All language subtitles for Inside.the.Factory.S02E04.Bicycles.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BurCyg_track3_[eng]

♪ MTV ♪

Every year,

people in Britain cycle
more than three billion miles,

and over half of us
own a bicycle.

- We buy over 3 1/2 million
of them every year.

[upbeat music]

- But what engineering skills
does it take to build a bike

and get it on the road?

We've come to the UK's largest
bicycle factory to find out.

[Gregg laughing]

I'm Gregg Wallace.

Wheels!

And I'll be joining
this multi-stage

manual production line
to make my own bike.

- There's just
over 16 1/2 million

different combinations.

Don't be ridiculous.

Learning skills
that take years to master.

- You're holding 1,000 degrees
in your hand.

[Gregg groaning]

And trying to keep up

with their 24-hour
production targets.

I'm sorry.
I was chatting, I'm sorry.

Let's go, let's go!

I'm Cherry Healey.

I'll be learning the secrets
of painting a bike

fit for the British weather.

You bake it in an oven!

- Historian Ruth Goodman
investigates the role

bikes played
in the D-day landings.

- This seems an enormously
heavy machine to be wearing

whilst you jump out of a plane
in a parachute.

- And how two wheels helped
women fight for equality.

The bicycle really was, then,

a part of the sort of tools
of the trade

in their political ambitions.

[upbeat music]

- A brand-new bicycle
comes off this production line

every 3 1/2 minutes.

- Hey!
- Ta-da!

And we're going to show you

the amazing engineering
and craftsmanship

that goes
into making every single one.

Welcome
to "Inside the Factory."

- [bicycle wheel whirring]
- [wrench cranking]

[conveyor belt whirring]

[machinery humming]

♪ ♪

[cereal clattering]

♪ ♪

- Welcome to the Brompton
Bicycle factory in West London.

It's the largest bike factory
in Britain.

- This is their
classic folding bike

and it can be unfolded
in as little as six seconds.

- Over 1,000 of these a week
roll out of this factory,

ready to be shipped
around the world.

Nearly got it. Ah!

- Do you need a tiny bit
of help there?

Let's have a go.

♪ ♪

[laughs] Thank you, Cherry.

That's a clever design

but quite complicated
to manufacture.

- They start off life like
this, 1,200 individual parts.

Tonight, we're gonna show you

how a team of hundreds
can turn this

into a working bicycle
in less than 24 hours.

[upbeat music]

This is the largest company
manufacturing bikes in the UK.

And they hand-build every
frame.

All the raw steel they use
comes from Spain

in six-meter lengths,

so first, it goes
to a specialist company

in Leicester to be laser-sliced
or machine-sawed.

[metal clanking]

♪ ♪

At the London bicycle factory,

the material intake section
receives four tons

of made-to-measure parts
every week.

That's enough
for more than 150 folding bikes

every 24 hours of production.

And I'll be responsible
for one of them.

The countdown from metal bits
to my bicycle begins.

I'm going to need
a lot of help,

starting with training manager,
Barney Fox.

- Are you gonna give me my
bits? - Absolutely.

First of all,
I think we should start

with the main frame.

Two bits of tubing for you.
Take one of those.

That's where your bottom
bracket will go.

That's where your crank
and chain set go.

Main frame tubing.

All right,
couple of chainstays for you,

left and right.

So, you can take that as well.
Gonna need a handlebar stem.

- Are you sure
this actually makes a bike?

- You're also going to need
a fork to be able to...

[metal clanging]

- Well.
- Sorry, Barney.

There you are.

Keep hold of that.
Where can I put that?

Then to finish off
the main frame,

put in a seat tubing in there.

There's a little bit more
than I thought there'd be.

Is it starting to look
like a bike yet?

- Not at all.
- [Barney laughs]

I feel like the Tin Man.

That's not a bike, surely!

[upbeat music]

33 separate pieces of metal

will form the skeleton
of my bike

and every single part
will be joined together

not by robots, but by artisans.

First out of my box of bits,

it's the biggest tube
in the main frame.

It needs bending
into its distinctive shape

and they do that
with the original mold press,

designed more than 30 years
ago.

♪ ♪

That machine is set to do this

at the right angle
every time, is it?

Yes.

Where does this bit go? Up?

- Over here.
- Like that?

It's shaped every folding bike
that's left this factory,

using a pressure five times
the weight of a white rhino.

And now, is this that bit?

No, it's not that bit.

If you turn it out,
it will be this way.

So, that's...

- Yes.
- That bit.

Just 15 minutes
after the raw steel

arrived at the factory,

and I've now got all the parts
of my frame ready.

Now it's time to start turning
it into a bike.

Thank you.

[upbeat dance music]

The 33 steel parts of the frame

need joining together
by brazing.

It's like soldering

but at an extreme heat
of 1,000 degrees.

It's all done by hand.

There are 42 braziers

and the most experienced
is Abdul el-Zahidi.

- Hello!
- Hello, Gregg.

- He's worked here for 18
years.

What is your role here, Abdul?

- I train every single person
in here

how to become brazier.

Right.

Training takes 18 months and,
after qualifying,

each brazier is allowed
to sign their own work.

They stamp their own initials?

- Every single brazier,
he does have his own initial.

These bikes
are going all over the world

and it's got one of your boys'
initials on it?

Exactly.

- The wall of fame
shows the pride in their work

and I'm hoping
I can live up to the legacy

as Abdul's latest trainee.

- 'Cause a sleeve
is extra protection.

You're holding 1,000 degree
in your hand.

You're kidding me.

That's the melting point
of bronze,

which forms an incredibly
strong and solid bond

between the joints.

When was the last time
you burnt yourself?

Maybe three months ago.

- Oh, no, Abdul!
- Little touch with the--

it's only a little touch.

♪ ♪

- I'm right out
of my comfort zone.

- Ah-ha.
- Very safe, very safe.

Nothing to worry.
Like a pen in your hand.

Right, what we're going to do,
the wire in this hand

and I'll show you
how simple and easy

and you're going to love it.

- [metal clinking]
- Oh, yeah.

- Don't worry.
Like everyone.

I'm not at all nervous.

♪ ♪

- Slowly. Excellent.
Keep going with the torch.

Excellent, that's the one.

So, you're wishing
to become a master brazier?

Well, I tell you what,

I would be tired
at the end of the day

because this is quite
precise work.

Very good, go.

- If that's melting
metal together,

that would make
a terrible mess of my fingers.

Now I've practiced,
Abdul's letting me braze

one of the joints on the bike
I'm building,

under his watchful eye
and, well, safe in his arms.

- 90-degree, like that.

So what we do,

we heat that little bit
in a straight line,

little bit.

♪ My darling ♪

Into where it glows,
soon it join together.

♪ For your touch ♪

I'm going to leave you
to continue on your own.

- You can't leave me!
- Well done. Very good.

♪ I need ♪

I'll break it.

♪ Your love ♪

♪ ♪

Not bad,

but nowhere near
as good as these guys.

Can I take one of yours?
Is that okay?

Abdul!

- Yes, mate?
- I've finished.

Well done.

What do you think?

Wow, fantastic!

- Not bad, huh?
- Professional. Very good.

- Actually--
- Is that the one you brazed?

No, actually. [laughing]

I thought that looked okay
until I saw my friend's.

The more we practice,

the more you get better
and better.

I don't deserve to be here,

but I made it
to the wall of fame.

And luckily, Abdul's team
is giving me a hand,

brazing
the rest of my bike joints,

normally
an intensive four-hour job.

There you go.

With a little bit of help
from Abdul,

I've finished the parts
of my bike frame

and now they're gonna go off
and get painted.

[upbeat pop-rock music]

My bike frame leaves London
to travel 150 miles

to a factory in Cardiff,

where they paint
1,000 folding bikes a week,

and Cherry's in charge
of my paint job.

So when you order your bike,

you can choose from over 100
different color combinations

and every single bike
comes through this one factory,

here in Cardiff, to be painted.

I suppose
I'd better get cracking then.

[upbeat pop-rock music]

First, we're dipping the parts
into a series of 11 giant baths,

and that's just to prepare
the steel for painting.

Have a nice bath!

In the 2 1/2-hour process,

the frame gets
an alkaline wash to clean it,

a coating of crystals
to protect it from rust,

and it's dunked in a bath
of base paint

with an electric charge
to make it stick to the metal.

The manager here
is David Morgan.

Do you have to do this
with normal bikes?

It sounds extremely
labor-intensive.

The importance of this,
with a folding bike,

is that when you open the bike,

you're opening the bike
to the elements, effectively.

So, if the inside of the bike
isn't protected,

the inside of the bike will
rust

and the bike will effectively
rust from the inside out.

- Is that really the only way
to get that protection?

- If you want a premium finish,
yes.

- If only Gregg knew
how much hard work

goes into just priming
the frame.

You're not even painting it
yet! - Nope.

[upbeat music]

Before we can start,

Gregg's bike frame is heated
for 45 minutes

at 180 degrees
to harden the primer.

At last, overalls on, I'm
ready.

[Cherry grunts]

Showing me how to do
a professional paint job

is managing director
Steve Rosher.

Can I have a paintbrush?

No.

What you need
is a powder coating gun.

A powder coating gun?

Surely if you put powder
onto metal,

it will just blow off.

- Not if you use
the proper equipment.

- The paint powder
is electrostatically charged,

so it's attracted
to every little bit

of the steel surface.

That looks painted to me.

That looks
like a painted piece of metal.

Okay, but at the moment

it's held
on just by static electricity,

so if you touch it--

- Whoa!
- It comes away.

- What?
- So, it's still a dry powder.

Wow! Amazing!

It just falls off.

Obviously,
you can't send this bike

out for someone to ride

'cause it would come off
in one rain shower.

- So we have to bake it
in an oven.

You bake it in an oven?

But before that happens,

I need to get
Gregg's frame painted.

Ta-da!

Well done.

Job looks good.

- Shall we put them in the
oven? - Yes!

After baking for 15 minutes
at 180 degrees,

the parts are ready.

- So, it goes off down
to quality control now,

and then it's up to London,
back to Gregg.

♪ ♪

- This bike has been primed,
painted, and baked

and now I look like a Smurf!

Back at the factory,

and we're now 16 hours
into building my bike.

I've got my hands
on my frame again

and now it's looking fabulous.

[upbeat rock music]

My bike parts will pass through
a 28-person production line.

The 12 most time-critical jobs
on the main assembly

have just 3 1/2 minutes
before the bike moves on.

♪ ♪

And the target board
keeps everyone on track.

They build 153 bikes a day

and each one can be
completely different.

There's just over 60 1/2
million different combinations.

- Don't be ridiculous.
- Absolutely.

- How?
Forgive me, but how?

- We can have
lots of different colors,

different types of handlebars,
different gear rangings,

you can have mudguards,

you don't have
to have mudguards.

- Before I can get
going with my bike,

I've got to find the beginning
of the assembly line.

Someone's gotta help me.

I've gotta put a bike together,
where do I start?

- Maybe over there.
- Start over there?

- Very good.
- I need help!

Are you the first bit?
I'm Gregg.

I'm Rafal.

- In the main frame station
one,

16 hours and eight minutes
after

they were plain metal tubes,

Rafal Sekovski will start
connecting them together.

What is this bit? What is it?
Where does it go?

- On the front,
front of the bike.

Here we're gonna put
a handlebar and fork.

Oh, okay, okay.

- Yeah, like that.
- Okay, okay, okay.

First, the chrome spacers go
on.

Argh!

The front and main frame
is attached with a hinge

to form one of the three
key folding points of the bike.

Like that.

- Rafal attaches
the quick-release clamp.

Done?

Next, in main frame two,

Carl O'Brien will fit
the seat post.

Then place it through.

- Which is inserted upside
down.

- If you wanna just flip
the bike over?

- Oh, oh.
Carl, you're a star.

Then we need to add

its all-important
safety features.

But first,
Cherry's investigating

what's being done

to make our roads safer
for cyclists.

[upbeat music]

[sirens wailing]

- As an enthusiastic
urban cyclist,

I generally feel safe,

but it is hard not to worry
when you see flowers laid out

in tribute to cyclists
who've died on the roads.

In London alone,

there have been 66 fatalities
since 2011

and more than half of them
were collisions with a truck.

To find out why cyclists
and trucks

are such a deadly
combination...

It's a pretty big lorry.

I'm getting behind the wheel
of an HGV.

Whoa, that is so high!

With instructor Doug Johnson.

- Ready to fire it up?
- Holy moly!

[upbeat rock music]

- So, you bring your clutch up
gently, gently, gently.

Whoa!

Oh, my God,
the weight of this thing.

Doug's going to show me
the challenges

of keeping cyclists safe

from a lorry driver's
perspective.

First, a left turn.

- Now, looking left
and looking right,

we're gonna treat this
like a junction, okay?

Bring it to a nice gentle stop.

Have a good look
in your mirrors.

Is it clear?

I can see the lorry,
I can see the cone.

If it's clear.

Yes, absolutely.

- Let's just get out
and have a look

from the outside.

[tense pop-rock music]

Whoa!

- Oh, my God!
- [group cheering]

How is that possible
that all of you and the car...

I can't believe it.

Literally,
you cannot see anything.

Yeah, yeah, it's scary.

This spot is so dangerous.

Since 2015,
all lorries in London

over 3 1/2 tons
must have special mirrors

to improve vision
directly in front of the cab

and both sides of the driver.

[truck horn beeps]

I had absolutely no idea

that the blind spot
was such a huge area

next to the lorry.

It just goes to show
that when you're cycling,

you have to be so aware.

[upbeat music]

- At the factory,
it's 16 hours and 15 minutes

since I collected the parts
for my bike.

We've bent the steel,
brazed the frame,

and Cherry's painted it blue.

We've put together
its front frame,

main frame, and seat post.

The target board shows that

somehow,
we're still on schedule.

Now, Gary Franklin...

I've got another one coming in.

Attaches the fork
for the front wheel.

Station by station, bit by bit,
this is looking like a bike.

- You need
to tighten the top nut,

and then back off
the bottom nut.

Just make sure that you can
feel the ball bearings working.

- Then he fits the front brake,
reflector, and mudguard.

If you don't do this right,

does it get rejected
further down the line?

- Yeah, it'll go down
on the computer system

and you have a talking-to.

- [drill whirring]
- Whoa!

It's like being
a proper mechanic, innit?

- Yeah.
- Cheers, mate.

[upbeat music]

Overseeing the entire operation
is the company CEO,

Will Butler-Adams.

It's not what I expected at
all.

- Well, that's what
I was gonna ask,

what did you expect?

Well, it's far more artisan.

- I expected--
- Machines, robots.

- 30-foot high,
yeah, automatons.

What I didn't expect was
two rows of people.

[upbeat music]

Tell me about the idea
of a folding bike.

If you're gonna use a bike,

you need a bike
that's convenient.

And if you live in a city,

dragging your big bike
is a bit of a pain.

So, if you can have a bike,
that like a Swiss Army Knife,

suddenly appears
when you want it,

disappears
when you don't want it,

it's handy.

Whilst modern folding bikes
are made mostly for urban use,

that hasn't always
been the case,

as historian Ruth Goodman
is finding out.

[dramatic music]

Imagine the scene.

You are 8,000 feet
above Northern France,

about to jump
into enemy territory.

You've got your parachute
and your pack,

and you've also been told
to take

the airborne
military folding bicycle.

[sighs]
And it's not light.

♪ ♪

But it was long before
the Second World War

that folding bikes
went into military action,

and collector Colin Kirsch
has the proof.

So, here's the World War I
BSA folding bike.

- And these were used in
action?

- Yes, they made
large quantities of these.

The problem was,

soldiers didn't really
want to spend the time

unfolding them
to put them on their back.

It was one of those things

that was not necessarily
used for its purpose.

- Right, so it seemed like
a good idea back in the office.

- Exactly.
- [Ruth laughs]

♪ ♪

Even so, by the end of the war,
in 1918,

100,000 troops had used a bike
in active service.

♪ ♪

[upbeat swing-jazz music]

They were used again
by the military from 1939,

the start of World War II,

first, to helps save the lives
of paratroopers,

getting them away
from their drop zone

as quickly as possible.

♪ ♪

Colin, this seems
an enormously big

and heavy machine to be wearing

whilst you jump out of a plane
in a parachute.

- Oh, well,
this was probably the lightest!

Really?

- Yes.
- [Ruth laughing]

Yeah, it managed
to get the design of this one

under 20 pounds in weight.

- It would give you mobility
once you got on the ground,

if you were off trying
to find specific targets.

- As long as you
weren't under fire.

So, did they see much action?

- Yes, there were two
major campaigns they were used.

They were used on D-Day
in the landing craft

and they were used
at Market Garden,

[majestic music]

- How does it go together then?
It sort of--

Right. Let's...

You wouldn't want to do this
under fire.

You wouldn't, would you?

♪ ♪

Fabulous design.

♪ ♪

Ready to jump on and ride away.

- 70,000 of the so-called
parabikes were manufactured,

but British paratroopers
weren't keen to ride them,

and at the end of the war,
thousands were stockpiled

and then sold off
as army surplus.

[groovy upbeat music]

It wasn't until the 1960s

that folding and packaway bikes
came back into favor.

Now they were fashionable and,

thanks to the much smaller
16-inch wheels,

also practical.

The next big breakthrough
was in 1971,

when Harry Bickerton

came up with a new, light,
and compact design,

which set the standard
for folding bikes.

Four years later, Andrew
Ritchie

came up with his own invention,
the Brompton.

♪ ♪

[metal clanking]

- Back at the factory,
Will's filling me in

on how that invention was
turned into a commercial product.

Andrew Ritchie came up
with the idea in his flat,

overlooking
the Brompton Oratory,

came up with the name,

and decided,
"Perfect, I'm a genius,

"everyone's gonna
want my design."

Gave it to Raleigh,

they looked at it
and decided it was bonkers,

didn't want to do it.

And after everyone else
turned it down,

he decided to do it himself.

[upbeat electronic music]

In the early '80s,

Andrew began making bikes
on a small scale

from his home in west London.

But making a profit was tough

and when the banks
refused him a loan,

it was almost the end
of the road.

- One of his customers,
who was so frustrated

that he couldn't buy
any more of the bikes,

that came in with the 40 grand
he needed in 1988,

and after 13 years of struggle,
he got started.

- He got his bike fan-funded.

- Early fan-funding.
- He did, didn't he?

[upbeat music]

This factory produces
46,000 bikes a year,

and to help them keep on
target,

I need to get mine
back on the assembly line.

It's just over 16 hours

and 18 minutes since I started

and now Hubert Stritzi
attaches the rear section

to the main frame

for the second
key folding point.

Put rear frame.

- [drill whirring]
- Ah. I can do this.

[drill whirring]

Okay, and now use this spanner.

Look in your ear.

- It's okay?
- Clear?

[both laughing]

- Next, we're going to give
my bike its mudguard,

racks, and rear brakes.

♪ ♪

Helping me is Michelle
Makelogi.

I'm gonna show you one side

and then you can tighten
the other one.

- That's all right?
- All right.

- So, you just go like this.
- [drill whirring]

[drill whirring]

- That's it.
- That's it, right?

[upbeat pop-rock music]

Next stop for my bike
is fork two, and Noel Peters.

Noel.

- All the experienced workers
like Noel

swap over their stations
from day to day.

Noel, you seem very confident.
Have you been here a while?

- Yeah, since May 2001.
- Wow.

On his station today,
Noel puts on the mud flaps

and attaches
the derailleur cables

that will make
the bike's gears change.

You're part-man,
part-bicycle now, aren't you?

- [laughs]
I think I'm robot now.

Complete robot!

[both laughing]

They use more than half a mile
of cable a day.

- Can I do this?
- I wasn't leaving you out.

- Get off, get off. Get off.
- All right.

[laughs]

- [drill whirring]
- [bolt clicks]

When you hear that click,
that's done, yeah?

- That's it, yeah.
That's what we've done.

Cable in, mudguard in.

Yes, that's the one.

- What do you think
when you see someone

on the train with one of these?

- I say, "Wow,
I had a hand in that.

"And a few others." That's me.

Hand-made by me.
I feel proud.

♪ ♪

[upbeat music]

Back on the production line,

and my bike
is just over 16 1/2 hours

into its journey
from parts to packaging.

It's now got forks,
mudguards, and brakes,

but it's still missing

two of the most crucial
components.

Do you make the wheels?

- I do.
- I need two wheels.

I need a back wheel
and a front wheel.

Yeah, sure.

- Behind the main assembly
line, Rudi Yousef fits the inner tubes

and tires onto the wheel rims.

And, like the other
time-critical stations,

he has just 3 1/2 minutes

or he'll hold up
the whole production.

How many wheels do you do a
day?

Over 300 wheels a day, yeah.

- These wheel rims
are designed here

but made off-site.

They only have
a 16-inch diameter,

10 inches smaller
than a standard bike wheel.

Their reduced size
makes them stronger

and helps
the bike accelerate faster.

Rudi, stand aside.

Let me show you how you do
wheels properly, son.

Yeah, you just lock it in.

First of all, I need to apply
a protective tape

and get the inner tube
and tire to fit snugly on top.

This is very, very fiddly.

To help protect these tires
from punctures,

they're reinforced with Kevlar,

an ultra-strong material
used in bulletproof vests.

Can I stand back
and just let you do one?

No, no, no.

- 'Cause I need two wheels
for my bike.

Now, with help from Rudi,
I can inflate the tire.

It always puts the right
amount of air in, does it?

- Oh, 'cause it's automatically
set at 100 psi.

- So, other tires,
on other bikes,

they normally have a lower psi.

You have 100, which is higher,

because you have
a smaller wheel.

Yeah.

- And is that because,
I suppose,

the wheel is doing more work?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- It's going round more often.
- Yeah.

The expert in wheel engineering
is design manager Paul Williams.

Is the wheel the trickiest bit
on a folding bike?

- It's one of the parts
that needs to be best built,

lasts longest,

because it's gonna see
a lot of wear,

constant braking,
constant acceleration.

Regular cycling commuters

can travel more than 1,300
miles in a year,

so it's essential
their bikes are robust

and lightweight.

- That might be down to this
nut being two grams lighter.

How many bits on the bike?

- 1,200-odd,

and if we can take a little bit
out of each of those,

then we will add up to
something quite considerable.

- It's a constant challenge
for the design team

to balance the bike's weight,
durability, and cost.

- If you make something
stronger,

it's often got more material
in, so it's not as light.

If you make it lighter,

it normally means
more exotic material.

It's hard to do that cheaply.

The company invests heavily

in researching
the latest technologies

and they know a comfortable
ride is also important.

Nowadays,
we take it for granted,

but early bikes weren't
designed with luxury in mind,

as Ruth Goodman
has been finding out.

[upbeat funky music]

In the 19th century,

cycling was almost exclusively
a male pursuit.

In 1817,
the first popular two-wheeler

was thought
to have been invented

in Germany.

It was named the dandy horse

because it was fashionable
with wealthy young men.

More than 40 years later,
the boneshaker,

with its iron-shod rims,
wooden wheels,

and a very solid frame,
also had pedals.

In the 1870s,

the penny-farthing
was still for men only.

Bike historian Doug Pinkerton
shows me why.

That is what we call
forward dismount.

It looks really difficult
to ride.

How on earth did women manage
with the big skirts?

Ladies, at the time,

they weren't riding
these machines.

It was the none-done thing
to do.

In public places,
you didn't even show

so much as an ankle,

so riding a bicycle
of this design

was totally out of the
question.

Totally impossible.

- So, ladies actually
rode tricycles.

[gentle upbeat music]

- This ladies tricycle,
from 1886,

has an ingenious
lifting handlebar

to help ladies
mount in bulky dresses.

Slide in,
put the handlebars back.

Yep.

- Marvelous.
Leg over in a decorous manner.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

Oh, my goodness!

This is not an
easy bike to ride.

- No, very cumbersome,
very slow.

- Fears that rigorous movement
could ruin the feminine organs

of matrimonial necessity

meant Victorian women
were discouraged from cycling.

It's sort of annoying,

in that the men have
all this freedom on the bike

and you, as a woman,
are gonna be trailing behind

because you've got
to do it decorously.

- Yes, you really were
almost a second-class citizen.

- You sacrifice so much
with this upright posture.

Very much so.

- But things improved
for women cyclists

in the late 1880s,

with the invention
of the safety bike,

the direct ancestor
of today's diamond-frame bike.

Equal-sized wheels and lighter,
more responsive steering

made this a far easier ride.

This is the sort of period

when ladies were starting
to use cycles.

So, for the first time,

men and women are on the same
style of bicycle.

- Style of machine.
- Exactly, yes.

- So, this, really,
would give you,

particularly as a woman,
a lot more freedom

than the earlier styles
would have done.

- The new improved
safety bicycle era, after 1885,

because of its design,
certainly liberated women

to come and enjoy
the sport of cycling.

[upbeat music]

- And one group
who embraced this change

were the suffragettes.

According to research
fellow Sheila Hanlon,

bicycles were vital to women
gaining freedom and the vote.

So, why are we here
in Hyde Park?

Hyde Park was the site

of a really important
suffragettes' rally in 1913.

It wasn't just a rally,

it was actually a pilgrimage
to get to the rally.

"Land's End to London."

If you look really closely
in the front,

you'll see
there's a line of cyclists.

They're upfront
in the photograph

and that really reflects
the central role

that they played
in organizing the pilgrimage.

This postcard
is a different route

and, again, the row of cyclists
are right up at the front.

- Yes, they are.
Whole load of them--

- There's quite a few of them.
- Yeah.

And what they're doing

is they're taking pamphlets
and handing them out,

they're holding meetings
in village greens,

and they're really using
their bicycles

as a way to get out there

and tell more people
about the need

for the vote for women.

And then they all converge
at the end,

in London, in the park
where we are today.

- So, how many people
ended up here?

- We think it was
about 50,000 people,

which is a formidable crowd.

The bicycle, itself,

was part of the sort
of tools of the trade

for independent-minded women
to get out there

and be part
of the political process.

- The bicycle
really was a small cog

in a very big wheel for change

and I think it was essential
to how women achieved the vote.

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

[upbeat groovy music]

At the bike factory...

Wheels!
Front wheel.

- Yes.
- Rear wheel.

It's almost 16 1/2 hours

since I collected
the raw steel parts.

I'm guessing
it goes on that way.

And, as Amelia Maticevska and I

put on the wheels
and handlebars,

it's really starting to look
like the finished product.

Hey!

[upbeat music]

But it's still not fit to ride.

I need to tighten
and align the brake pads.

You gotta strong arms!
With Omar Ahmed Omar.

You happy?

- Not really.
- What's wrong?

Because it's not straight.

- All right, you do it.
Sorry, Omar, you do it.

I'm not very good at brakes.

Now I'm ready to fit
the mechanism

that will make my bike move:
the pedals, crank, and chain.

Ah! That's tight, mate.

For crying out loud!

You'll have shoulders
like Schwarzenegger!

♪ ♪

It's incredible to think

these guys build 22 bikes
an hour

but, according
to the target board,

we've slipped behind,

and I'm pretty sure
I'm the one causing the holdup.

I'm really sorry!

I'm sorry,
I was chatting, I'm sorry.

- I didn't wanna say anything,
but--

- That's what happens.
Everyone stops.

- Do you think
we move it on now?

Let's go, let's go!

I'm getting it.
I'm getting it.

Into the next station.

- I've got you,
I've got you, I've got you.

My next station is rear brake.

First, we set up
the brake cables

and try and get my bike
back on track.

What are you doing?

Come on, man, we've gotta move!

Let's go, let's go!
We've got bikes to make!

♪ ♪

What do you think these are?

We've got another set of wheels
going here.

I think that's because
the bike folds up.

Yeah.

- And it's got to roll,
rather than clank.

Unless you're gonna ride it
upside down,

that's to fold it, right?

When the bike's packed down,

these extra little wheels
let the cyclist pull it along.

Seeing how it folds up
makes me realize

why pressing the steel
into a curve was so important.

The reason that's curved
is so a wheel fits under it

when it's folded.

- One of. Yes.
- That's the reason.

But that gives it
a unique look as well.

I'm so getting the hang
of this bike lark!

[upbeat dance music]

There's lots of engineering

that goes into making
a modern bicycle,

but that, to me, is nothing
if it's not comfortable.

Now, when you order a bike
from this factory,

you get a standard saddle

but if you really want luxury
for your bottom,

you can get a hand-made one.

[upbeat pop-rock music]

Brooks, based in Birmingham,

has been making leather saddles
for almost 150 years.

♪ ♪

The company was started in 1866
by John Boultbee Brooks,

who began with horse harnesses
and saddles.

But when his own horse died,

he decided to switch
to making bicycle saddles.

I've come to make a saddle.

- Is this where I start?
- Yeah.

- Master cutter,
Ricky Ravenhill,

needs to get
as many as 11 of them

out of each cowhide.

You wanna try and cut one?

Crikey, really?

You get the knife

and as close to the edge
as possible.

And then swing that round
so it's in the middle

and then press those down
and as soon as you feel

it's hit the pressure,
release them.

[machine clunks]

That should be perfect.

- Almost all their leather
comes from the UK and Ireland,

where the cold weather

means the cows
have thicker skins,

up to nearly six millimeters,

which can support
the weight of a body.

- Start of my saddle, right?
- Voila, yeah.

Next, Gurdip Sangha
softens the leather in water

for 20 to 40 minutes.

Bit like fishing, mate, innit?

It is, definitely.

That's it.

- After it's naturally
air-dried for up to 12 hours,

it's molded
to create the saddle shape.

- Mate, we're virtually there.
- Yeah.

- We're virtually there.
We've got a saddle.

♪ ♪

I let someone experienced
slice off the excess leather.

And then my saddle is ready
for curing in the oven.

If I don't come out
in five minutes,

call my mum!

Nearly three hours later,
and my leather seat

gets its rough edges
sanded away.

♪ ♪

The seat will be fixed
onto a frame

made from high-tensile
steel rails,

with a backplate pressed
from more high-quality steel.

By the time the frame is ready,

it's been double-coated
in nickel and copper,

it's been lacquered and baked,

but it's not a saddle
until it's been put together.

And that's the job
of Eric Murray.

How do you do, sir?

I've gotta attach this to this.

Can you show me how to do this?

I will, sir.

- First up, Eric makes holes
in the leather.

Are you pressing a button
to make the holes?

- Can I do it?
- You can now, sir.

Stand back, son, stand back.

- Brilliant,
absolutely brilliant.

What is it about saddles?

- It's your hands, innit?
You're working with your hands.

- You can't imagine yourself
behind a desk with a tie on?

Oh, no, no, no. No way!

I'm sorry, cock, no.

I couldn't do that,
cocker, no way!

Them people deserve medals

because I couldn't sit there
fiddling a computer.

- Next, Eric has to chamfer
or trim off the leather

to create a smooth beveled
edge.

Eric the chamferer.

Eric the chamferer and all.

That's highly skilled.

If you get that wrong,
at that stage,

you've ruined a whole saddle.

- How many do you spoil?
- I don't.

You've just gotta be
just that little bit careful.

- And that gives
a smoother finish.

That's a bet.

Saves chafing.

That's it, exactly.

- Next, he puts a noseplate
in the front of my saddle,

inserts the backplate and
rails,

and finishes the rivets by
hand.

It's then tensioned and
aligned.

The whole saddle-making process
can take up to 36 hours.

What has that just done, Eric?

That's pulled it one way
and pushed it back the other?

That's it, yeah.

It's into there now.

- One inspection, yeah,
to make sure it's all right,

and I'm taking this
to the bike factory.

Good luck to you.

And I hope it lasts you
for years and years, my friend.

[upbeat music]

More than 100 leather saddles
arrive at the factory every week

and mine is coming straight
into the final assembly station.

My bike has brakes, wheels,
handlebars, and a chain

and it's almost ready
for the road.

Can you fit this one
cause I actually made this one?

- Okay. Yes, sir.
- I think you can have a go.

It's been 17 hours
since I started this journey

and of the 1,200 parts
that make up this bike,

I am about to tighten
the very last screw.

[upbeat funky music]

- This is a Halfbike.
There's no seat.

You pedal standing up.

But this is one of thousands
of new bike designs.

I wonder if it'll catch on.

The Halfbike was designed
and built in Bulgaria,

thanks to a crowdfunding
website.

The internet has opened the way

to all sorts of weird
and wonderful new bikes.

There are trikes,
like the Outrider Horizon,

or how about
the folding YikeBike?

Or maybe the recumbent
Ratracer?

But not every new bike design
looks revolutionary.

The new generation
of electric bikes

have compact batteries

and the efficient motor
is disguised in the design.

Eddie Kehoe
is an e-bike convert.

It looks like a domestic bike.
What makes it electric?

When you press on the pedals,

it senses the effort
you're putting in

and then it boosts that
by a certain percentage,

which you can set,
using the up and down arrows

here on your thumb control.

And then it blends
the assistance

with what you're doing
naturally on the bike,

so it feels very natural.

Okay, can I have a go?

You can.

Oh, wow!

[upbeat music]

♪ ♪

Oh, my goodness me!

It's like you have superpowers.

It's brilliant. Bionic legs.

Oh, bionic legs!

- [crowd chattering]
- [crowd laughing]

We're taking all of our bikes
out onto the street

to see which one the cyclists
of Cambridge prefer.

[upbeat rock music]

What will people make

of the 350-quid
seatless Halfbike?

[screams]

♪ ♪

What did you think of it?

- It's good,
a bit difficult at first

but, once you know
how to do it, it's easy.

- I like the fact it doesn't
take up that much space.

It's quite light.

- Would you swap
a regular bike for this bike?

No.

But, today, it seems

that Eddie's two grand
electric bike

is the clear favorite.

[crowd cheering]

It was like you get on it

and it just takes you,
you just go.

Which is fun.
[laughing]

I didn't wanna come off!

It's amazing, honestly!

- Yeah, it just felt so easy
and comfortable to ride as well.

♪ ♪

- Well, they say
you can't reinvent the wheel,

but I think today has proven

that there are a few really fun
new developments in cycling

to keep an eye out for.

♪ ♪

- At the factory, my folding
bike is now complete.

It's taken more
than 16 1/2 hours

for the parts of this giant
bike jigsaw puzzle to come together.

[bicycle clanking]

But before it can leave
the factory,

there's one crucial stage
it's still got to get through.

Feel a bit nervous if it's
going through an inspection.

I've had a hand
in putting every bit on.

Barney examines every inch.

- We've got
the right handlebars,

we've got right gearing,

we've got the mudguards
on there.

- Back and front.
- I want you to go like that.

Do you think
it's gonna fall apart

any time soon?

- No!
- It's looking good.

- And finally,
it's the moment of truth.

Will the bike I've helped
braze,

bolt, and screw together
actually fold?

- If you pull that up
and pull the bike up.

- We undo this?
- Yeah.

Yeah!

- That should
just fall into place.

- Now this?
- Yeah, saddle.

Happy?

- I'm just a folding
bike genius.

- Okay.
- Feel very proud of this.

That's it.

There.

But I don't get
to keep this bike.

Along with the 46,000 bikes

that leave this factory
every year,

it could be sent to one
of seven cities in the UK,

from Edinburgh to Cambridge,

or exported
to one of 43 countries

across the globe,

even to the world's
big bike exporters,

like China and Taiwan.

♪ ♪

Following this bike
from parts through to packaging

has been
an incredible experience.

It's not what I expected.

What I expected to find
was an enormous great factory

with loads of robots
and machines

and steam coming up.

Actually, what it is is people,
craftsmen,

putting these together by hand.

And all in under 24 hours.

Hey!

I don't know
where this is going.

It could be going to Southend,

it could be going
to South Australia.

I hope whoever receives it
enjoys it

and I hope they appreciate
the hard work

and craftsmanship
that went into it.

I put a couple of nuts
and bolts on this one myself.