What we ride

Behind every cycling journalist is a long history of bikes. Some come and go-test bikes, first bikes, stolen bikes, I'm going to get into BMX-ing now bikes - but some stay, for their practicality, their dreaminess or just for the joy they elicit. Here are three of the Cyclist team's personal favourites

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Charlotte’s ever-loyal Genesis Datum

An unfaltering workhorse and unfailing companion

Some bikes we buy out of admiration for their beauty, their speed, their finesse. We lust after them for what feels like an eternity before finally laying our hands on them. Then there are bikes like my Genesis.

I came across it while frantically scrolling through Facebook Marketplace, desperate to find a reliable, no-frills commuter. The first ‘proper’ bike I’d ever owned was a Genesis – sadly stolen after only a few months – and I had adored it.

This love was probably more to do with enjoying the perks of a modern road bike, but it had kindled a flame in my heart for the brand and I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to own one again. I had also just become a bike mechanic (my previous life before Cyclist), so despite the Datum seeming pretty humble at first sight – all Shimano Tiagra groupset and budget cup-and-cone bearing wheels – I couldn’t help but look at it and dream of the possibilities.

So it begins 

The first thing to go were the wheels. In an inverse approach to learning, I had been taught to build wheels before I fully understood how gears or brakes worked, and had fallen in love with the craft. My aim was to build a set that could withstand the potholed, glass-strewn streets of London without too much bother, so sturdiness was key.