'Middle aged men like having a bike that they can show off' - Getting to grips with the UK vintage bike scene

With the popularity of vintage cycling gear on the rise, I went looking for bargains in Oxfordshire’s Golden Age Cycles

Brian reid, Golden Age Cycles owner
(Image credit: Andrew Sydenham)

This feature originally appeared in the 19 January 2023 issue of Cycling Weekly magazine. Subscribe now, and don't miss an issue this year.

All good explorers know that same overused phrase, heard on many of Indiana Jones’ treasure hunting exploits. Although if you were a fedora wearing adventurer on the lookout for a one of a kind vintage Colnago available nowhere else in Britain, X really would mark the spot at one particular vintage bicycle shop, Golden Age Cycles, in Oxfordshire. 

The shop's warehouse is a literal treasure trove, packed to the rafters with bikes from across the ages, all with their own little story to tell and unique piece of individuality. There are bikes from a bygone age, the sort you’d see being ridden in a costume drama as well as elite level machines that wouldn’t have looked out of place in some of cycle racing’s biggest moments in history. 

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