On-One Pickenflick cyclo-cross bike

The On-One Pickenflick is a complete cyclo-cross bike with a titanium frame for a price that usually gets you only the frame. Its handling and adaptability makes it at home on road, cyclo-cross circuit or trail.

When a bike company says a bike is a 'limited edition' but then can't say quite how limited it is, it's hard to know whether to consider the bike exactly as it is now or for what it might soon become.

For the benefit of those looking for a bike now and those considering a near-future purchase I'll do both by quoting On One brand manager Brant Richards, who says: "We're evolving the design to be a bit more all-road style: a longer, lower top tube for a more conventional road fit, and we'll add some rack and mudguard mounts too."

This is useful to know, because as it stands the titanium-framed, carbon-forked, SRAM Rival-equipped Pickenflick is essentially an excellent cyclo cross bike that handles nicely on the road but lacks minor elements of utilitarian adaptability.

There's no doubting its superb value though. You can buy the Pickenflick as a frame alone for £999.99 or as the complete bike package. By the time you add the cost of a carbon fork and a headset to the frame the full bike package is looking like the better deal, by a long way.

The test bike, which varies in minor componentry from the bike shown on On One's web site, came equipped with a SRAM Rival 10 x 2 drivetrain, but with a very distinctive off road bias.

The 42/28 rings of SRAM's S350 crankset are more suited to amateur off road riders than the bigger rings favoured by most expert 'cross racers. Some riders will find a 42 outer ring limiting in terms of outright speed, but I'm not one of those riders.

I use a 38 tooth single ring on my regular rides road bike and I rarely find myself spinning out on 38-11, but then I'm the sort of rider who's usually happy to freewheel down hills rather than churning a big gear.

The only time I found myself wanting a bigger gear than the 42-11 on the Pickenflick was on a pacey group ride on a slightly downhill tailwind section.

On the other hand I found myself using the 28 inner ring regularly on off road climbs and was happy to have the range of options that the 11-32 cassette offers with this chainring combination.

I also liked the fact that I could use the big ring more than usual on off road rides.

There is no 'perfect solution' to gearing on a bike that's intended for frequent use both on and off road. As with tyre choice, every option is a compromise, biased towards road or towards off road.

In fact tyre options and gear options dictate one another on the Pickenflick. The frame's generous tyre clearance is a simple result of the chain stays being designed to curve around bigger tyres than on an average road or cyclo cross bike.

A 42-tooth chainring ensures optimum chain line. You could fit a 44 ring as it stands or you could fit bigger rings with a longer bottom bracket axle and/or bottom bracket spacers to suit, but you would compromise that chain line.

I was content with everything exactly as it was, but then I'll often ride long stretches of tricky off road terrain on a bike like this. The wider, small gear ratios provide more usable gears than those on a typical race-bred cyclocross bike.

The fact that there aren't that many titanium framed cyclocross bikes around is presumably mainly to do with the fact that you'll usually pay more than this for a titanium frame alone.

The direct sales approach of On One, and parent company Planet X, keeps prices low. But don't expect the usual 'sales year' approach of a more mainstream brand. There are times when On One have very limited supplies of particular frames, or complete bikes, so keep an eye on their web site for changes to designs or parts specifications.

The appeal of a titanium frame is that it won't corrode and its shock damping, or perhaps more accurately its vibration absorption, is good.bBut this obviously depends on the design and build quality.

The good news is that the Pickenflick hits the spot. It softens hard edges on rough roads and trails, and inevitably does so more effectively if you add fatter tyres.

The Schwalbe CX Pro 30mm tyres that were fitted have a relatively deep knobbed tread pattern that's great in off-road mud but a big edgy on tarmac corners. I replaced them with 35mm file-treads for most of the test period. This improved both on and off road comfort and performance in most situations by giving an extra boost to the damping characteristics of the titanium frame.

Despite the comfy ride character, the Pickenflick's titanium frame and carbon fork exhibit sharp handling under pressure.

It climbs and accelerates as a sub 21lb bike should and it tames rough high speed terrain better than most carbon, steel or aluminium framed bikes at this price. Its general handling on regular tarmac rides is confident and enjoyable enough to forget the cyclocross tag if you're looking for one do-it-all bike.

Okay, there'll be lots of riders who'll moan about the lack of mudguard and rack eyelets, but there'll be others who appreciate its purist aspirations. As it stands, it's probably comes closer than any bike I've ridden to being the perfect Three Peaks cyclocross bike.

The Three Peaks involves a mix of road and off road terrain that's much more demanding than the average cyclocross. I'm planning to ride it for the fifth time this year and I may well be asking if I can re-borrow a Pickenflick. The combination of the titanium frame, carbon fork, small gearing and disc brakes is ideal for terrain involving long sections of wild undulating trail.

This little film may give you a rough idea:

The complete bike I tested came with a tidy looking matt finished carbon fork with disc brake post mounts.

The Avid BB7 disc brakes are reliable stoppers, with full outer cables to each calliper making them relatively crud proof.

There is plenty room for big tyres, up to around 40mm.

The wheels on the test bike were Selcof WHT29 rims, three-cross laced with stainless spokes to On One hubs, but the web site lists their Reet'ard rims.

A finishing parts package includes a decent quality mix of Planet X and On One house-brand stuff, with a double bolted 31.6mm seatpost, a slim but reasonably comfy saddle and a shallow drop 44cm handlebar.

The gearing is all from the SRAM Rival group.

The frame geometry (72 degrees at the head, 73.5 degrees at the seat on the 56cm model) lends itself well to both road and off road outings.

The top tube stretch on the test bike was 10mm shorter than the seat tube, creating a fairly compact ride position for off road sections, easily fine-tuned to suit personal requirements with stem length/height and seat position tweaks.

The frame's tube profiles, ovalised at the junctures for bigger weld contact areas and lateral stiffness, are pleasing to the eye and left brushed bare which is great for ease of cleaning.

There are two sets of bottle cage bosses and the head tube is tapered 1.125in to 1.5in.

Conclusion

A UK designed titanium framed cyclo cross bike with lots of potential to be adapted to your own riding style and circumstances.

As it is, it's a great ride at a price that usually only gets you a frame. Off-road biased gearing will limit its road potential for some but the designer says it will evolve to suit the demands of more rider types.

Verdict

Great-riding UK-designed titanium cyclo-cross bike at a price that usually gets you a bare frame