BBC Radio 1’s Greg James is preparing to take on a 1,000km tandem challenge across the UK to raise funds for Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day, and here’s the steel tandem he’ll be riding from Derby-based Mercian Cycles.
Greg James hosts the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show, and he’s taken on two previous challenges for Comic Relief. In 2016, Greg completed five triathlons in five days and in 2018, he completed Pedal to the Peaks, in which he cycled and climbed Scafell Pike, Snowdon, and Ben Nevis.
Greg said, “Well, here I am again. I honestly thought I would never be so silly as to say yes to Comic Relief again, but why not make it a hat-trick?
“Seriously, though, the world feels really overwhelming at the moment. There’s a lot of things to worry about and everything is just feeling a lot, so now is the right time to come out of challenge retirement and do my bit to help. Cycling 1,000km in eight days will be brutally hard and relentlessly demanding, but that’s exactly the point. There will be moments when my legs are exhausted and I want to give up when everything hurts, but I am ready for it.
“I’m dedicating this challenge to anyone who feels like they’re carrying life’s load on their own. Whether someone is struggling silently, feeling overwhelmed, or just trying to get through one difficult day after another, I want this challenge to show that none of us has to do it alone. So come on, let’s do this.”
The challenge will kick off in Weymouth on Friday, 13th March, during the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. Greg will cycle across England and into Wales, before finishing in Edinburgh on Friday, 20th March – Red Nose Day 2026. Well, that’s the plan, anyway. And we wish him the best of luck.
Greg will also be joined on the tandem by various characters and celebs, and Radio 1 presenters will accompany him along the route, keeping audiences updated on his progress.
A thousand kilometres in eight days: that’s an average of 125km a day. How has he been preparing?
“I’ve been really careful,” said Greg. “I’m being really diligent, and I’ve been training since before Christmas. I’ve been doing static bike and lots of leg work, just to make sure that I can keep going. But you can never do enough training for this sort of thing, to be honest.
“Every day is leg day. Every day is painful. I’ve got a static bike at home, which I’ve set the laptop up in front of, and I’ve been watching all of Heated Rivalry – so I’ve been feeling sweaty and energetic, while watching two men be sweaty and energetic.”
Okay, but isn’t there a rather large elephant in the room? March. More specifically: March in the UK. Greg might get wall-to-wall sunshine for his Longest Ride… Or, let’s be realistic, he might not. Let’s be even more realistic: he won’t. It’s a challenge, alright.
The tandem that Greg will be riding comes from Mercian Cycles. Now 80 years old, Mercian is one of Britain’s longest-established custom bike manufacturers, and it has built a lightweight steel-framed tandem to fit Greg’s dimensions. He’s a tall fella: 1.93m. Mercian has also provided four standard bikes of various sizes that will be used by those joining Greg on the challenge.
James Knowles of Mercian Cycles said, “We’re hugely proud to see a Mercian tandem at the centre of such an incredible national fundraising challenge. Every bike we build is handcrafted here in Derby. To create something bespoke for Greg and Comic Relief is a real honour.
“We did a fitting with Greg just after Christmas and also provided him with a training tandem which he has been practising on in and around London. He now has the real thing, which we have hand-painted red for Comic Relief.
“It has been built specifically for the demands of a 1,000km ride – designed for strength, stability and comfort over long distances. Challenges like this are exactly why custom engineering matters.
“Derby has a proud cycling and manufacturing heritage, and it’s fantastic to see that expertise playing a role in raising money for such an important cause.”
This was the first frame completed at Mercian’s new workshop in Little Eaton, Derby. It’s built from Reynolds 853 steel tubing with tandem-specific chainstays to cope with the power of two riders and also to help keep the weight down. Reynolds donated the tubing for the project, with Shimano, Hopetech and Madison Cycles donating components.
Mercian’s Marcus Vaughan said, “We’ve been building tandems for decades (we built the tandems for the 1956 British Olympic team, and still have one in our workshop). Unfortunately, the builder of those frames is no longer with us, but the skills and knowledge have been passed down.”
Mercian uses hand-cut lugwork and traditional open-hearth brazing techniques.
“Normally, our frames, including tandems, are built for a specific rider or pair of riders,” says Marcus. “For the Comic Relief tandem, we had to size it for Greg James up front and then have the adjustability at the rear for as wide a range of riders as possible so Greg can have help on the way.
“The wide-range cassette on the Shimano gearing should get Greg up the hills and still have plenty of speed for the flatter days. We hand-built the wheels on Hope hubs with a higher number of stronger spokes than normal to take the weight of two riders, whoever ends up on the back.”
If you fancy a fully custom Mercian tandem yourself, a frame starts at £4,500, but the exact price would depend on the exact specification you choose.
As James Knowles mentioned, Greg will be riding a red Mercian for the Longest Ride challenge with a blue backup at the ready – hence the differently coloured bikes in these photos.
Comic Relief raises millions of pounds each year to support vulnerable people and communities across the UK and around the world. Greg’s challenge will support projects providing food, shelter, and safety, with every mile pedalled helping to put food on tables, secure safe places to sleep, and protect those at risk of harm.
Head over to Comic Relief’s website to make a donation.
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1 thought on “Check out the Mercian tandem that Greg James will ride 1,000km for Comic Relief”
That certainly brings back memories. I was mostly raised on the back of a Mercian twicer, every every adult’s holiday period from the age of 6. Initially with my feet resting on a board laid transversely across the downtube just aft of the captain’s seat tube, with upturned and flipped drop handlebars; later with kiddie cranks to help me reach the pedals. Much ribald commentary about him not pushing at the back ensued. Ultimately as a fully fledged stoker with the mahoosive power that only a 12 year old can bring to bear. Betsie, for she had a name, had 26 x 1 3/8″ wheels and a heady 3, count ’em, 3 cyclo gears, so a lot of walking up hills. It took Faither & me all over Northern Scotland in the early to mid 1960’s, managing to bag every Youth Hostel north of the Central Lowlands belt at least once.