0:00:05 > 0:00:08The bicycle - one of mankind's greatest inventions,
0:00:08 > 0:00:14and the most popular form of transport in history.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17I'm Rob Penn, writer and bicycle obsessive.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22I've ridden a bike most days of my adult life, and watched it evolve over the years.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26They really are just about the most modern-designed bikes that I've seen for ages...
0:00:26 > 0:00:30Now I'm setting up to build my dream bicycle, and to tell the story
0:00:30 > 0:00:38of this remarkable invention and its impact on society. Look at that.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40I'm going to travel the globe collecting
0:00:40 > 0:00:44hand-built parts from some of the industry's finest craftsmen.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46Some Italians, they like to go...
0:00:46 > 0:00:49Where am I going to draw this?
0:00:49 > 0:00:50Erm...
0:00:50 > 0:00:53I'll be meeting some fellow bike fanatics.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55That would rub against the wheel.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57Rrrrrr!
0:00:57 > 0:01:01And some of the people who revolutionised the way we ride.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04That was scary, but that was why you did it, right?
0:01:04 > 0:01:10I'm going to explore how the bicycle has shaped the way we live, and how it continues to do so.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15We need to go back to the future, we need to rediscover the joys of this brilliantly simple machine.
0:01:15 > 0:01:23This is the story of the bicycle's evolution, from engineering marvel to modern transport icon.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42I've always been fascinated by the bicycle, because for me, it offers so much.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45I ride a bike to get to work. I ride a bike for work.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48I ride a bike to keep fit. I ride a bike to go shopping.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50I ride a bike to stay sane.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52I ride a bike to see my boys smile.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57I've owned 18 different bikes.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01My first proper bike was a Raleigh Tomahawk, the diminutive version of the infamous Chopper.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06Then I graduated to a purple Raleigh Hustler, my pride
0:02:06 > 0:02:10and joy for the summer of '76, and the first in a succession of racers.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13This is my slightly strange bike collection.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16The old mountain bike, a bit of a restoration project going on here.
0:02:16 > 0:02:22The new mountain bike, which is a rather lovely bike, perfect for the trails around here.
0:02:22 > 0:02:28The old racer, road racer, again, a bit of a work in progress, I'll have it fit for next winter.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32And the new racer, which is a rather lovely Italian frame.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35And that's rather nice... Dogs! Out!
0:02:35 > 0:02:38Go on, out!
0:02:38 > 0:02:42The bicycle has transformed my life as much as it's transformed society.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46In my late 20s, I abandoned a career as a solicitor, swapped my
0:02:46 > 0:02:54pin-striped suit for lycra shorts and spent three years pedalling 40,000 kilometres around the planet.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58My old round-the-world bike.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03which I cycled 24,500 miles on over three years...
0:03:03 > 0:03:09You know, this bike's got memories, I can't really bring myself to throw it away, so it sits in the corner.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13None of these bikes reflect my lifelong passion for cycling.
0:03:13 > 0:03:19I want a new bike, a bike that I'll ride every day for the rest of my life.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23Now obviously, you can go down the bike shop or go on the Internet and buy a new bicycle, and I could be
0:03:23 > 0:03:29riding, you know, over the hill there tomorrow on a fantastic new carbon frame race bike.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31But that's not right, I don't want that.
0:03:31 > 0:03:38So I want a special bike, and I want a bike which I'm going to design and commission myself,
0:03:38 > 0:03:43and then I'm going to go round the world looking for the perfect parts.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46The perfect parts for that bicycle - not the most expensive,
0:03:46 > 0:03:50not the lightest, but the parts which match my bicycle.
0:03:50 > 0:03:56And that will be a bike which I ride off to the sunset in.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58It will see me out of cycling.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02I'm only going to spend this kind of money on a bicycle once, so I want
0:04:02 > 0:04:05to do it and get the best, I want to get my dream bike, basically.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12My journey begins in Stoke-on-Trent. I've come to Rourke Cycles,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15where I'll be having my steel frame hand-built.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19Jason Rourke is one of the UK's top frame builders,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23making five bespoke bikes a week. It's like watching an alchemist at
0:04:23 > 0:04:27work, using gas and liquid metal to bring the bicycle to life.
0:04:37 > 0:04:44The earliest ancestor of the bicycle was invented by German aristocrat Baron Karl von Drais, in 1817.
0:04:44 > 0:04:50He realised a dream as old as mankind - a mechanical horse with wheels.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54Known as the Running Machine, it became the fashionable plaything
0:04:54 > 0:04:57of the rich in Regency England, hence its nickname, the dandy horse.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06The world had to wait 50 years for the next evolutionary leap.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10Around 1865, in Paris, the Michaux brothers put pedals and cranks on
0:05:10 > 0:05:13a dandy horse, and the velocipede was born.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17With wooden wheels, it was still heinously uncomfortable,
0:05:17 > 0:05:22and deserved its new nickname, the bone shaker.
0:05:22 > 0:05:29Things then gathered pace, quite literally, with the development of the high wheeler, or penny farthing.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32The large front wheel increased speed and
0:05:32 > 0:05:36comfort, and it was more affordable to the burgeoning middle classes.
0:05:36 > 0:05:42The height of the bicycle of course had one major disadvantage - when you fell off, it hurt.
0:05:42 > 0:05:49Finally, in 1885, a young engineer called John Kemp Starley from Coventry came up
0:05:49 > 0:05:54with the safety bicycle - so-called because you could touch the ground with both feet.
0:05:54 > 0:06:01Starley is the greatest British inventor you've never heard of, and he gave us the first modern bicycle.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05All previous incarnations of the machine were obsolete in months.
0:06:05 > 0:06:11Almost every bicycle made since has conformed to Starley's diamond frame.
0:06:11 > 0:06:17The great thing about this is, you're plunging back through history here, because this is
0:06:17 > 0:06:22effectively the shape of the bicycle that Starley came up with in 1885,
0:06:22 > 0:06:25the first safety bicycle - two triangles.
0:06:25 > 0:06:31And like I say, a set of simple steel tubes has been turned into this extraordinary weight-bearing
0:06:31 > 0:06:35machine, which will take you wherever you want to pedal.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39- I just want to get a rough idea of what you look like on it.- Yeah.
0:06:39 > 0:06:40Just to start off...
0:06:40 > 0:06:44Jason's dad, Brian, is fitting me for my frame.
0:06:44 > 0:06:50Brian Rourke is a cycling legend, winner of numerous national championships and Milk Race veteran,
0:06:50 > 0:06:55he's been fitting people to bespoke bicycles for 30 years.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59Like a tailor on Savile Row, Brian is meticulous in his measurements,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02and makes the frame to fit the customer.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05I would suggest we went to somewhere round about there...
0:07:05 > 0:07:08The frame is the heart and soul of the bicycle.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11All the components will wear out eventually and be replaced.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14The frame will only be made once.
0:07:14 > 0:07:19It's all ultimately about making you, the rider, as efficient as possible, isn't it?
0:07:19 > 0:07:21That's right, yeah.
0:07:29 > 0:07:34That car just came past us like the Flying Scotsman at full steam!
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Goodness knows how fast he was going, but we're doing a ton,
0:07:37 > 0:07:40so he must have been going about 130.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44That's miles per hour, not kilometres per hour.
0:07:44 > 0:07:51I'm on the autobahn in Germany, two hours north of Frankfurt, en route to buy the tyres for my bike.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55Continental tyres have an unrivalled reputation for
0:07:55 > 0:08:00reliability and quality, hand-built quality, in the bicycle world.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03They mean more than that to me, because I had Continental tyres
0:08:03 > 0:08:07on the bicycle that I rode round the world, and they were fantastic.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09Puncture-free tyres.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16The next evolutionary leap in the story of the bicycle was the invention of the pneumatic tyre.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20In 1888, a Scottish veterinary surgeon called John Boyd Dunlop
0:08:20 > 0:08:24stitched a rubber tube inside a canvas sleeve,
0:08:24 > 0:08:28filled it with air, and founded a global business that's still trading today.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33When Dunlop's tyres met Starley's frame in 1888, it was a catalyst for
0:08:33 > 0:08:38the first golden age of cycling, and a turning point for human society.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42The bicycle went into mass production.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47In 1895, 800,000 bikes were built in Britain alone.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51The humble bicycle played a critical role in both the emancipation
0:08:51 > 0:08:54of women and the subsequent expansion of the national gene pool.
0:08:54 > 0:09:01Young women could now travel to neighbouring villages and meet a wider circle of young men.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05Suburbs sprang up around cities, as people could now commute.
0:09:05 > 0:09:11More than anything, the bicycle ushered in a new era of freedom and social mobility,
0:09:11 > 0:09:16as working men and women enjoyed the first-ever affordable form of personal transport.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Continental is a global giant in tyre manufacturing.
0:09:25 > 0:09:32Though their main business is now automobiles, they've been making bicycle tyres since 1892.
0:09:34 > 0:09:41I've only been here for about 15 minutes, and the noise and the heat and the smell, it's very intense.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46You really get a sense of heavy manufacturing going on here. It's like being
0:09:46 > 0:09:51in the bowels of a Victorian steamship or something.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56The raw rubber is mixed with a cocktail of chemicals, heated up
0:09:56 > 0:10:00and melded with vast rolls of nylon to form the basic casing material.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03It's threaded with cotton to allow air bubbles to escape,
0:10:03 > 0:10:08and then wound onto giant rolls and carried upstairs.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10Brilliant, OK, here we go.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14The rolls are then cut into thin strips and checked for flaws.
0:10:14 > 0:10:19Each strip will shortly be turned into a tyre.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26The constituent parts of the tyre are then folded together by hand.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31Think of something like a Cuban cigar being rolled here.
0:10:31 > 0:10:36It's the hands which keep the quality so incredibly high.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39Now, it's ready for the final part of the process.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43The last stage is called vulcanisation -
0:10:43 > 0:10:50a chemical process using sulphur that's changed little since Charles Goodyear invented it in 1839.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54This is still flat, you could pull it apart with your own hands if you really wanted to.
0:10:54 > 0:11:01By the time it's been vulcanised in one of these extraordinary machines, while still hot, it looks like that.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04It has form and shape.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06Vulcanisation takes three minutes per tyre.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11The end result is checked, and ready to ride. Right, here it comes.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18- So I can take that out now? - Just take it out.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23There it is. There's the tyre.
0:11:23 > 0:11:24Here comes the next one. Take it?
0:11:28 > 0:11:31Look at them smoking, they're so hot off the press!
0:11:31 > 0:11:33Fantastic.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36Brilliant, thanks, Will.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39- You're welcome.- I'm very, very excited to have these tyres.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43These would cost you 80 Euros.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45- 80 Euros?- That's our dinner - for the two of us!
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Ha-ha-ha!
0:11:55 > 0:12:00At the outbreak of the First World War, Britain led the world in bike manufacturing,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03and the bicycle led the world in technological advancement.
0:12:03 > 0:12:08Many components that were essential to the development of the motor car were first invented for the
0:12:08 > 0:12:16bicycle - ball-bearings, tyres, chain-driven sprockets and spoke-tensioned wheels.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19Birmingham was the bike manufacturing centre of the UK,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23and home to more bicycle factories than anywhere else in the world.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26But in the second half of the 20th century, those
0:12:26 > 0:12:29factories closed down, as production relocated to Asia.
0:12:29 > 0:12:35Today, almost all evidence of the industry has gone.
0:12:35 > 0:12:37This is the Birmingham navigation canals.
0:12:37 > 0:12:43This place would have been alive with small workshops making bicycle components and bicycles.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46There would have been hundreds of them.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50And now, they've all gone - with the exception of one.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54I've come to Brooks to buy my saddle.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58Brooks have been in business in Birmingham since 1866.
0:12:58 > 0:13:03They've been present throughout the entire history of the modern bicycle.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05- Hi, there.- Hi!
0:13:05 > 0:13:08- Looking for Mr Green. - You've found him!- Mr Green!- Hello.
0:13:08 > 0:13:09How do you do, Rob Penn.
0:13:09 > 0:13:10- Hello, Rob.- Lovely to meet you.
0:13:10 > 0:13:16Following the death of his horse in 1878, the company's founder,
0:13:16 > 0:13:20John Brooks, borrowed a bicycle to commute to work.
0:13:20 > 0:13:26He found the wooden saddle so uncomfortable, he decided to make one for himself, in leather.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30The manufacturing process has changed little in over a century.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35Today, the company makes 150,000 saddles a year.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40Some of the models are identical to those of the 1890s.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44One of the fantastic things about the products that they make here
0:13:44 > 0:13:48is that they don't deteriorate with age, they get better with age.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52So you buy a Brooks saddle, and you take it away and you ride it,
0:13:52 > 0:13:56and every year you own it, it improves.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01Demand for Brooks saddles has soared 300% in six years.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04Clearly, people want parts that are made to last.
0:14:04 > 0:14:11The leather comes from British cows, and it is processed in Belgium to meet Brooks' exacting standards.
0:14:13 > 0:14:19The first step, much like cutting pastry, is to cut out the basic leather shape.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22These are immersed in tepid water for an hour to soften them up.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Now that they're wet and pliable, we can start to make the correct shape.
0:14:28 > 0:14:36Pure pressure, bring down the press, one flat piece into a first shape like that.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38That's the start, is it?
0:14:38 > 0:14:40That's the start.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54- It looks like a machine where you might lose a finger quite quickly, Diane. Is that right?- Yes.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57- You've got all 10, have you? All 10 still going?- Yes.
0:15:01 > 0:15:06Look at that. Quality.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11So what he's doing here is a chamfering the sides,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14which is literally just shaving a piece of the leather off.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18By doing this, it would stop them cutting the inside of the legs.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20It's all done in one continuous motion.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24You could make quite a mess of a nice saddle there, couldn't you?
0:15:24 > 0:15:28Yes, it could go horribly wrong. If you slip or make a mistake, you've ruined the leather top.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30Do you get paid double what everyone else gets paid?
0:15:30 > 0:15:33No.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36After knocking in the copper rivets, a feat of hand-eye co-ordination,
0:15:36 > 0:15:40the last step is to connect the metal structure to the leather top.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44One final buff and polish and hey, presto!
0:15:44 > 0:15:46Fantastic.
0:15:46 > 0:15:51Well, it's doubly exciting having seen how it's made
0:15:51 > 0:15:55and to know that, you know, it's all made by these.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58- That's right.- Absolutely fantastic.
0:15:58 > 0:16:04£90 later I'm the very proud owner of a Brooks team professional.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07Ha-ha, look at that!
0:16:07 > 0:16:13Brooks. You beauty! Look at that.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25The golden age of the bicycle ended abruptly in America
0:16:25 > 0:16:29when the Model T Ford went into mass production in 1908.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32The love affair with the car had begun and
0:16:32 > 0:16:38the bicycle was left out to rust until its revival in the Seventies.
0:16:38 > 0:16:45But it seems that, whenever it dies in one place, the bike comes back stronger somewhere else.
0:16:47 > 0:16:53In Europe, bicycle racing took off, becoming a hugely popular and glamorous sport.
0:16:53 > 0:17:00The Tour de France was first staged in 1903, followed by the Giro d'Italia in 1909.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04Like today's footballers, cyclists were the celebrities of the day,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07and their private lives no less scrutinised.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11Speed was the currency and a new generation of racing bikes
0:17:11 > 0:17:16evolved that took men faster and further than ever before.
0:17:20 > 0:17:26One of the greatest innovators of the time was Italian, Tullio Campagnolo.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30More than anyone, he's responsible for the make-up of the modern racing bike.
0:17:30 > 0:17:37He introduced the quick-release wheel, the modern derailer and the first group sets.
0:17:37 > 0:17:42I've come to Vicenza in northern Italy to visit Campag's HQ.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46Buon giorno. We've come to meet Levi Piazza.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48You are?
0:17:48 > 0:17:50Robert Penn.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53He knows we're coming. Thank you.
0:17:53 > 0:18:01I've got my saddle and tyres, now I need some gears, brakes, cranks and sprockets known as the group set.
0:18:01 > 0:18:06Campagnolo are world renowned for their high quality precision componentry.
0:18:06 > 0:18:11With global bike sales rocketing, the industry is more cut-throat than ever.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15Campag are keen to protect the secrets of their success
0:18:15 > 0:18:18and won't let us film the manufacturing process.
0:18:18 > 0:18:25You can sort of understand why, you know. It's an incredibly competitive business,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29a business which is dominated by one large Japanese company.
0:18:29 > 0:18:34And they're probably constantly under threat from them and constantly paranoid.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37So you can sort of understand why they're not going to let us in.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40As we've come all this way to buy my group set,
0:18:40 > 0:18:46I pleaded to be allowed in and I was granted a brief interview with their head of marketing. Shall I sit here?
0:18:46 > 0:18:48- Will you come next to me here?- Yes.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51Great. God, I feel like
0:18:51 > 0:18:54I'm the MD at the end of the table.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58One of the questions I'm behest to ask is: We've been to quite a lot of
0:18:58 > 0:19:04factories and some of them have been reluctant to let us in, but most of them have, in the end, let us in.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08But here, you know, you're not going to let us in.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10So I have to ask why.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13- We own many patents.- Yes.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16And it's...
0:19:16 > 0:19:22important to understand that the bicycling business owns
0:19:22 > 0:19:24a lot of technology.
0:19:24 > 0:19:32There's a certain jealousy in keeping this know-how a bit secret.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36- Within these walls? - Yes, within these walls.
0:19:36 > 0:19:42Finally, it's time to collect a record group set - the top of the range.
0:19:42 > 0:19:44Lovely looking things, aren't they?
0:19:44 > 0:19:52It's not cheap - 1,800 Euros - but these exquisitely crafted components are like the jewellery for my bike.
0:19:52 > 0:19:53- It's like Christmas, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Great! Levi, thank you, thank you.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58Fantastic. It's been a great pleasure.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00It's been lovely to meet you.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04I leave Campag a lot poorer, but happy.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09WOMAN SPEAKS ITALIAN ON RADIO
0:20:11 > 0:20:14RADIO CHANNEL CHANGES
0:20:17 > 0:20:21RADIO CHANNEL CHANGES TO ITALIAN OPERA MUSIC
0:20:21 > 0:20:24I'm on my way to the Cinelli factory in Milan,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28another name synonymous with excellence in Italian cycling.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31And I'm going there to buy my handlebars.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36Just the name Cinelli, I couldn't really put a bike together
0:20:36 > 0:20:41without something with the Cinelli name on it. It's a mark of flair,
0:20:41 > 0:20:46rather than the precision engineering that we've seen at Continental.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48OPERA SINGING CONTINUES
0:20:52 > 0:20:54Mi scusi, mi no parlo Italiano. Parlo inglese.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57- Buon giorno.- Buon giorno.
0:20:59 > 0:21:07I'm here to meet Antonio Colombo, a bike builder, art dealer and one of Italy's cycling philosophers.
0:21:07 > 0:21:12Cinelli dominated the pro-racing world for half a century.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16Their hand-built bikes have won 28 Olympic gold medals.
0:21:16 > 0:21:22Like Campagnolo, they've stayed ahead of the pack through constant innovation,
0:21:22 > 0:21:26while Antonio manages to bring his own style to the manufacturing process.
0:21:26 > 0:21:31We have a nice, round bottom bracket, which is unusual.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33Yeah.
0:21:33 > 0:21:39And one day I said, "Well, there could be a nice face here."
0:21:39 > 0:21:44So I think it is something which is new on a bicycle.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46I think it is something that's new on a bicycle.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49- This is the essence of cycling.- Yeah.
0:21:49 > 0:21:55The handlebars are now made in Asia, but they are developed and tested here in Italy.
0:21:55 > 0:22:01I had wanted an aluminium bar, but Antonio is keen for me to go graphite.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04- Well, I think I may have changed my mind.- Of course.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06Everybody is here to change minds.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09You've convinced me that...
0:22:09 > 0:22:11I rather like the idea of this,
0:22:11 > 0:22:13so it combines the classic "D" of the loop,
0:22:13 > 0:22:15which is something I wanted.
0:22:15 > 0:22:21And I like the way a bike looks from the side with the classic handlebars.
0:22:21 > 0:22:23The bicycle I'm having made is going to be...
0:22:23 > 0:22:26You know, it's going to look better than I ride.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30- You know what I mean?- OK. Everybody wants something better than what...
0:22:34 > 0:22:35It's true.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37Unless you think you're perfect.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40No, well I certainly don't think I'm perfect. Look, brilliant.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43This is what I'm going to take away.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45Can I come and pay for this?
0:22:45 > 0:22:49- OK, let's go to the cash.- Let's go to the cash shop. Brilliant.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54300.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57- OK.- Brilliant.- Thanks.- Thank you. That's fantastic.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59It's been a fascinating morning.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04I have one of your beautiful handlebars to take away with me, which I am very pleased about.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06I want to see the bicycle completed.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10- I promise you I'll send you a photograph.- Great.- Fantastic. Thank you.- Ciao.- Ciao.
0:23:18 > 0:23:23I felt I couldn't leave Italy without going for a ride,
0:23:23 > 0:23:26so I've joined Antonio and two friends
0:23:26 > 0:23:27for a Saturday-morning jaunt.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
0:23:29 > 0:23:33Marco is a lawyer from Milan and a fellow bike obsessive.
0:23:33 > 0:23:38Lodovico works for Cinelli and is a typically well-turned-out Italian cyclist.
0:23:42 > 0:23:48We're 50 kilometres north of Milan, pedalling along the shores of the majestic Lake Como.
0:23:48 > 0:23:56We're on a famous signature ride of the Giro di Lombardia, one of Italy's of most prestigious races.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00Italian cyclists are hyper-style-conscious.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04Their passion for the perfect look is embodied in the expression
0:24:04 > 0:24:08"bella in sella", which means "looking good in the saddle".
0:24:08 > 0:24:13What you see is all the Italian cyclists out in the team strip of their heroes.
0:24:13 > 0:24:18It's quite difficult for British people to sort of interpret it,
0:24:18 > 0:24:22but it's like my son who gets up on every single Saturday morning
0:24:22 > 0:24:25and puts a Liverpool shirt on with "Gerrard" on the back.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29It's the same for these guys - they get out of bed on Saturday morning
0:24:29 > 0:24:34and the first thing they do is they put on the team strip of their cycling heroes,
0:24:34 > 0:24:39whether it's Columbia or Lampre or one of the other great road teams.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45There are employees
0:24:45 > 0:24:51who earn, I don't know, 1,500 bucks a month.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55And they ride bikes of 5,000 Euros.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58And they change it every two years.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Really? Amazing.
0:25:00 > 0:25:04We're climbing 554 metres above the lake,
0:25:04 > 0:25:09on a pilgrimage to one of the spiritual homes of the bicycle.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12We're halfway up. I haven't puked!
0:25:12 > 0:25:16And I'm really enjoying it. It feels good.
0:25:16 > 0:25:21I'm on a very beautiful bike. I'm slightly nervous that people think I might be part of team Cinelli.
0:25:21 > 0:25:26OPERA SINGING
0:25:47 > 0:25:54Our destination is the beautiful chapel of Madonna del Ghisallo, the patron saint of cycling.
0:25:54 > 0:26:01In 1949, Pope Pius XII declared Madonna del Ghisallo as the patroness of cyclists.
0:26:01 > 0:26:08Since then, this small chapel has become a shrine to cycling legends, living and deceased.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13It's also a memorial to those who have fallen by the roadside.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17Cyclists come from all over the world to pay homage here, to the bicycle and the Madonna.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Very evocative, looking at all the little photographs.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26There are various plaques with it the names of Italian cyclists on the walls.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28It's very lovely, very lovely.
0:26:28 > 0:26:33It's a fantastic opportunity to come up here, so it's a bit of a pilgrimage,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36in the middle of our journey to put my perfect bike together.
0:26:36 > 0:26:41I feel we ought to come here and pay respect to Madonna del Ghisallo.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45And maybe the patron saint of cyclists will look out for me in future.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06May I raise a glass to you, gentleman?
0:27:06 > 0:27:09- Thank you very much for a fantastic morning's cycling.- Thank you to you.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11- Thank you for coming. - Thank you to you.
0:27:19 > 0:27:24A second golden age of bicycle production followed the Second World War.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26VOICEOVER: Bells on bikes ring in duel fashions,
0:27:26 > 0:27:29which enable you to dive out of the saddle and into the sea.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31In fact, a costume for the bike or the beach.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39And this is the modern girl's answer to an old problem, a bicycle dress made in two.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41No more flapping shirt tails.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45When times are hard, people turn to the bicycle.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50Petrol rationing and post-war poverty led to a boom in leisure bike sales.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54On the Continent, they were still obsessed with racing, and its glamorous icons.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58In the UK, the fashion was for cycle touring.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03Britain's roads were cluttered with people clutching maps and Thermoses,
0:28:03 > 0:28:05as a hostelling craze swept the nation.
0:28:06 > 0:28:13In the 1970s, the bicycle evolved again, for a new market, as a child's plaything.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16Most famously, Raleigh came up with the Chopper.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19They really are very modern bikes indeed.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24I think they're just about the most modern designed bikes that I've seen for ages.
0:28:24 > 0:28:29They remind me of American dragster racing bikes because the front wheel is much smaller than the back wheel,
0:28:29 > 0:28:32and the rider sits right at the back end here,
0:28:32 > 0:28:35with these high roll bars behind them. It looks extremely sporty.
0:28:37 > 0:28:42Fun and fashionable as it was, the Chopper sounded the death-knell for the bicycle in the UK.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46Some say it put a generation off cycling.
0:28:46 > 0:28:52The small front wheel and the tall handlebars made it almost unrideable.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56Raleigh tinkered with Starley's frame, and it didn't work.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00The bicycle was on its knees.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02Everyone now wanted a car.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06But what happened next was truly remarkable.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10It was saved by a bunch of hippies having fun.
0:29:17 > 0:29:20I'm heading north out of San Francisco
0:29:20 > 0:29:26to get myself a pair of wheels, and to visit a very special place in the evolution of the bicycle.
0:29:31 > 0:29:37We're heading across the bridge, out to Marin County, which is where mountain biking began
0:29:37 > 0:29:39in the mid-1970s.
0:29:39 > 0:29:44These crazy guys riding up and down Mount Tamalpais invented the mountain bike.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47And everybody wanted one.
0:29:47 > 0:29:53The mountain bike was born out of the counter-culture of the 70s in northern California.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56It was an era of change and freedom.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59And, as it turned out, of innovation.
0:29:59 > 0:30:04An adventurous band of young, hippy cycle nuts began staging informal
0:30:04 > 0:30:08downhill races in the hills, pushing the bicycle to its limits.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11They took old cruiser bikes, known as "clunkers,"
0:30:11 > 0:30:16and adapted them to the off-road trails, with knobbly tyres, better brakes and gears,
0:30:16 > 0:30:21and other parts salvaged from old bicycles and even motorbikes.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29It was always scary,
0:30:29 > 0:30:31but that was why you did it, right?
0:30:31 > 0:30:35I mean, if it was safe, it wouldn't be fun.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40Amazingly enough, heck, we didn't even have helmets.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43All things considered we came out of it pretty unscathed.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46I actually never broke anything in my life.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50I don't know how I've been so lucky.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56The original downhill race course is known as "repack."
0:30:56 > 0:31:01So-called, because by the time the riders got to the bottom, the bearings in their brake hubs
0:31:01 > 0:31:08were so hot the grease literally boiled away, and they had to be repacked.
0:31:13 > 0:31:19The first repack race in 1976 was won by the only rider who did not crash.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27I've come for a ride with Charlie Kelly and Joe Breeze.
0:31:27 > 0:31:32If repack was the birthplace of the mountain bike, Charlie and Joe were the midwives.
0:31:32 > 0:31:38This turn here is rudely off-camber, and very slippery. You're coming into this turn,
0:31:38 > 0:31:42your foot's down over here, and your other foot's on the pedal.
0:31:42 > 0:31:44And if you're really good, no hands on the brakes.
0:31:46 > 0:31:52Charlie and Joe are on a trip up memory lane, and still proudly bear the scars 30 years on.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54Right hand, left-hand?
0:31:54 > 0:31:55Notice the large deformity?
0:31:57 > 0:32:00- Happened up there. - What, hand on the ground?
0:32:00 > 0:32:04That was everything on the ground. That was hitting very, hard and laying there for a while,
0:32:04 > 0:32:07because I didn't want to discover what was broken right away.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11And then realising, if I don't move, somebody's going to ride right over me.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15So I'd better. And it turned out that not too much was broken. At least no more than that.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17This would be my tree right here.
0:32:17 > 0:32:19I can demonstrate, perhaps.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22If I can get the right aspect here.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29- Whoops!- But here's the thing.
0:32:29 > 0:32:35When Joe Breeze hits something, or goes down really hard, he'll say, "Oh dear."
0:32:35 > 0:32:37Here's a man that's never used profanity.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39Not in my presence, anyway.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41And if he says, "Oh dear,"
0:32:41 > 0:32:43it means it hurts.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48Oh my goodness.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52# Early in the evenin' Just about supper time
0:32:52 > 0:32:57# Over by the courthouse They're starting to unwind
0:32:57 > 0:32:59# Four kids on the corner
0:32:59 > 0:33:01# Trying to bring you up
0:33:01 > 0:33:06# Willy picks a tune out And he blows it on the harp
0:33:06 > 0:33:10# Down on the corner Out in the street
0:33:10 > 0:33:13# Willy and the Poor Boys are playin' Bring a nickel, tap your feet. #
0:33:16 > 0:33:21The trail record is 4 minutes 22 seconds, held by Gary Fisher.
0:33:21 > 0:33:23Thankfully today, no one's trying to beat it.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26It may not look that fast, but it's lethal.
0:33:29 > 0:33:34Dressed in old-school 70s denims, Joe and Charlie show me how to perfect the skid,
0:33:34 > 0:33:39using boots rather than brakes to corner at full tilt.
0:33:39 > 0:33:46# People come from all around To watch the magic boy. #
0:33:46 > 0:33:51Joe goes in for a big slide at the end, but doesn't quite pull it off.
0:33:51 > 0:33:52I can do that!
0:33:55 > 0:33:57I'm sorry, I explained that earlier, didn't I?
0:33:57 > 0:34:00I did explain that to you, didn't I?
0:34:02 > 0:34:09Great, thank you so much. I mean really, what a great, great pleasure to ride the repack with you guys.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11Thank you very much indeed. That was fantastic.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15If you hadn't come out here, I'd probably have to work anyway.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17I wouldn't have been here without you, so thank you.
0:34:17 > 0:34:25As one American cycle historian put it, "The mountain bike saved the bicycle industry's butt."
0:34:25 > 0:34:30In 1983, 1 in 20 bicycles sold in the US were mountain bikes.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34A decade later it was 19 out of 20.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38The mountain bike was comfortable and easy to ride.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42Like Starley's safety bicycle, it was a true people's nag.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44They couldn't be made fast enough.
0:34:44 > 0:34:51Factories sprang up in Japan, Korea and China to meet spiralling demand.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54Even today, it's very hard to wrap around emotionally
0:34:54 > 0:35:00that something that my friends and I, and there were only half a dozen of us, really, the key people.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02That we could influence anything so huge.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04It wasn't about the technology so much.
0:35:04 > 0:35:09We were pushing the bike, there's no question about it, but that social side, the camaraderie,
0:35:09 > 0:35:15getting together for that sunset ride, the, "Hey, let's stick around and catch the sunrise," ride!
0:35:17 > 0:35:19It was a great time.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23We had a whole lot of fun, and I've got lifelong friends from it.
0:35:29 > 0:35:34The town of Fairfax in Marin County is now world famous as the birthplace of the mountain bike.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37It's also home to another bike legend
0:35:37 > 0:35:42called Steve 'Gravy' Gravenites, who's going to make my hoops.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46- Hey. Rob. - Hi, Rob, thanks for making the trip.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49Very good to be here. Very good to be in Fairfax.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51- I'm doing awesome. Welcome to the shop.- Fantastic.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56Gravy has been making wheels for 30 years.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59He earned his spurs on the pro circuit,
0:35:59 > 0:36:04travelling the globe as a wrench, or mechanic, for the world's top mountain bike teams.
0:36:08 > 0:36:13After calculating the exact specifications for my wheels, Steve gets to work.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17The first part of the process is called lacing.
0:36:17 > 0:36:24Steve literally weaves the spokes on to the hubs, and the wheel slowly starts to take shape.
0:36:25 > 0:36:30One of the reasons I make my wheels so good is my patience, really.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34And ability to just take my time and really fine tune it.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38I really do equate it to a musical instrument.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41You're going to tune and tune until it's perfect.
0:36:41 > 0:36:43you don't want it any other way.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47You don't want to have it out of tune, don't even listen.
0:36:49 > 0:36:54The strength of the wheel, actually, is the way it's dispersed along its width.
0:36:54 > 0:37:00And the weight of the wheel, it pushes down on the hub, your weight is pushing down on this hub.
0:37:00 > 0:37:05But it's all these spokes pulling down on the rim that are holding you up.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09But it's rim strength itself that is actually riding you on the ground.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13The spokes don't work at all in compression, they only work in tension.
0:37:13 > 0:37:15There you go, the wheel is on its way. It's laced.
0:37:15 > 0:37:21And now Gravy is going to do the truing process, which is...
0:37:21 > 0:37:23the artistry, I suppose you might say?
0:37:23 > 0:37:29Yeah. You're trying to make it perfectly straight, side to side and up and down.
0:37:29 > 0:37:34So, by tightening or loosening spokes, I'm able to move the rim around side to side.
0:37:34 > 0:37:41Or if I tighten a big group of spokes, it will actually pull the rim towards the centre of the hub.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45Or if I loosen a group of spokes, it will allow the rim to move away.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48And the objective of all this is to make it perfectly round?
0:37:48 > 0:37:54Perfectly round, equal tension so each of these spokes will be the same tension with each other.
0:37:54 > 0:38:00And over the years, I've got it to the state where it just almost happens by itself.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04You know, a fine result is a nice wheel,
0:38:05 > 0:38:07really as fine as you can build it.
0:38:07 > 0:38:13It just comes together perfect at the right time. Like Michelangelo mixing paint!
0:38:15 > 0:38:18If it's not mixed right the first time, start over.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23I like to see it come through the first time.
0:38:23 > 0:38:31Every subtle adjustment of the truing process is done by hand and eye, but Steve insists on scientific
0:38:31 > 0:38:36levels of precision, checking the tension on every spoke with minute accuracy.
0:38:36 > 0:38:38Some Italians, they like to go...
0:38:38 > 0:38:42..right? They're like, "Oh, that one's tighter, this one's looser. "
0:38:44 > 0:38:49But you cannot really ever measure nearly as fine as you can here.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52- Of course not. - Just make sure it's true.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01Well, it's an absolute joy to see this coming together beautifully.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04- It sure is.- You can't quite imagine,
0:39:04 > 0:39:08when you've just got the hub in your hand and the spokes in the other,
0:39:08 > 0:39:10and a rim hanging from a hook on the ceiling,
0:39:10 > 0:39:15you can't quite imagine there ever being one, being a wheel that's going to go on your bicycle.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19That really comes true, watching Gravy work.
0:39:19 > 0:39:25You can see the fineness, the adeptness of his hand movements.
0:39:25 > 0:39:30The way that he handles the tools, like they're appendages to his body.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32It's a lovely process to watch.
0:39:34 > 0:39:40A wheel that's taken care of properly, overhauled, and not left out to rust,
0:39:40 > 0:39:43can last decades.
0:39:43 > 0:39:49And give you all sorts of fun rides.
0:39:50 > 0:39:55It's super straight, you really can't see, because of all the stickers moving.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58But it's super straight.
0:39:58 > 0:39:59It's way in the middle.
0:39:59 > 0:40:05I leave Steve to start work on the other wheel, and head out for a random encounter
0:40:05 > 0:40:08with one of Fairfax's home-grown cycling characters.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14Last night we're in a bar in Fairfax, and we get talking to the landlord.
0:40:14 > 0:40:20And he says, "If you're writing a book about bicycles, there's one person you have to see in Fairfax.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24"He's called Rudy." He says, "He down this alley, turn left and you can't miss him."
0:40:24 > 0:40:28His picket fence is made of skis, and he's got a 15 ft blue marlin on the wall.
0:40:28 > 0:40:34And inside he's got a fantastic collection of beautifully restored, ancient American bicycles.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36So we're going to have a look.
0:40:37 > 0:40:42- I had no problem finding Rudy's house, and he's more than happy to show me his bikes.- Come on in.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44Thank you.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48Come on back, I'll show you the fleet.
0:40:50 > 0:40:57Rudy has an extraordinary collection of beautifully restored American Art Deco bicycles,
0:40:57 > 0:40:58from the 1930s to the 1950s.
0:40:58 > 0:41:04These were the precursors to the clunkers that Charlie and Joe were trashing on repack.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08I suspect they don't repay in miles the care Rudy puts into them,
0:41:08 > 0:41:12but you cannot fault a man who loves his wheels like this.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15This is a 1939 Shelby Traveller.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19And this is a 1940 Hiawatha.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21This is the men's bike,
0:41:21 > 0:41:23with the tube here.
0:41:23 > 0:41:26And a girl's bike, back then, she would step through.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30Because, back in the day, they would wear skirts and whatnot.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34- Wouldn't have to suffer the indignity of cocking a leg over a bicycle?- Correct.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38And this is a 1948 Schwinn DX.
0:41:38 > 0:41:43I transformed it into what I call a fireman's bike.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47You would pull this, that would rub against the wheel, and it creates the...
0:41:47 > 0:41:50HE IMITATES A SIREN
0:41:50 > 0:41:55So you'd pull that, it would rub, then release.
0:41:55 > 0:41:56They have a tremendous feel.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59They make you feel like a kid when you get on the end of the handlebars.
0:41:59 > 0:42:00Isn't that lovely?
0:42:02 > 0:42:08What I it really like about bicycles is the way the rack is designed, the way the lines flow.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10The colour patterns, the horns.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13HONKS HORN
0:42:13 > 0:42:15I'm just intrigued.
0:42:15 > 0:42:20Once I'm done with this particular bike, it goes back with the rest, and I'll start yet another one.
0:42:20 > 0:42:26It's my quiet time. It's just a pleasure, you know,
0:42:26 > 0:42:30when I snap the tank together, and you just get that feeling.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33And then, "OK, I want to do another section,"
0:42:33 > 0:42:36but then it's back to the patience part of it, when you're building.
0:42:42 > 0:42:47I'm popping back to Gravy's to pick up my brand new, hand-built wheels.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49There's the rear one.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52- My God!- And here's the front one.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55I gave you one of my old postcards.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58- That's actually my hair, believe it or not.- Is it really?
0:42:58 > 0:43:00- Back in the day.- Fantastic!
0:43:00 > 0:43:04Just a little something to stick on your wall.
0:43:04 > 0:43:08- Great. That's tremendous. - Isn't that awesome? - Yeah, it really is. My hoops!
0:43:08 > 0:43:12- Your hoops.- I'm so chuffed. - You're so happy.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16That's 360.
0:43:16 > 0:43:17Gravy, thank you.
0:43:17 > 0:43:19I can't wait to get these on my bike.
0:43:19 > 0:43:24- I can't wait to see it, so you've got my e-mail address? - I'll send you a photo.
0:43:24 > 0:43:30I fully expect a photo, maybe a little blurb, a little video blurb of you riding it down the road.
0:43:33 > 0:43:35Thanks, Gravy.
0:43:35 > 0:43:36Have fun with those wheels.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38Look at those wheels! Yay!
0:43:38 > 0:43:40My wheels!
0:43:40 > 0:43:44# Somewhere out on that horizon
0:43:47 > 0:43:50# Out beyond the neon lights... #
0:43:50 > 0:43:53I think there is definitely a return to craftsmanship.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55People are looking for engineering excellence.
0:43:55 > 0:43:59They're looking for components which have longevity and durability.
0:43:59 > 0:44:04I can see that in all the component manufacturers that I'm talking to, they're incredibly busy.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06Their order books are full.
0:44:06 > 0:44:10You can probably relate that to a renaissance in quality bicycles.
0:44:10 > 0:44:15People are looking for hard-wearing, beautifully-made components.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18Which will last.
0:44:25 > 0:44:30I've travelled 600 miles north of San Francisco, to the city of Portland, Oregon.
0:44:30 > 0:44:32Straight away I feel at home here.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36It's the most bike friendly city in America.
0:44:38 > 0:44:44The city authority has invested over 100 million in bike infrastructure
0:44:44 > 0:44:48over 10 years, adding 200 miles of cycle lanes.
0:44:48 > 0:44:53The people of Portland now make more bike journeys per capita than any major city in the US.
0:44:53 > 0:45:00A cycling revolution is quietly taking place here, and it's cause for optimism.
0:45:03 > 0:45:08I've come for a coffee with Slate Olson, who works for a bike clothing company, and is heavily involved
0:45:08 > 0:45:09in the Portland cycling scene.
0:45:09 > 0:45:15He believes, whenever the world is in crisis, the bicycle shows its face.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20What we've seen is, especially with gas prices last year really
0:45:20 > 0:45:22raising the idea of a different mode of transportation.
0:45:22 > 0:45:27Average people, normal people, they've left the car and started to get around by bike,
0:45:27 > 0:45:29because they realise how simple it is.
0:45:29 > 0:45:35They say that recession or rationing are the two sure-fire ways to get the bicycle industry moving.
0:45:35 > 0:45:37We've really seen it.
0:45:37 > 0:45:41A lot of people have lost their jobs, or are just looking to be smarter
0:45:41 > 0:45:45about how they're spending their money. Among the easy ways to do that are car,
0:45:45 > 0:45:47car insurance, gas and all of that.
0:45:47 > 0:45:52As Portland's such an easy town to get around, there's such a culture, and bike corrals and all of this,
0:45:52 > 0:45:56it's really a simple way for people to be smarter about where they're spending.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58So you're seeing that right, left and centre.
0:45:58 > 0:46:02That's interesting, back there, by the way. Sorry, I'm a bit distracted.
0:46:02 > 0:46:07She just jumped on top of a lamp post there to have her photograph taken. Hello!
0:46:07 > 0:46:12I don't think that's a tattoo, I think that's actually... it might be tattoo. I think it's pen.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15It's all going on in Mississippi, that's all I know.
0:46:16 > 0:46:23It turns out our tattooed lady is an art student, asking members of the public to draw on her body
0:46:23 > 0:46:26as part of a living art project.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29My hand was a bit shaky, but I couldn't resist the offer.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31- Where am I going to draw this? - I have a leg.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33OK, perfect.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36- Is my leg OK? - That's absolutely grand.
0:46:36 > 0:46:38You'll have to hold still.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41It's perfect for Portland, yeah?
0:46:41 > 0:46:43- Cool.- Have fun.
0:46:43 > 0:46:44Be good.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46Well, there you go.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55God knows where we are now.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00The main reason I've come to Portland it is to buy a headset for
0:47:00 > 0:47:03my bike from a company called Chris King.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08Well, we're truly lost.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13Do you know where Nela Street is?
0:47:13 > 0:47:17- I don't know, you might ask them. - Thanks very much.
0:47:17 > 0:47:20Go down to 29th, take a left.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23I finally found a man who knows,
0:47:23 > 0:47:25or at least has heard of, Nela Street.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28He said "It ain't much of a street."
0:47:28 > 0:47:31But he knows where it is.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33Chris King!
0:47:33 > 0:47:36I can see it written on a truck. Hallelujah!
0:47:36 > 0:47:40When I arrive, I'm told that the company owner, Chris King himself,
0:47:40 > 0:47:44doesn't give interviews, and doesn't normally allow cameras in.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48But the head of marketing, Chris DiStefano, kindly allows us
0:47:48 > 0:47:53through the door for a quick but controlled glimpse of the factory.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56This would be the culmination of almost everyone else's tour.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59- In fact, everyone else's tour ends right here.- OK, good.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02But, because it's you and your dream bicycle...
0:48:02 > 0:48:05- You're very kind.- We'd like to take you past the red door.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07Past the red door!
0:48:09 > 0:48:15Like Campagnolo, Chris King is trying to compete in an aggressive marketplace,
0:48:15 > 0:48:17and guards its patents carefully.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21The headset joins the handlebars and stem to the frame of the bike,
0:48:21 > 0:48:25and Chris King's are world famous for their craftsmanship and longevity.
0:48:25 > 0:48:30We finish our whistle-stop factory tour just in time for lunch.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33- Come on in to the cafe. - Thank you very much.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35You're welcome.
0:48:35 > 0:48:40There's a very strong bike ethic at this company. Employees are actively encouraged
0:48:40 > 0:48:44to commute to work on two wheels, rather than four.
0:48:44 > 0:48:48One of the main ways that we promote cycling for our employees
0:48:48 > 0:48:51is, when they ride to work, they get credit.
0:48:51 > 0:48:53- And that credit can be used in the cafe.- Oh. good.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57Also, two months out of the year, we have a bike commute challenge.
0:48:57 > 0:49:02Where, if you ride your bike to work and home every day, you get two extra days of paid time off.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06After lunch, it's time for me to collect my headset.
0:49:06 > 0:49:11Despite all the dazzling colours available, I plump for plain old silver.
0:49:11 > 0:49:13Going for a touch of class.
0:49:13 > 0:49:15Your headset's lined up, ready for your dream bike.
0:49:15 > 0:49:20along with all these other headsets, they're going to go on somebody's dream bicycle as well.
0:49:20 > 0:49:22- That's it.- That for me?- Yes.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24Thank you very much indeed.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27- Thank you for putting that together. - No problem.- Very kind. Chris...
0:49:27 > 0:49:31- All right.- I really am very, very excited to have this in my hand.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34Now, pack that up, fly over, and we'll do a ride here.
0:49:34 > 0:49:38- Great, that would be lovely. I'll be back.- Great.- Thank you.
0:49:42 > 0:49:47The city of Portland celebrates the bicycle with an annual event called the Bridge Pedal.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51The major bridges and the city centre are closed to cars.
0:49:51 > 0:49:5818,000 people turn out on bikes in an emphatic statement of the city's commitment to two wheels.
0:49:58 > 0:50:00It makes a powerful impression upon me.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04# When I'm out on my bike It's a different mood
0:50:04 > 0:50:06# I leave my brain at home Get up in the saddle
0:50:06 > 0:50:08# No hanging around I don't diddle-daddle
0:50:08 > 0:50:10# I work my legs, I pump my thighs
0:50:10 > 0:50:13# Take in the scenery passing me by
0:50:13 > 0:50:15# So come on Get up on your bike... #
0:50:16 > 0:50:22You really have got the full spectrum of the cycling world out today, which is wonderful.
0:50:22 > 0:50:28Guys on their hand-built recumbents, and people on some pretty obscure tandems, right the way through to
0:50:28 > 0:50:32kids on their bike, and people who get their bike out of the garage once a year for this.
0:50:32 > 0:50:35And it's really, really lovely to see.
0:50:35 > 0:50:39The full spread of humanity on bicycles.
0:50:39 > 0:50:40Riding around Portland.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46American cities are still enslaved to the automobile,
0:50:46 > 0:50:52but Portland is proof that, if you create the right environment, people will ride bicycles.
0:50:52 > 0:50:54Health concerns, climate change, oil prices,
0:50:54 > 0:50:58these things are driving the bicycle back into public consciousness.
0:50:58 > 0:51:04I've got my wheels and my headset, it's time for me to leave America and head for home.
0:51:14 > 0:51:18Portland's not the only city enjoying a renaissance in cycling.
0:51:18 > 0:51:23In London a new era of the bicycle is dawning, heralded by its own celebrity mayor.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28# London calling to the faraway towns
0:51:28 > 0:51:32# Now war is declared And battle come down... #
0:51:34 > 0:51:39Around 50,000 Londoners have hit the streets for the mayor of London's Sky Ride.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47The bicycle is right up there with the printing press and the
0:51:47 > 0:51:50internet as one of the great liberating forces of humanity.
0:51:50 > 0:51:52With the automobile itself.
0:51:52 > 0:51:58It's clean, it's green, you can look up at the trees, you can absorb the beauty of the city,
0:51:58 > 0:52:00and you feel good.
0:52:00 > 0:52:02You get to your meeting or whatever you've got to do,
0:52:02 > 0:52:07with your endorphins coursing through your bloodstream, in a good frame of mind.
0:52:07 > 0:52:12Ideas popping out of every orifice. You're there to work.
0:52:12 > 0:52:17It's a fantastic way of commuting, and obviously we hope very much to increase it.
0:52:17 > 0:52:23We might, perhaps, be at the dawn of a new golden age of the bicycle. Do you get that sense?
0:52:23 > 0:52:30- Don't forget, that in about 1904, 20% of all journeys in London were made by bicycle.- Is that right?- 20%.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33But we're now back down to 1 or 2%.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36We need to go back to the future.
0:52:36 > 0:52:40We need to rediscover the joys of this brilliantly simple machine.
0:52:40 > 0:52:46The number of cyclists in London almost doubled between 2000 and 2007.
0:52:46 > 0:52:53Once famous for its congestion and smog, London is slowly earning a reputation as a cycle friendly city.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56What do you think about when you're riding your bicycle?
0:52:56 > 0:52:57I think about absolutely everything.
0:52:57 > 0:53:02I compose poems in my head, I think about the next meeting, I have ideas.
0:53:02 > 0:53:07What I really feel is a sense of sympathy and sorrow for those
0:53:07 > 0:53:12- who are stuck, pointlessly, on their own, in motor vehicles. In traffic jams.- Aye to that.
0:53:12 > 0:53:15Bending their steering wheels like pretzels in frustration,
0:53:15 > 0:53:18- and I really urge them to get out and get on their bikes.- Brilliant.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21OK, love, you ready? Follow me.
0:53:25 > 0:53:31I've come back to Rourke's Cycles, where Brian's son, Jason, is going to paint my frame.
0:53:31 > 0:53:36It's the moment I've been dreading most of all, as I finally have to decide on the colour.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39That's been popular over the last few years, that sort of dark grey.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43- Has it? Really?- That's the colour we've just done Muhammad Ali's bike.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47- The colour of blood.- If it's good enough for Muhammad Ali, it's good enough for you!
0:53:47 > 0:53:49Pink?
0:53:49 > 0:53:53Pink, no! Purple?
0:53:53 > 0:53:5520 years ago, I'd let you have that colour.
0:53:55 > 0:53:59That Bianchi blue, is it? It is quite nice, that, isn't it?
0:53:59 > 0:54:02- You talked about a dark blue, didn't you?- Yeah.
0:54:02 > 0:54:04There's a dark blue.
0:54:04 > 0:54:09- How would that go with the orange, do you think? - I wouldn't go that way.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13- We're never going to agree on this, are we?- No. It's my idea of hell.
0:54:13 > 0:54:18I'm great at procrastinating about which socks to put on in the morning,
0:54:18 > 0:54:23now I've got to choose what colour my bike's going to be. Oh, no!
0:54:23 > 0:54:25- Here we go!- There's a few more.
0:54:25 > 0:54:27Where's an orange? Give me an orange!
0:54:29 > 0:54:32- Electric orange? - Electric orange, come on!
0:54:32 > 0:54:37That's actually, as Jeremy Clarkson calls it, ASBO orange.
0:54:39 > 0:54:42I have got a slightly brighter orange.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45- So that would come out brighter, would it?- Yeah.
0:54:49 > 0:54:54After an hour of agonising deliberation, I finally make up my mind.
0:54:57 > 0:54:59OK. Blue and orange.
0:54:59 > 0:55:02- I'm going for it.- Let's do it before you change your mind.
0:55:04 > 0:55:05Hang on!
0:55:05 > 0:55:07I'm joking.
0:55:16 > 0:55:20I really like it, I just hope it goes with the blue.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32Look at that!
0:55:32 > 0:55:36With its final coat of lacquer, my bike is hung up to dry.
0:55:36 > 0:55:43At last, it's time to assemble all the parts I've collected from around the world.
0:55:43 > 0:55:47Brian's lead mechanic, Matt, works his magic on building the bicycle.
0:55:53 > 0:55:55My dream bike is finally coming to life.
0:55:55 > 0:56:01It's cost me just over four grand, and a journey of 11,000 miles.
0:56:01 > 0:56:06It might just have the largest carbon footprint in the history of cycling, but I'm not that worried.
0:56:06 > 0:56:10I'll be offsetting it daily for the rest of my life.
0:56:16 > 0:56:18There's an element of sadness, of course,
0:56:18 > 0:56:21because it's been a great journey we've been on,
0:56:21 > 0:56:26and this really is the culmination of it, the bike being put together.
0:56:26 > 0:56:32But, with that, there is also a silver lining to that cloud.
0:56:32 > 0:56:38And the silver lining is, this millimetre-perfect
0:56:38 > 0:56:42incarnation of one of mankind's greatest inventions.
0:56:42 > 0:56:45My bike!
0:56:57 > 0:57:01I'm about to go on my new bike for the very, very first time.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08Again, enjoy the ride!
0:57:11 > 0:57:15This bike reflects my lifelong love affair with the bicycle.
0:57:15 > 0:57:16It also carries my future hopes.
0:57:17 > 0:57:24You make a covenant with a machine like this, to look after it for as long as it spirits you away.
0:57:24 > 0:57:29We're equal partners, then, in a relationship that will last decades.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33It's very alive.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36Alive with the...
0:57:36 > 0:57:39skill of the people who made it.
0:57:39 > 0:57:41Beautifully balanced.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44It feels very tight, obviously, because it's brand new.
0:57:47 > 0:57:49It's magic.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51Absolute magic.
0:57:52 > 0:57:55I want to ride around the world!
0:58:05 > 0:58:10Everything I've seen on this journey suggests the bicycle is in good hands.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14Our ancestors thought it one of their greatest achievements.
0:58:14 > 0:58:16This idea is coming back into fashion.
0:58:16 > 0:58:21Guided by craftsmen, expert engineers and innovators.
0:58:21 > 0:58:27And by the strong communities that exist wherever the bicycle thrives.
0:58:27 > 0:58:30We are at the dawn of a new golden age of the bicycle.
0:58:30 > 0:58:33Long may you ride!
0:58:43 > 0:58:46Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:46 > 0:58:50E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk