David Aylett's new bike

  David's first new bike for over half a century is a customized one from Hewitt. He needed a new bike as his old one was wearing out and the components were becoming difficult to replace.
  Initially he wanted a carbon-fibre frame because of its lightness and did some research on the matter, writing to CTC's technical officer, Chris Juden for advice. Somewhat to David's surprise, his letter and Chris' reply were published in the June/July issue of CYCLE on page 68 and David then decided to go with Reynold's 631 steel.
  Only Hewitt, based in Lancashire, who were reviewed in the CTC magazine recently, supplied an off the peg frame in the right size, though not in David's favourite colour purple, and he went with their blue option. For all the other components he wanted Campagnolo as they can be replaced, though in the end had to settle for some lower quality items as only they would fit the frame and frameset. He admits he was a very demanding client and can go into greater detail if requested.
  The result is what could be described as a fast day tourer that has the qualities David wanted such as comfort, lightness, and ease of riding. Many cyclists dream about having a custom built or customized bike, and this is one example of that dream coming true.