Is the radical new Specialized Sirrus hybrid bike, which has a hole – officially a ‘compliance junction’ – where the lower part of the seat tube should be, about to usher in a new era of imaginative, creative bike design? Has it finally released us from the bonds of the traditional diamond frame? In a word, no.
Of course, we admire Specialized’s ambition and willingness to innovate, but there have been many brave attempts to break out of the 138-year-old template of JK Starley’s Rover Safety Bicycle, not to mention the triangular gospel according to Sheldon Brown (“the diamond frame is one of most nearly perfect pieces of design known”). Most recently we’ve had the UCI’s Lugano Charter, which came into force in 2000 with “the objective of preserving the culture and image of the bicycle as
