There’s a wonderfully sonorous soundtrack from behind the cab. Tickle the throttle and it burbles. Bury your foot and the rumble turns into a deep, offbeat roar, accompanied by a distinct and ongoing shove in the back…
Infernal combustion: the #crankedwagen story, part 5
Looking at the MOT records for the Crankedwagen, it was apparent that it hadn’t moved a great deal in the couple of years before I bought it. Driving it from Bristol to London and back was, almost certainly, the furthest it had been asked to move for a very long time…
Infernal combustion: the #crankedwagen story, part 4
Not being ready for the show in mid February wasn’t an option. The Crankedwagen was our transport, our display, our stand. Without it, we had just a carpet, a back wall and some lights. It had to be finished.
Infernal combustion: the #crankedwagen story, part 3
The crusty mess within inches of the driver’s seatbelt mounting point on the offside front wheel arch was – how to put this? – not encouraging. The remains of double-sided sticky tape under the rubber mat that covered the offending rot suggested the previous owner’s approach had been to hide it from the MOT tester. […]
Infernal combustion: the #crankedwagen story, part 2
With the newly-acquired Doka back at Cranked HQ, it was time to take stock. Although it looked pretty tidy from a distance, its future role as show display stand meant that it was going to need to stand up to much closer scrutiny…
Infernal combustion: the #crankedwagen story, part 1
Here’s a question for you: what d’you reckon the most popular category of Cranked social media post is? Sick riding shots? Rad trails? Nope. It’s the #crankedwagen, Cranked’s 32 year old VW crew cab pickup. Bests anything else we put up on social media, by a country mile. Go figure.
David Thorpe
I used to mountain bike a lot but got suckered into road and cyclo cross so revisiting some Lakeland technical trails was fantastic – to be up there again in amongst the scenery
Pictures worth a thousand words
These are riders we didn’t get words from. No criticism – can only do some much with the 24 hours in a day. Still – we have their pictures, or them or their bikes. So something to ponder here…
Tom Stephenson
My bike is a rigid steel plus bike and is therefore probably considered bikepacking specific however it is equally suited for a variety of different riding.
Anthony de Heveningham
It’s a return to a time when mountain biking was a bit less about timing yourself and looking for incremental performance gains, and more about having an adventure and enjoying the experience.