Le velo de ville or "the town bike" (as in a good 15 minutes on this bike and you're shagged) .

Scotty, a good friend of mine, found this Apollo Jaguar in the back of his mate's shed, so he went to see the guys at Bike Culture (the best local bike shop this side of anywhere) late that night and fitted it up to be a single speed with bits from the parts bin. Being the good bloke that he is, he then passed it on to me in exchange for some surplus baby stuff that was occupying valuable bike space in my garage. Scotty made the necessary mods: added Shimano 600 cranks, the freewheel, a flat bar and a brake lever, re-dished the rear wheel to make the chain line work, and gave it a real quick once over.

I then looked after the cosmetic side of things: a candy apple red base colour and four coats of clear. All the parts needed a good polish which seemed to compliment the colour. I gave Scotty back the flat bar and sourced some wide bars off Ebay - they remind of my brother's old bike from my childhood, a real cruiser.

It has 27" wheels that are polished up nicely and are rock solid, which is perfect as the bike will be just a commuter/pack horse and weekend roller with the family around Canberra.

All in all, I'm pretty chuffed with the result, not to mention the great value.