Quella bikes offer backstreet cool for High Street prices
Colourful single-speed bikes can be wheelied out of Halfords from just £330
Don’t I already see bikes like this all over town?
Yep, but with good cause. Fixies’ simple one-gear design and bombproof frame make them perfect for blatting up and down city streets. That’s why bike couriers use them. But while theirs tend to be hand-built using expensive custom parts imported from the back streets of Japan and San Francisco, these Quella bikes are available at Halfords. You could pick one up along with that car wash kit.
One gear, though? Wouldn’t more be better?
Easier, yes, but heavier and more prone to mechanical whoopsies. Riding a single-speed bike not only reduces boring maintenance to a minimum – just a spot of oil on the chain every now and then – it also encourages you to anticipate the actions of other road users so as not to disturb your flow. Making you a better, fitter cyclist into the deal. High five!
I’m sold, but the gold is old, bro.
No worries, uh, blood. The Quella Varsity Collection, from £330, is available from Halfords in white, blue, yellow, red and black. The snazzier, racier Quella One (pictured above, £570) comes in no fewer than ten colour combinations, with matchy-contrasty wheels, saddles and bars plus a longer three-year warranty on frame and forks.
What’s more, while the frames understandably come from the Far East, all Quella bikes are painted, finished and built up in the UK. So there’s nice.
READ MORE: More Hot Stuff that’ll take you places
Fraser Macdonald
consulting editor