The HebTroCo Trousercycle

You might expect bike-designer-turned-trouserman Brant Richards to be riding around on something titanium. Or maybe British steel, welded locally. Something bespoke, with a special trouser themed head badge, a craft ale carrier, and a special trouser rack. Maybe even a built in Corby Trouser Press. Well, the Trousercycle (as Brant’s bike is called) is unique, but it’s hardly bling. Let’s have a look…

Brant says:

The Trousercycle has been our salvation. The Calder Valley can get congested. Its steep sides seem to seek to inhibit inhabitants from moving efficiently at times. Certainly traffic congestion is an issue for residents in motor vehicles. Thankfully we don’t suffer.

Inherited from our web designer Shaun, the Trouserbike has become an essential part of HebTroCo logistics, ferrying Brant to work daily, and taking trousers to the post office at the end of the day.

Built around a Specialized Stumpjumper Comp frame of (we think) 1989 or earlier vintage, with an Xtracycle bolt on back end to provide cargo hauling potential.

We’ve been using it for a few months now, and it’s quite remarkable in its load lugging potential, and speed through the valley bottom. It can outpace any car from our unit to the post office. The trip is 3.1 miles by road in the car but can be done in under 9mins on the Trousercycle.

Front to back it’s a retrolovers dream…

Lugged frame with double butted chromoly tubing, frame and fork. Is that a sticker or a crack?

A retrolover’s dream, from the mind of the genius engineers at Pace. Made in Yorkshire from delrin and aerospace aluminium. Held in place with a Salsa Rasta front skewer.

Pace made chainrings too back in the day. The Trousercycle has a Shimano triple chainset fitted with a nice low low and a nice high high.

The original and best saddle, with the Kevlar corners to stop it getting scuffed when leaning outside Satnam’s (Satnam is the local Post Master).

Driving Shimano rear mechs and SRAM brakes, these controls work well even with the extended cable lengths involved.

Held into the extraordinary Specialized forged stem with a shim to convert from 26.0 to 25.4mm.

One of the first semi slicks around, these are scarred and worn and really need replacing, but with the wheels being the very old fashioned 26in size, the Trousermen are out of luck sourcing any replacements.

Hannah regularly sees Brant riding back and forth between the Post Office and Trouser Towers, and he is indeed on this bike. This is no marketing gimmick – it’s a real life working bike. How long it’ll be working with those tyres is anyone’s guess – anyone got any 26in semi slicks lurking in their shed? But for now, Brant (occasionally racing Hannah) will be bypassing the traffic (and surely for the utility cyclist and commuter than can be few greater pleasures than sailing past a queue of stationary single occupant cars) of the Calder Valley, ferrying your trousers to the post office, and thence on to you.

If you fancy a pair of proper trousers, here’s where to go.

Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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