{"id":164,"date":"2013-05-06T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-06T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ssgc.co\/2013\/05\/review-of-the-papillionaire-racer\/"},"modified":"2021-05-04T02:57:08","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T02:57:08","slug":"review-of-papillionaire-racer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/singlespeedgoldcoast.com\/2013\/05\/06\/review-of-papillionaire-racer\/","title":{"rendered":"Review of the Papillionaire Cafe Racer"},"content":{"rendered":"
I was fortunate to be given a Papilionaire Cafe Racer<\/a> for the week to ride and review. There was some talk about me reviewing the Papillionaire Classic but when I saw the Racer there was no doubt in my mind which one I wanted to take home. The bike has an old-timey romantic look of motorpacing with leather helmets on, of racing down country lanes in woolen jerseys. Not that they rode bikes like this when they did those things\u2014but it’s how the mind works you see. Perhaps it also evokes cafe races from the 70s. I’ve had a lingering thought to make a bike with the classic 70s cafe racer<\/a> as inspiration, perhaps to satisfy an\u00a0unfulfilled\u00a0desire to own a cafe racer without actually getting back into motorbikes. Given the glacial pace at which I progress on projects I probably will\u00a0never\u00a0build anything remotely evocative of anything but now, thankfully, I’ve had the Papillionaire to scratch that itch for me.<\/p>\n The Papillionaire Racer also brought to mind a couple of other bikes. The Pashley Guv’nor<\/a> and the Linus Gaston<\/a> sprang to mind. Anyway, whatever references the bike evoked in my mind it was all secondary to my desire to take it home and ride it.<\/p>\n Glad you asked. The riding felt a tad awkward at first. The bike rides pretty much as it looks, which is quite different from your average single-speed or fixie. The swept back handlebars and the forward curve of the fork make the bike steer like no other bike I ride. There’s something of a tiller effect involved. But it does steer just like you’d want it to. The whole funky old-timey feel is evoked every time you get on it. You begin to think that life really will slow down and run at your pace for a while. That maybe you’ll dink a friend on that sturdy rear rack and go fishing together at the river. You’d probably roll your sandwiches and soda pops up in a checkered hanky that was tied to a pole.<\/p>\n I have read that the Guv’nor can be a bit difficult to adapt to. No such problem with the Papillionaire Racer. You feel pretty cool riding the bike for starters, so you tend to head out on the flimsiest excuse. So you get a lot of\u00a0practice\u00a0in a small time. I’ve ridden mine to get drunk on sake at the cool new Japanese restaurant, chase the dogs around the parks, go looking for the missing dog that escaped, go to soccer and back, and just around the block and down the shops for the sake of riding it. I have very quickly adapted to the way it steers and can tell you it’s a stable and confidence inspiring ride. At first I was a bit shakey in the cornering, probably because I’m used to quicker steering bikes, but that went away within minutes and now I roll into corners with great confidence and style. I’ve taken to coming down the hill near me and rolling around and through the roundabout at speed just for the sheer pleasure of cycling. The bike can hold a lot of speed and corners the long sweepers like it was born to it, like it thinks it’s a Ducati cafe racer from the 70s. \u00a0You can also stand it up like a mountain bike and ride it through corners a bit sideways if you want to. The bike’s stable enough and goes with it. It has a fair bit of rubber and that helps. I’ve taken the dogs up through a path that is grass and trees and tried pushing it a bit. It doesn’t mind skipping out sideways a little on some loose gravel. The bike’s well under control and you can have a bit of fun with it.<\/p>\n What this translates to for any urban commuter is confidence for all the shitty paths. There are still some gravel bike paths around and there are plenty of paths strewn with tree debris and stuff \u00a0like leave litter that gets slippery when wet. The Racer will be your friend under in poor or\u00a0treacherous\u00a0conditions.<\/p>\n The bike I tested was a large but the cockpit isn’t large. I slid the seat back to mid-rails and the reach forward was about perfect. But I’m only 165cm tall so I’m no giant. It’s a more relaxed ride than I’m used to and for me that’s part of the fun. I’m already feeling so cool every time I get on the Papillionaire Racer so it doesn’t hurt to slow down and let it show.<\/p>\n If you’re used to upright bikes the Papillionaire Racer will feel a bit hunched. For me it’s bang on perfect but it is a intriguing blend of laid back bike with racer-low bars. The short cockpit prevents you from feeling like you’re reaching for the bars and to me it’s still pretty relaxed but if you’re after a more\u00a0leisurely\u00a0ride then check out the Papillionaire Classic<\/a>.<\/p>\n No doubt the bike is a conceit. The design owes a lot to a nostalgia we never had and evokes a bunch of references which have little to do with any bike I ever owned. But as a conceit it’s a good one and anyone who thinks that showing some style<\/a> while riding is important will love this bike. Next time I see someone on a hybrid with a flouro vest and all those zip ties in their helmet I’m going to beg them to check out the Papillionaire website. You could not ride a Papillionaire Racer looking like that. They’d be straight out to buy some handmade shoes and a check shirt and the world would be a better place.<\/p>\n I haven’t mentioned the gears yet have I. Bit worrisome for me, this being my second bike review in a couple months with gears. To be honest, the last review<\/a>\u00a0was something of a departure for me but this bike belongs on my blog. My brief review of the Jelly Bean three-speed<\/a> still remains one of the most read articles on the blog. And just look at the bike, it shouldn’t go back to Papillionaire really because it belongs in my bike shed. Or, at the very least, in my garden with the chickens:<\/p>\n My first foray on the bike was to the Japanese restaurant mentioned above. Here’s a picture of me at the bar. Some people say I look like a noted young Anne Frank expert but I say don’t be fooled by my youthful complexion. Besides, the only thing I know about Anne Frank is that if she were alive today she’d definitely read this blog. I don’t have an insulting collective noun for my readers but she could belong to it if there was one.<\/p>\nHow does the Papillionaire Ride?<\/h3>\n
The Papillionaire Racer<\/h3>\n