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TECH NEWS

First Look: Pearson's 2012 range

British brand revamps bikes for next year

Pearson have revamped their range of bikes with new models and new names across the board.

You’re either going to love the new names or hate them. What was the Touché last year is now called Once More Unto the Breach. There’s a bike called A Cunning Plan, another called I May Be Some Time, and the time trial bike is called Goeslikestink.

As rebranding goes, it’s an adventurous one, especially as Pearson’s Sutton bike shop is the oldest in the world, now over 150 years old, and you might expect them to play up the heritage angle more. There’s a certain novelty to having ‘Minegoestoeleven’ written along the top tube but is it going to wear thin quite quickly? Time will tell.

A Cunning Plan is a new steel bike in the range – Reynolds 631, to be precise. It’s a tourer/expedition bike, or a commuter.

You get disc brake mounts and eyelets for racks and mudguards, and little details on the paintwork like 'I think therefore I am' written on the fork. You'll find features like this across the range. The frame costs £449 and a typical built-up bike will set you back £1,699, although you can choose the exact spec for yourself and it’ll be priced accordingly.

The I’ve Started So I’ll Finish is a new unidirectional carbon cyclocross bike. You could race it if you like but the geometry is more general purpose than competition. It would actually make a good expedition/adventure bike.

You get mudguard and rack mounts so it could handle the daily commute without too much trouble as well.

Like all the other bikes in the Pearson range, the I’ve Started So I’ll Finish gets a signature white seatstay on the driveside. The frame costs £1,299.

Made from Reynolds cromo steel, the 10 Goal is another new un. The name comes from the handicap system in polo, fact fans, and a 10-goal player is one of a select few world class players.

The 10 Goal is designed for bicycle polo but, as there isn’t a great deal of that about, it’ll also be used as a general urban machine. You get rear-facing dropouts for running it fixed/singlespeed and a distinctive curved seat tube. The frame will set you back £249 and a typical build from about £599 – although you can spend a bit more and pimp it up if you like.

Pearson’s carbon race and sportive bike is now called Hammerandtongs and it’s available as a frame for £1,399.

The top-level race bike is the aforementioned Minegoestoeleven (main pic). It’s unidirectional carbon with an integrated seatpost and it’s available in a Shimano Di2 version for those wanting electronic shifting. With a name like Minegoestoeleven, though, surely you have to go with an 11-speed Campag group. Or maybe going 10-speed counts as post-modern irony. Whichever version you opt for, you’re looking at £1,599 for the frame.

The redesigned Pearson range isn’t up yet but you’ll soon be able to see it at www.pearsoncycles.co.uk.

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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15 comments

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arrieredupeleton | 12 years ago
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Shouldn't we be grateful that as consumers in a 'developed' country, we are able to afford to buy things like carbon frames at reasonably cheap prices? It's not as if the Taiwanese/Chinese are putting artisan carbon frame makers in the UK out of business is it? So what if my bike comes from a factory catalogue and is badged up by a brand. It's still safe (see above), fast and comfortable.

Personally, I love the Pearson livery on the downtubes but some of the names/quotes are plain daft.

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Mat Brett | 12 years ago
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What he said ^

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ribbledibble | 12 years ago
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Towards should've been something else

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ribbledibble | 12 years ago
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Hey you always know you're on a cycling forum. Things never change. I love my sport always have ( every branch of it) but seriously. Get over yourselves. They're nice machines and somebody has thought a lot about the style. You don't like it...your business, but just ride your bike and forget the snobbery please. I know I'm pissing against the wind, but every now and then I have to say it. Roadies. Can be such towards

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keith roberts | 12 years ago
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like the humour,all the details will make people smile,well done pearson for cheering a few miserable buggers up during these hard times!

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BigDummy | 12 years ago
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The more I look at these the more I like them. A Cunning Plan is lovely, but even the loud colours of the Minegoestoeleven are cool. They'll date, but they're ace.  16

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richardvaltos | 12 years ago
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I like these, I'll be having the carbon 'cross.

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hoggsa | 12 years ago
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Awesome looking bikes. I can imagine Nigel Tufnel riding one around Stonehenge. He'd be proud.

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Mat Brett | 12 years ago
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Now, now. What's with all the bad vibes today? Can't we all just play nicely?

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BigDummy | 12 years ago
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Did anyone else read "JUST LIKE A TWAT" on the detail shot of the I’ve Started So I’ll Finish?

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G-bitch replied to BigDummy | 12 years ago
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BigDummy wrote:

Did anyone else read "JUST LIKE A TWAT" on the detail shot of the I’ve Started So I’ll Finish?

Totally.

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andyspaceman | 12 years ago
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I would think that for those prices they are from a generic supplier, and I guess Taiwan is the likely source - though not always.

But show me a bike shop that doesn't do that nowdays - esp. for the Carbon frames.

In fact I think it's often a good thing. A quick scan through the Dedacciai geometry tables suggest that some of their nice carbon frames are available from a certain Lancastrian bike shop, named after their nearest river - for a good few hundred quid cheaper than the Dedacciai-branded equivalents. OK - the paintwork isn't as flashy, but when did you last see a bad review of a bike from that particular shop?

I actually really like what Pearson have done here. I'd certainly consider buying if the reviews are good and the products test-ride well. Never thought I'd see a Spinal Tap reference on a bike frame.

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Campag_10 | 12 years ago
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Style over substance? Presumably it's what they think their customers will buy. Are these generic frames bought from a Taiwan manufacturer's catalogue?

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nick_rearden replied to Campag_10 | 12 years ago
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Campag_10 wrote:

Style over substance? Presumably it's what they think their customers will buy. Are these generic frames bought from a Taiwan manufacturer's catalogue?

Why is 'style over substance' always oh-so-cleverly bandied around when someone offers a differently-stylish product? Whether you like it or not the new Pearson style is certainly attention-grabbing but it has no bearing whatsoever on the quality of the unfinished product. 'Style' - whatever that is - and engineering quality are not mutually exclusive as plenty of brilliant but bankrupt engineers who made pug-ugly products will testify. And while we're about it, quality of engineering hasn't got much to do with where it happens, either. The Taiwan-bashing bus left the stop about 10 years ago - you need to move on, too. You also need to upgrade to 11  1

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steviebike replied to nick_rearden | 12 years ago
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nick_rearden wrote:
Campag_10 wrote:

Style over substance? Presumably it's what they think their customers will buy. Are these generic frames bought from a Taiwan manufacturer's catalogue?

The Taiwan-bashing bus left the stop about 10 years ago - you need to move on, too. You also need to upgrade to 11  1

Really liking the new Pearson look and choice of bikes that make up their 2012 range. I totally agree with Nick. I live in Taiwan and I'm married to a Taiwanese. I'm starting to find it very annoying to label Taiwan as some cheap place, where you just buy a frame and put your stickers on it (try doing it, if you think its that easy). The frames built here are produced in factories with engineers (most of whom are educated to a very high level) not back street vendors and are produced to ISO standards and customers spec. Please please show some respect for the country I love and the engineering capacity they have worked hard to achieve. I bet your bike is made in Taiwan?  1

Thanks.

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