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BBC drama Call The Midwife sparks record interest in Victoria Pendleton bike range, says Halfords

Unprecedented online pre-orders for Olympic champion's retro-styled bicycles...

Halfords, Britain’s biggest bike retailer, has brought forward by a month the arrival in its stores of Olympic champion Victoria Pendleton’s new range of bicycles, reporting record pre-orders online – and says that the BBC programme Call The Midwife is partly responsible for the huge interest being shown.

Pendleton’s bikes, launched in London last month, have a decidedly retro look to them, and the retailer believes they have struck a chord among viewers of the BBC period drama, set in the 1950s, with characters shown hurrying from one appointment to another by bicycle.

One of the show’s stars, Miranda Hart, was recently snapped out and about on her bike in West London complete with her per shihtzu in a basket.

Three bikes are available in the rage, the Somerby, the Brooke and the Dalby, retailing at between £279.99 and £349.99, and their launch follows what it describes as an upsurge in sales of classic bicycles over the past year or so.

Clare Standage of Halfords, quoted on the financial website 4-traders, said: "We are not surprised by the demand for the Victoria Pendleton range.

“There is certain elegance about the traditional lines of a classic bike and it seems that the trend-setters are moving away from the macho, sporty look and going for a more relaxed everyday style which is perfectly epitomised by these bikes.”

Pendleton, competing next week in the UCI Track World Championships in Melbourne, added: "I wanted to help create a bike that you could just jump on to go down to the shops or the park without having to change into cycling kit.

“I do recognise that most women don't want to squeeze into lycra before they get on a bike and I am pleased to say you can definitely wear a dress to ride these cycles."

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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Nigel Jennings | 12 years ago
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On a related note, did anyone study the bikes in The Midwife TV series? They looked decidedly post-1950s to me!

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Parlee-king | 12 years ago
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Just be careful when collecting that Halfords have not built up with the forks the wrong way around like they did on a mates sisters bike.....shocking. it had about 3 inch of toe overlap on the front wheel

nice rack

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Alan Tullett | 12 years ago
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Classic and 'Dutch' style bikes have been popular for a lot more than the last year, my teenage daughters and their friends have been riding them for 3/4 years minimum.

Their favourite tipple is perry as well, a drink that was virtually dead a few years back. Why these trends have occurred I have no idea but they were under way well before that TV prog. Bikes with baskets have always been popular in Cambridge. I had one for many years myself when I had a ladies bike with a child seat, although I now use detachable panniers on a road bike. But the move away from cheap MTBs as runarounds has been going on for some time.

Victoria's bikes look fine although not much different in looks or price from the (Chinese-made) Dawes that my younger daughter has. However, if she needed a new one I'm sure as a fan of Victoria's she would want one of hers!!

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downfader | 12 years ago
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They're nice looking bikes for the money. Like a Fiat 500 of the bike world.  3

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gandberg | 12 years ago
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A-meares-ing.

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