{"id":227312,"date":"2025-10-27T00:39:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T00:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/227312\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T00:39:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T00:39:14","slug":"the-hipsters-rocked-up-how-britains-1-hill-climb-expert-turned-a-london-fixie-into-a-race-bike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/227312\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The hipsters rocked up’ \u2013 how Britain\u2019s #1 hill climb expert turned a London fixie into a race bike"},"content":{"rendered":"

Simon Warren might be best known as the author of the 100 Climbs series, but he raced seriously throughout the 1990s and 2000s, competing in time trials, track and road races, and, of course, hill climbs.<\/p>\n

So what does the UK\u2019s foremost expert on cycling up hills ride for the National Championships?<\/p>\n

This year, Warren went for something a little different: a fixed-gear<\/a> that\u2019s been through multiple reincarnations over the two decades he\u2019s owned it.<\/p>\n

Long before it became a stripped-back hill climb machine, it was ridden around the streets of London.<\/p>\n

As Warren recalled on Instagram: “In the early 2000s, a craze hit the streets of London \u2013 the fashionable kids started riding fixed wheel bikes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“As an unfashionable kid, my fixed wheel had always been a key part of my identity, and when I moved to London in the mid \u201890s, it was only couriers and racing cyclists who rode one. All of a sudden, the hipsters rocked up on beautiful Colnagos with NJS components and disc wheels. The fact they\u2019d assimilated my culture made me far angrier than was healthy.”<\/p>\n

Determined not to be outdone, Warren set out to build something even more eye-catching: “Refusing to be beaten, I set out to build a bike that would turn heads.<\/p>\n

Decked out in a pair of Spinergy\u2019s and traditional bend track drops, the bike is about as 2000s as a street fixie could get.<\/p>\n

However, the Monoc soon found its true home on the boards. “It was far too good for the streets, so one night I took it down to Herne Hill for track league \u2013 and that\u2019s what started me racing again [after an injury].\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I didn\u2019t miss a track league for ten years.”<\/p>\n

\"SimonSimon stripped the bike back to a raw finish. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

Turning the bike into a hill climb bike was a true labour of love: “I spent two solid weeks painstakingly removing two layers of paint, then using mostly what I could find in the workshop, built a fixed gear hill climb bike.”<\/p>\n

\"SimonWarren hadn’t raced fixed on a hill climb since 2004. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

Fixed gear bikes are a common sight at hill climbs but, despite being synonymous with climbing, Warren admits he\u2019s only raced fixed at a hill climb once before \u2013 back in 2004. <\/p>\n

“I have raced hill climbs on a fixed before, back in 2004 when it\u2019s all I had, winning my club hill climb then grinding to a halt at the Catford and Bec because my gear was just too big and I didn\u2019t have the legs,” he wrote on Instagram.<\/p>\n

He opted for a 36\u00d722t gearing for Bank Road. That might sound punchy, but Warren says Matt Clinton won the 2008 Nationals on a 42\u00d720t on the same course \u2013 so Warren\u2019s setup sits well below that.<\/p>\n

\"SimonRoyce hubs are the stuff of near legend. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

The bike\u2019s back wheel combines a 28h Royce track hub and an \u00a380 “fake Zipp” carbon rim Warren spotted on eBay: “It said Zipp, so I hit Buy It Now. Only when I got it out of the box did I realise it definitely wasn\u2019t a Zipp rim in any shape or form \u2013 but it was \u00a380 for a carbon rim!” <\/p>\n

It\u2019s paired with a 22mm Continental Sprinter tubular.<\/p>\n

\"SimonWe’ve seen pencils fatter than that tyre. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

The front wheel, an old Zipp 303 from his road racing days, is now reserved purely for hill climbs. It\u2019s fitted with a 19mm Tufo S3 Lite tubular: “[I know] the rolling resistance of this is terrible, but it\u2019s light.”<\/p>\n

\"SimonThe front end of the bike is stripped back in classic hill climb style Jack Luke \/ Our Media
\n\"SimonSimon Warren is a… Jack Luke \/ Our Media
\n\"Simon…rim brake aficionado. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

A Reynolds Onzo fork \u2013 “still the most beautiful fork I have ever owned,” he wrote \u2013 is matched to an Easton EA50 stem, cut-down Easton EA70 bars, and gutted Campagnolo Chorus levers padded for comfort. <\/p>\n

A Token Accura CNC brake, USE seatpost, and a stripped and drilled Selle Italia Flite TT saddle complete the build.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s not light at 5.98kg,” Warren noted, “but has been a fun project to put together.”<\/p>\n

\"SimonLike brakes, saddles are one of the best places to lose weight \u2013 largely because neither are needed for a climb as steep as Bank Road. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<\/p>\n

From its storied origins to a new lease of life on one of the UK\u2019s toughest climbs, Warren\u2019s Monoc shows that even Britain\u2019s best-known hill climb expert still finds joy in digging out an old frame, bolting on a few spares, and seeing how far the addictive simplicity of a fixed gear can take him.<\/p>\n

More from Simon Warren<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Simon Warren might be best known as the author of the 100 Climbs series, but he raced seriously…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-227312","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}