Ford KA!

Wanting to get a better bike than the one I have (it's the old one I converted to 50cc petrol, and ended up being brained on it and having 4 holes bored into my head), I went to our local 2nd hand emporium and purchased a rather swish looking job for £65.

Research shows it to be an Apollo / Ford collaboration called the Ford Ranger. Never heard of car manufacturers collaborating with bike manufacturers before. However, looking it up I found the following:

• BMW & Specialized – BMW has had several collaborations with bike manufacturers, including Specialized. These bikes often reflect BMW’s precision engineering and design ethos.
• Porsche & Rotwild – Porsche partnered with Rotwild to create high-performance electric mountain bikes. These collaborations are geared toward luxury and high performance.
• Ferrari & Bianchi – Ferrari teamed up with renowned Italian bicycle manufacturer Bianchi to produce bicycles that embody the brand’s sporty, lightweight, and fast ethos, similar to Ferrari’s supercars.
• McLaren & Specialized – McLaren collaborated with Specialized to develop ultra-light, high-performance road bikes, such as the S-Works McLaren Tarmac. McLaren’s expertise in carbon fibre technology played a key role in the design.
• Aston Martin & Storck – Aston Martin worked with German bicycle manufacturer Storck to develop high-end, limited-edition bicycles, with a focus on aerodynamics and sleek design.
• Mercedes-Benz & Argon 18 – Mercedes-Benz partnered with Argon 18, a Canadian bicycle manufacturer, to create high-performance road bikes, with a focus on quality craftsmanship and innovative design.
• Lamborghini & Cervélo – Lamborghini and Cervélo partnered to create a limited-edition version of Cervélo’s P5X triathlon bike. The design reflected Lamborghini’s bold styling, with the focus on aerodynamics and speed.
• Audi & Renovo – Audi collaborated with Renovo to produce high-performance wooden bicycles, reflecting the brand’s craftsmanship, design, and performance ethos.

The one I got was obviously at the budget end of the scale.

I could tell immediately why the previous owner had gotten rid of it - the piston seat suspension clicked like anything and the brakes squealed. The solution? Slackening off one end of the damper so it moved freely and simply riding the bike for a mile or two to bed the brake rubber in.

It has obviously never been used and was a bit of a bargain. OK, it has rim brakes, but the gears are Shimano. The gears are selected by a twist grip on the inner edge of the hand grips, which I find easier to operate than levers.

The original price was between £150 and £250 when they came out in the 2000s, which was well before the lockdown mania for bikes, which resulted in prices going through the roof. At today's values they'd be £250 to £420, with this one being at the higher end of the range, which is still the cheap end.

Not so sure about the rear wheel panel - that may have to come off, as it could suffer from side windage.