The deluxe panniers caught my eye first, with the famous exploding C. One of the heralded CBC bike brazenly parked at City Hall last week, presumably whilst the busy CBC types were inside interviewing someone.
The bikes are really nice. No messy cables here: the maker buried the light wiring in the tubes of the frame for the white front light and pair of rear lights. They definitely looked a tad nicer than my $140 cdn tire six speed that only works on one speed.
Nicely logo’d frame too, with web address. And a hefty lock, to guard the people’s property. Unisex step-through frame. Metal mudguards. Internal rear gear hub. Stevens Bike: made in Germany I believe.
Was the visit to City Hall worth it? See the interview and decide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4xT7SB4RH4
A couple more details I noticed.
One is the kickstand – not too common anymore but definitely a good idea for a reporter’s bicycle.
The panniers are something else. If you look carefully the two are connected by straps and have a single carrying handle attached to the cross-straps (it’s on the rack). The rack itself has a spring-loaded clamp to help keep loads in place, and this clamp has been lifted before the panniers were put on, meaning that it is helping to keep them in place. I also note that this clamp has had the lock cable run through it, so someone can’t easily steal the panniers. I suspect the cable is left in place permanently since it would be a PITA to run it through the rack and the saddle every time it was locked up.
The rear light/reflector is an interesting assembly as well.
A thoroughly impressive piece of kit – and still a lot less than a car or even a scooter. Kudos to the CBC.
Good work. There seems to be an amazing amount of momentum behind cycling infrastructure these days. I love it.
I had no idea the CBC provided bikes! It’s more startling than seeing a cop on a bike. The more people we can get on bikes everywhere, the better chance we have of changing the culture where “car is king”.
Those panniers don’t look very sturdy but I suppose they have baskets on the inside.
I think the bike is either a Steven’s Elegance or Courier “Forma” model. There’s a picture here of the Elegance Lite which shows the generator front hub for the wired lighting, the rear internal hub and even the kickstand. Being from Germany, it’s that’s probably a Tubus rack. I have a pair of these on my touring bike and I know I can get an optional spring loaded clamp as David pointed out. I wonder whether they just put CBC decals over the paint on the down tube or it’s a custom paint job?
Very cool, and certainly the only way to get from the CBC building to interview sites with any kind of speed.
Hi from the CBC Ottawa Newsroom,
Indeed it is a Stevens Elegance Lite, with an 8sp internal hub. The rack is solid and the paniers have semi-rigid sides. Not a custom paint job, just some nice custom decals. The red cable David points out is an anti-theft device for the paniers and seat, so hopefully we won’t have another crime story to cover.
We bought two, a small and a large one. If you spot us and want to chat, we’re happy to give you a closer look…as long as we’re not scrambling to meet a deadline.
See you on the road,
Giacomo Panico