As an entrepreneur, you have to be prepared to be overtaken by your passions. But even I’ve been surprised by the direction our latest project at Millican HQ has taken.
It was only a few months ago that I was on my way to visit ace clothes retailer,
Oi Polloi, on Tib Street in northern Manchester with my Millican samples. When, out of nowhere, I spotted a small bike shop,
GBH Custom Bikes. Having just sold my mountain bike and being up for a change, perhaps a road bike, I was determined to investigate.

I entered a tiny shop-cum-workshop, with bike gear everywhere. Judging by the state of their hands, the two guys there clearly love their bikes. Meet Gbob and Hippy. It turned out that GBH was at a fulcrum moment, selling off some of their stock and about to move into a sole focus on custom bikes.

Meanwhile, hanging in the rafters above me, I spotted one frame, once blue, now largely rusting. Hippy mentioned it was a 1947 Raleigh Clubman frame – that is, a club touring bike, what’s more a fixie, ungeared.

Now … it just so happens that 1947 is branded in my memory as the year when Millican Dalton died. Also tucked away there was the knowledge that Millican, an early cycle camper in his youth, used to be known for his trusty blue bike.
What had begun as a random bit of window-shopping then turned into a full-scale fantasy on my way home that evening. What if we re-built the Clubman, applying the Millican design philosophy? We take a classic, tried and tested shape, add functionality befitting our current era, and use recycled and more sustainable materials wherever we can.
My uncle Gerben, Holland, 1940Once completed, I’d be able to enter any number of cycle races around the Lake District, raising money for charity, honouring Millican Dalton, and promoting all we stand for at the same time. Having spent my childhood in Holland, I’d grown up with and
on bikes. End of daydream.
I loved that bike ... well, scooter really ... Then, of course, the more practical realities began to creep in. The truth is I know very little about bike details. What was I thinking straying off my known turf? Ah, I told myself, isn’t Millican also all about connecting with new worlds and new collaborators? Objections squashed, I penciled a follow-up trip to Manchester in my diary.
Once there, I visited GBH again, asking for their help to re-build the bike. Hippy, as might be expected, then proceeded to deluge me with an avalanche of technical options, most of them considerably beyond my knowledge base. I figured I'd need to spend a lot of time poring over websites, blogs, forums and chatting to people passionate about bikes, before being able to settle on a spec. Perfect.
Retro Raleighs gave me the perfect start, with a compendium of details about the original bike and its specification. If you’re into cycling, you might also know or like to spend time in these online emporiums, veritable labyrinths of pleasure for the bike enthusiast –
The Old Bicycle Showroom and
Classic Lightweights.

Today, as I write this, Hippy is building the bike, based on the general spec we’ve agreed on. One of the biggest turning points has been to forsake the original non-gear spec and embrace the functionality of modern gears – six in total, 3 x 2.

Because, somewhere along the way, I also managed to sign myself up for the Sportive at the
Keswick Mountain Festival in mid-May. And I’m certainly not getting up and over mountains in my present condition, unless I have at least some gears to help me on my way.
Meanwhile, our quest to combine the best of old and new continues, with determined trawling of our contacts for second-hand components that will conform as close as possible to the original. We have chosen new components for the wheels, gears and brakes. However, the frame, drop bars, lights and pedals will remain orginal. While the
saddle and
saddle bag will be custom made. Completion date: 15th May. I wish Millican Dalton could see what we’re doing in the spirit of his name.
Whether he’ll want to see what I’m doing on Saturday 22nd May is another question.
The new sportive route, taking in a series of challenging and spectacular Lakeland passes (Honister, Whinlatter, Newlands), proudly advertises itself as “a very demanding route with little recovery between climbs”.
The training starts here…