000 of the so-called parabikes were manufactured,

but British paratroopers weren't keen to ride them,

and at the end of the war, thousands were stockpiled

and then sold off as army surplus.

It wasn't until the 1960s

that folding and packaway bikes came back into favour.

Now they were fashionable

and, thanks to the much smaller 16-inch wheels, also practical.

The next big breakthrough was in 1971,

when Harry Bickerton came up with a new light and compact design,

which set the standard for folding bikes.

Four years later, Andrew Ritchie came up with his own invention,

the Brompton.

Back at the factory, Will's filling me in

on how that invention was turned into a commercial product.

Andrew Ritchie came up with the idea in his flat,

overlooking the Brompton Oratory, came up with the name and decided,

"Perfect, I'm a genius, everyone's going to want my design."

Gave it to Raleigh, they looked at it and decided it was bonkers,

didn't want to do it.

So, after everyone else turned it down, he decided to do it himself.

In the early '80s, Andrew began making bikes on a small scale

from his home in west London.

But making a profit was tough

and when the banks refused him a loan,

it was almost the end of the road.

One of his customers,

who was so frustrated that he couldn't buy any more of the bikes,

came in with the 40 grand he needed in 1988,

and after 13 years of struggle, he got started.

-He got his bike fan-funded.

-Early fan-funding.

-He did, didn't he?

Now, this factory produces 46,000 bikes a year,

and to help them keep on target,

I need to get mine back on the assembly line.

It's just over 16 hours and 18 minutes

since I started and now Hubert Stritzi

attaches the rear section

to the main frame

for the second key folding point.

-Put rear frame...

-Ah. I can do this.

-OK, and now use this spanner...

-Look in your ear.

-It's OK? Clear?

-THEY LAUGH

Next, we're going to give my bike its mud guard,

racks and rear brakes.

Helping me is Michelle Makelogi.

I'm going to show you one side and then you can tighten the other one.

-Is that all right?

-All right.

-So, you just go like this.

-That's it.

-And that's it, right?

Next stop for my bike is Fork 2,

-and Noel Peters.

-Noel.

'All the experienced workers like Noel swap over their stations

'from day to day.'

Noel, you seem very confident. Have you been here a while?.

-Um, yeah, since May, 2001.

-You've been here 15 years?

-Yeah, I can't believe it myself.

-Wow, wow.

On his station today, Noel puts on the mud flaps

and attaches the derailleur cables

that will make the bike's gears change.

You're part-man, part-bicycle now, aren't you?

I think I'm robot now, complete robot!

They use more than half a mile of cable a day.

If I was going to work here, give me one tip.

-Focus, that's it.

-Focus.

-Yeah.

-Focus.

What did he say? Focus. Focus.

-Can I do this?

-I wasn't leaving you out.

-Get off, get off. Get off.

-All right.

When you hear that click, that's done, yeah? That's it, yeah.

-Cable in, mud guard in.

-Yes, that's the one.

What do you think when you see someone on the train

-with one of these?

-I say, "Wow, I had a hand in that.

"And a few others."

That's me. Hand-made by me. I feel proud.

A bike like this will cost you upwards of £750

and that's not cheap.

But that's nothing compared to the price of some of the racing bikes.

They can cost up to £10,000.

But you don't have to spend a lot of money to pedal faster.

Cherry's been out to chat with some of the top cyclists in the country

to pick up some tips.

The success of the British cycling team and their speedy track stars

has inspired more than two million of us

to get on our bikes at least once a week.

But are the secrets of track cycling transferable to the real world?

My bike, Margot, is practical and comfortable, but sometimes,

when I am struggling up a hill with my baby on the back

and shopping on the front, I do wonder,

"Is there a way to make my ride a little bit easier and speedier?"

I've come to the National Cycling Centre in Manchester,

where six-time gold medallist Chris Hoy trained,

and where Britain's top cyclists are preparing for the next Olympics.

Wow, they are so fast! Don't look, Margot, it'll just depress you.

-Team GB coach, Kevin Stewart...

-You can go a bit faster than that!

..is going to show me how small alterations in the way I ride

and the way my bike is set up could transform my cycling.

She may not be the coolest thing you've ever seen...

KEVIN LAUGHS

I'm really unbelievably excited to ride round the velodrome.

Cool, well, let's get a baseline mark to see if we can help you.

'To assess how well I'm riding,

'I have to tackle four laps, or 1,000 metres,

'of this intimidating track, with 42.5 degree banks.'

-Fast as you go. Three, two, one, go!

-CHERRY RINGS BIKE BELL

All right, off we go.

The high bits are really high!

Wheeeee.

-BIKE BELL RINGS

-Oh, my God.

-I mean, they are unreal.

-KEVIN LAUGHS

Keep going, keep going. Big push.

All right.

That was amazingly fun!

We got a time for those four laps. 3 minutes, 32.

How quickly do the professionals do it?

-The world record is 56 seconds.

-They're four times faster.

'Clearly I'm no Olympian,

'and Kevin's noticed I'm not using my gears effectively.'

-You want a smaller gear to begin the effort.

-Yes.

But once you get up to speed, you can push a much bigger gear,

so it's about choosing the right gear at the right time.

The other really big one we can do is go from here...

-..to here.

-Really?

-Yeah.

So, if you want to make yourself as small as possible,

it means it's a lot easier to get through the air.

Come on then, let's get off the track.

'Now I've got some efficiency tips, what about my bike?'

Oh, wow, look at that. That's pretty flat, isn't it?

I shouldn't really be able to do that.

So, the more air we have, the easier the bike is going to roll.

'I could be losing up to 20% of the energy I'm putting into pedalling

'because my tyres are too flat.'

There's probably around 10 psi - 10 pounds per square inch of air -

in this tyre at the moment.

How do I know if I've got the right pressure in my wheel?

They actually have it written on the tyre

the minimum and maximum pressure you should put in those tyres.

Road tyres typically require 80 to 130 psi.

Go over and the inner tube could explode.

-OK, there's around about 80 in that now.

-That is absolutely solid.

-Yeah.

-What's next?

-We can have a look at your seat height.

-When you were riding round, it was far too low.

-Oh, really?

Yeah, we weren't using all of those powerful leg muscles we have.

-So, let's think about raising it up a little bit...

-OK.

..and getting it to that optimal height where you can get

-a full extension, OK?

-OK.

I reckon around about an inch we need to put it up.

'Kevin can adjust by eye, but for the perfect seat height,

'you should have a slight bend in the knee

'when your pedal is at its lowest point.'

So, next - aerodynamics.

'The child seat and basket need sidelining when not in use

'but losing these 4.5kg won't make as big a difference as my clothing.'

80% of what you push through the air

and what makes that hole in the air is you, OK?

-And maybe 90% with that coat on.

-Coat's got to go.

I feel like a speed demon now.

'Some simple changes - using the right gear,

'optimum tyre pressure, correct saddle height

'and making my shape more aerodynamic -

'should improve my track time.'

-So, four laps again.

-Ready.

-Go!

Remember your gears.

It feels so weird.

Faster already.

-The difference is unbelievable!

-Yeah, it's good!

That's it - nice and low for me. Remember your position.

'Just lowering my body position is making a 10% improvement

'to my speed and efficiency.'

-Whoo!

-All right.

SHE PANTS

-Well, good job.

-That felt completely different.

I've never, ever experienced my bike that.

-So, your first time round was 3 minutes, 32.

-Yes.

-You've gone two minutes, 27 for those four laps.

-Whoa!

So, you've taken over a minute off your four-lap time,

-which is incredible.

-Thank you!

It has been incredible to get a sneak peek

into the world of elite performance racing

and I love that I have a few tips to make my riding easier and faster.

But, sadly, I don't think we're going to make it to the Olympics.

We'll take it on the chin.

Back on the production line, and my bike is just over 16.5 hours

into its journey from parts to packaging.

It's now got forks, mud guards and brakes,

but it's still missing two of the most crucial components.

-Do you make the wheels?

-I do.

-I need two wheels.

-I need a back wheel and a front wheel.

-Yeah, sure.

Behind the main assembly line,

Rudi Yousef fits the inner tubes and tyres onto the wheel rims.

And, like the other time-critical stations,

he has just 3.5 minutes or he'll hold up the whole production.

-How many wheels do you do a day?

-Over 300 wheels a day, yeah.

These wheel rims are designed here, but made off-site.

They only have a 16-inch diameter,

10 inches smaller than a standard bike wheel.

Their reduced size makes them stronger

and helps the bike accelerate faster.

Rudi, stand aside. Let me show you how you do wheels properly, son.

Yeah, you just lock it in.

'First of all, I need to apply a protective tape

'and get the inner tube and tyre to fit snugly on top.'

This is very, very fiddly.

'To help protect these tyres from punctures,

'they're reinforced with Kevlar,

'an ultra-strong material used in bulletproof vests.'

-Can I stand back and just let you do one?

-No, no.

Cos I need two wheels for my bike.

'Now, with help from Rudi, I can inflate the tyre.'

It always puts the right amount of air in?

It's automatically set at 100 psi.

So, other tyres on other bikes, they normally have a lower psi.

-Yeah.

-You have 100, which is higher, because you have a smaller wheel.

-Yeah.

-Is that because the wheel is doing more work?

-Yeah.

-It's going round more often.

-Yeah.

'The expert in wheel engineering is design manager Paul Williams.'

Is the wheel the trickiest bit on a folding bike?

It's one of the parts that needs to be best built,

that lasts longest, because it's going to see

a lot of wear - constant braking, constant acceleration.

Regular cycling commuters can travel more than 1,300 miles in a year,

so it's essential their bikes are robust and lightweight.

That might be down to this nut being 2g lighter.

How many bits on the bike?

1,200-odd, and if we can take a little bit out of each of those,

then we will add up to something quite considerable.

It's a constant challenge for the design team

to balance the bike's weight, durability and cost.

If you make something stronger,

it's often got more material in, so it's not as light.

If you make it lighter, it normally means more exotic material.

It's hard to do that cheaply.

The company invests heavily in researching the latest technologies

and they know a comfortable ride is also important.

Nowadays, we take it for granted,

but early bikes weren't designed with luxury in mind,

as Ruth Goodman has been finding out.

In the 19th century, cycling was almost exclusively a male pursuit.

In 1817, the first popular two-wheeler was thought

to have been invented in Germany.

It was named the dandy horse

because it was fashionable with wealthy young men.

More than 40 years later, the boneshaker,

with its iron-shod rims, wooden wheels

and a very solid frame, also had pedals.

In the 1870s, the penny farthing was still for men only.

'Bike historian Doug Pinkerton shows me why.'

That is what we call forward dismount.

It looks really difficult to ride.

How on earth did women manage with the big skirts?

Ladies, at the time, they weren't riding these machines.

It was the none-done thing to do.

In public places, you didn't even show so much as an ankle,

so riding a bicycle of this design was totally out of the question.

-Totally impossible.

-So, ladies actually rode tricycles.

This ladies tricycle, from 1886, has an ingenious lifting handlebar

to help ladies mount in bulky dresses.

-Slide in, put the handlebars back.

-Yep.

-Marvellous.

-IN POSH ACCENT:

-Leg over in a decorous manner.

Oh, my goodness! This is not an easy bike to ride.

No, very cumbersome, very slow.

'Fears that rigorous movement could ruin

'"the feminine organs of matrimonial necessity"

'meant Victorian women were discouraged from cycling.'

Ooh!

It's sort of annoying,

in that the men have all this freedom on the bike

and you, as a woman, are going to be trailing behind

because you've got to do it decorously.

Yes, you really were almost a second-class citizen.

-You sacrifice so much with this upright posture.

-Very much so.

But things improved for women cyclists in the late 1880s,

with the invention of the safety bike -

the direct ancestor of today's diamond-frame bike.

Equal-sized wheels and lighter, more responsive steering

made this a far easier ride.

This is the sort of period when ladies were starting to use cycles.

So, for the first time,

-men and women are on the same style of bicycle.

-Exactly, yes.

So, this, really, would give you, particularly as a woman,

a lot more freedom than the earlier styles would have done.

The new improved safety bicycle era, after 1885, because of its design,

certainly liberated women to come and enjoy the sport of cycling.

And one group who embraced this change were the suffragettes.

According to research fellow Sheila Hanlon,

bicycles were vital to women gaining freedom and the vote.

So, why are we here in Hyde Park?

Hyde Park was the site

of a really important suffragettes' rally in 1913.

It wasn't just a rally,

-it was actually a pilgrimage to get to the rally.

-Land's End to London.

If you look really closely in the front,

you'll see there's a line of cyclists.

They're upfront in the photograph

and that really reflects the central role

that they played in organising the pilgrimage.

This postcard is a different route and, again, the row of cyclists

-are right up at the front.

-Yes, they are. A whole load of them.

And what they're doing is they're taking pamphlets

and handing them out, they're holding meetings in village greens

and they're really using their bicycles

as a way to get out there and tell more people

about the need for the vote for women.

And then they all converge at the end,

in London, in the park where we are today.

So, how many people ended up here?

We think it was about 50,000 people, which is a formidable crowd.

The bicycle, itself,

was part of the sort of tools of the trade for independent-minded women

to get out there and be part of the political process.

The bicycle really was a small cog in a very big wheel for change

and I think it was essential to how women achieved the vote.

At the bike factory...

-Wheels! Front wheel.

-Yes.

-Rear wheel.

'..it's almost 16.5 hours since I collected the raw steel parts.'

I'm guessing it goes on that way.

'And, as Amelia Maticevska and I put on the wheels and handlebars,

'it's really starting to look like the finished product.'

Hey!

'But it's still not fit to ride.

'I need to tighten and align the brake pads...' You need strong arms!

-'..with Omar Ahmed Omar.' Are you happy?

-Not really.

-What's wrong?

-It's not straight.

-All right, you do it. Sorry, Omar, you do it.

I'm not very good at brakes.

Now I'm ready to fit the mechanism that will make my bike move -

the pedals, crank and chain.

Urgh, that's tight, mate.

For crying out loud! You've got to have shoulders like Schwarzenegger!

It's incredible to think these guys build 22 bikes an hour

but, according to the target board,

we've slipped behind and I'm pretty sure I'm the one causing the holdup.

I'm really sorry! I'm sorry, I was chatting, I'm sorry.

-I didn't want to say anything...

-That's what happens. Everyone stops.

-Can we move it on now?

-Let's go, let's go! I'm getting it.

-Into the next station.

-I've got you, I've got you.

My next station is Rear Brake.

First, we set up the brake cables

and try and get my bike back on track.

What are you doing? Come on, man, we've got to move!

Let's go, let's go! We've got bikes to make!

What do you think these are?

We've got another set of wheels going here.

-I think that's because the bike folds up...

-Yeah.

..and it's got to roll, rather than clank.

Unless you're going to ride it upside down,

that's to fold it, right?

When the bike's packed down,

these extra little wheels let the cyclist pull it along.

Seeing how it folds up makes me realise

why pressing the steel into a curve was so important.

The reason that's curved is so a wheel fits under it

-when it's folded.

-One of.

-That's the reason.

But that gives it a unique look as well.

I'm so getting the hang of this bike lark!

There's lots of engineering that goes into making a modern bicycle,

but that, to me, is nothing if it's not comfortable.

Now, when you order a bike from this factory, you get a standard saddle

but if you really want luxury for your bottom,

you can get a hand-made one.

Brooks, based in Birmingham,

has been making leather saddles for almost 150 years.

The company was started in 1866 by John Boultbee Brooks,

who began with horse harnesses and saddles.

But when his own horse died,

he decided to switch to making bicycle saddles.

-I've come to make a saddle. Is this where I start?

-Yep.

Master cutter, Ricky Ravenhill,

needs to get as many as 11 of them out of each cow hide.

-Do you want to try and cut one?

-Crikey, really?

You get the knife and as close to the edge as possible.

And then swing that round so it's in the middle

and then press those down

and as soon as you feel it's hit the pressure, release them.

That should be perfect.

'Almost all their leather comes from the UK and Ireland,

'where the cold weather means the cows have thicker skins -

'up to nearly 6mmm which can support the weight of a body.'

-Start of my saddle, right?

-Voila, yeah.

'Next, Gurdip Sangha softens the leather in water

'for 20 to 40 minutes.'

-Bit like fishing, isn't it?

-It is, definitely.

That's it.

'After it's naturally air-dried for up to 12 hours,

'it's moulded to create the saddle shape.'

-We're virtually there.

-Yeah.

We're virtually there. We've got a saddle.

'I let someone experienced slice off the excess leather

'and then my saddle is ready for curing in the oven.'

If I don't come out in five minutes, call my mum!

Nearly three hours later,

and my leather seat gets its rough edges sanded away.

The seat will be fixed onto a frame made from high-tensile steel rails,

with a backplate pressed from more high-quality steel.

By the time the frame is ready,

it's been double-coated in nickel and copper,

it's been lacquered and baked,

but it's not a saddle until it's been put together.

'And that's the job of Eric Murray.'

-How do you do, sir?

-I've got to attach this to this.

-Can you show me how to do this?

-I will, sir.

'First up, Eric makes holes in the leather.'

-Are you pressing a button to make the holes? Can I do it?

-You can.

Stand back, son, stand back.

-Brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

-What is it about saddles?

It's your hands, isn't it? You're working with your hands.

You can't imagine yourself behind a desk with a tie on?

Oh, no, no way! I'm sorry, no.

I couldn't do that - no way!

Them people deserve medals

because I couldn't sit there fiddling a computer.

Next, Eric has to chamfer or trim off the leather

to create a smooth bevelled edge.

-Eric the chamferer.

-Eric the chamferer.

That's highly skilled.

If you get that wrong, at that stage,

-you've ruined a whole saddle. How many do you spoil?

-I don't.

-You've just got to be careful.

-And that gives a smoother finish.

-That's a bet.

-Saves chafing.

-That's it, exactly.

'Next, he puts a noseplate in the front of my saddle,

'inserts the backplate and rails and finishes the rivets by hand.

'It's then tensioned and aligned.

'The whole saddle-making process can take up to 36 hours.'

What has that just done, Eric?

-Pulled it one way and pushed it back the other?

-That's it, yeah.

It's into there now.

One inspection, yeah, to make sure it's all right,

and I'm taking this to the bike factory.

Good luck to you.

And I hope it lasts you for years and years, my friend.

More than 100 leather saddles arrive at the factory every week

and mine is coming straight into the final assembly station.

My bike has brakes, wheels, handlebars and a chain

and it's almost ready for the road.

Can you fit this one cos I actually made this one?

I think you can have a go.

'It's been 17 hours since I started this journey

'and of the 1,200 parts

'that make up this bike,

'I am about to tighten the very last screw.'

Ooh!

That's a pretty thing. Thank you, my friend.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yeah, very.

Can I have this bit painted a different colour?

No.

'I'm proud of that saddle, but strangely enough,

'not all bikes have a seat.'

Cherry's been out on the road testing the latest designs

for the bike of the future.

This is a Halfbike. There's no seat. You pedal standing up.

But this is one of thousands of new bike designs.

I wonder if it'll catch on.

The Halfbike was designed and built in Bulgaria,

thanks to a crowdfunding website.

The internet has opened the way

to all sorts of weird and wonderful new bikes.

There are trikes, like the Outrider Horizon,

or how about the folding YikeBike?

Or maybe the recumbent Ratracer?

It can reach speeds over 40mph

and the laidback riding position is super-aerodynamic.

It has 30% less drag than a standard bike,

so riding at 25mph takes around 20% less effort.

Inventor Mike Burrows thinks

it could teach the traditional bike design a thing or two.

-Oh, my gosh, I made it in one piece! Hi, Mike.

-Hi, Cherry.

Nice to meet you. Am I allowed to have a go?

You can sit in it. Bit sizist here,

but your feet won't reach the pedals and you really have to get...

-You have to get right down.

-This is it. Put your feet up on... Yeah.

HE LAUGHS

-So, this is significantly faster than a regular bike?

-Yeah.

-I'm an old man but I could take on Bradley any time, OK?

-Really?

When you're trying to ride a bike at high speed,

then you need to be low and streamlined and you just go faster.

Go!

But not every new bike design looks revolutionary.

The new generation of electric bikes have compact batteries...

..and the efficient motor is disguised in the design.

Eddie Kehoe is an e-bike convert.

It looks like a domestic bike. What makes it electric?

When you press on the pedals, it senses the effort you're putting in

and then it boosts that by a certain percentage, which you can set,

using the up and down arrows here on your thumb control.

And then it blends the assistance

with what you're doing naturally on the bike,

-so it feels very natural.

-OK, can I have a go?

-You can.

Oh, wow!

Oh...my...goodness me!

It's like you have super-powers.

-It's brilliant. Bionic legs.

-Oh, bionic legs!

Globally, the electric bike is already a craze.

Around 40 million were sold last year,

although only around 50,000 were bought in the UK.

We're taking all of our bikes out onto the street

to see which one the cyclists of Cambridge prefer.

What will people make of the £350 seatless Halfbike?

Argh!

-What did you think of it?

-It's good.

A bit difficult at first but, once you know how to do it, it's easy.

I like the fact it doesn't take up that much space. It's quite light.

-Would you swap a regular bike for this bike?

-No.

Mike's bespoke £5,000 recumbent Ratracer

is also being tried out for size.

-How do you feel?

-I feel good.

-Lay right back, head on the head rest.

-Is this the bike of the future?

-No way!

But, today, it seems that Eddie's £2,000 electric bike

is the clear favourite.

CHEERING

It was like you get on it and it just takes you, you just go.

It was fun. I didn't want to come off!

It's amazing, honestly!

Yeah, it just felt so easy and comfortable to ride as well.

Well, they say you can't reinvent the wheel,

but I think today has proven

that there are a few really fun new developments in cycling

to keep an eye out for.

At the factory, my folding bike is now complete.

It's taken more than 16.5 hours

for the parts of this giant bike jigsaw puzzle to come together.

But before it can leave the factory,

there's one crucial stage it's still got to get through.

I feel a bit nervous if it's going through an inspection.

I've had a hand in putting every bit on.

'Barney examines every inch.'

We've got the right handlebars, the right gearing,

we've got the mud guards on there.

-Back and front.

-I want you to go like that...

-Do you think it's going to fall apart any time soon?

-No!

It's looking good.

'And finally, it's the moment of truth.

'Will the bike I've helped braze,

'bolt and screw together actually fold?'

-If you pull that up and pull the bike up...

-We undo this?

-Yeah.

-Yeah!

-That should just fall into place.

-Now this?

-Yeah, saddle.

-Happy?

-I'm just a folding bike genius.

-OK.

I feel very proud of this.

-That's it.

-There.

But I don't get to keep this bike.

Along with the 46,000 bikes that leave this factory every year,

it could be sent to one of seven cities in the UK,

from Edinburgh to Cambridge,

or exported to one of 43 countries across the globe,

even to the world's big bike exporters, like China and Taiwan.

Following this bike from parts through to packaging

has been an incredible experience. It's not what I expected.

I expected to find an enormous great factory

with loads of robots and machines and steam coming up.

Actually, what it is is people, craftsmen,

putting these together by hand.

And all in under 24 hours.

Hey!

I don't know where this is going.

It could be going to Southend,

it could be going to South Australia.

I hope whoever receives it enjoys it

and I hope they appreciate the hard work

and craftsmanship that went into it.

I put a couple of nuts and bolts on this one myself.

Next time, I'll take you inside

one of the oldest sweet factories in the UK...

The smell in here is unbelievable!

..to find out how they turn 56 tons of sugar into 100 million sweets.

That's a river of jam!

-Cherry makes super-sour sherbet...

-Whoa!

-..and a giant stick of rock...

-It is huge! That is hysterical.

..as we unlock the secret art of sweet-making.