With a passion for biking and an ardency to be connected to other riders through way of the internet, Chasseur caught up with Deaf Pigeon, a UK-based fixed gear cycling team and online portal, to find out just how big riding is in the UK, future product collaboration ideas, and what we can expect to see from them down the road.
Deaf Pigeon is quite a unique name. How did you come up with it?
Deaf Pigeon is basically my initials (David Perkins), it was just two random words that I put together and it seemed like a pretty abstract name that I could use for anything. I didn’t want anything that had ‘fixed gear’ or ‘cycling’ or ‘velo’ or ‘team’ in the name just in case I wanted to use the name for other forms of cycling or if I wanted to blog about something that wasn’t specifically about cycling.
Spinning and biking are very prevalent in the female population. Do you find that more women are becoming interested in fixed gear biking?
I’ve noticed a lot more women getting into cycling recently. I know a lot of my mates girlfriends/wives/partners are getting into bikes, especially fixed gear, just because their other half is spending the majority of their free time, looking at and riding bikes. It’s great to see and I just hope it continues.
You recently came together with Bark to create limited edition foot straps. Will we be seeing similar ventures any time soon?
Yeah this all came about when I got a pair of their straps from Tokyo Fixed Gear and I liked them so much that I just sent a message to the guy who made them, just out of courtesy and admiration of his product really. We started talking and we created the Deaf Pigeon x Bark straps as prizes for a race that I put on middle of last year. We have just created our team jersey and we’ve always had t-shirts and stickers for sale, but I’m always open to suggestions.
What about a DP bike?
I would jump at the chance to create a Deaf Pigeon bike. I’ve got a couple of ideas if this ever came to fruition, but I don’t know where I’d even start if I’m honest. I’d definitely need a lot of help and experience to help me along with that project. I think I’d just get a little too excited and end up creating something that only I would ride.
On your blog, you feature all things in connection to biking from the latest news and gear equipment to clothing. How big is the bike scene in the UK?
The cycling scene in general is massive. Especially up north where we are. Everywhere you look there’s clubs and teams and just people cycling in general. I think it must just be something about the north, you’re so close to cities and yet so close to hills and long country roads. It’s got such a varied mix of scenery you never get bored. As for the fixed gear scene, it’s definitely growing and growing, London has a rather large number of fixed gear riders but that’s not taking anything away from everywhere else. Leeds has a very close group, Manchester’s is of a decent size too, not to mention Bristol…the scene in Bristol is incredible!
For the DP team, what has been the most compelling ride?
I can only talk for myself for this, but I think my favourite rides have always taken place in Bristol. I adore riding in Bristol. The hills are insane, the people are super nice and I’ve got some good friends down there now, so it’s always good fun to go down, get some people out and then head off riding through the busy streets and then off up to the suspension bridge. It’s definitely top of my list of ‘go-to’ places. I’m planning on taking my bike over to Barcelona sometime next month for some sunnier riding and being there has the potential to change my mind.