Black Beauty

She may not have a mane, but my Black Beauty does have gears unlike my first bike love Apricot.

Apricot, a fixed-gear bike, was perfect on flat ground. As much as I tried to convice myself otherwise, getting up even a small hill was a hard slog - and we live at the highest point in our suburb so everything bar the corner shop involved more than a little pedal-power.

I told myself it was good for me, which I'm sure it was, but it was also impractical as I found myself using Apricot less and less and not at all in summer. Why young hipsters actually seek out fixed-gear bikes I do not know. Not being a hipster, either young or old, I don't understand. The only thing about fixed-gear bikes that appeal to me are the price but, apparently, you can still pay ludicrous amounts for them. I don't pretend to understand.

So Apricot has been sold to a film company to be used as a prop (minus the basket, I kept that) something she's well suited for as she's exceedingly pretty.

Black Beauty was surprisingly affordable as there's so many more of these types of bikes on the market now. She came from Woolys Wheels in Paddington, as they have a big range and you can road test before you buy, which I was determined to do this time round.

True love.