Pashley goodness

[CopperBrompton]

My partner picked up her new Pashley Sonnet Bliss on Friday. Or, to be more accurate, I picked it up. A 5'9" bloke on a 17.5" framed women's bike must have been a rather amusing sight for passers-by.

Julia did a quick test-ride, then we went out for a 32-mile ride yesterday. This is a woman who only started cycling again a few weeks ago. She announced herself very happy with the Brooks saddle despite her initial scepticism. The 5-speed hub gears coped well with a relatively hilly route by Essex standards.

It's good old-fashioned cycling at its best. While I have no plans to switch from my trike, I can appreciate that they are lovely machines.

After we did the obligatory 'flower and baguette' bit, we decided the flower should become a permanent fixture (a realistic-looking silk one):

 

[Spokesmann]

Nice looking bike, solid and well made.

Nice pins on the lady!

 

[Deb13b]

Beautiful ! I got my poppy 2 weeks ago and I'm in love with it. Pashleys are lovely.

 

[Garz]

Trikeman, I think you should be hired for some sportives as your making their photo's look poor in comparison!

 

[CopperBrompton]

Trikeman, I think you should be hired for some sportives as your making their photo's look poor in comparison!

Thanks - unfortunately event photography is very much 'get what you pay for' and those guys are paid absolute peanuts.

I have thought about getting together a bunch of CCers for a photoshoot - will see what Sean has to say.

 

[CopperBrompton]

Beautiful ! I got my poppy 2 weeks ago and I'm in love with it. Pashleys are lovely.

We looked at the Poppy too, but Julia was a bit concerned about three gears rather than five. Another gorgeous bike, though.

 

[upsidedown]

Lovely looking bike.

 

[BirdOnnaBike]

I have a Pashley Poppy (pink one), too. It turns heads and I hope in a good way.

Got mine last summer. I live near York though so 3 gears do it round here. Our idea of a 'big' hill is something like a molehill, or maybe a weed growing up through the cycle track...

Just got a nice Carradice bag on the back of mine (like the old blokes had when I was a kid). I'm doing up an old Raleigh I got over the farm gate down in the village. It has a few scrapes and is 17 years old so I thought no-one would want to nick it, but turns out it's a Raleigh 'Special Products Division' one, and probably a more 'desirable' old bike than I'd realised... The old bike is lighter and has more gears (obviously!) but the Pashely is still my weapon of choice. Nearly a year on, and it looks as good as the day I bought it - paintwork still immaculate and I used it a LOT last summer!

On the looks of my bike alone, a friend - who is a frequent commuter by bike - has also decided to get a Pashley. So far I've only seen a couple in York (Poppys, I mean - think I've seen more Princesses). And they've both been the blue ones.

 

[ufkacbln]

Pashley used to do a trike:

 

[david1701]

what kind of gear range does the 5 speed give you? I'm interested in the low end as I live in North Cornwall and have a sister who would love one