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I love new bike day. It makes me feel like a 12-year-old again, getting my first ‘racer bike’. Normally that moment is felt only by you and not shared with others, but in these days of omnipresent social media, where we share so many of the moments in our lives with each other, that it feels inevitable that anyone would share their new bike moment. When I posted this morning on Instagram I saw that the hashtag #newbikeday already has over 255,000 posts, so I am hardly new to the party. But I have decided to go beyond posting a photo and naming a Strava ride and got Lee Prescott from Meteor Works to talk through the design and build of my new Aesir and in doing so share my first video on this blog.
Why share it? Because I know that so many more people are thinking about or starting out in adventure biking or bike packing. Of course, you don’t need to start with a handmade bike as I have already proven. But if you want to ride the roads and pathways less ridden you can’t do that on a road bike with 25mm tyres: I still well up with tears thinking about the scratches and chips in the paintwork of my brand new Bianchi caused by riding on Belgian ‘roads’.
The Aesir is a bike built for adventure. I am hoping it will push me to go further from home and further out of my comfort zone. I want to ride the long (and winding) way home.
Anyway if you want to know what goes into building an amazing adventure bike, take a few minutes to watch the video as Lee guides me through what I got for my money.