OXFORD BIKE WORKS MODEL 1E
Oxford Bike Works’ Model 1E is the company’s least-expensive model and one of two steel bikes in this test. And while Spa’s frame is made in Far East, Oxford proudly claims that its chromoly steel frames are made in the UK, by Coventry’s well-respected Lee Cooper Cycles. This ups the cost of the bike, but the frame is lovely, foregoing the usual TIG-welding for a super-smooth fillet-brazed construction. The frame and fork have fittings for racks and mudguards and there’s also a kickstand plate.
Steel, that most
